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Showing posts from July, 2016

Returning to the Market Place

     In Zen Buddhism the path towards enlightenment is often described through a series of illustrations called  The Ten Ox Herding Pictures .  At the beginning of the story the Ox is wild and escapes every chance that he gets.  But he is followed by a young boy who slowly tames the animal until he is able to ride him back into the market place at which point the Ox inevitably escapes again, and the cycle repeats itself.  Eventually, however, both the boy and the ox disappear.  And in the final picture we see a monk who is simply walking the path, helping sentient beings when ever he gets the chance.  As I understand it, the boy in the story represents a Zen practitioner, and the Ox is his mind which starts off as unruly but slowly becomes calm and peaceful through the practitioner's continued effort.  One thing that has always confused me about the story is how the boy keeps going back to the marketplace.  Why doesn't he remain in the wilderness with his ox/mind and live