Perceiving the Ox – Part III

I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild, willows are green along the shore,
Here no bull can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head, those majestic horns?

When one hears the voice, one can sense its source.

As soon as the six senses merge, the gate is entered. Wherever one enters one sees the head of the bull!
This unity is like salt in water, like color in dyestuff.
The slightest thing is not apart from self.

4. Catching the bull – Part IV

I seize him with a terrific struggle.
His great will and power are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists, Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.


He dwelt in the forest a long time, but I caught him today!
Infatuation for scenery interferes with his direction.
Longing for sweeter grass, he wanders away.
His mind still is stubborn and unbridled.
If I wish him to submit, I must raise my whip.

LET YOUR MINDFLOW…

FINDING THE TRACKS - Part II

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 topmost mountains 
can't hide this Ox's nose which reaches right to heaven.

At this stage, the searcher finds indications, clues in one or more spiritual traditions, he is attracted by books of wisdom, he assists to conferences on the subject, he meets masters and notices that there are others that have followed the same path, he is not the first person to have noticed that there is something subtle to attain. Through these he experiences sensations related to the spirit. In the first image the farmer searches all over, without a specific order, whereas in the second image his search is more focussed and better oriented.

Try to picture yourself as the ox, then as the farmer.

Finally as both!

LET YOUR MINDFLOW…
To be continued…

Taming the wild ox - Part I

This always intrigued me. I know this pictures for years, but they are still new.
The Ten Oxherding Pictures, by Zen Master Kakuan, China, 12th C.

Those pictures are old, but they have everything they need to stay ahead of us. They have us inside.
So I'd like to propose a journey through them... through us. Trying to understand them made me closer to myself and every time I notice I couldn't be so far.

Here we go!

1. SEEKING THE OX
Desolated through forests and fearful in jungles, 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, so why search for it? 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.

Looking forward to FINDING THE TRACKS

LET YOUR MINDFLOW...