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.

These eight pictures depict the shift in identity between one’s egoic self (the Person), and one’s true Self (the Ox). The first picture represents a spiritual seeker, because not everybody makes spirituality a priority. The second shows the seeker finding evidence in the world, like psychic phenomena. The third represents a big step, an awakening, or temporary enlightenment experience (glimpsing the Ox), usually involving a guru. Four represents the destabilization of the egoic self when one’s own identity is now questioned.

Destabilization is exhausting and it settles down relatively quickly, but the egoic self (your personal identity) is a strange thing to surrender, in picture five. Picture six represents the egoic self finally surrendering to the higher Self as primary identity. Eventually, the distinction between the egoic self and the higher Self is forgotten, shown in picture seven. Then one is ready to transcend physical existence, represented by picture eight.