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This is part of a book I'm finishing on meditation, consider it a Holiday gift to you my extended martial arts family. The parallels to the martial arts are obvious. I'll be tuning this article up from time to time. Feel free to post your thoughts and comments as to how this parallels you martial arts experience.

Enjoy.

The Ten Ox herding pictures (십우도) Ship Oo Do

The Ox herding pictures are one of the most widely known examples of the various stages of ones personal development in meditation. The Ox herding pictures are a series of ten illustrations annotated with comments, prose and verse. More than likely because of Sun (Zen) Buddhist roots in ancient India, that the Ox came to be used as the symbol of the Ego or primal nature of man.
The original illustrations and the commentary that accompanies the Ox herding pictures are both attributed to Kakuan Shien (Kuo-an Shih-yuan), a Chinese Sun (Zen) master of the twelfth century, but he was not the first to illustrate the developing stages of Zen realization through  pictures. Earlier versions of five and eight pictures exist in which the ox becomes progressively whiter, the last painting being a circle. The Illustration on the Left is actually one of the earlier versions of the Ox herding pictures. This example was the ninth of ten. Note the Big dipper in the upper left of the  illustration.



Earlier versions of the Ox herding pictures ended in a circle or blank painting. This was to symbolize the realization of Oneness, the ultimate goal of Sun (Zen). But Kakuan, felt  this was incomplete, he added two more pictures beyond the circle. He did this to demonstrate that a spiritually advanced person lives in the mundane world of form and diversity. He transforms the mundane into the Do/Tao, he has mastered living in the present, the power of now. He lives freely with ordinary people, whom he inspires and serves with his example to travel the Do/Tao.

Kakuans version gained the widest acceptance first in Japan then worldwide. It has endured throughout the years as a favored example for students of the way.


소를 찾아 나서다(尋牛) SEEKING THE OX

망망발초거추심(茫茫撥草去追尋)
In the pasture of this world, I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull.

수활산요로갱심(水 山遙路更深)
Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains,

역진신피무처멱(力盡神疲無處覓)
My strength failing and my vitality exhausted,
단문풍수만선음(但聞楓樹晩蟬吟)
I cannot find the bull. I only hear the locusts chirping through the forest at night.

1. Seeking the Ox
He is seeking an Ox which he does not find.
Up and down dark, nameless, wide-flowing rivers,
in deep mountain thickets he treads many bypaths.
Bone-tired, heart-weary , he carries on his search
for this something which he yet cannot find.
At evening he hears cicadas chirping in the trees.

The Ox has never really gone astray, so why search for it? Having turned his back on his True- nature, the man cannot see it. Because of his defilements he has lost sight of the Ox. Suddenly he finds himself confronted by a maze of crisscrossing roads. Greed for worldly gain and dread of loss spring up like searing flames, ideas of right and wrong dart out like daggers.

Comments:
First image : The Search for the Bull  
This stage represents man when he still doesn't realize his true nature, but he begins his search anyway. Motivated. He wishes to find it, though he doesn't even know what it is, nor is he sure of recognizing it when he finds it. Sometimes he experiments with the search as an escape from his present circumstances, that in general are not pleasant. Life as it is, is a heavy load and - he thinks - surely there must be a better way of living. Most of those that have started the "search" are at this stage. Not realizing we already possess what we seek. Don’t look for peace, don’t look for any other state than the one you are in now; to do so sets up and inner conflict and unconscious resistance. Forgive yourself for not being at peace. When  you completely accept that your not a peace, your non-peace transforms in to peace. Anything you fully accept will take you to peace this is the magic of surrender.

‘When you accept what is, every moment is the best moment. That is enlightenment.’   -Eckhart Tolle   .  


소의 자취를 발견하다 (見跡) FINDING THE TRACKS


수변림하적편다(水 林下跡偏多)
Along the riverbank under the trees, I discover footprints!

방초리피견야마 (芳草離披見也)
Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints.
종시심산갱심처(縱是深山更深處)
Deep in remote mountains they are found
요천비공즘장타(遼天鼻孔 藏他)
These traces no more can be hidden than one's nose, looking heavenward.

1.FINDING THE TRACKS  
Innumerable footprints has he seen in the forest and along the water's edge.  
Over yonder does he see the trampled grass?  
Even the deepest gorges of the top most mountains can't hide this Ox's nose which reaches right to heaven.  

Comments:
Through the teachings he discerns the tracks of the Ox. (He has been informed that just as different-shaped golden vessels are all basically of the same gold, so each and every thing is a manifestation of the Self. But he is unable to distinguish good from evil, truth from falsity. He has not actually entered the gate, but he sees in a tentative way the tracks of the Ox

“When your consciousness is directed outward, mind and world arise. When it is directed inward, it realizes its own source and returns home into the Unmanifested.”
-Eckhart Tolle


소를 보다(見牛) FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE OX



황앵지상일성성(黃 枝上一聲聲) I hear the song of the nightingale.
일난풍화안유청(日暖風和岸柳靑) The sun is warm, the wind is mild, willows are green along the shore.
지차갱무회피처(只此更無回避處)
Here no bull can hide!
삼삼두각화난성(森森頭角畵難成) What artist can draw that massive head, those majestic horns?

2.FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE OX
A nightingale warbles on a twig,  
the sun shines on undulating willows.  
There stands the Ox, where could he hide?  
That splendid head, those stately horns, what artist could portray them?  

Comments:
If he will but listen intently to everyday sounds, he will come to realization and at that instant see the very Source. The six senses are no different from this true Source. In every activity the Source is manifestly present. It is analogous to the salt in water or the binder in paint. When the inner vision is properly focused, one comes to realize that that which is seen is identical with the true Source.  

Offer no resistance to Life To be in this state is to no longer be dependent upon things being a certain way, good or bad. Let nature teach you the power of surrender, to be in the Now


소를 얻다(得牛) CATCHING THE OX



갈진정신획득거(竭盡精神獲得渠)    I seize him with a terrific struggle.
심강력장졸난제(心强力壯卒難除)
His great will and power are inexhaustible.
유시재도고원상(有時裳到高原上) He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists,
우입연운심처거(又入煙雲深處居)
Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

4. CATCHING THE OX  
He must tightly grasp the rope and not let it go,   for the Ox still has unhealthy tendencies.     
Now he charges up to the highlands, now he loiters in a     misty ravine.

Comments:
Today he encountered the Ox, which had long been cavorting in the wild fields, and actually grasped it. For so long a time has it reveled in these surroundings that breaking it of its old habits is not easy. It continues to yearn for sweet-scented grasses, it is still stubborn and unbridled. If he would tame it completely, the man must use his whip.  


소를 기르다(牧牛) TAMING THE OX



편삭시시불리신(鞭索時時不理身)  The whip and rope are necessary,
공이종보입애진(恐伊縱步入埃塵) Else he might stray off down some dusty road.
상장목득순화야(相將牧得純和也) Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle
기쇄무구자축인( 鎖無拘自逐人)
Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

5. TAMING THE OX  
He must hold the nose-rope tight and not allow the Ox to roam, lest off to muddy haunts it should stray.  
Properly tended, it becomes clean and gentle.  
Untethered, it willingly follows its master.  

Comments:
With the rising of one thought another and another are born. Enlightenment brings the realization that such thoughts are not unreal since even they arise from our True-nature. It is only because delusion still remains that they are imagined to be unreal. This state of delusion does not originate in the objective world but in our own minds.


소를 기르다(牧牛) RIDING THE OX HOME



편삭시시불리신(鞭索時時不理身) The whip and rope are necessary,
공이종보입애진(恐伊縱步入埃塵) Else he might stray off down some dusty road.
상장목득순화야(相將牧得純和也) Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle
기쇄무구자축인( 鎖無拘自逐人)
   Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

6. RIDING THE OX HOME  
Riding free as air he buoyantly comes home through evening mists in wide straw-hat and cape.  
Wherever he may go he creates a fresh breeze,  
while in his heart profound tranquility prevails.
This Ox requires not a blade of grass.  

Comments:
The struggle is over, "gain" and "loss" no longer affect him. He hums the rustic tune of the woodsman and plays the simple songs of the village children. Astride the Ox's back, he gazes serenely at the clouds above. His head does not turn [in the direction of temptations] .Try though one may to upset him, he remains undisturbed.  


소는 잊고 사람만 있다(忘牛存人)OX FORGOTTEN, SELF ALONE



기우이득도가산(騎牛已得到家山) Astride the bull, I reach home.
우야공혜인야한(牛也空兮人也閑)    I am serene. The bull too can rest.
홍일삼간유작몽(紅日三竿猶作夢) The dawn has come. In blissful repose,
편승공돈초당간(鞭繩空頓草堂間) Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and rope.

7. OX FORGOTTEN, SELF ALONE  
Only on the Ox was he able to come Home,  
But lo, the Ox is now vanished, and alone and serene sits    the man.  
The red sun rides high in the sky as he dreams on placidly.
Yonder beneath the thatched roof,  
his idle whip and idle rope are lying.    

Comments:
In nature there is no two-ness. The Ox is his Primal-nature: this he has now recognized. A trap is no longer needed when a rabbit has been caught, a net becomes useless when a fish has been snared. Like gold which has been separated from dross, like the moon which has broken through the clouds, one ray of luminous light shines eternally.


사람도 소도 다 잊다(人牛俱忘)BOTH OX AND SELF FORGOTTEN



편삭인우진속공(鞭索人牛盡屬空) Whip, rope, person, and bull -- all merge in No-Thing.
벽천요활신난통(壁天遼闊信難通) This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.
홍로염상쟁용설(紅爐焰上爭容雪) How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?
도차방능합조종(到此方能合祖宗) Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.

8. BOTH OX AND SELF FORGOTTEN  
Whip, rope, Ox and man alike belong to Emptiness.  
So vast and infinite the azure sky   that no concept of any
sort can reach it.  
Over a blazing fire a snowflake cannot survive.
When this state of mind is realized    comes at last    
comprehension of the spirit of the ancient Patriarchs.  

Comments:
All delusive feelings have perished and ideas of holiness too have vanished. He lingers not in the state of "I am a Buddha," but passes quickly on through the stage of "And now I have purged myself of the proud feeling 'I am not Buddha.' "Even the thousand eyes of five hundred Buddhas and Patriarchs can discern in him no specific quality. If hundreds of birds were now to strew flowers about his room, he could not but feel ashamed of himself.


근원으로 돌아가다(返本還源) RETURNING TO THE SOURCE



반본환원이비공(返本還源已費功)  Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source.
쟁여직하약맹롱(爭如直下若盲聾) Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning!
암중불견암전물(庵中不見庵前物) Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with that without
수자망망화자홍(水自茫茫花自紅) The river flows tranquilly on and     
  the flowers are red.

9. RETURNING TO THE SOURCE  
He has returned to the Origin, come back to the Source,  
but his steps have been taken in vain.  
It is as though he were now blind and deaf. Seated in his hut, he hankers not for things outside.  
Streams meander on of themselves,   red flowers naturally bloom red.  

Comments:
From the very beginning there has not been so much as a speck of dust to mar the intrinsic Purity. He observes the waxing and waning of life in the world while abiding assertively in a state of unshakable serenity. This waxing and waning is no phantom or illusion but a manifestation of the Source . Why then is there need to strive for anything? The waters are blue, the mountains are green. Alone with himself, he observes things endlessly changing.  


저자에 들아가 손을 드리우다 (入廛垂手) ENTERING THE MARKET PLACE WITH HELPING HANDS



로흉선족입전래(露胸跣足入廛來) Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world.
말토도회소만시(抹土途灰笑滿 ) My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful.
불용신선진비결(不用神仙眞秘訣) I use no magic to extend my life;
직교고목방화개(直敎枯木放花開) Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.

10. ENTERING THE MARKET PLACE WITH HELPING HANDS  
Barechested, barefooted, he comes into the market place.  
Muddied and dust-covered, how broadly he grins!  
I use no magic to extend my life,  
withered trees he swiftly brings to bloom!  

Comments:
The gate of his cottage is closed and even the wisest cannot find him. His mental panorama has finally disappeared. He goes his own way, making no attempt to follow the steps of earlier sages. Carrying a gourd, he strolls into the market; leaning on his staff, he returns home. He leads innkeepers and fleshmongers in the Way of the Buddha.