The Ten Oxherding Pictures are a classic Zen story-telling device about the search for enlightenment. The following commentary by Martine Batchelor is excerpted from her book, Principles of Zen (Thorsons/HarperCollins), as published in Tricycle magazine in the spring 2000 issue. With bows to Martine Batchelor, we continue with #4.
The short poems beside each picture are by Master Kusan, illustrations are by Master Jikihara from the collection of Zen Mountain Monastery.
4. Catching the Ox
Lightly edited by Lynn Kelly
Advancing with difficulty; the ox’s nose is pierced.
But this fiery nature is hard to control.
Dragged here and there, you stray through cloud-covered forests.
(Martine) The oxherder has finally caught the ox with a rope. But the ox does not want to be caught. The oxherder holds on tightly as the ox jumps fiercely and drags him hither and thither. We feel very much like the oxherder when we start to meditate. We are given a set of instructions and think that following them should not be too difficult. Catching the ox was not hard but holding on to it requires much energy and strength. In the same way, sitting down with a method is the easy part, while applying the instructions for a certain period of time is what needs great determination and strength.
As soon as we sit down the mind is flooded with thoughts, memories, and plans, and our body is not comfortable. We start to have pain in the back, then in the knees, then our cheeks start itching. We try various postures. We want to forget about the past or the future but they come back all the more quickly. Like the oxherder we have to be firm and hold on tightly. There are many obstacles: restlessness, sleepiness, daydreaming, etc. We have to realize that for the last twenty, thirty years we have cultivated many habits which promoted distractions, and when we meditate we go against all these habits. It is going to take some time before we dissolve the power of these tendencies.
****************************************
(Lynn) This stage of progress will be familiar to many of us, in fact, to most of us who have persisted and developed a regular practice. The Buddha named the categories of difficulty that make meditation seem like trying to tame an ox “the five hindrances”:
- Lust or desire (for anything)
- Ill-will or aversion (to anything)
- Sloth and torpor (sluggishness, both physical and mental)
- Restlessness and remorse (agitation, regret)
- Skeptical doubt, i.e., wondering if something is wrong with the practice or the teachings. “Don’t know mind”, but not in a good way.
As we make our efforts towards taming the mind, we will become well-acquainted with all five of these categories of obstacles. They are not only present while we are practice sitting meditation, but all the time! So there is plenty of opportunity to get to know each of them as they appear in our experience, and knowing them, we can choose to set them aside.
The Buddha's Advice to Laypeople 