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YOU MUST ADMONISH YOURSELF. DON'T BE CARELESS ABOUT THIS!
IN THE OLD DAYS CH'AN MASTER TAO LIN LIVED UP IN A TALL PINE TREE ON CH'IN WANG MOUNTAIN; PEOPLE OF THE TIME CALLED HIM THE "BIRD'S NEST MONK." WHEN MINISTER, PO CHU-YI, WAS COMMANDER OF CH'IEN T'ANG, HE MADE A SPECIAL TRIP TO THE MOUNTAIN TO VISIT HIM.
PO SAID, "IT'S VERY DANGEROUS WHERE YOU'RE SITTING, CH'AN MASTER."
THE MASTER SAID, "MY DANGER MAY BE VERY GREAT, MINISTER, BUT YOURS IS EVEN GREATER."
PO SAID, "I AM COMMANDER OF CH'IEN T'ANG: WHAT DANGER IS THERE?"
THE MASTER SAID, "FUEL AND FIRE ARE JOINED, CONSCIOUSNESS AND IDENTITY DO NOT STAY: HOW CAN YOU NOT BE IN DANGER?"
PO ALSO ASKED, "WHAT IS THE OVERALL MEANING OF THE BUDDHIST TEACHING?"
THE MASTER SAID, "DON'T COMMIT ANY EVILS, PRACTICE THE MANY VIRTUES."
PO SAID, "EVEN A THREE-YEAR-OLD CHILD COULD SAY THIS!"
THE MASTER SAID, "THOUGH A THREE-YEAR-OLD CHILD CAN SAY IT, AN EIGHTY-YEAR-OLD MAN CANNOT CARRY IT OUT." PO THEN BOWED AND DEPARTED.
Tending the ox is a very ancient symbol in the history of Zen. There exist ten paintings in China; the tenth painting has been a cause of great controversy. I would like you to understand those ten paintings, and the controversy, before we start Ta Hui's sermon on tending the ox.
The ten paintings are immensely beautiful. In the first, the ox is lost. The man to whom the ox belongs is just standing, looking all around in the thick forest, and he cannot see where the ox has gone. He is simply bewildered, confused. It is getting late, the sun it setting; soon it will be night, and then to go into the thick forest to find the ox will become more and more difficult.
In the second picture he finds footprints of the ox. He feels a little happier; perhaps there is a possibility to find the ox -- he has found the footprints. He follows the footprints.
In the third picture he sees the back of the ox standing in the thick forest. It is difficult to see, but he can figure out that it is the back of his ox. In the fourth he has reached the ox; he can see the ox now, its whole body. He rejoices.
In the fifth painting he takes
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