![10. Return to Society Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world. My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful. I use no magic to extend my life; Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.[web 8]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fnWp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fed7beba2-2c43-4270-b183-f5a2d077de28_600x600.jpeg "10. Return to Society Barefooted and naked of breast, I mingle with the people of the world. My clothes are ragged and dust-laden, and I am ever blissful. I use no magic to extend my life; Now, before me, the dead trees become alive.[web 8]")
“If you think you are enlightened, go and spend a week with your family,” cautions Ram Dass. This holiday season, we all get the chance to apply ourselves in this spiritual exercise.
The “Ten Oxherding Pictures” of Zen Buddhism are one of the most comprehensive and subtle maps of awakening. We would do well to remember the final stage of the path described there, which does not consist of some mystical feat of world-transcendence, but its opposite. The culmination of the path, Zen tells us, consists of “returning to the city with gift-bestowing hands”. Indeed, the final image of the series depicts a wild old man with a bag of goodies over his shoulders—very much like a Zen Santa!
Zen Santa, having probed the depths of existence and of his own nature, does not reserve his gifts for good boys and good girls only. “He is found in company with wine-bibbers and butchers,” says the poem, meaning he doesn’t choose his company. He doesn’t pass judgement. Perhaps this supreme skill of his is what allows all in his presence to be “converted into Buddhas”.
Zen Santa reminds us of Christ, who was asked, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”, to which he replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Luke 5:30-31)
‘Tis the season of gifts, and each of us gets to be Santa for a while. As we are wrapping our presents and making plans with our loved ones, it will serve us well to remember what Ram Dass, Christ, and Zen Santa are pointing to. The real test of our inner growth does not take place on the meditation cushion, in prayer, in our metaphysical musings, vegan diet, or activism. It shows in our ability to be present in mind and open in heart to the impossible complexities of another human being. This silent and invisible gesture may just be what it takes for both the other person and ourselves to be “converted into Buddhas”.
May we return home with gift-bestowing hands,
Simeon
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Suggested Reading
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Ram Dass’s iconic work bridges mystical insight and human vulnerability, repeatedly circling back to the truth that spiritual realization must survive family dinners, grief, irritation, and love. Be Here Now explores how the deepest realizations are not meant to lift us out of life, but to return us to it, open-handed, open-hearted, and unmistakably human.
Order here to support SEEKER TO SEEKER at no extra cost. You can also browse my personal list of favourite books here.
The 10 Oxherding Pictures of Zen Buddhism
Exploring the 10 Oxherding Pictures can give us a map to orient ourselves on our own path of awakening. No two paths are identical, but there are universal patterns of experience, and it is helpful to be able to recognize them. The 10-step sequence we have here has guided generations of meditators, so it is a tried and tested map of awakening.