Listen to the entire song cycle here. Individual songs with lyrics below.
6. Returning Home
Returning home, riding on top
Returning home with a song
It’s over
It’s over
The struggle is finished
Watching the clouds
No words
Playing my flute the evening through
Come and join in the song
If beckoned
Not turning back
If stopped, not staying
Watching the clouds
No words
Returning home, riding on top
Returning home with a song
1. In the Pasture
In the pasture of the world I search, I search
Through rivers, mountains, the tall grasses and forests
I just can’t find it for all my strength
In the pasture of the world I search, I search
Through rivers, mountains, the tall grasses and forests
With all my heart I work exhausted
In the pasture of the world I search, I search
Gain and loss
Right and wrong
This and that
Prologue: I Am an Oxherd Boy
I am an oxherd boy
This is my job
Take care of the ox
I am an oxherd boy
This is my life
Me, the ox, these pastures
I am an oxherd boy
This is it
All the world, day in, day out
Ten Oxherding Pictures
is a koan of the Zen Buddhist tradition, a parable of transformation.
2. Aha!
Aha!
Footprints!
Footprints along the riverbank
Under the trees
Footprints!
So
It’s possible
Studying the sutras
Sitting with the world
Knowing the source of delusion
Aha!
Footprints!
Footprints along the riverbank
Under the trees
Footprints!
I hear, I feel, I see, I sense, I smell, I taste
Here no ox can hide
Here no ox can hide
On the path I hear the nightingale
I am moving on the path
On the path There is no separation
I am moving on the path
Hearing, feeling, seeing, sensing, smelling, tasting
Here no ox can hide
Here no ox can hide
On the path I hear the nightingale
I am moving on the path
On the path There is no separation
I am moving on the path
Senses merge and
Engage the world
Be welcome through the
Gate
On the path I hear the nightingale
I am moving on the path
On the path There is no separation
I am moving on the path
3. On the Path
Discovery
Discovery
Huah! Yaah! Got him!
He is mine! He is mine!
He charges, lumbering, thundering up to the high plateau
And so too up I go
Hang on!
Huah! Yaah! Got him!
He is mine! He is mine!
We are far above the cloud-mists up into the highlands
We are long gone
Hang on!
Huah! Yaah! Got him!
He is mine! He is mine!
Discovery
While distracted by the scenery and the struggle
The ox simply follows his nature
His will and power are mighty strong
Discovery
Huah! Yaah! Got him!
He is mine! He is mine!
Discovery
4. He is Mine
5. Train the Beast
The whip and the rope keep him on the path
The whip and the rope keep him on the path
The whip and the rope keep him on the path
Train the beast, train the beast
When he’s trained, he’s gentle as a lamb
When he’s trained, he’s gentle as a lamb
When he’s trained, he’s gentle as a lamb
Train the beast, train the beast
As you become more conscious
More thoughts flow
Discipline
Do not hesitate
Now, now, now he will not stray
Now, now, now he will not stray
Now, now, now he will not stray
Train the beast, train the beast
Discipline
Do not hesitate
Train the beast, train the beast
7. And So I am Home
And so I am home
Now I am serene, the ox serene
I’ve put away the whip and rope
And so I am home
Now I am serene, at night it’s bliss
I’ve put away the whip and rope
And so I am home
And so I am home
All is one, all is one
The moon emerges from a cloud
Sweet clarity
As I breathe one path of clear light
Has been shining for eternity
And so I am home
One
One
One perfect enso!
9. Tranquilly On
Too many steps in the pasture of the world
How I searched, how I worked
And now I am back at the source
The river flows tranquilly on
Too many steps in the pasture of the world
How I searched, how I worked
And now I am back at the source
The river flows tranquilly on
The water is blue
The mountain green
Now I sit
Now I sit
Simply looking at the world
Looking at the world
The river flows tranquilly on
And look—
Red flowers!
Red flowers.
10. Just Let
I enter the market
Walking with my stick
I return home
Refusing to follow
The path of the past
Wine shop and fish market
Become enlightened
And enlighten me
Barefoot
He mingles in the world
His clothes ragged
His face blissful, smiling
No need for magic
No need for anything
Just let the dead tree bloom again
Just let the dead tree bloom again
Everyone I look upon
Everyone I look upon
Everyone I look upon
Wakes up
[Gasshō]
8. Enso
i) Add up a whip,
a rope,
a herdboy
and on ox--
Nothing, empty
Huh
ii) Footprints of the patriarchs
Can a snowflake survive a raging fire
iii) The mind is clear
No attachments
Seeking no enlightenment