Tao Te Ching
Kakuan Shien 廓庵師遠
(Kuo-an Shih-yuan, Kuòān Shīyuǎn )
1100 – 1200 CE
Most popular Ten Bulls artist/poet
Chan Buddhist monk, artist, and poet; Kakuan expanded on an old Taoist story that used an ox and herding as symbols for the spiritual path. He added two new pictures to a previous version that had 8 and published his new verses and pictures in c, 1178. These new additions emphasized returning to the world and linking closely realization with everyday life. Dramatically symbolizing the path to enlightenment, his rendition became the most popular then and continues to hold that position today in spite of many newer attempts. Exemplifying the close connection between Taoism and Zen, his Ten Bulls became closely identified with Zen in general as well as a continual source of inspiration for students.
Eras
Chinese
5 Kingdom of Dali 大理国 (937 – 1253 CE)Northern Song (960 – 1127 CE)
Southern Song (1127 – 1279 CE)
Liao dynasty (907 – 1125 CE)
Jin dynasty (1115 – 1234 CE)
Western Xia 西夏 (1038 – 1227 CE)
Western Liao (1124 – 1218 CE)
Sources
Unlisted Sources
Quotes by Kakuan Shien (11 quotes)
“I hear the song of the nightingale,
The sun is warm the wind is mild, willows are green along the shore,
Here no bull can hide.”
from 10 Bulls
Chapters:
51. Mysterious Goodness
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“Just as many utensils are made from one metal so too are myriad entities made of the fabric of self”
from 10 Bulls
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“From the beginning, truth is clear. One who is not attached to 'form' need not be 'reformed'.
”
from 10 Bulls
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“I go to the marketplace with my wine bottle and return home with my staff. I visit the wine shop and the market, and everyone I look upon becomes enlightened.”
from 10 Bulls
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“I seek no state of enlightenment. Neither do I remain where no enlightenment exists. If hundreds of birds strew my path with flowers, such praise would be meaningless.”
from 10 Bulls
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“When one thought arises, another thought follows. When the first thought springs from enlightenment, all subsequent thoughts are true.”
from 10 Bulls
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“As soon as the six senses merge, the gate is entered This unity is like salt in water, like color in dyestuff. The slightest thing is not apart from self.”
from 10 Bulls
Chapters:
52. Cultivating the Changeless
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“My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull. I only hear the locusts chirping through the forest at night.”
from 10 Bulls
Chapters:
40. Returning
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“All is one law, not two. It is as gold and dross, or the moon emerging from a cloud. One path of clear light travels on throughout endless time.”
from 10 Bulls
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“The beauty of my garden is invisible... I use no magic to extend my life; Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.”
from 10 Bulls
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“Struggle is over; gain and loss are assimilated. I sing the song of the village woodsman, and play the tunes of the children.”
from 10 Bulls
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