Lectures On The Ten Oxherding Pictures

by Yamada Mumon Roshi, Yamada Mumon

A favorite with early Zen practitioners in China and Japan, The Ten Oxherding Pictures uses the ox as a symbol for Buddha nature―the original possession of all human beings―and the taming of the ox as a symbol for the practice of realizing that nature. This volume contains lectures on the text given by Yamada Mumon Rôshi (1900–1988) to his monks while master of Shôfuku-ji Monastery. It is the first authentic explication of a Zen text by a traditional Japanese Zen master. A seeker of the way, Yamada Mumon spent many years sharing a life of practice with young monks at the monastery in addition to serving as president of Hanazono College and director of the Research Institute for Zen Studies. Later he assumed the post of chief abbot of the Myôshin-ji temples. Followers of Zen have long been waiting for this book. According to Mumon Rôshi, the path of the seeker is not only for the committed specialist. Even the average reader, drawn along by Mumon Rôshi’s straightforward explanations, will move forward on the journey of the self (symbolized by the taming of the ox) and come to see humanity with new eyes.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Zen

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Joseph Knecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have seen the trails of the ox, you can't look away.
It captures your whole being and pulls you towards it.

If you have had a small glimpse of the ox,
It has made you your whole mind empty and made you forget everything.

If you have seen the ox straight in the eyes,
You have seen into the infinite abyss of nothingness.

If you want to learn what might lie behind the ox, read this book.
Highly recommended for the spiritually-minded.

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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