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Stories Ma Nature Shamanism The Papalagi



Ice2

Why
Are some icicles long
Some short?
-Onitsura-

We are poets and sages in so far as we
do not ask such questions, or rather ...
in asking them we expect no answer and
do not desire one.
To keep things in this state of wonder
and suspense, to want without desire to
love deeply without attachment, this is
the real part of all our living.
Then the different lengths of the icicles,
the different heights of wooden pilings,
the difference between the sun and the
moon, these things are of perpetual and
never-ending surprise, for ...

"A long thing is ...
the Long Body of Buddha;
A short thing is ...
the Short Body of Buddha."

-R.H.Blyth-
Haiku Vol4 Autumn/Winter


<img alt="Chinese for "utilization"" src="http://www.duckdaotsu.org/2/utilization.gif" style="width: 52px; height: 16px;">

ox

The 10 Ox Herding Pictures

Prose and comments from
"Zen Flesh, Zen Bones"
~ Paul Reps ~
Illustrations -ts-


The enlightenment for which Zen aims, for which Zen exists, comes of itself.
As consciousness, one moment it does not exist, the next it does.
But physical man walks in the element of time even as he walks in mud ...
dragging his feet and his true nature.
So even Zen must compromise and recognize progressive steps of awareness
leading closer to the ever instant of enlightenment.
In the twelfth century the Chinese master Kakuan drew the pictures of the
ten bulls, basing them on the earlier Taoist bulls, and wrote the comments
in prose and verse. His vision was pure Zen ... going deeper than earlier
versions, which had ended with the nothingness of the eighth picture.
The bull is the eternal principle of life ... truth in action.
The ten bulls represent steps in the realization of one's true nature.
This sequence is as potent today as it was when Kakuan developed it from
earlier works and made his paintings of the bull.
An understanding of the creative principle transcends any time or place.
The 10 Bulls is more than poetry, more than pictures. It is a revelation
of spirtual unfoldment paralleled in every bible of human experience.
May the reader, like the Chinese patriarch, discover the footprints of his
potential self and, carrying the staff of his purpose and the wine jug of
his true desire, frequent the market place and there enlighten others.

Ox01
The Search for the Bull
In the pasture of this world,
I endlessly push aside the tall
grasses in search of the bull.
Following unnamed rivers, lost
upon the interpenetrating paths
of distant mountains ...
My strength failing and my vitality
exhausted, I cannot find the bull.
I only hear the locusts chirring
through the forest at night.
comment:
The bull never has been lost.
What need is there to search?
Only because of separation from my
true nature, I fail to find him.
In the confusion of the senses I
lose even his tracks. Far from home,
I see many crossroads, but which way
is the right one I know not.
Greed and fear, good and bad,
entangle me.
Seeking The Ox
The Ox has never really gone astray. So why search for it? Having turned his back on his true nature ...
the man cannot see it. Because of his defilements he has lost sight of the Ox. Desolute, through forests
and fearful jungles he is seeking the Ox which he does not find. Up and down dark, nameless, wide flowing
rivers in deep mountain thickets he treads many bypaths.
At evening he hears cicadas chirping in the trees.


Discovering the Footprints
Along the riverbank under the trees ...
I discover footprints!
Even under the fragrant grass I see
his prints.
Deep in remote mountains they are found.
These traces no more can be hidden
than one's nose, looking heavenward.


comment:
Understanding the teaching, I see the
footprints of the bull. Then I learn that,
just as many utensils are made from one
metal, so too are myriad entities made of
the fabric of self.
Unless I discriminate, how will I perceive
the true from the untrue? Not yet having
entered the gate, nevertheless I have
discerned the path.
Ox02
Finding The Tracks
Through the Sutras and teachings he discerns the tracks of the Ox. He has been informed that, just as differently shaped golden vessels are all basically the same gold so each and every thing is a manifestation of the Self.
He has not yet entered the Gate, but he sees in a tentative way the tracks of the Ox.
Innumerable footprints he has seen in the forest and along the water's edge. Does he see the trampled grass?
Even the deepest gorges or the topmost mountans cannot hide this Ox's nose, which reaches right to Heaven.

Ox03


Perceiving the Bull
I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore.
Here no bull can hide!
What artist can draw that massive
head, those majestic horns?


comment:
When one hears the voice,
one can sense its source.
As soon as the six senses
merge, the gate is entered.
Wherever one enters one sees
the head of the bull!
This unity is like salt in
water, like color in dyestuff.
The slightest thing is not
apart from self.
First Glimpse of the Ox.
If he will but listen intently to everyday sounds, he will come to reach realization and at the instant see the very Source. The six senses are no different from this true Source. In everyday activity; the Source is manifestly present. When the inner vision is focused, one comes to realize that which is seen as indentical with the true Source. The nightingale warbles on a twig, the sun shines on undulating willows.
There stands the Ox. Where could he hide?

Catching the Bull


I seize him with a terrific
struggle. His great will and
power are inexhaustable.
He charges to the high plateau
far above the cloud-mists ...
Or in an impenetrable ravine
he stands.


comment:
He dwelt in the forest a long time,
but I causght him today!
Infatuation for scenery interferes
with his direction. Longing for
sweeter grass, he wanders away.
His mind is still stubborn and
unbridled. If I wish him to submit,
I must raise my whip.
Ox04
Catching The Ox
Today he encountered the Ox which has long been cavorting in the wild fields, and actually grasped it. For so
long a time has it reveled in these surroundings that the breaking of its old habits is not easy. It continues to
yearn for sweet-scented grasses, it is still stubborn and unbridled. If he would tame it completely the man
must use his whip. He must tightly grasp the rope and not let it go, for the Ox still has unhealthy tendencies.

Ox05
Taming the Bull


The whip and rope are necessary.
Else he might stray off down
some dusty road.
Being well trained, he becomes
naturally gentle.
Then unfettered he obeys his master.


comment:
When one thought arises, another
thought follows. When the first
thought springs from enlightenment,
all subsequent thoughts are true.
Through delusion ...
one makes every thing untrue.
Delusion is not caused by objectivity;
it is the result of subjectivity.
Hold the nose-ring tight and do
not allow even a doubt.
Taming The Ox
With the rising of one thought, another and another are born. Enlightenment brings the realization that such thoughts are not unreal, since even they arise from our True Nature. It is only because delusion still remains
that they are imagined as unreal.
Properly tended it becomes clean and gentle. Untethered it willingly follows its master.


Riding the Bull Home


Mounting the bull ...
slowly I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones
throughout the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats the
pulsating harmony ...
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody will
join me.


comment:
This struggle is over; gain and loss
are assimilated. I sing the song of
the village woodsman, and play the
tunes of the children.
Astride the bull, I observe the clouds
above. Onward I go, no matter who may
wish to call me back.
Ox06
Riding The Ox Home
The struggle is over. Gain and loss no longer affect him. He hums the rustic tune of the woodsman and plays
the simple songs of the village children. Astride the Ox's back, he gazes serenely at the clouds above.
Riding free as air, he buoyantly comes home through evening mists.
Wherever he may go, he creates a feash breeze, while in his heart profound tranquility prevails.

Ox07
The Bull Transcended


Astride the bull, I reach home.

I am serene. The bull too can rest.

The dawn has come. In blissful repose,

Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and rope.


comment: All is one law, not two. We only make the bull a temporary subject. It is as the relation of rabbit and trap, of fish and net. It is as gold and dross, or the moon emerging from a cloud. One path of clear light travels on throughout endless time.

Additional commentary to be added.

Both Bull & Self Transcended


Whip, rope, person, and bull ... all merge in No-Thing.

This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.

How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?

Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.


comment: Mediocrity is gone. Mind is clear of limitation. I seek no state of enlightenment. Neither do I remain where no enlightenment exists. Since I linger in neither condidtion, eyes cannot see me. If hundreds of birds strew my path with flowers, such praise would be meaningless.

Ox08

Additional commentary to be added.

Ox09
Reaching The Source


Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source.

Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning!

Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with that without ...

The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red.


comment: From the beginning, truth is clear. Poised in silence, I observe the forms of integration and disintegration. One who is not attached to "form" need not be "reformed." The water IS emerald, the mountain IS indigo, and I see that which IS creating and that which IS destroying.

Additional commentary to be added.

In the World.


Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world.

My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful.

I use no magic to extend my life;

Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.


comment: Inside my gate, a thousand sages do not know me. The beauty of my garden is invisible. Why should one search for the footprints of the patriarchs? I go to the market place with my wine bottle and return home with my staff. I visit the wineshop and the market, and everyone i look upon becomes enlightened.


Ox10

Additional commentary to be added.


commentary

1. The Search for the Bull


In the pasture of this world, I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull.

Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the inter- penetrating paths of distant mountains ...

My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull.

I only hear the locusts chirring through the forest at night.


comment: The bull never has been lost. What need is there to search? Only because of separation from my true nature, I fail to find him. In the confusion of the senses I lose even his tracks. Far from home, I see many crossroads, but which way is the right one I know not. Greed and fear, good and bad, entangle me.

2.

Along the riverbank under the trees ... I discover footprints!

Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints.

Deep in remote mountains they are found.

These traces no more can be hidden than one's nose, looking heavenward.


comment: Understanding the teaching, I see the footprints of the bull. Then I learn that, just as many utensils are made from one metal, so too are myriad entities made of the fabric of self. Unless I discriminate, how will I perceive the true from the untrue? Not yet having entered the gate, nevertheless I have discerned the path. ~

3. Perceiving the Bull


I hear the song of the nightingale.

The sun is warm, the wind is mild, willows are green along the shore.

Here no bull can hide!

What artist can draw that massive head, those majestic horns?


comment: When one hears the voice, one can sense its source. As soon as the six senses merge, the gate is entered. Whherever one enters one sees the head of the bull! This unity is like salt in water, like color in dyestuff. The slightest thing is not apart from self.

~

4. Catching the Bull


I seize him with a terrific struggle.

His great will and power are inexhaustable.

He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists,

Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.


comment: He dwelt in the forest a long time, but I causght him today! Infatuation for scenery interferes with his direction. Longing for sweeter grass, he wanders away. His mind is still stubborn and unbridled. If I wish him to submit, I must raise my whip.

~

5. Taming the Bull


The whip and rope are necessary,

Else he mght stray off down some dusty road.

Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle.

Tehn, unfettered, he obeys his master.


comment: When one thought arises, another thought follows. When the first thought springs from enlightenment, all subsequent thoughts are true. Through delusion, one makes every thing untrue. Delusion is not caused by objectivity; it is the result of subjectivity. Hold the nose-ring tight and do not allow even a doubt. ~

6. Riding the Bull Home


Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward.

The voice of my flute intones throught the evening.

Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony, I direct the endless rhythm.

Whoever hears this melody will join me.


comment: This struggle is over; gain and loss are assimilated. I sing the song of the village woodsman, and play the tunes of the children. Astride the bull, I observe the clouds above. Onward I go, no matter who may wish to call me back.


~


Astride the bull, I reach home.

I am serene. The bull too can rest.

The dawn has come. In blissful repose,

Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and rope.


comment: All is one law, not two. We only make the bull a temporary subject. It is as the relation of rabbit and trap, of fish and net. It is as gold and dross, or the moon emerging from a cloud. One path of clear light travels on throughout endless time.

~

8. Both Bull & Self Transcended


Whip, rope, person, and bull ... all merge in No-Thing.

This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.

How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?

Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.


comment: Mediocrity is gone. Mind is clear of limitation. I seek no state of enlightenment. Neither do I remain where no enlightenment exists. Since I linger in neither condidtion, eyes cannot see me. If hundreds of birds strew my path with flowers, such praise would be meaningless.

~

9. Reaching The Source


Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source.

Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning!

Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with that without ...

The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red.


comment: From the beginning, truth is clear. Poised in silence, I observe the forms of integration and disintegration. One who is not attached to "form" need not be "reformed." The water IS emerald, the mountain IS indigo, and I see that which IS creating and that which IS destroying.

~

10. In the World.


Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world.

My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful.

I use no magic to extend my life;

Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.


comment: Inside my gate, a thousand sages do not know me. The beauty of my garden is invisible. Why should one search for the footprints of the patriarchs? I go to the market place with my wine bottle and return home with my staff. I visit the wineshop and the market, and everyone i look upon becomes enlightened.

plus

The Hermit in Lore: the I Ching

The I ching or Book of Changes is an ancient Chinese literary source originating as a divination manual. It presents hexagrams accompanied by explanatory commentaries and text. Although consulted for divination, the work acquired the reputation of being a reservoir of philosophical wisdom, for which it was as widely consulted in subsequent centuries. Because this origin and transformation is pre-Confucian, the I ching provides an excellent resource not interpolated by later tradition. It has special relevance to the study of Chinese eremiticism.

Renunciation of service became a philosophical issue under Confucius, whose ethics took up the perennial issue of service to society and state versus reclusion. The Confucian concept of reclusion, it must be remembered, is still rudimentary, referring to abstention, not a hermit lifestyle. There should be no antiquarianism or historical anachronism in studying the I ching.

The I ching likely was originally consulted by government officials for making decisions. Advice to the ruler of the state is a common application of divination in all cultures, using devices such as taking of augury and astrology. But as a literary source, the I ching embodies specific modes of behavior and responses to crises. Their meanings are general, of course, even vague, but the consultant is expected to apply the established principle of the hexagram to an immediate situation. Some hexagrams advise actions which came to be understood as the origins of eremiticism, advising an "eremitic" solution.

A hexagram consists of a unit of six horizontal lines, with accompanying commentary: Judgment, Image, and Lines, the latter a descriptive meaning of each line in detail. The lines are of two sets (top and bottom) and are solid or broken into two. The sequence of the lines from lowest to highest represents a specific natural phenomenon that, in turn, suggests an interpretation relevant to the consultant.

<img src="../images/tun.gif" align="left" border="0" height="66" hspace="10" vspace="2" width="54">The most obvious hexagram relevant to the construction of a Chinese personality of eremiticism is number 33: tun or the pinyin dun. Here the hexagram represents "retreat." The original sense suggests caution and the avoidance of danger, as in a military situation, but the commentary universalizes the context to human affairs in general. Retreat is not cowardice or flight. Retreat is perspicacious, the wise perception of when to abandon the field  (of battle, social engagement, etc.). The commentary for Judgment is more specific:

Mountain under heaven: the image of retreat.
Thus the superior man keeps the inferior at a distance,
Not angrily but with reserve.

The mountain and the firmament part of retreat from one another. The wise man ("superior" as heaven, embodying wisdom) rises above the inferior man ("inferior" as mountain). He keeps distance because the mountain can never reach him, neither in the psychological nor physical sense. The wise man's retreat is not motivated by hatred or anger but dignity. The mountain reaches a standstill, while the heavens ascend ever indefinitely.

The I ching further analyzes each line of the hexagram. The top line retreats, representing a period of danger or precariousness. The commentary advises inaction (the famous wu-wei of later Taoism).

At the tail in retreat.
This is dangerous.
One must not wish to undertake anything.

The second line from the top means:

He holds him fast with yellow ox hide.
No one can tear him loose.

The color yellow signifies "middle." The inferior man is held fast by strong ox hide, hence bound by duty. The inferior man presses the superior and does not allow the latter to go, as in the Judgment statement.

Line three:

A halted retreat
Is nerve-wracking and dangerous.

To retain people as men and maid servants
Brings good fortune.

During the dangerous retreat, it is advised to take care of clinging servants. Obviously, the advise is addressed to men at court, of some means, who have run into trouble with the court ethos. By naming servants as a distinct group which the consultant should not abandon in hardheartedness as he withdraws from the court, it becomes clear that the inferior men are not the servants but those who gentlemen who serve the emperor and officials. This passage may reflect charity or pragmatism. The clinging inferiors of line two are no longer here.

Line 4:

Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man
And downfall to the inferior man.

This line reemphasizes the superior man's disposition as positive and marked by integrity. He is not forced to retreat but chooses a wiser more dignified way. His absence will further plunge the inferior onto downfall, already anticipated by the superior.

Line 5:

Friendly retreat.
Perseverance brings good fortune.

This line confirms that the timing of the retreat allows for an amicable resolution between superior and inferior, despite the danger referred to in an earlier commentary. The superior must be firm in conviction, nevertheless, to achieve the desired outcome.


Line 6:

Cheerful retreat
Everything serves to further.

Circumstances for retreat are now clear and a mood of cheerfulness can be entertained. Such a clarity establishes success for the path ahead.

The thirty-third hexagram has been detailed because it so irrefutably establishes an ethos of reclusion so early in ancient China. Though the contexts deals with civil service in a literal sense, and cannot be presumed to establish a universal motive for eremiticism, this hexagram does lay out the circumstances necessary for an eremiticism of the future. Chinese eremiticism would thus, in this and the immediate Confucian period that follows, be characterized by a highly-principled social criteria, namely, the individual's capacity to reject social and civic norms in favor of personal integrity and freedom.

Here are other hexagrams indirectly confirming and extending the concepts of the third-third:

  1. The Creative (Ch'ien or qian)
  2. The Receptive (k'un),

  6. Conflict (Sung or song)
18. Work on What has been Spoiled (Ku or gu)
36. Darkening of the light (Ming I or mingyi)
52. Keeping Still, Mountains (Ken or gen)
60. Limitation (Chieh or jie)

Each develops a perspective on the concept of reclusion, all within the context of government service. Exploring the I ching from this historical angle is a refreshing experience. As a conclusion, the commentary on line six of hexagram 18 (Ku) is unambiguous and aptly describes the earliest philosophy of wisdom as reclusion, and the wise man as recluse:

He does not serve kings and princes,
Sets himself higher goals.

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