ZEN IRODALOM ZEN LITERATURE
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Oxherding Pictures Index

十牛圖 Shiniu tu [Jūgyūzu]
The Ten Oxherding Pictures

Introduction and verse by 廓庵師遠 Kuoan Shiyuan [Kakuan Shien], 12th century,

translated by John Daido Loori and Kazuaki Tanahashi (棚橋一晃)

in: Essential Zen
Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Tensho David Schneider
San Francisco, 1994, pp. 141-144.

Illustrations & the original text:

十牛图
五味禅 Gomizen
早稲田大学図書館 (Waseda University Library)
http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/ha05/ha05_00539/index.html
http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ha05/ha05_00539/ha05_00539_0002/ha05_00539_0002.pdf

Cf.
天理藏本《十牛图》与大足石刻《牧牛图》by 彭培南

I
Search

Vigorously cutting a path through the brambles, you look for the ox;
rivers wide, mountains far, the path gets longer.
Running out of strength, mind exhausted, you cannot find it.
Rustling of maple leaves, singing of evening cicadas.

 

II
Finding traces

By the water, deep within the forest, you find traces.
Leaving fragrant grasses behind, you study the signs.
Following the tracks, you enter endless mountains.
Distant sky—how can the tip of its nose be hidden elsewhere?

 

 

III
Seeing

Chirping, a yellow oriole on a branch.
Warm sun, gentle breeze, green willows on the bank.
No place to turn around—  
in brambles, its head and horn are not clearly seen.

 

 

IV
Catching

Through tremendous effort you have caught the ox.
Still its will is strong, its body vigorous.
Sometimes it runs to a high ground,
sometimes it disappears in deep mist.

 

 

V
Taming

You cannot put whip and tether aside
for fear it will wander into a swamp.
Once trained to be gentle,
free of rope the ox follows your way.

 

 

VI
Riding home

Taking a winding path you ride the ox home.
The tune of your rustic flute permeates the evening haze.
Each note, each song: feeling unbounded,
knowing the sound is beyond lips and mouth.

 

 

VII
Forgetting it

You have ridden home on the ox.
At rest, you forget it.
Bright sun high in the sky, you daydream blissfully,
leaving whip and tether behind in the grass-roof hut.

 

 

VIII
Forgetting all

Whip and tether, you, the ox all empty.
Vast blue sky cannot be reached by ideas.
How can fire's flame sustain the snowflakes?
Having reached here, you are in accord with the ancient way.

 

 

IX
Returning to the Source

You have returned to the source; effort is over.
The intimate self is blind and deaf.
Inside the hut, nothing outside is seen.
Waters are boundless, flowers red.

 

 

X
Entering the marketplace with giving hands

You go into the marketplace barefooted, unadorned,
smeared with mud, covered with dust, smiling.
Using no supernatural power
you bring the withered trees to bloom.