Today I want to talk about The 10 Oxherding Pictures, which is what inspired me to start the Cotton Mouth project in the first place. These pictures emerged in China in the 12th century. They depict a young oxherder whose quest leads him down the path of enlightenment. The succession is as follows:

1. In Search of the Bull
2. Discovery of the Footprints
3. Perceiving the Bull
4. Catching the Bull
5. Taming the Bull
6. Riding the Bull Home
7. The Bull Transcended
8. Both Bull and Self Transcended
9. Reaching the Source
10. Return to Society

This is a representation of the spiritual path. The young oxherder is you and me. Even though the images are presented in a linear sequence, it is actually more akin to a spiral — where the last one leads back to the first again, in the never ending cycle of Samsara. Throughout our lives, we can move between these stages back and forth, losing our way, returning to the start, and progressing further once more.

One might think that the natural end point of the path is picture 9 — where both the oxherder and the bull have transcended into emptiness. But that is just another step on the path, another moment that will pass, as illustrated by the last image: Return to Society. When the oxherder returns to the village, no longer seeking anything at all.

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.

Some people might have already figured out that all my EPs and albums are named after the Ten Oxherding Pictures. And all the record covers use the circular motif, implying that they exist as scenes in this same realm of seeking, losing and finding the path, over and over again.

Look for the hoofprints of the ox this weekend.

Bless,
CM