Kakuan
By Kakuan Shien
An ox and ox herding as symbols for the spiritual path. Originally an ancient Taoist story/symbol, it became closely identified with Zen in general as well as a continual source of inspiration for Zen (and many other) students. The last ones emphasize a return to the world, a linking closely to everyday life, and a teaching that we find enlightenment—not in a temple, cave, or special and holy place—but in the details of our daily life.
“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.”
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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.”
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52. Cultivating the Changeless
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“From the beginning, truth is clear. One who is not attached to 'form' need not be 'reformed'.
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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.”
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“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.”
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51. Mysterious Goodness
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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.”
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“Just as many utensils are made from one metal so too are myriad entities made of the fabric of self”
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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.”
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40. Returning
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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.”
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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.”
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“When one thought arises, another thought follows. When the first thought springs from enlightenment, all subsequent thoughts are true.”
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