The Oxherd Series – The Search – Modern Koans

The Oxherd Series is a collection of 10 images and commentary on the quest for enlightenment.  Its source is the Zen tradition. What you're reading here is a satirical, but not all together purposeless, treatment of these so called stages. Using excerpts from one of my favorite cartoons, Bob's Burgers, I hope to bring this old story into the present.

The Oxherd Series – Number One – The Search

Here you are, on some Buddhist guy’s blog. For what its worth, there’s quite a bit of information packed into that little fact. It tells me you’re a Buddhist or at least curious.  If Buddhism wasn’t your birth faith, that tells me more and if you’re in the Americas or Europe, even more.

It tells me you’re searching.  Of course, that’s what we do on the web.  But it’s a little deeper than that. You’re looking for the kinds of answers that don’t show up on Dictionary.com or even Wikipedia. In fact, you may not even be able to articulate exactly what it is your looking for.

You’re one of a pretty large and growing group, especially in the west. Many of us have wandered away from our churches and synagogues, either turned off by traditions, or at a loss for what they offer.  At some point though, many of us feel the space left in our hearts they tried to fill. Some times we head back to church. Sometimes we look beyond.

This Is The Search

So let’s talk about the silly GIF I’ve placed at the top of this post.  It’s a scene from Bob’s Burgers episode called The Deepening. In this episode, a mechanical shark has gotten loose on the town and it’s devouring everything in sight. Here Bob and Teddy are in the restaurant trying to fend it off by throwing table top condiments and anything else handy at the shark to stop its progress. This particular GIF is Bob helplessly grasping at – yes – straws.

So what the heck is it we’re searching for?  Whenever there is a newcomer to my meditation group, I always ask them what brought them here.  Usually there’s a pause, a bit of soul searching, and then a tentative and sometimes unconvincing answer.  This is where the oxherd tale begins.

What’s To Learn Here?

The first oxherd drawing depict someone feeling a sense of dissatisfaction or space in their life.  In a very disorganized way, they try anything and everything to fill that gap. Unfortunately nothing quite fills the hole in any lasting sense, so they keep flailing about like Bob, literally grasping at straws.

The satire may seem mean spirited to anyone out there searching.  It seems to only add insult to injury.  But in fact it is a very important stage on this so-called path.  I don’t mean that its necessary to suffer a certain amount of time before we’re ready.  It’s not a Buddhist hazing ritual.  It’s a recognition that so far we’ve been unsuccessful, but that the seeking is worthwhile .  If this wasn’t acknowledged, how would we recognize it?  There is no manual handed out with adulthood that says, “OK, when you get that feeling, get yourself to a Zen monastery lickety-split.” The oxherd tale is the next best thing.

For 9 out of 10 people who walk into my meditation group, they enjoy the meditation, but don’t come back. Why is that? It’s partially my fault, but as they say. “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” It’s because they don’t make the connection between the search, their dissatisfaction, and the Dharma.  But, such is the human condition.  If we all had the wherewithal to recognize our suffering, the causes of suffering, cessation of suffering, and the path when we first encounter it, we’d all be enlightened masters.  But that’s not how it is.

For me it took about 40 years. I makes sense to cut people a little slack.

Here’s How It Happens

Spend a few moment watching the GIF.  Once the giggling subsides, pause for a few moments and draw some parallels between Bob’s grasping and your life.  If it hits you, let it sink in.  Move on to other aspects of your life; your relationships, how you view and treat yourself, what you tend to worry about, and what you spend most of your time doing.  If you see yourself constantly trying to fill that gap without success, you’re actually on to something.

What is it that you think you’re looking for?  Is it enlightenment?  Do you have any idea what enlightenment is? Why does it interest you? 

Next: Traces of the Ox

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Modern Koans is an ongoing series that recognizes that good questions are often more important then their answers.

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man. ― G.K. Chesterton

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