Compiled by Steven L. Aldrich (AT&T Bell Labs)
The Ten Oxherding Pictures are among the most celebrated teaching sequences in Zen Buddhism. Attributed to the 12th-century Chinese master Kuòān Shīyuǎn (廓庵師遠), they trace the stages of a practitioner's search for the "ox" — a symbol for the practitioner's own original nature or Buddha-nature — from the first confused seeking through capture, taming, and transcendence, until finally the seeker returns to the ordinary world, transformed. Each stage is traditionally accompanied by an image and verse.
This version was posted to net.religion in November 1984 by Steven L. Aldrich, an engineer at AT&T Bell Labs in Naperville, Illinois, who signed his posts as "The Resident Zen-Baptist." Aldrich was a regular contributor to net.religion, sharing Buddhist and cross-traditional material with a generosity and lightness that characterized the best of early Usenet spiritual discourse. At the time of this posting, the World Wide Web was a decade away; alt.religion.buddhism did not yet exist; and this sequence — offered simply "for those who are interested in Zen Buddhist beliefs" — would have been one of the first encounters with classical Zen teaching for many readers on the network.
I. Seeking the Ox
Desolate 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.
II. Discovering the Footprints
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 into heaven.
III. Perceiving the Ox
A nightingale warbles on a twig,
the sun shines on undulating willows.
There stands the Ox, where could he hide?
That splendid head, those stately horns,
what artist could portray them.
IV. Catching the Ox
He must tightly grasp the rope and not let go,
for the Ox still has unhealthy tendancies.
Now he charges up to the highlands,
now he loiters in a misty ravine.
V. Taming the Ox
He must hold the nose rope tight and not allow the Ox to roam,
lest off to muddy haunts it should stray.
Properly tended, it becomes clean and gentle.
Untethered, it willingly follows its master.
VI. Riding the Ox Home
Riding free as air, he buoyantly comes home,
through evening mists in wide straw-hat and cape.
Wherever he may go he creates a fresh breeze,
while in his heart profound tranquility prevails.
This Ox requires not a blade of grass.
VII. The Ox Forgotten, Leaving the Man Alone
Only on the Ox was he able to come home,
but lo, the Ox is now vanished, and alone and serene,
sits the man.
The red sun rides high in the sky
as he dreams on placidly.
Yonder beneath the thatched roof
his idle whip and idle rope are lying.
VIII. The Ox and the Man Both Gone Out of Sight
Whip, rope, Ox and man alike belong to Emptiness.
So vast and infinate the azure sky
that no concept of any sort can reach it.
Over a blazing fire a snowflake cannot survive.
When this state of mind is realized
comes at last comprehension
of the spirit of the ancient patriarchs.
IX. Returning to the Origin, Back to the Source
He has returned to the Origin, come back to the Source,
but his steps have been taken in vain.
It is as though he were now blind and deaf.
Seated in his hut, he hankers not for things outside.
Streams meander on of themselves,
red flowers naturally bloom red.
X. Entering the City with Bliss-Bestowing Hands
Barechested, barefooted, he comes into the marketplace.
Muddied and dust-covered, he broadly grins!
Without recourse to mystic powers,
withered trees he swiftly brings to bloom.
Colophon
The Ten Oxherding Pictures originate in 12th-century Chan (Zen) Buddhism, attributed to the master Kuòān Shīyuǎn. They represent one of the tradition's most beloved teaching sequences on the stages of spiritual awakening. This version was posted to net.religion on 9 November 1984 by Steven L. Aldrich ([email protected]), AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Illinois. The spelling and minor idiosyncrasies of the original are preserved. Original Message-ID: [email protected].
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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