Description
 
- Lectures on the Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures -
 
* Upon Commencing the Lecture
 
The Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures is a dharma instruction that presents the ten stages of taming the ox of the mind in illustrations and poetry.
 
The Verses described in these lectures were written by Master Puming. According to accounts, Master Puming was a figure from Ming Dynasty China who composed the verses while staying at Puming Temple; another person is said to have contributed the illustrations. These are only secondhand accounts, however, and because no precise information is available there are also some who argue that the Verses' authorship is unclear.
 
There are about a dozen dharma instructions that are similar to the Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures. Among them, two of the best known are Puming’s Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures and Kuoan’s Ten Oxherding Pictures. Between the two, Founding Master Sotaesan of Won-Buddhism chose Puming’s Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures as one of The Essential Scriptures of the Buddha and Patriarchs and instructed his disciples to study it. The very fact that the Founding Master, who is the greatly enlightened tathāgata, deliberately chose Puming’s Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures in all his discernment holds great significance.
 
Within The Collection of Won-Buddhist Scriptures, the Essential Scriptures is a selection from the many scriptures delivered by Śākyamuni Buddha and later students, which include The Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, The Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sūtra, The Sūtra in Forty-Two Sections, Sūtra on the Five Types of Merit Enjoyed by the Sage, Sūtra on the Differences in the Karmic Recompenses of Action, Secrets on Cultivating the Mind, and Text on Seated Meditation by the Master of Rest and Repose Hermitage, along with the Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures of Master Puming. These may be said to represent the enlightened Founding Master’s selection based on his judgment of which of the many Buddhist scriptures of the past would be helpful in clarifying the path of mind-study for us humans of the future. Thus the Verses that I will be explaining are a scripture that can be regarded as a standard for practice not only by those of past and present, but in the future as well.
 
In our examination of Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures, we must be aware of the original intent of the Founding Master, who selected the Verses to the Ten Oxherding Pictures as one of The Essential Scriptures of the Buddha and Patriarchs. If we study the sutras ardently with this in mind, I am confident that it will be of great help to our mind-practice from one stage to the next.
 
 
Contents
 
Upon Commencing the Lecture --- 7
 
Chapter One
Still Unherded --- 15
 
Chapter Two
Taming Begun --- 29
 
Chapter Three
Accepting Discipline --- 45
 
Chapter Four
Turning Its Head --- 61
 
Chapter Five
Docile and Submissive --- 81
 
Chapter Six
Free from Constraints --- 103
 
Chapter Seven
Perfectly Natural --- 119
 
Chapter Eight
Paying No Heed to One Other --- 137
 
Chapter Nine
Alone in the Light --- 153
 
Chapter Ten
Both Vanished --- 169