The Hermit and The Ox

Today another thought occurred to me- this is getting serious, a virtual epidemic! But seriously, something or other put me in mind of the Ten Oxherding Pictures, which date back to the Sung dynasty in China, and are ten pictures representing the discovery and taming of the mind. The ten pictures tell a story of a man looking for an ox- in the first picture, the man is looking for the ox, yet doesn't really know what he's looking for. This represents seeking out some deeper meaning to life, but not being certain of where to start- kind of square one, as it were. The next picture shows the man finding ox tracks- he begins to understand what he's searching for, though as yet it remains elusive to his mind. The third picture shows the man catching a glimpse of the ox- his (or her) ideas of what this truth is become clearer, and better defined. The man can now draw some tentative conclusions about the nature of what he is seeking, and can improve his search accordingly. Next, the man catches the ox, but the ox, being an ox, is stubborn, and he finds he can't control the ox. Clearly, he has to understand more about the ox to learn how to control it, or work with it. This represents the difficulties of any spiritual practice- attempting to tame the unruly mind, which, being a thing of habit, is sometimes difficult to change. Yet with patience and understanding, we find the man in the next picture leading the ox along- the ox has not changed its nature, that is, mind is still mind, with all its miracles and pitfalls, but the man has discovered a great deal more about the nature of the ox, and in this way has gained understanding, and with understanding, learns how to work with the nature of mind, not in opposition to it.
Now that the man has mastered his ox mind, the next picture shows him riding the ox- that is, what we would generally refer to as self and mind are one, moving in the same direction. Notice here that there are still two separate figures- the ox and man, that is, mind and our perception of mind, ego, perception of ourselves, however it's termed. In the next picture, a change has occurred- there's no more ox. The ox mind didn't go anywhere, rather it has been integrated into awareness- our mind, our thoughts, are no longer perceived as separate, rather there's just a state of being. Yet we maintain a sense of "I"- ego, perhaps. But we regard the world and ourselves as separate. The eighth picture is no picture- nothing there. Here the duality is completely gone, we simply see, and do not apply the label of self and not-self to what we experience. It's interesting to note that all the references of self we make are essentially not-self statements- like, "This entry is not-me, as I'm the one writing it. This computer is not-me, as I'm writing on it. These hands are not-me, as they are directed by mind to type the right letters," and so on and so forth. But where is me, then? When do the not-me statements stop? Actually, they don't. The self seems to be little more than a point of reference to understand the rest of the world. The second to last picture is sometimes called Returning to The Source- despite this long spiritual journey, we find that the world is still the same, it turns and life generally goes on as it always has. We find that spiritual truth is not on the mountaintop- it's been in everyday life the whole time, but our perception of it has changed. What was once mundane to us is now filled with profound meaning, and we see an underlying order and truth. Now the last picture is of the man going back to his hometown and sharing his learning with other people- this represents the Buddhist principle of service to others.
So what does all this have to do with the Hermit? Well, being a Major Arcana card, the Hermit deals with more of an abstract concept than a person. Here, the Hermit bears two symbols that give us a clue to his nature- a staff and a lantern. The staff represents will and authority- much like the Wands represent willpower, passion and action, here the staff represents a desire to find the truth, to seek out, and to persevere in pursuit of understanding. The lantern represents, well, illumination- the path at our feet becoming clear, and leading us ultimately to a higher place. The Hermit represents our higher spiritual natures, and moving towards that nature. What the Hermit shows us is that it's not always a four-lane blacktop; sometimes the road ahead is hard, or unclear. Those times, we need to rely on our staff- will, determination and stick-to-it-iveness. Perseverance is always rewarded, I've found. Sometimes it's rewarded in the form of learning that you're heading in the wrong direction, but every obstacle can also be a moment of learning as well.
In this world, we're all here for a purpose. It may not be clear at first, and is not as simple as a set of instructions- often we have many complex roles to fill in this world, sometimes overlapping and difficult to reconcile. But in this life, underlying it, is an order and plan. It may not always be clear to us, but it's always there. Anyone who's walked into the coffee table in the dark will tell you just because we don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Life is both a journey and a destination, as well as a learning experience. What lessons each of us takes away depends on our own circumstances and experiences- but remember that no matter what, like that pointy coffee table corner in the dark, it's always there. Hopefully for all of us it'll be a good deal less painful though!