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Zen teaching. But in Seikyo's case the gradual development of the Zen life was indicated by a progressive
whitening of the animal, ending in the disappearance of the whole being. There were in this only five
pictures, instead of ten as by Kaku-an. Kaku-an thought this was somewhat misleading because of an empty
circle being made the goal of Zen discipline. Some might take mere emptiness as all important and final.
Hence his improvement resulting in the "Ten Oxherding Pictures" as we have them now.
According to a commentator of Kaku-an's Pictures, there is another series of the Oxherding Pictures by a Zen
master called jitoku Ki (Tzu-te Hui), who apparently knew of the existence of the Five Pictures by Seikyo,
for jitoku's are six in number. The last one, No. 6, goes beyond the stage of absolute emptiness where
Seikyo's end: the poem reads:
"Even beyond the ultimate limits there extends a passageway,
Whereby he comes back among the six realms of existence;
Every worldly affair is a Buddhist work,
And wherever he goes he finds his home air;
Like a gem he stands out even in the mud,
Like pure gold he shines even in the furnace;
Along the endless road [of birth and death] he walks sufficient unto himself,
In whatever associations he is found he moves leisurely unattached."
Jitoku's ox grows whiter as Seikyo's, and in this particular respect both differ from Kaku-an's conception. In
the latter there is no whitening process. In Japan Kaku-an's Ten Pictures gained a wide circulation, and at
present all the oxherding books reproduce them. The earliest one belongs I think to the fifteenth century. In
China however a different edition seems to have been in vogue, one belonging to the Seikyo and Jitoku series
of pictures. The author is not known. The edition containing the preface by Chu-hung, 1585, has ten pictures,
each of which is preceded by Pu-ming's poem. As to who this Pu-ming was, Chu-hung himself professes
ignorance. In these pictures the ox's colouring changes together with the oxherd's management of him. The
quaint original Chinese prints are reproduced below, and also Pu-ming's verses translated into English.
Thus as far as I can identify there are four varieties of the Oxherding Pictures: (1) by Kaku-an, (2) by Seikyo,
(3) by Jitoku, and (4) by an unknown author.
Kaku-an's "Pictures" here reproduced are by Shubun, a Zen priest of the fifteenth century. The original
pictures are preserved at Shokokuji, Kyoto. He was one of the greatest painters in black and white in the
Ashikaga period.
The Ten Oxherding Pictures, I.
by Kaku-an
I
Searching for the Ox
. The beast has never gone astray, and what is the use of searching for him? The reason why the oxherd is not
on intimate terms with him is because the oxherd himself has violated his own inmost nature. The beast is
lost, for the oxherd has himself been led out of the way through his deluding senses. His home is receding
The Ten Oxherding Pictures, I. by Kaku-an 68
Manual of Zen Buddhism
farther away from him, and byways and crossways are ever confused. Desire for gain and fear of loss burn
like fire; ideas of right and wrong shoot up like a phalanx.
Alone in the wilderness, lost in the jungle, the boy is searching, searching!
The swelling waters, the far-away mountains, and the unending path;
Exhausted and in despair, he knows not where to go,
He only hears the evening cicadas singing in the maple-woods.
II
Seeing the Traces
. By the aid of the sutras and by inquiring into the doctrines, he has come to understand something, he has
found the traces. He now knows that vessels, however varied, are all of gold, and that the objective world is a
reflection of the Self. Yet, he is unable to distinguish what is good from what is not, his mind is still confused
as to truth and falsehood. As he has not yet entered the gate, he is provisionally said to have noticed the
traces.
By the stream and under the trees, scattered are the traces of the lost;
The sweet-scented grasses are growing thick--did he find the way?
However remote over the hills and far away the beast may wander,
His nose reaches the heavens and none can conceal it.
III
Seeing the Ox
. The boy finds the way by the sound he hears; he sees thereby into the origin of things, and all his senses are
in harmonious order. In all his activities, it is manifestly present. It is like the salt in water and the glue in
colour. [It is there though not distinguishable as an individual entity.] When the eye is properly directed, he
will find that it is no other than himself,
On a yonder branch perches a nightingale cheerfully singing;
The sun is warm, and a soothing breeze blows, on the bank the willows are green;
The ox is there all by himself, nowhere is he to hide himself;
The splendid head decorated with stately horns what painter can reproduce him?
IV
Catching the Ox
. Long lost in the wilderness, the boy has at last found the ox and his hands are on him. But, owing to the
overwhelming pressure of the outside world, the ox is hard to keep under control. He constantly longs for the
old sweet-scented field. The wild nature is still unruly, and altogether refuses to be broken. If the oxherd
wishes to see the ox completely in harmony with himself, he has surely to use the whip freely.
With the energy of his whole being, the boy has at last taken hold of the ox:
But how wild his will, how ungovernable his power!
At times he struts up a plateau,
When lo! he is lost again in a misty unpenetrable mountain-pass.
The Ten Oxherding Pictures, I. by Kaku-an 69
Manual of Zen Buddhism
V
Herding the Ox
. When a thought moves, another follows, and then another-an endless train of thoughts is thus awakened.
Through enlightenment all this turns into truth; but falsehood asserts itself when confusion prevails. Things
oppress us not because of an objective world, but because of a self-deceiving mind. Do not let the
nose-string loose, hold it tight, and allow no vacillation.
The boy is not to separate himself with his whip and tether,
Lest the animal should wander away into a world of defilements;
When the ox is properly tended to, he will grow pure and docile;
Without a chain, nothing binding, he will by himself follow the oxherd.
VI
Coming Home on the Ox's Back
. The struggle is over; the man is no more concerned with gain and loss. He hums a rustic tune of the
woodman, he sings simple songs of the village-boy. Saddling himself on the ox's back, his eyes are fixed on
things not of the earth, earthy. Even if he is called, he will not turn his head; however enticed he will no more
be kept back.
Riding on the animal, he leisurely wends his way home:
Enveloped in the evening mist, how tunefully the flute vanishes away!
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