If you have ever looked at Zen Buddhism, you may have come across the delightful Ox Herding Scrolls (Taming the Wild Bull), drawn and written centuries ago in cartoon fashion to reveal the path to enlightenment for Chinese, and then Japanese, monks.
The 12th Century C.E. master, Guo-on Shi-yuan, built upon the traditional Taoist story of the ox herd boy coming to realization of oneness with the universe.
Zen Buddhism picked this up as the perfect depiction of the stages of enlightenment, building a powerful metaphor that would linger on in Western minds centuries later.
The crude ink-block pictures are darling and childlike. You can easily see that the ox, which we might today interpret as a bull, symbolizes the mystery of your True Self, which you have always suspected was there, but could never quite grasp.
To unite with this mystery is the ultimate goal of life. To achieve this is the only true success.
Kensho: The Supreme Realization
In Japan, the doctrine of sudden enlightenment reached maturity. It had been debated for millennia as to whether the ultimate awakening required myriad lifetimes, or could actually be gained in a split second.
The Zen tradition introduced the concept of Kensho, or spontaneously seeing into the nature of things, complemented by the word Satori, which is a sudden flash of illumination, or deep understanding.
Chinese Zen master Wumen Hui-k'ai put it this way:
A thunderclap under the clear blue sky
All beings on earth open their eyes;
Everything under heaven bows together;
Mount Sumeru leaps up and dances.
It was realized in Japan with the Rinzai School that, although the preparation might require a lifetime, illumination could happen at any time, in a single instant.
The monks realized that there was a definite process involved that made a highly improbable experience accessible to the earnest seeker.
Inner Struggle Needs Order and Discipline
For anything worthwhile in life, sustained effort is required. For even a man of great means, winning the heart and soul of a stunningly beautiful woman requires sustained courtship and great patience.
Become highly fluent in a foreign language takes more than a few weeks of study. The language is perfected after years of effort. Almost all “overnight successes” are a bit of a joke, typically requiring a decade or more of hard work.
To come to the full realization of Who You Really Are typically demands incredible concentration.
In the Zen tradition, it took months and years, getting up at 4:00 in the morning, chopping wood and carrying water with a single meal a day. You would sit on your haunches for hours at a time.
If you nodded off, you were swiftly hit with a stick, and were expected to say, “Thank You.” You were given an impossible saying to decode, called a Koan. Every possible answer you came up with was summarily rejected. You had to bow to everyone and give up anything resembling a life of your own all for that single moment of awakening when you could truly say, “I got it.”
Ten Bulls or The 10 Steps To Becoming One with “IT”
In my opinion, we go through this process every time we face our inner struggles or obstacles of any kind. It can serve you in a powerful way once you let it sink in.
This process can be broken down in the Scrolls as follows:
1. The Search for the Bull
The novice has come to profound dissatisfaction with the status quo, and wants more to life. All his efforts for wealth, fame and power have failed to deliver the well-being he seeks so desperately. He pokes into various spiritual paths without any real conviction as to which one will work.
2. Discovering the Footprints
Becoming more serious, the beginner sees evidence of the Source, and systematically explores various traditions. However, his approach is more conceptual than experiential. He is tantalized to keep look for the ultimate answer to the ultimate question.
3. Perceiving the Bull
One day, the explorer has an actual glimpse of his divine Self. He sees the horns of the bull. Not much else. When he takes a step toward his prize, it vanishes away. He is now determined to go all the way, and waits for a better day.
4. Catching the Bull
The seeker’s time has finally arrived. The bull appears in full glory. Armed with whip and rope, the seeker lasso’s the bull, facing a terrific struggle. He doesn’t quite realize that the bull embodies his own wild nature that smirks at submission. The battle begins.
5. Taming the Bull
The disciple is ever vigilant to tame the wild beast. With increasing focus and concentration, he is becoming adept at pulling in the wild impulses. At some point, the bull’s pride is broken. He is content to take a submissive role, knowing his new master will take good care of him.
6. Riding the Bull Home
The seeker is on his way to mastery. He is able to mount the bull and play his flute all the way home. He has overcome primal fears and released new energy. He now feels sure that he will attain to the supreme realization.
7. The Bull Transcended
The monk has begun to overcome the subject / object split. He now sees that the bull is actually the disowned part of himself, which when assimilated, gives him tremendous power. He can find fulfillment in ordinary life. He no longer needs to go out of his way to find magic.
8. Both Bull and Self Transcended
The disciple finally sees into the nature of reality, and finds emptiness, represented by the broken Zen circle. As the poem puts it, “How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?” Neither he nor the ox exists apart. All things are interlinked in one glorious dance.
9. Reaching the Source
For the realized sage, the emptiness then turns into fullness. Rivers are wet, and roses smell divine. Everything is, and is not. No need to prove anything. Just play.
10. In the World
The final picture shows that the ox herd, or monk, has re-entered the world, and gone to the marketplace with his own bag of goodies to share with children. He moves, touches and inspires everyone around him, who is captivated by his enchanting way of being. As the poem puts it, “Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.”
You can also see the ‘Ten Bulls’ drawings by clicking here.
Coming Home to Who You Really Are
Whatever your aspiration in life, you will not long avoid the longing to answer the ultimate question, not with your mind, but with your heart.
If someone told you that you were God, those words would not ring true. They would have a negligible impact on your life.
However, when you have an intuitive awakening, such that you see that the entire universe is an extension of who you are, that all flows out from you, you will begin to truly fall in love with yourself, and begin to love every sentient being as yourself.
That’s when you realize… Life is Art and Art is Life.
Religions and traditions call this by many names. As the Tao Te Ching admonishes us, “The name that can be named is not the everlasting name.” Zen Buddhists point their finger to the moon. However, they ask you to NOT mistake their finger for the moon, itself.
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