Seeing the Tracks, Seeing the Ox, Ox Forgotten, and Self Forgotten are all varying degrees of emptiness. With the ninth Oxherding Picture, we return to the world of form, but only after having experienced the vast emptiness described in the eighth picture, Both Self and Ox Forgotten.

This week we are looking at verses four and five of the classic Ten Oxherding Pictures, which for me, together represent the question: “How do we practice?” It is a most basic question in Zen, the Buddhist school of meditation, and yet, we find little guidance in the classic koan texts.