Sukha Patta

Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shikoku. Desiring to show his attainment, he said: “The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.” Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry. “If nothing exists,” inquired Dokuon, “where did this anger come from?”

Ten Bulls or Ten Ox-Herding pictures in the tradition of Zen Buddhism, a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of  Mahayana Buddhist  practitioner's progression towards Enlightenment as well as his or her subsequent perfection of wisdom. (1) In the Wild Troubled by all kinds of thoughts and desires, people are liable to get nervous anal disturbed in daily life and with their natural character con-fused and the ability to sustain themselves lost, they are quite ill with various worries and diseases. The poem reads: Displaying its horns, the buffalo bellows aloud, Running along the mountain path into the distance. A patch of black clouds overhangs the valley, The buffalo tramples wheat seedlings wherever it goes. (2) Initial Training When you start qigong practice, place your mind under control and set strict demands on yourself, as if fastening the buffalo with a rope. After persistent practice, you wil