oxherding, korea

Things have been tense on the Korean Peninsula lately, with crowds in Seoul today calling for revenge against the north for the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval vessel. But readers of the Korean Times awoke this morning to the 10 Oxherding Pictures, the classic Zen (in Korean, Soen) series that depicts the practitioner’s progress toward enlightenment—a nice antidote to the recent hostilities, or a least a welcome if momentary reprieve. suzuki, oxherding, shubun

Here’s another look, from 15th-century Japanese Zen monk and painter

Shubun (DT Suzuki used the series in the Manual of Zen Buddhism). And

some time ago, I blogged Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s rendering of the series, but it’s worth another plug here.