“‘Where is no “to” _i.e._, the stage of ‘I am I,’ beyond which no advance is possible except by means of retrogression. In this stage the mystic is entirely absorbed in the undifferentiated oneness of God. Only after he has ‘returned,’ _i.e._, entered upon the third stage (plurality in oneness) can he communicate to his fellows some perfume (hint) of the experience through which he has passed. ‘An esoteric wisdom,’ _i.e._, the Divine providence manifested by means of the religious law. By returning to consciousness, the ‘united’ mystic is enabled to fulfil the law and to act as a spiritual director.” When this is compared with the progress of the Zen mystic as is pictorially illustrated and poetically commented in the following pages, we feel that the comments were written expressly for Zen Buddhism. * * * * * During the Sung dynasty a Zen teacher called Seikyo[8.2] illustrated stages of spiritual progress by a gradual purification or whitening of the cow until she herself disappears. But the pictures, six in number, are lost now.[f163] Those that are still in existence, illustrating the end of Zen discipline in a more thorough and consistent manner, come from the ingenious brush of Kakuan,[8.3] a monk belonging to the Rinzai school. His are in fact a revision and perfection of those of his predecessor. The pictures are ten in number, and each has a short introduction in prose followed by a commentary verse, both of which are translated below. There were some other masters who composed stanzas on the same subjects using the rhymes of the first commentator, and some of them are found in the popular edition of “The Ten Cow-herding Pictures.” The cow has been worshipped by the Indians from very early periods of their history. The allusions are found in various connections in the Buddhist scriptures. In a Hinayana Sutra entitled “On the Herding of Cattle,”[f164] eleven ways of properly attending them are described. In a similar manner a monk ought to observe eleven things properly in order to become a good Buddhist; and if he fails to do so, just like the cow-herd who neglects his duties, he will be condemned. The eleven ways of properly attending cattle are: 1. To know the colours; 2. To know the signs; 3. Brushing; 4. Dressing the wounds; 5. Making smoke; 6. Walking the right path; 7. Tenderly feeling for them; 8. Fording the streams; 9. Pasturing; 10. Milking; 11. Selecting. Some of the items cited here are not quite intelligible.