Hi everyone,
paiseh if anyone here knows what this means...
Is it refering to a person but lifeless...? something like dead zen...
Thanks for help.
I am not into Zen, so I may be wrong. The ox is a very strong animal, how do you control it?
But it seems to be like the elephant and monkey used to represent the mind!
ohh ok.. thanks
Originally posted by 2009novice:Hi everyone,
paiseh if anyone here knows what this means...
Is it refering to a person but lifeless...? something like dead zen...
Thanks for help.
Where did you read this from? It's better to know the context of which it was said.
Anyway usually the ox means our true self, while the ox is often depicted as being leashed through the nostrils by a farmer. This means sustaining the recognition of our true nature.
Hmmm....I am not quite sure where I read this before, but I'll just try to explain from what I vaguely remember. My impression is that this is from a Korean Zen story. A Zen master was meditating and one day someone sent him a message 'to be a cow without nostrils' and he got enlightened.
The explanation I heard was that a cow usually had a ring around its nostril so that people could pull it here and there and direct it to work. So the cow is being pulled and led by his nostril. It has no control over where it is going to be led to. If the cow had no nostrils, he would be free. It is a metaphor.
The cow represents us or our minds. What are we being pulled and led by in our daily lives? Our clinging? Greed, anger and ignorance? What is it that is pulling us into samsara? What is it that is holding us? Once we see this clearly for ourselves, we break through it and become a cow without nostrils.
Metta_(|)_
Ah I see.. thanks :)
Originally posted by Emanrohe:Hmmm....I am not quite sure where I read this before, but I'll just try to explain from what I vaguely remember. My impression is that this is from a Korean Zen story. A Zen master was meditating and one day someone sent him a message 'to be a cow without nostrils' and he got enlightened.
The explanation I heard was that a cow usually had a ring around its nostril so that people could pull it here and there and direct it to work. So the cow is being pulled and led by his nostril. It has no control over where it is going to be led to. If the cow had no nostrils, he would be free. It is a metaphor.
The cow represents us or our minds. What are we being pulled and led by in our daily lives? Our clinging? Greed, anger and ignorance? What is it that is pulling us into samsara? What is it that is holding us? Once we see this clearly for ourselves, we break through it and become a cow without nostrils.
Metta_(|)_
ohhh... thanks... coz i dun understand the meaning... so i post here if anyone knows the meaning...
thanks alot :)
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Where did you read this from? It's better to know the context of which it was said.
Anyway usually the ox means our true self, while the ox is often depicted as being leashed through the nostrils by a farmer. This means sustaining the recognition of our true nature.
Haha ya this is a korean zen story.. nicely illustrated and not wordy... easy to read :)