Break the Illusion Blog by Davey Wavey

In Chinese tradition, there is a collection called the ten paintings. The ten paintings depict a man looking for his lost ox. In the first picture, the man is concerned because the ox is lost. In the second picture, the man finds footprints. In the third picture, the man sees the ox. In the fourth picture, the man catches the ox. In the fifth picture, the man ties a rope the ox. In the sixth picture he mounts the ox. In the seventh picture he brings the ox back to the farm. In the eight picture, the man is so happy that he celebrates and plays his flute. The ninth picture is empty. In the tenth picture, the man wanders the road back to the town, drunk, holding a bottle.

This is the perfect illustration for enlightenment. In the ninth picture–the empty picture–it depicts the return to nothingness. To the silence. To the truth.

When these pictures were brought to Japan 1200 or 1300 years ago, the tenth picture was left behind, as it didn’t seem to fit the rest. But in reality, the pictures are meaningless without the tenth frame. Because, after reaching enlightenment, you must return back to humanity. It doesn’t end with awakening. You are still human, and you must still live among people and towns and cities. If enlightened people simply vanished, who would teach us? The man is drunk with the ecstasy of enlightenment in the tenth picture, and is returning to the town to help others. It is compassion; it is giving; it is the flowering of enlightenment.

the ninth picture