Q. Why should we try to see the true-Self?

A. The true-Self is often compared to an ox, and finding the ox is enlightenment. We have lost the ox, the essence of our being, for such a long time that it has become as uncontrollable as a wild ox. We are sometimes kicked, butted and once in a while trampled by it since it is out of our control because we cannot see it, although it is always with us. The pain of the injuries from the kicks, butting and trampling of the ox is referred to as suffering in Buddhism. To find the lost ox and control it as we please is to make our lives happy.

Student: “What is the ox?”

Master: “You are riding it now.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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