Whip, rope, person, and Ox –all merge in No Thing.This heaven is so vast,no message can stain it.How may a snowflake existin a raging fire.Here are the footprints ofthe Ancestors.

8. Both Bull and Self Transcended

Too many steps have been takenreturning to the root and the source.Better to have been blind and deaffrom the beginning!Dwelling in one’s true abode,unconcerned with and without –The river flows tranquilly onand the flowers are red.

9. Reaching the Source

The whip and rope are necessary,Else he might stray off downsome dusty road.Being well-trained, he becomesnaturally gentle.Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

5. Taming the Bull

Astride the Ox, I reach home.I am serene. The Ox too can rest.The dawn has come. In blissful repose,Within my thatched dwellingI have abandoned the whip and ropes.

7. The Bull Transcended

I seize him with a terrific struggle.His great will and powerare inexhaustible.He charges to the high plateaufar above the cloud-mists,Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

4. Catching the Bull

In the pasture of the world,I endlessly push aside the tallgrasses in search of the Ox.Following unnamed rivers,lost upon the interpenetratingpaths of distant mountains,My strength failing and my vitalityexhausted, I cannot find the Ox.

1. In Search of 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 Ox can hide!What artist can draw that massive head,those majestic horns?

3. Perceiving the Bull

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 treesbecome alive.

10. Return to Society

Mounting the Ox, slowlyI return homeward.The voice of my flute intonesthrough the evening.Measuring with hand-beatsthe pulsating harmony,I direct the endless rhythm.Whoever hears this melodywill join me.

6. Riding the Bull Home

To practice Zen is to fully experience your emotions without pushing them away or being swept away by them. We should see our emotions like a wild bull that, while powerful, is neither good nor bad. Rather than remain ignorant of the bull, we look for it and aim to tame it.
The Ten-bulls story describes the journey each of us must go on towards conquering the self.
Source <a href="https://www.michaelashcroft.org/blog/practicing-zen">https://www.michaelashcroft.org/blog/practicing-zen</a>

Fully experience all your emotions

Along the riverbank under the trees,I discover footprints.Even under the fragrant grass,I see his prints.Deep in remote mountainsthey are found.These traces can no more be hiddenthan one’s nose, looking heavenward.

2. Discovery of the Footprints

I found an interesting Zen story that describes how we go from being controlled by our emotions to recognizing and taming them

What are the Ten Bulls or Ten Oxherding Pictures in Zen? See the pictures, story, origin, and meaning of the Zen stages of enlightenment.

8. Both Bull and Self Transcended

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