How to Tend the Ox

‘What are you doing now?’

‘I am tending the ox.’

When Huizhang speaks of tending the ox, he’s not talking about feeding fodder to an actual ox. He means that having realized his fundamental nature, he’s nurturing it to become whole.

‘How do you tend it?’
‘Whenever it goes into the grass field, I quickly pull the reins and bring it back.’
‘You truly know how to tend the ox.’

You must always be mindful. You now know even the method by which you can attain enlightenment. All that remains is for you to do it yourself. The moment you pull the reins and return home, your long wandering will end. Those who attained enlightenment before us did the same. When desires tempted them and disturbed their peace, they didn’t lose themselves but applied the whip of discipline while soothing their aching hearts. They calmed their arising desires with love. Pacified their desires with love. It is, in its own way, a very beautiful thing.

In the moment you pull those reins, you will experience an intense ecstasy. You will experience a shock as if you’re shattering, or as if your heart might burst. And your past will fall away. You will return to being energy itself.