Tend the ox

Nanquan, up in the hall, said, "Since youth I have brought up a water buffalo: when I was herding it east of the valley, I didn't let it eat the water plants of that country; when I was herding it west of the valley, I didn't let it eat the water plants of that country. Now it takes in a little bit anywhere possible, without being seen at all."

And

Since you're studying the Path, then at all times, in your encounters with people and responses to circumstances, you must not let wrong thoughts continue. If you cannot see through them, then the moment a wrong thought comes up you should quickly concentrate your mental energy to pull yourself away. If you always follow those thoughts and let them continie without a break, not only does this obstruct the Path, but it makes you out to be a man without wisdom. In the old days Kuei Shan asked Lazy An, "What work do you do during the 24 hours of the day?" An said, "I tend an ox." Kuei Shan said, "How do you tend it?" An said, "Whenever it gets into the grass, I pull it back by the nose." Keui Shan said, "You're really tending the ox!" People who study the Path, in controlling wrong thoughts, should be like Lazy An tending his ox; then gradually a wholesome ripening will take place of itself.

Submitted August 03, 2017 at 09:15PM by WildFoxBuddha http://ift.tt/2u4dSx0