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The Ox-herding Pictures

Ten simple, primitive pictures from China, a thousand years ago, of a boy and his ox. Amazing what you can see in these pictures when you look. Why, it's almost like standing between two facing mirrors. Me and my ego. I and Thou. Mind and body. Self and world. One and Not-One. Truth and illusion. Pain and pleasure, but also not-pain and not-pleasure. The sound of one-hand not not-clapping. The bo tree that is everywhere and nowhere.

I. Undisciplined
II. Discipline Begun
III. In Harness
IV. Faced Round
V. Tamed
VI. Unimpeded
VII. Laissez Faire
VIII. All Forgotten
IX. The Solitary Moon
X. Both Vanished

Note: The translations are those of the eminent Zen scholar, D.T. Suzuki.

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