Dharma Discourse by Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei

In this talk, Shugen Sensei continues the teachings about the stages along the Path. The 7th stage of the Ox Herding Pictures is called Forgetting the Ox. After the 6th stage of riding the ox home, we might feel that we've accomplished something. We know, however, that living on the surface of things cannot be all there is, but where do we go from there? Forthright practice can lead to the manifestation of our true self--which is the great work of embodying wisdom and compassion.

The koan in this collection is "Changsha's Returning to Mountains, Rivers, and the Great Earth," case 16 of the True Dharma Eye. This discourse was given at the Zen Center of NYC on May 23rd, 2013.