THE TEN OXHERDING PICTURES | 十牛図 | V. HERDING THE OX

"Never be without whip and tether
Or it might stray in the world.
Herded properly it will become tame,
Untethered it will follow unforced."*

The fourth stage was fraught with conflict as the ego or small self fought back when we began to fathom our original nature. Now we begin the long path of integrating our ox. This is where realization becomes actualization.

The discursive mind follows the well-worn path of a lifetime of conditioning, lashing out when its primacy is challenged. It is still very clear in this stage that even our best intentions aren't enough to stand in the way of our karmic momentum - and that even when we know our responses aren't skillful, they still come to the fore. Through constant repetition and practice, however, we begin to see the possibility of reprogramming our conditioning. We are slowly modeling clarity and turning our principles into expression.

In this stage, we have to remain vigilant. The whip and the tether of constant practice need to be at hand as we resist falling back on past patterns of delusive thought. If we continue to train in this way, the possibility of discarding the small mind that doesn't serve us begins to become real. Untethered it will follow unforced...