Read one of the most beautiful and most significant Zen story: 10 BULLS
by Kakuan
Transcribed by Nyogen Sensaki and Paul Reps
Illustrated by Tomikichiro Tokuriki
The bull is the eternal principle of life, truth in action. The ten bulls represent sequent steps in the realization of one's true nature.
This sequence is as potent today as it was when Kakuan (1100-1200) developed it from earlier works and made his paintings of the bull.
Taken from the book: Zen Flesh, Zen bones
compiled by Paul Reps, Anchor books, NY
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In the pasture of this world, I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull. Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains, My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull. I only hear the locusts chirring through the forest at night
Comment:
The bull never has been lost. What need is there to
search? Only because of separation from my true nature, I
fail to find him. In the confusion of the senses I lose
even his tracks. Far from home, I see many cross-roads,
but which way is the right one I know not. Greed and
fear, good and bad, entangle me.
Along the riverbank under the trees, I discover footprints! Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints. Deep in remote mountains they are found. These traces no more can be hidden than one's nose, looking heavenward.
Comment:
Understanding the teaching, I see the footprints of the
bull. Then I learn that, just as many utensils are made
from one metal, so too are myriad entities made of the
fabric of self. Unless I discriminate, how will I
perceive the true from the untrue? Not yet having entered
the gate, nevertheless I have discerned the path.
I hear the song
of the nightingale. The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore,
Here no bull can hide! What artist can draw that massive
head, those majestic horns?
Comment:
When one hears the voice, one can sense its source. As
soon as the six senses merge, the gate is entered.
Wherever one enters one sees the head of the bull! This
unity is like salt in water, like colour in dyestuff. The
slightest thing is not apart from self.
I seize him with a terrific struggle. His great will and power are inexhaustible. He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists, Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.
Comment:
He dwelt in the forest a long time, but I caught him
today! Infatuation for scenery interferes with his
direction. Longing for sweeter grass, he wanders away.
His mind still is stubborn and unbridled. If I wish him
to submit, I must raise my whip.
The whip and rope are necessary, Else he might stray off down some dusty road. Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle. Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.
Comment:
When one thought arises, another thought follows. When
the first thought springs from enlightenment, all
subsequent thoughts are true. Through delusion, one makes
everything untrue. Delusion is not caused by objectivity;
it is the result of subjectivity. Hold the nose-ring
tight and do not allow even a doubt.
Mounting the bull, slowly I
return homeward. The voice of my flute intones through
the evening. Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating
harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm. Whoever hears this melody
will join me.
Comment:
This struggle is over; gain and loss are assimilated. I
sing the song of the village woodsman, and play the tunes
of the children. Astride the bull, I observe the clouds
above. Onward I go, no matter who may wish to call me
back.
Astride the bull, I reach home. I
am serene. The bull too can rest. The dawn has come. In
blissful repose,
Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and
rope.
Comment:
All is one law, not two. We only make the bull a
temporary subject. It is as the relation of rabbit and
trap, of fish and net. It is as gold and dross, or the
moon emerging from a cloud. One path of clear light
travels on throughout endless time.
Whip, rope,
person, and bull -- all merge in No-Thing. This heaven is
so vast no message can stain it. How may a snowflake
exist in a raging fire?
Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.
Comment:
Mediocrity is gone. Mind is clear of limitation. I seek
no state of enlightenment.
Neither do I remain where no enlightenment exists. Since
I linger in neither condition, eyes cannot see me. If
hundreds of birds strew my path with flowers, such praise
would be meaningless.
Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source. Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning! Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with that without -- The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red.
Comment: From the beginning, truth
is clear. Poised in silence, I observe the forms of
integration and disintegration. One who is not attached
to "form" need not be "reformed." The
water is emerald, the mountain is indigo, and I see that
which is creating and that which is destroying.
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 trees become alive.
Comment:
Inside my gate, a thousand sages do not know me. The
beauty of my garden is invisible. Why should one search
for the footprints of the patriarchs? I go to the market
place with my wine bottle and return home with my staff.
I visit the wineshop and the market, and everyone I look
upon becomes enlightened.