Riding the Ox Home: Stages on the Path of Enlightenment

I first learned of the Ox Herding Pictures while living in Korea. A Korean friend, who had once lived in a monastery when contemplating becoming a monk, shared the pictures and their meaning to me as we visited a Buddhist temple near where we lived. The pictures represent a spiritual path of self-study. They are good reminders of the journey. When I saw this book, I looked forward to learning more about the pictures, the journey they represent, and other's interpretations of their meaning. "Riding the Ox Home" by John Daido Loori is a small gem of a book. It can be read quickly, for it is not that long, but studied deeply because the message is a guide toward self-discovery. Loori is abbot of the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, New York, and founder and director of the Mountains and Rivers Order, an organization of associated Zen Buddhist temples, practice centers, and meditation groups from around the United States and abroad. His experience and guidance shines through in the passages that accompany the pictures. After a short introduction, the ten Ox Herding Pictures are shown at the beginning of each of the ten chapters. After the picture, there is an English translation of a poem to accompany each picture. After the picture and poem, there is commentary by Loori on the meaning and how that relates to each individual's own self-discovery and study. The wisdom of these passages runs deep, and one can contemplate on each chapter for a long time. In fact, you can contemplate on the passages of this book for a lifetime, for the journey of self-discovery is a path that may indeed take that long, and it's not necessarily reaching the end that is important, but merely staying on the path. For those that practice Zen, I recommend this little book to assist you with staying on the path, for it is basically a small map with guideposts as to what the path is. I too hope for you what Loori wishes in the last line of this book, "May your journey be fruitful and may your life go well." That's what the practice is all about. Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks and the dvds: Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer. Alain Also wrote a series of articles called Lessons From The Apprentice.

I thoroughly appreciated Loori's chapter by chapter explanation of the Zen Ox Herding Pictures, complete with reproductions of ink paintings in the traditional Chinese-style brush painting. Loori's writing is engaging. He demonstrates a sparse Zen-like use of words to express his points clearly, succinctly, and beautifully. Each chapter is devoted to one of the stages presented by the pictures, from stage one, Searching for the Ox, through stage ten, Entering the Marketplace. It helped me better understand stages I've been through on my spiritual journey and how we all follow roughly the same path to awakening. It's not linear, but we keep redoing certain points until it is understood on the level appropriate for us.

This book is a small gem, as are all of Loori's books! John Daido Loori is the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, NY. But more than that, he is an artist and an accomplished photographer. The ox-herding pictures are a series of ancient verses that illuminate the stages of enlightenment. Loori has taken them and updated the verses and drawings so they are a little more current yet still retain their timeless significance. Loori's words, in this book and others, resonate with the simple wisdom of a true master, as well as the intuitive "knowing" of an artist. Highly recommended for both students of Zen and all who seek to "see" and create.