Emily Herds an Ox

Emily Herds an Ox is a contemporary novel that utilizes the framework of the "Ten Ox Herding Pictures" from Zen Buddhism. The Ten Ox-herding Pictures have concretely depicted the process in which the imperfect, limited, and relative self (the little child) awakens to the perfect, unlimited, and absolute essential self (the ox), grasps it, tames it, forgets it, and completely incorporates it into the personality. The “Ten Ox Herding Pictures” shows the stages of Zen practice and enlightenment. Depicting both dramatic breakthroughs and plodding practice, it reconciles “sudden enlightenment” with the gradual ripening of the fruit of spiritual practice. The ox represents the true self or the mind, which the ox herder seeks to find and tame.