4. Catching the Bull

I seize him with a terrific struggle.
His great will and power are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists,
Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

5. 牧牛

5. Taming the Bull

The whip and rope are necessary,
Else he might stray off down some dusty road.
Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle.
Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

6. 騎牛歸家

6. Riding the Bull Home

Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony, I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody will join me.


~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

7. 忘牛存人

7. The Bull Transcended

Astride the bull, I reach home.
I am serene. The bull too can rest.
The dawn has come. In blissful repose,
Within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and rope.

~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

8. 人牛俱忘

8. Both Bull and Self Transcended

Whip, rope, person, and bull — all merge in No-Thing.
This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.
How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?
Here are the footprints of the patriarchs.

~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

9. 返本還源

9. Reaching the Source

Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source.
Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning!
Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned with that without —
The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red.


~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

10. 入鄽垂手

10. In the World

Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world.
My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.

~Kuòān Shīyuǎn
@GatelessGate

Just our being here is such a miracle. It cannot be explained why I am here, why you are here. Why these trees are here, why these stars are here. Why at all this universe exists, and goes on peopling itself with trees and birds and people. Why in the first place it is there, there is no way to know. It simply is there. But it inspires awe! It fills the heart with wonder. It is unbelievably true — it is incredible! It is absurd, but tremendously beautiful.

~OSHO
@GatelessGate

If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!

~Thich Nhat Hanh
@GatelessGate

Wherever you are, be there totally.

~Eckhart Tolle
@GatelessGate

Love cannot be taught, it can only be caught.

~OSHO
@GatelessGate

Discover yourself, otherwise you have to depend on other people’s opinions who don’t know themselves.

~OSHO
@GatelessGate

Let go over a cliff, die completely, and then come back to life — after that you cannot be deceived.

~Zen Proverb
@GatelessGate

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.

~Bodhidharma
@GatelessGate

To follow the path, look to the master, follow the master, walk with the master, see through the master, become the master.

~Zen Proverb
@GatelessGate