Introduction to the

Ten Oxherding Pictures

by Urs App

- 2 -

十牛圖

Ten Oxherding Pictures

- 3 -

- 4 -

The protagonist of this poetic picture story, a boy herdsman, stands for none otherthan you, dear reader. It is the very “I” that reads these lines through a pair of eyes, thesubject of your life, the protagonist of that unique story that is yours. It is what thinksyour thoughts, makes your plans, has your desires, and signs your checks: it is what wasborn of your parents and will die on your deathbed.

This “I” is also the starting point of the Zen Buddhist quest.

When a Chinese man called Huike, according to a Zen story, met Bodhidharma, thefollowing conversation ensued:

Huike: “Please, Master, bring peace to my heart-mind!”Bodhidharma: “Show it to me, and I will pacify it!” Huike: “I havesearched for it, but I could not find it.” Bodhidharma: “If youcould search for it, how could it be your very own heart-mind?”

In Zen Buddhism, the injunction “show me your self” has a particular ring, as the root-source of man’s basic dissatisfaction and the engine of his striving is none other thanthis “I”. The Japanese Zen master Bankei, for example, diagnosed the basic humanproblem as follows:

Your self-partiality is at the root of all your illusions. There aren’tany illusions when you don’t have this preference for yourself.

Rather than being the goal of man’s quest, Zen thus sees the “I” as the very problem.Thus the herdsman, who has an “I” just as all of us do, sets out in search of what hetruly is.

The object of this search, man’s true self, is represented by an ox or buffalo. The questextends from the seeing of faint traces (picture 2) to the thorough overcoming of theproblematic “I” with all of its objects (including the ox; picture 8) — and to theemergence of nature as it truly is (9).

In the Indian Upanishads, the highest spiritual goal is the realization that one’s owntrue self, one’s atman, is nothing other than the very essence of everything, i.e.,brahman. “Tat tvam asi”, “That thou art,” is its expression.

In terms of the present classic of Zen literature, the Ten Oxherding Pictures, thatmeans: your true self, what you really are without realizing it, is nothing other thanthat ox and that flower, or your neighbor. Thus the true man in picture 10 is not alooffrom the world but rather right here, in the bustle of the marketplace.

- 5 -

The ten pictures with master Kuoan's poems

1. Looking for the Ox

Pushing aside the weeds of illusionHe looks for the ox in the wildThrough swollen rivers and distant mountainsHis path leads far and fartherHis strength exhausted, he's in despairThere's no more place to searchYet hear that lonely autumn song:Cicada in a maple tree.

2. Noticing the Footprints

By a river, among the treesFootprints here and there!Wild thickets, weeds — or did he nowJust catch a glimpse of it?Deep into the mountainsHis path leads far astray.Its nose may reach the heavensYet would it leave no trace?

- 6 -

3. Catching Sight

The song of a nightingale, listen!It's perching on a branchWarm sunrays and a soothing breezeGreen willows on the bank.Ah, there!No way to overlook it,Majestic horns, a stately head:A challenge for a painter.

4. Getting Hold of the Ox

Everything and all he gives,And gets to catch the oxWhat strength of will, what power —Too tough to shed at onceAt times it suddenly strutsUp, up to higher plainsTo hide in mist and cloudsAnd rest in deep ravines.

- 7 -

5. Taming the Ox

Not letting go of tether and whipNot even for a momentHe's careful to not lose his wayIn the dirt and dust of the world.Well tended and domesticatedThe ox grows pure and gentle;Without a chain and bridlesIt trails its master just so.

6. Riding home

Riding high on the oxHe leisurely turns toward homeThe sing-song of his fluteVanishing in the evening glowEach beat, each noteFull of infinite meaningWhen one is in tune with the otherNo need for chat and blabber.

- 8 -

7. Ox vanished, herdsman remaining

Astride his ox at last he reachesThe mountains and hills of home.No more ox!The man is serene.Yet though the sun stands high aboveHe still is dreaming the dreamWhile whip and tether lie idleIn that thatched-roofed abode of his.

8. Ox and herdsman vanished

Whip, tether, person, ox:ALLIS EMPTY!Blue sky, all and all around:What is there to convey?How to keep a flake of snowAtop a red-hot oven?Get there and you do accordWith the founders of our school.

- 9 -

9. Returning to the Source

Returning to the root and source:Oh what a waste of effort!Much better to turn blind and deafRight at this very moment!Inside his hut, he does not seeAny object, nothing, outside:Rivers flow onward by themselvesAnd blossoms turn crimson like that.

10. Entering the Marketplace

Bare-chested and with naked feetHe bursts into the marketFull of dirt and ashesHis face one big wide grin.No need for magic potionsFrom adepts and immortals:He simply lets a withered treeErupt in blazing bloom.

- 10 -

The pictures of this series are of Japanese origin (1689; courtesy of Michel Mohr).The poems are by the Chinese Zen master Kuoan (jap. Kakuan).

The English translation of the poems is © by Urs App (1996)

- 11 -