The other day I was in a local Italian food import store and saw the sign above, hand-painted on the warehouse wall.
The sign completely captures what I hope to bring to this season of giving and thanks. Best wishes for the season!
« Meditation, 3 | Main | Off Topic »
November 24, 2011
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
The comments to this entry are closed.
About
- Zen teachers sometimes use the Ten Ox Herding Pictures to describe the path of awakening. Within this metaphorical framework, the ox symbolizes the secretive, unruly human mind.
My Other Weblogs
Comments
- I’m truly grateful to everyone who leaves a comment on this blog. Even though many comments are generous and thoughtful, I rarely respond. Thank you for your understanding.
Search
American Zen
- Boundless Way Zen (Japanese Soto)
Root Teacher: James Ford, Roshi - Kwan Um School of Zen (Korean Zen)
Root Teacher: Zen Master Seung Sahn - Pacific Zen Institute (Japanese Zen)
Root Teacher: John Tarrant, Roshi - Zen Peacemaker Order (Japanese Zen)
Root Teacher: Bernie Glassman, Roshi - Unified Buddhist Church (Vietnamese Zen)
Root Teacher: Thich Nhat Hanh - San Francisco Zen Center (Japanese Soto)
Root Teacher: Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi - Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association (Chinese Chan)
Root Teacher: Master Sheng Yen - Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (Japanese Soto)
Root Teacher: Reverend Master Jiyu Kennet - White Plum Asanga (Japanese Soto & Rinzai)
Root Teacher: Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, Roshi
Thanks!
- I extend grateful appreciation to my daughter, Susie, who designed this site; to Zen Master Seung Sahn, for crossing the ocean; and to all beings for their never-ending encouragement and teaching.
- May we together attain enlightenment and save all beings from suffering.
Copyright
- (c) 2008-2018, Barry Briggs. All Rights Reserved. Header (c) 2015, Susannah Briggs.
Free e-Books
- The Path of Zen
Finding the Ox
- A Modern Version of Images & Poems
Joseph Bengivenni, who writes Somewhere In Dharma, has developed a tremendous version of ox herding. This takes you to the first image in the series. - Expressive Ox Herding
Modern version by Max Gimblett at the Japan Society. - New Ox Herding Drawings
A new set of drawings (and poems!) by Lynette Monteiro. This link takes you to the first of the ten images. - Poems on the Ox Herding Pictures
New poems by Zen Master Daehaeng. This link takes you to the first five poems. The second five poems were published on this site a few days later. - Talk on the Ox Herding Pictures
This is the first of a three-part talk on the Ox Herding Pictures by Shinjin Young. - Ox Herding Pictures
Images from the outer walls of a hall at Songgwangsa Temple in Korea. (PDF file) - Ox Herding Pictures
In Asia, the Ox Herding Pictures are commonly painted on the exterior of temple buildings. This beautiful set is from Mu Sang Sah, a temple in the mountains of Korea. - Ox Herding Pictures by Shubun
A classic version, in the public domain. - Ox Herding Pictures
Traditional version, artist unknown. - Ox Herding Pictures
Photographs of a beautifully-painted version. Artist unknown. - Ox Herding Pictures by James Breslin
Modern, personal version.
Interesting Sites
- 108 Zen Books
- 21awake
- American Buddhist Perspective
- An Upright Stone
- Angry Asian Buddhist
- Buddha Space
- Buddhism Now
- ByChanceBuddhism
- Clear Mind Zen
- Clear View Blog
- Dangerous Harvests
- Dhamma Musings
- Echo of the Dharma
- Existential Buddhist
- firefly hall
- From the Lone Oak
- Full Contact Enlightenment
- genkaku-again
- HappiForever and the Hungry Ghosts
- Hardcore Zen
- Inklings
- Jade Mountains
- Just This
- Lotus in the Mud
- Mind Deep
- Monkey Mind
- Mystic Meandering
- Natural Wisdom
- Notes from a Burning House
- Notes in Samsara
- Nothing to Attain
- One Time, One Meeting
- Pacific Northwest Seasons
- Progressive Buddhism
- Random Thoughts
- Rev. Danny Fisher
- Sacred Texts
- Shambhala SunSpace
- Somewhere in Dhamma
- Sweeping Zen
- The Buddhist Blog
- The Buddhist Channel
- The Dalai Grandma
- The Endless Further
- The Jizo Chronicles
- The Zen Community
- The Zen Site
- Turning the Wheel of Wonder
- Wake Up and Laugh!
- Wandering Dhamma
- Whiskey River
- Wild Fox Zen
- Zazen
- ZENDOTSTUDIO
I found a little Jogye-jong temple up the hill behind the train station in our new neighborhood. It was just a small Zen hall and a shrine for the mountain spirit, but around the hall had a very blue Ox herding series. I'll post them for you soon...
Posted by: Joseph | November 24, 2011 at 06:44 AM
Ah, I just realized it's American Thanksgiving today,
I hope you have a nice day.
And thank you for your blog and everything else that's come of it!
Posted by: Joseph | November 24, 2011 at 08:47 AM
Joseph, thank you for your friendship. Please give my greetings to Eunbong and Fina!
I sent the pics of you reading to Fina to my daughter and she wrote back to me saying that her memories of our time reading together are among the happiest of her life.
Best wishes,
Barry
Posted by: Barry Briggs | November 24, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Barry,
A very happy Thanksgiving to you and all of yours. Thank you for herding the ox on our behalf.
Your friend,
David
Posted by: David Clark | November 24, 2011 at 11:57 AM