Free Sample issue of The Empty Vessel - CommunityAwake

Yingning, is that the author did not dare not to voice thewords, since it may have alarmed the readers. So exactlywhat words were they? To find the answer let us turnto the illustrations and consult the poems of the chart.Ode to the Ox-herding Chart1. The untamed Ox outside the herdFerociously, the ox bellows and, free of all constraints,Thrusts about with its crooked horns,Racing wildly round the mountainTo where the river turns away, and the road stretchesoff into the far distance.A bank of black cloud hangs over the opening to the valley,And who can tell how much destruction is wrought tothe young seedlingsTrampled underfoot in the farmer’s field!Here the ox is a metaphor for the heart-mind, whichhas not been reined in or subjected to any form of discipline.It prefers to be free and uncurbed, chasing afterwhatever it finds desirable or congenial, pleasing orcompelling, even at the expense of physical and emotionalwellbeing. Accordingly, all possible means shouldbe employed to tame it and take it in hand. This conceptseems to correlate more closely to the methods of theTaoist alchemist than the practitioner of Chan Buddhism.A propos, Lao Tzu said in chapter 12 of the Tao TeChing:The five colours make the eyes blind;The five notes make the ears deaf;The five flavors rob the mouth of taste.Riding and hunting make the mind wild;Therefore, The Yellow Emperor went to see MasterKuang Ch’eng, to ask about the administration of thebody:Master Kuang Ch’eng sat up with a start. “It is excellent,this question of yours! Come, I will tell you about the PerfectTao. The essence of the Perfect Tao is profoundly obscure andvague; the subtlety of the Perfect Tao is profoundly elusive andstill. See nothing, hear nothing, enfold Shen in quietude andthe body will go right , of its own accord. Be still, be pure, donot labor your body, do not churn up your Jing, and then youcan live a long life. There is nothing to be beheld by the eyes,nothing to be heard by the ears, nothing to be known by theheart, thus your Shen shall guard the body, and the body willthereby enjoy a long life. Cherish that which is within you, blockoff what is outside you, too much knowledge will do you harm.If the poem was intended to characterize the teachings ofthe Chan sect, it would not talk about the unruliness of theheart-mind (ox) when the heart-mind is the main issue underconsideration. Otherwise, slaughtering the ox with a sharpsword would not be the answer to the problem (Particularlysince Zen Buddhism is opposed to killing). Similarly, if it isintended to characterize (the teachings of) the six patriarchs ofthe Chan sect, we might expect to be given the directive “keepdusting it to prevent it from incurring the least speck of dust.”So, why then does the word “forgetfulness” appear in laterpoems? The concept of “forgetfulness” reflects the approachof Huang Tzu where you readily find passages such as “To beforgetful in sitting meditation”, which advocates combining theheart-mind with the breathing (listening to the breath), andallowing the heart mind and breath to harmonize and becomeat one with each other. Thereafter, falling into forgetfulness ofboth breath and heart-mind, forgetting about everything, incomplete oblivion and without intervention, following whateverarises or fades away.2. The Initial Taming of the OxTaking a rope, I run it through the nose of the ox, andcling fast!His first attempt to go haring off is well rewarded with burningpain from the lash of the whip !But, with the determined strength of ingrained, wild inclinations,He struggles against all change and modification.Now the ox-herd boy must bring his full abilities to bearThe Empty Vessel 13