Zen Ox-Herding Pics - Part 1 of 3
The Chan or Zen School.
Sometimes calls itself.
The.
The School of.
Consciousness In other words, it teaches the nature of consciousness.
There is a
Famous set of.
Drawings.
That show one paradigm or one possible model for the path of coming.
To understand the nature of your consciousness.
And it's called the 10 Oxherding Pictures surely out in Mandarin pronunciations, you use in the sino Japanese?
Neo means an ox.
And the ox symbolizes.
The nature of consciousness.
So they call it the Shinyo OK, the ox of consciousness, the consciousness symbolized by the ox.
But to understand consciousness.
In other words, experience our senses.
Is also enlightenment so the 10 oxherding pictures can be interpreted in 2 different ways. One is they show you stages on the path to enlightenment.
The other is they show you the process of.
Uh.
Understanding or truly grasping, Watt consciousness is but of course, those are exactly the same thing.
I would like to go through them.
I don't know if you can all see this, but this is the first picture.
And this is called searching for the ox.
Notice that there is no ox to be found.
The Chinese verse that goes with this says the Oxherding Boy is completely lossed.
There's no trace of the ox. There's only the cicadas chirping do you understand who the oxherding boy? Is and what the cicadas chirping?
This is the situation of most People on this planet at this time, Unfortunately.
They know they want something.
But what they think they want.
Is not what they really want there's everyone search it OK like that song goes everybody's looking for something?
But what People think they want.
Is?
Happiness depended on conditions, but what they really want is happiness Indypendent of conditions.
Symbolized by
In the Enlightenment talks or
The consciousness the nature of consciousness ox, but there's no ox at all, not even any trace of the ox.
He's just wandering around searching for something.
Looking for something.
And just hearing the?
The twittering.
Of the cicadas.
Which is Unfortunately the situation for most People?
Some People though.
In their wanderings.
Get fortunate.
They see the tracks of something.
They haven't seen.
The nature of consciousness, they haven't seen the ox.
They haven't experienced enlightenment.
But something gives them an indication that.
There is this possibility.
Maybe they heard a Dharma talk.
Maybe they had some experience when they were little that they never forgot.
Or when they were grown up.
Maybe they had a friend that came to a retreat.
Etc etc.
They get some indication.
That there's
Another possibility.
Beyond the
Trenchant fulfillment of the twittering world.
So this is called seeing the footprints.
Everyone of you has seen the footprints.
Or you wouldn't be here.
You might guess what the next step is.
He sees the tail on the ox, the tush.
And a few hairs of the tail.
Hasn't really seen the whole ox yet?
But can you see, there's the tush and the tail and it's like Oh my God, it really exists.
I haven't seen it all but I have seen a little piece of it.
Most of you are at least in this category.
You've gone beyond. Just seeing the footprints OK, you've actually gotten a little visage of who you really are.
Or you wouldn't have survived 2 weeks.
In silence.
So you seen the ox.
But that's not.
The same at all catching the ox.
You see, he's got he's got the whole locks.
And he's got a hold of it.
Now we could.
Say that this would be.
Perhaps ones first glimpse of no self.
Stream entry or kensho type experience.
You've actually seen the whole locks.
The nature of consciousness, which is.
No thingness.
And you got a handle on it.
But it's still running wild.
But at least you've captured the ox.
But.
And it's in your Ken.
You can see it anytime you want.
But that's a far cry.
From.