The Ten Oxherding Pictures are a Zen Buddhist illustration of the path to enlightenment…which is the eighth picture. Pictures nine and ten were added later, to represent the path of the Bodhisattva, skilled in the art of staying in-body after enlightenment. Note, that this is the pathless path, in that you already are that which you seek.

These eight pictures depict the shift in identity between ones egoic self (the person), and ones true Self (the ox). The first picture represents a spiritual seeker—not everybody makes spirituality a priority. The second shows the seeker finding worldly evidence, like psychic phenomena. The third represents a big step, an Awakening, a powerful temporary enlightenment experience often involving a guru. Once the true Self is glimpsed, ones identity with the egoic self is destabilized. The destabilization is exhausting so it settles down relatively soon, but the egoic self is still unwilling to relinquish itself as the primary identity, as represented in picture five. Picture six is when the egoic self finally surrenders to the higher Self as ones primary identity. Eventually, the distinction between the egoic self and the higher Self is forgotten, shown in picture seven, and then one is ready to transcend physical existence, represented by picture eight.