A Journey to Meet the True Self -The Stages of Zen Practice(5)
- The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures: 1.Seeking the Ox (Part two)
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The Structure of the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures
The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures consist of ten sets, each containing an illustration, a preface with an explanation by Zen Master Jion, a Chinese poem by Zen Master Kakuan, and a harmonious rhyme poem by Monk Sekkoi composed using the same rhyme as Zen Master Kakuan’s poem.
In sequence, the illustrations and the Chinese poems by Zen Master Kakuan and Monk Sekkoi came first, while the preface by Zen Master Jion are believed to have been added later.
Various illustrations of the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures have been created throughout history, but to freely use them in this article, I would like to use the ones I drew myself.
First, please look at the first picture of the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures, ‘Seeking the Ox.’
