Nahm

The Ten Ox-Herding Stages of Zen, an Interpretation

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THE TEN OX-HERDING STAGES OF ZEN

From of The Maha Gopalaka Sutta, an interpretation.

 

SEARCHING

One begins to question the nature of oneself, and the origin & true nature of the universe & experience of reality.

This is often brought about by loss, fear, suffering, feeling incomplete, unworthy, a sense something is lacking, something is wrong with oneself, or simply by intuition & curiosity.

The search might also arise from ‘having it all’, yet intuitively sensing there is much more to life and experience which remains veiled.

 

SEEING THE FOOTPRINTS

Seeking to rectify this sense, one begins the search and discovers the plethora of materials, teachers & teachings available; as if appearing ‘right out of the woodwork’. As if manifesting, inexplicably.

One soon adopts a practice such as meditation, intuitively drawn to peace, stillness, silence & repose; though there may be no acuity in understanding or comprehension yet as to why.

As the practice begins to take hold and resonate, one begins to see the root of suffering is not the world, but the conflicts and in-equanimity arising ‘in’, or, of one’s own mind.

The footprints of the ox are discovered in the accompanying discordant feeling of reactionary thoughts, behaviors & actions. In renewed & expanded open mindedness, the cessation of suffering is now considered to be possible, yet remains unseen & un-grasped.

One begins to question the collective & status quo, finding short term satisfaction in logic & reason and thinking for oneself, rather than continuing to ‘fall in with the herd’, or seek refuge in avoidance & aversion, by adhere to norms, dogmas, or conjecture (unverified collective beliefs handed down via tradition, and implied pressures of inclusion, vs isolation).

 

GLIMPSING

Dots connect between the struggles, hostilities and plight of the inner world, and outer world experienced, and the asymmetries of one’s own mind. As direct experience is inspected, validation of what the seeker has heard from teachers & learned from teachings begins to be seen first hand.

As discord is discovered & aligned in the ‘inner world’, new perspectives of ways of being, living, and relating to the ‘outer world’ and others are experienced. The ever-increasing feeling of alignment is the ‘substance’ in & of itself, of confirmation, the visceral intrinsic validity of the practice, that which the teachers can never speak.

This is a joyful and promising stage on the path, as the glimpse of this new way resonates intuitively with the calling by which the seeking, practice and search originated.

Empowerment & inspiration begin to arise, as the reactionary and discordant thoughts, behaviors & actions begin to be illuminated, and more clearly seen, understood, and thus, no longer fed attention.

Understanding arises as the dots connect between suffering, conditioning, limiting beliefs, reactionary living, collective paradigms, and living the life which is the dream within to be manifest & experienced.

 

CATCHING

Now aware of the significance of direct experience, and the physiological benefits & feeling of alignment from the practice and inspection, a new glimpse is seen - that of the truly radical magnitude and depth, of conditioning.

One is becoming more acutely aware of patterns of clinging & averting, and of reaction & suppression, which have thus far been unknowingly at the helm of one’s life. Countless questions arise as the mind is both brightened by, and confounded by, these discoveries.

Here diligence to the practice, mindfulness, and ‘remaining’ present, are realized to be of great significance. This can be a most difficult stage, as conditioning which has been unknowingly innocently adopted & suppressed is more fully coming to light, arising analogous to a meal which didn’t taste good in the first place & never settled, coming up & out.

Expression is most key, as reactionary causal living & existence has begun to be seen as not really ‘awake’, or as any real quality of living at all.

Motive, that is, the projection of the very feeling sought, onto things & outcomes, begins to be seen as inspirationally hollow and unsatisfying. Old thought patterns & beliefs, still arising, are met with mindfulness as the shadow is brought into the light of awareness.

Animalistic reactive aggressions are now felt with more intensity & sensitivity, as they inevitably come ‘up & out’. The trap of aversion to the practice itself, arises.

‘Energy’, like ‘relaxation within’, are seen to be mere concepts of an old paradigm, as the feeling-realization of the actuality to which these words point has begun. Patience, deeper relaxation within, stillness of mind & equanimity of emotion become respectfully realized as the curative way of understanding.

 

TAMING

As the practiced mind calms & clears, the body undergoes an emptying of suppressions. Via the practice, stillness & the way of non is grasped, such as non-engagement, non-judgement and non-reaction. The ‘cup’ continues to empty such that empathy, understanding, and true compassion & wisdom have a space to arise within.

This stage calls for continued diligence & patience, as expression empties, and creates the space for the expanded actuality of self-acceptance & self-love.

More deeply, that one can not ‘do it all one’s self’ is realized. That is, sayings like ‘give it to God’, and the ‘power of letting go’ are more appreciated and mindfully & swiftly employed. Response, rather than reaction, intrinsically arises and is enjoyed as it is more & more naturally pronounced.

The practiced, opened & expanded mind, in conjunction with the ‘emptied body’, are now more naturally culminating a new and more single pointed awareness & focus, aligned with & attentive to the mind’s ‘higher’ guidance, ‘it’s very ‘substance’, that of feeling.

In this natural & intrinsic alignment arises renewal, depth, acuity and heightened sensitivity of sensation. Real change occurs in regard to non-dwelling, non-complaining, and non-judgement as the taste & actuality of true freedom is now firmly understood & more often glimpsed.

Swiftness of ability to shift focus in accordance with feeling-guidance becomes the Way & the paramount order of every day. Often, this is a time of introspection, reflection, deeper acceptance, forgiveness, and care for any lingering discord in matters of relationships with others, as the actuality of communion with source is realized. That of the guidance, of emotion.

The reality of universal harmony and correlations with presence & focus become clearer. Much pain is transmutated as much beauty, and glimpses arise more often, more profound, yielding yet deeper insights in the vein of unification.

 

RIDING HOME

Here the practice, inspection of direct experience, learning as listening to source, and changes in accordance with wanted therein, are more readily employed & enjoyed, and all begins to coalesce. A relaxed body-mind becomes the norm. Ease of being is actual & real. Confirmation of the words of mystics is known first hand in direct experience. The fruits of dedication to the practice now fully ripen and become the norm.

Experience is no longer veiled by the facade of black & white; one is not moved by causation nor internal polarities, and the oneness of all-grey deeply intuitively resounds & resonates.

The actuality and nonduality of trust in the universe is realized with clarity, as all which does not serve is swiftly released & and all which does is received in non-attachment, natural joy and appreciation & complete equanimity.

The mind, ever-expanding, tastes the true creativity of its source, and has unmistakably ‘returned’ Home. Aligned & abiding in, of, and as nonlocalized-feeling, the mind is naturally focused and free of resistance.

Childlike fun & lightheartedness has ‘returned’ to stay.

Glimpses become incredibly deep, and are no longer intermittent, but readily accessible and never so far as to be out of reach of the peaceful mind.

Awareness non-localizes here, ‘filling the room’, in miraculous expansion & delightful, unthinkable actuality.

 

TRANSCENDING OTHER

Home. The Great Relief, The Great Rest.

Dissipation, abidance of being, true embodiment of compassion.

Notions of harming, hurting, outsmarting, righteousness, manipulation, need to understand or be understood no longer arise; they came with losing the ox; they left with finding the ox; ineffable freedom is actualized. Emotion guides, far superior to thought.

For all of the seeker’s diligence, inner battles, trials & tribulations; nothing is gained, nothing is realized, nothing is found, nothing was lost.

 

TRANSCENDING SELF-AND-OTHER

Nothing remains; self, no self, other, no other, world, no world, body, no body, mind, no mind, negation, non-negation, phenomena, non-phenomena; nothing remains.

Wisdom, ignorance, seeking, finding, seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, breathing, knowledge, aware, conscious, infinite, finite, formless, form, universe, non-universe, Truth, The True Nature; all notions are dispelled by direct experience.

Nothing is perfection; perfection is nothing.

Seeing for the first time, hearing for the first time, feeling for the first time, breathing for the first time, speaking for the first time, understanding for the first time; never seeing, never hearing, never feeling, never breathing, never speaking, never understanding.

Distinctions of conceptual vs direct experience, idea vs actuality, path vs not path; having gone full circle have collapsed, never having occurred.

The bottom of the bucket has fallen away; compassion ever-pours up, out & through the emptied vessel, where conditioning once did.

Presence is intrinsically spontaneous creativity. Life is a an impossible, miraculous wonder to behold.

A Bodhisattva see’s the world for the first time; as the absence of Bodhisattva & world.

 

SOURCE

Absolute (and not).

The tongue can not taste tongue; eye can not see eye, ear can not hear ear, finger can not point to finger.

The knower is the known; the striver was the strife.

Understanding is under standing; confusion is not.

Mystery dispelled; mystery revealed.

 

RETURNING

Absolute Unconditional Wakefulness.

Unfettered; complete engagement.

Effortlessly, perpetually paying forward.

Ineffable, Mystical, Magic.

 

?

From Maps & Traps


MEDITATIONS TOOLS  ActualityOfBeing.com  GUIDANCE SESSIONS

NONDUALITY LOA  My Youtube Channel  THE TRUE NATURE

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I love how it gets more and more crypticxD believe it or not, but this is my favorite part on your website... was quite happy to find it there.

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1 hour ago, Nahm said:

SEARCHING

One begins to question the nature of oneself, and the origin & true nature of the universe & experience of reality.

This is often brought about by loss, fear, suffering, feeling incomplete, unworthy, a sense something is lacking, something is wrong with oneself, or simply by intuition & curiosity.

The search might also arise from ‘having it all’, yet intuitively sensing there is much more to life and experience which remains veiled.

Guess I cleared that one (minus ‘having it all’, lmao).

1 hour ago, Nahm said:

The footprints of the ox are discovered in the accompanying discordant feeling of reactionary thoughts, behaviors & actions. In renewed & expanded open mindedness, the cessation of suffering is now considered to be possible, yet remains unseen & un-grasped.

Yup, sounds familiar...

1 hour ago, Nahm said:

This is a joyful and promising stage on the path, as the glimpse of this new way resonates intuitively with the calling by which the seeking, practice and search originated.

Empowerment & inspiration begin to arise, as the reactionary and discordant thoughts, behaviors & actions begin to be illuminated, and more clearly seen, understood, and thus, no longer fed attention.

Lol, f@%! no.

1 hour ago, Nahm said:

Animalistic reactive aggressions are now felt with more intensity & sensitivity, as they inevitably come ‘up & out’. The trap of aversion to the practice itself, arises.

Hmm, sounds familiar again...

?

Well, whatever.

Edited by Bazooka Jesus

Why so serious?

 

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1 hour ago, Fearey said:

thank you Leo Gura for creating the most open-minded forum on the entire Internet.

I second that. Truly incredible. 

Thank you for sharing, pretty amazing journey! 


MEDITATIONS TOOLS  ActualityOfBeing.com  GUIDANCE SESSIONS

NONDUALITY LOA  My Youtube Channel  THE TRUE NATURE

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