Ox Herding

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LastLegend
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Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

Image

Number eight. Even consciousness is not explicitly mentioned. Why would one need to forget the man and the ox? I don’t even know what ox here means. The point is there must be something there that tells the man from the ox. Maybe man versus ox is duality. That’s the operation of consciousness. This operation of consciousness can be very fine and subtle we can’t even detect it.
It’s eye blinking.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!
Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone totally beyond beyond, bodhi svaha!
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
narhwal90
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by narhwal90 »

A few minutes face to face with a zen teacher will answer questions like this.
reiun
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by reiun »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:41 pm Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!
Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone totally beyond beyond, bodhi svaha!
What he said.
Russian
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:11 pm

Number eight. Even consciousness is not explicitly mentioned. Why would one need to forget the man and the ox? I don’t even know what ox here means. The point is there must be something there that tells the man from the ox. Maybe man versus ox is duality. That’s the operation of consciousness. This operation of consciousness can be very fine and subtle we can’t even detect it.
Analog, the same thing, about the same:

Image

The bull, the elephant, is mind-related, mind-related. First we force the mind, it is an image, an analogy, when an animal is led on a leash, on a rope. Here on thangka practice is shown, the elephant is the mind, the monk at first even chases the elephant, and then leads the elephant by force, on a leash. Under the image of a monk leading an elephant on a leash, this is volitional intention, diligence. And only after a while, the elephant is already walking, it has become his habit, and the monk is now walking behind, and then riding on the elephant, when the mind is reined in. The image of a harnessed mind. And yet, an unbridled mind, an untrained mind, is compared to a monkey, because it is also restless.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend, pay attention to what I wrote under the picture, at the bottom of the image, after it.
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LastLegend
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

I have.

Intention right?
It’s eye blinking.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:03 pm :lol:
Why can’t you answer yourself?
https://youtu.be/G6KyQIo9Q7M?t=2993

The link is linked to the right time.
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LastLegend
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

Russian wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:26 pm
LastLegend wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:03 pm :lol:
Why can’t you answer yourself?
https://youtu.be/G6KyQIo9Q7M?t=2993

The link is linked to the right time.
Oh Shiiit!
It’s eye blinking.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:28 pm
Oh Shiiit!
Image

Tiger growled.
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LastLegend
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

Ok Mr. Russian

You are correct that intention needs to be trained and stopped as long as the awareness remains clear. Because karma starts at intention. Awareness should be clear as the blue sky.

You can ask KeithA about koans. :lol: He has a legitimate teacher.
It’s eye blinking.
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LastLegend
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

Alternatively you can sit calmly and hold a very peaceful subtle thought towards Samantabhadra or Avalokiteshvara. They are very great Bodhisattvas.
It’s eye blinking.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 12:28 am You are correct that intention needs to be trained and stopped as long as the awareness remains clear. Because karma starts at intention. Awareness should be clear as the blue sky.
Tame the mind so that it stops being a restless monkey, a rabid elephant. First the training, and then the skill will appear. The Shurangama Sutra says: "When the frenzied mind is quiet, bodhi comes."
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LastLegend
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

I agree...

As long as the clear-aware is there. That’s fundamental.
It’s eye blinking.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:28 pm Oh Shiiit!
https://youtu.be/3Bd4det4gaI

Tiger
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

master of puppets
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by master of puppets »

Level 1 - Empty mind
Level 10 - Freedom

You start with learning to practice empty mind.
At level 8 you have captured, level 9 practice and naturally at level 10 empty mind makes you free.

All levels are just about learning to empty mind.

After all you are free to involve the world affairs, not before!
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LastLegend
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by LastLegend »

No dream though. Dream is delusion.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Russian »

LastLegend wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:19 pm No dream though. Dream is delusion.
There's a book that explains it. The book is called: Riding the Ox Home : Stages on the Path of Enlightenment. Author: John Daido Loori.
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Re: Ox Herding

Post by Malcolm »

Russian wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:30 pm
LastLegend wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:19 pm No dream though. Dream is delusion.
There's a book that explains it. The book is called: Riding the Ox Home : Stages on the Path of Enlightenment. Author: John Daido Loori.
While the images and sequence are similar, the meanings is dissimilar. In the Tibetan tradition, this is merely an illustration of perfect shamatha.
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