(Buddha's Wisdom) 🔍 The ancient [Taoist] Zen map that reveals we've been seeking what we already have: The 10 stages of Zen enlightenment, known as The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures, are Zen Buddhism’s 1,000-year-old roadmap to awakening and self-discovery.
The Ten Bulls or the "Ten Ox Herding Pictures" (Chinese shíniú 十牛, Japanese jūgyūzu 十牛図, Korean sipwoo 십우)
Created by 12th-century Chinese Chan Master Kuòān Shīyuǎn, these images explain the stages of enlightenment—from desperate seeking to the realization that the ox we’ve been chasing has been the "Buddha-nature" we already possess and have always possessed.
This isn’t just ancient art. It’s a mirror showing where we truly are on the path to awakening right now.
This video explores The 10 Stages of Zen Enlightenment: A Map to Buddha-Nature, decoding the Zen Buddhist path to awakening through Zen’s most iconic teaching story.
Learn how Kuòān Shīyuǎn’s Ten Ox-Herding Pictures became a timeless visual guide to mindfulness, meditation, and non-duality in Chinese Chan and Zen Buddhism.
DISCOVER
The 10 ancient Zen stages explained step-by-step
How 12th century Master Kuòān Shīyuǎn transformed Taoist symbols into Zen training tools
The mystery behind the final picture—why enlightenment ends in a noisy marketplace
How the Heart Sutra and Zen Master Dōgen’s teachings appear inside these images
Why these ancient pictures still describe the modern search for meaning and peace
🙏 Are you somewhere between Picture 1 and Picture 4, searching, struggling, or starting to see glimpses? That's exactly where you need to be. Subscribe to continue the Path to Enlightenment series as we explore Theravāda's Four Stages and Mahāyāna's Bodhisattva Path.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro – “You’ve lost something”
01:09 Chp 1 – The finger pointing at the moon
03:11 Chp 2 – When you first spot what you’ve lost
07:52 Chp 3 – The years of wrestling your own mind
12:06 Chp 4 – The death of everything you think you are
17:57 Chp 5 – Why enlightenment [Zen's version of the awakened state] looks like a drunk in the market
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📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Primary texts:
"Ten Ox-Herding Pictures" by Kuòān Shīyuǎn (Kakuan) - 12th century Chan Buddhism classic
"The Platform Sutra" - Teachings of Huìnéng, Sixth Patriarch
"The Diamond Sutra" (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra)
"The Heart Sutra" (Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya)
"Shōbōgenzō" by Dōgen Zenji - 13th century Zen master
"The Gateless Gate" (Wúménguān) - Classic Zen kōan collection featuring Zhàozhōu
Modern scholarship:
"Zen and Japanese Culture" by D.T. Suzuki
"The Three Pillars of Zen" by Philip Kapleau (commentary on ox-herding)
"Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin" translated by Norman Waddell
"The Zen Teaching of Rinzai" translated by Irmgard Schloegl
Historical Context:
Earlier buffalo-herding sets from Chinese Chan tradition
Evolution from earlier versions to Kakuan's refined ten-stage cycle
Song Dynasty Buddhist art and philosophy
Thich Nhat Hanh: "To live, we must die every instant. We must perish again and again [like flickering individual stills run in a series of connected frames of a filmstrip, one passing away and the next appearing] in the storms that make life possible."
Thiền (Zen) Master Thích Thanh Từ (1924–2022) is credited for renovating Trúc Lâm in Vietnam. He was one of the most prominent and influential Thiền masters of the 20th and early 21st century. He was a disciple of Master Thích Thiện Hoa.
The most famous practitioner of modernThiền Buddhismin the West was Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926–2022), who authored dozens of books and founded the Plum Village Monastery in France together with his colleague, Thiền Master Bhikkhuni (Nun) Chân Không.
Other influential Vietnamese teachers in the West include Thích Thiên-Ân, who taught philosophy at UCLA, said "We all shed salty tears and shed red blood; all is one," and founded a meditation center in Los Angeles, and Thích Thiện Tâm, the author of several books in English such as Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith: Pure Land Principles and Practice.
In recent years, the modernization of Thiền has taken a new global dimension, as Vietnamese Zen is becoming influenced by the teachings of influential overseas Vietnamese Buddhist leaders such as Thích Nhất Hạnh, who have adopted Thiền to Western needs, focusing on mindfulness.
As a result, Vietnamese Buddhists have also now begun to practice these modernized forms of Thiền [17]. More
(Kim Iversen) Epstein lives: 71 Orthodox Jewish girls get "lost" in NYC underground tunnels
Now that G is out of jail, is she back to pimping?
Illegal New York Jewish synagogue tunnel leads to 9 arrests (2024) Nine members of an orthodox NY Hasidic Jewish community have been arrested and charged over a secret tunnel that [they illegally dug out to make it] connected to a historic synagogue [across the street after they were unable to get a permit to join the two properties]. The Jews fought police after city officials and leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters came to close the tunnel.
Ancient Sanskrit texts such as the Maha Bharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas describe nāgas (snake people, Reptilians, Draconians, dragons, serpents, demons, lizard people) as a powerful semi-inhuman species
They can alter (shapeshift, transform, cloak) their physical appearance to look either fully human, partially human-partially serpent, or wholly serpent (Reptilian).
Their domain is below our feet in underworlds, underground realms stuffed with earthly treasures. This place is called the Naga-loka (Reptilian Realm) or Patala-loka (reputed to be an entrance into Agartha/Atzlan and those underworlds).
Nagas are also often associated with bodies of waters—including wells, rivers, lakes, and seas—and are guardians of many treasures [9].
AMALEK (Biblical Hebrew עֲמָלֵק, Romanized ʿĂmālēq) was a nation described in the Jewish Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer either to:
According to the Torah, there is a commandment to EXTERMINATE [in] the memory of Amalek [with a Nakba, another Holocaust, war crimes, crimes against humanity, Palestinian genocide, Gaza ethnic cleansing, illegal imperialism through settler colonialism in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, or by any other internationally outlawed methods]. More
I'm dead, but if I were alive, we'd have Jewish organizations send us nubile European girl Jews.
. Their power and venom make them potentially very dangerous to humans. In Hindu mythology, they can take the role of benevolent protagonists:
In the Samudra Manthana, the Naga King (nagaraja) Vasuki, who abides on Shiva's neck, transformed itself into the rope that churns the Ocean of Milk [10], thought to be a celestial reference to our "Milky Way."
Their rivals are the bird people (Garuḍas, Suparnas, Avians, Harpies), legendary semi-human bird-like beings [11]. More
Soccer (futbol, real "association football") is the stupidest most exciting of human sports since at least the time of the mighty Aztecs (Mexica tribe) of what is now Mexico, when they played soccer with a hard rubber ball, combining it with an elevated hoop for a kind of early basketball called Mesoamerican ballgame, allegedly sometimes playing to the death. How did Buddhists, particularly the peace-loving Bhutanese Himalayan variety, get caught up and consumed in this somewhat violent (war-preparatory) sport? Khyentse Norbu tries to explain in his award-winning 1999 film The Cup.
Buddhism arrived in California and Mexico before Spain brought Catholicism and England brought Christianity: An Inglorious Columbus(Edward P. Vining, 1885)
(KTLA 5) June 11, 2026: World Cup fever took over Liberty Park Thursday night in Los Angeles' Koreatown, where soccer fans came out in force to watch a match between South Korea and Czechia. KTLA’s Chris Wolfe reports.
A god (brahmā) known as Baka once reflected privately that he
and his heavenly plane of existence were everlasting. He thought that it was not possible that there could be a higher plane of rebirth and was therefore convinced
he had overcome all rebirth and suffering.
The Buddha discerned his deep-seated wrong view and decided out of sympathy to pay Baka a visit in his heaven. When the Buddha appeared in that brahmā world, Baka Brahmā welcomed
him formally but immediately announced:
“Now, good sir, this [place] is permanent, this is everlasting,
this is eternal, this is total, this is not subject to pass
away; for this neither is born nor ages nor dies nor
passes away nor reappears, and beyond this there is
no escape”
(MN 49).
The Buddha, however, contradicted him, pointing out that
every one of his claims was wrong. Just then Māra the Tempter [a kind of Lucifer figure] joined their conversation. Māra’s task is to prevent
beings from being won over to the Dhamma, to keep them
trapped in the cycle of rebirth and death, what Mara views as his personal
domain [11].
Taking possession of one of the brahmā’s attendants, Māra
urged the Buddha, with a display of sympathy, to accept
this brahmā as God, the creator of all other beings.
He told the
Buddha that wandering ascetics of the past who delighted in things of
this life and “who lauded Brahmā” won happy rebirths
afterwards, while those who disbelieved and rejected Brahmā had to endure
terrible punishment [in hells].
The Awakened One (the Buddha) let Mara have his say
and then called his bluff:
“I know you, Evil One. Do not think, ’He does not know me.’ You are Māra, Evil One, and the Brahmā
and his assembly and the members of the assembly
have all fallen into your hands, they have all fallen
under your power. You, Evil One, think, ’This one, too, has fallen into my hands. He, too, has fallen under my
power.’ But I have not fallen into your hands, Evil
One. I have not fallen under your power.”
“All beings subject to craving—humans, subhumans, devas (celestial deities),
or brahmās (grand divinities)—are said to be under Māra’s power because they
can all be moved by their mental defilements and must drift along in the
current of rebirth and death.
But the Buddha and the other arahants (fully enlightened ones) have permanently and completely escaped Māra’s
circle of influence, for they have eliminated all defilements.
They have exhausted the fuel that leads to rebirth and thus have
vanquished the Lord of Death (Mara).
Baka Brahmā begins to speak on his own behalf. He reminds the Buddha of his opening statement on permanence. He
warns him that it is futile to seek “an escape beyond” his
own brahma realm. Then he cajoles and threatens the Buddha in the same
breath:
“If you will hold to earth… beings… gods… you
will be close to me, within my domain, for me to work my
will upon and punish.”
The Buddha agrees that if he clung
to earth (or any other aspect of existence) he would remain
under the control of Mahā Brahmā ("Great Supremo") and Māra, too, but he
adds:
“I understand that your reach and sway extend
thus: Baka the Brahmā has this much power, this much
might, this much influence.”
The Buddha points out that beyond the thousandfold world system over which Baka
reigns there are planes of existence of which Baka is totally
unaware, and beyond all conditioned phenomena there is a
reality that transcends even “the allness of the all”—a
consciousness without manifestation, boundless, luminous
on all sides—to which Baka has no access whatsoever.
The Buddha, demonstrating
his superiority in knowledge and power, then uses
his superior psychic powers to humble Baka in front of his entire assembly.
By the end of the discourse, these once haughty divine beings
marvel at the might of the wandering ascetic Gotama:
“Though living
in a generation that delights in being…he has extirpated
being [becoming, bhava] and its root” [12].
A brahmā with wrong view
Once an unnamed brahmā gave rise to this deluded thought:
“No ascetic is powerful enough to reach my [divine] realm.”
The
Buddha read his mind and proved him wrong by simply
appearing before him and sitting at ease in the air above his
head, while radiating flames from his body in a dramatic
display of supernormal powers.
Four great arahant (fully enlightened) disciples—Mahā Moggallāna (the monk the Buddha declared "foremost in psychic powers" among his disciples), Kassapa, Kappina, and
Anuruddha—independently realized what had happened
and decided to join their Teacher on this divine brahmā plane.
Each
disciple sat cross-legged in the air respectfully below the Buddha—but
above that brahmā—in one of the cardinal directions,
emitting fire around himself.
A short dialogue in verse took place between
Mahā Moggallāna, the Buddha’s second chief male disciple, and that brahmā:
“Today, friend, do you still hold that view,
The same view that you formerly held?
Do you see a radiance
Surpassing that in the brahma-world?”
“I no longer hold that view, dear sir,
[I reject] the view I formerly held.
Indeed, I see a radiance
Surpassing that in the brahma-world?”
Today how could I assert the view
That I am permanent and eternal?”
According to the Commentary (tika) to this story, the brahmā gave
up his wrong view, his wrong belief in his own superiority when he observed the
magnificence of the Buddha and a few of his arahants.
When the
Buddha preached the Dhamma to him, that brahma was established
in the fruit of stream-entry and stopped thinking of himself
as permanent.
When this brahmā saw his own [radical] impermanence clearly and distinctly for himself, his former
tenacious wrong view, wrong opinion that his world and life were immortal was
uprooted.
Many aeons of preparation, the brahmā’s quick
intellect, the Buddha’s perfect timing, and the support of the
four arahants bore fruit in this divinity becoming a stream
enterer (one who has reached the first stage of awakening).
After the Buddha and those arahants left and returned to
Jetavana, the great brahmā wanted to learn more about the
powers of Buddhist monastics. He sent a member of his retinue to ask Mahā Moggallāna whether there are even more monastics of this teacher who can perform such feats as he can. Maha Moggallāna replied:
“Many are the disciples of the Buddha
Who are arahants with taints destroyed,
Triple knowledge bearers with spiritual powers,
Skilled in the course of others’ minds”
(KS I, 182–84; SN 6:5).
Not only do large numbers of monastics have such special
powers and the ability to know other people’s minds, but
there are numerous fully purified arahant disciples of the
Buddha as well. The emissary was glad to hear this answer,
as was that brahmā when he received the report. Source
When we are belligerent and violent, there are always two wars happening simultaneously, the War of Bombs and the War of Opinions.
The War of Bombs requires the War of Opinions as its fuel. If we end the War of Opinions, we simultaneously end the War of Bombs.
We are all responsible for the War of Opinions, so we can end it at any time. The way we end the War of Opinions is by thinking then saying this: "Whatever opinion you hold, I have compassion for you, and whatever opinion I hold, I have compassion for myself."
Talking is easy; doing is a little harder.
If we choose these mental positions, we will never have to agree with each other to see the end of belligerence, violence, war, disputes, arguments, and doing harm.
The true cause of violence is not disagreement; it is how we think about each other and feel about each other when we disagree with each other.
Violence can only happen if it is acceptable for us to withhold compassion from those with whom we disagree. This is the cause of war.
Our differences of opinion do not cause violence. What causes violence is that we are willing to withhold compassion from others, any others, because of their opinions.
As soon as we become unwilling to withhold compassion from anyone, we will see the end of violence, immediately, at that exact moment.
When our compassion ends nowhere, there will be peace on earth.
Opinions (holding views)
It's you, Bibi. - No, Trump, you're the War Pres.
We are taught to use the opinions of others to justify withholding compassion from them.
There is only one reason to withhold compassion from anyone: to actively build more violence on this planet. That's what our withheld compassion does.
If we are trying to accomplish something other than that by withholding compassion, then we are using the wrong tool. If we want to build peace, the tool that will build it is compassion-for-all.
The trouble with these times [is that they aren't a-changin' enough] is that many are trying to build peace by withholding compassion from those who disagree with them. That action builds war. So they are trying to build peace with that which only builds war.
That is like saying, "I'd like to build a house to sleep in, a good strong dwelling, so I'm going to build it out of water." [What do we think we are, fish, mermaids, aquatic plants?]
Water is useful for many things, but we can't cut it into blocks and build shelters with it. [What if we freeze it first? Igloo ice, sure, but this is water we're talking about, not permafrost ice in the arctic.]
Our misunderstandings are so basic to our belief system that we do not see that we are trying to build a house with something we cannot build a house with. That's how elemental our misunderstandings are. But that's also how powerful our opportunities are.
All we need to do is say, "Now that I can see that I've been trying to build a house with blocks of water, let me try again, but with blocks of wood, and see what happens." Voila: a beautiful, solid house.
A house made of water would not be nearly so nice or durable...or livable at all.
Not by hatred but by...this is an eternal law.
And so it is with peace. We can say, "Let me try using compassion-for-all to build peace, and see if that works any better than withholding compassion." And it will work every time. That is an eternal and universal law.
One can't build walls with wet fluid water; one can't build true and lasting peace with hatred of the people who disagree with us.
Our hatred builds something: It builds more of the Era of Belligerence.
It does not build peace in the world. It also does not build peace for us personally — in our day-to-day experience, our family and circle of friends, our workplace and our minds/hearts.
What builds peace for us, in our personal experience, is to say this: "I disagree with that point of view yet still have compassion for the person who holds it."
That builds the kind of deep peace that makes it easier for us to do everything we have to do throughout the day. It makes it easier to be a parent, easier to be a friend, easier to be a whatever.
A war brings these forces to our attention, but they are always at play, in smaller ways, within our lives. Disagreements break out in the home and the workplace. And we always make more peace for ourselves when we feel and think this:
"I disagree with the way my boss (spouse, child, friend, whoever) sees this situation. Still, I hold deep compassion for this person."
The War of Bombs requires the War of Opinions to exist. Without our War of Opinions, their War of Bombs will very quickly lose steam and peter out.
A fire requires fuel -- such as wood and oxygen, plus certain conditions, like heat and the absence of rain.
Similarly, the fire of war requires certain conditions to ignite and burn and grow.
Remove the War of Opinions and, no matter how many lit matches are thrown onto the fire of war, it will not ignite.
Compassion-for-all is like soaking fuel used in the fire of war. No matter how many flames are dropped on wet wood, it won't catch on fire. Our compassion-for-all ends this war and every war.
When our compassion ends nowhere, there will be peace on earth. When our compassion goes everywhere, there is no ready fuel for war.
What will happen when we start to pair compassion-for-all with whatever opinion (view) we hold?
What will happen is that we will spend more time in our Peace Mind, which is the higher portion of our consciousness. And when we do this, we'll see new solutions—solutions that already exist, except that we cannot see them yet because they can only be seen from the more loving portion of consciousness.
When we have compassion for others, we free them from our hatred, vitriol, animosity, belligerence, so they visit their Peace Minds more often, too.
And when we are all in our Peace Minds, new solutions will be so easy to see that we almost won't be able to comprehend how we ever stayed at war or disagreeing for so long.
Solutions to our problems already exist. Whether we can see them yet depends on our perspective. Where are we placing conscious attention in our own consciousness? Is it our Peace Mind?
It's not that this conflict, or any conflict, is based on an unsolvable problem. It's that we cannot yet see a solution that will resolve this issue from our current perspective.
Move our perspective, and the preexisting solution becomes apparent.
What's the one thing we can do to serve the world? We can learn to transition our own perspective upwards so we can see more solutions and bring more innovations to humanity.
What's another thing we can do? We can pair compassion with everything we think and feel. Compassion can be added to any thought, like this:
"I greatly disagree with what that leader has done, and I have compassion for everyone who lives in that country, even for the leader herself," or "I think that's a terrible thing to do, and I have compassion for the person who has done it." Just add one in.
No consensus of opinion needs to be reached to end the War of Opinions. We can end war without a single opinion ever changing.
We end it by adding our compassion-for-everyone to any opinion we have.
That ends the war, because now it's not a War of Opinions that we're seated within—it's simply a landscape of opinions that are allowed to exist.
It's not a War of Opinions when there is compassion-for-all present. Now it's a community of unique human individuals who compassionately respect each other. We came here to be unique.
We did not come here to create a consensus of opinion. We came here to be in a vibrant (lively and diverse) community of original thinkers, coexisting, more than tolerating but appreciating differences.
Peace Class, free, Wednesdays on Zoom
We came here to learn how to do that in peace.
What makes that possible is this phrase: Regardless of how we see things, we have compassion for one another. That choice-of-thought builds the kind of peace we came here to build.
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