1.
The herdsman had already come home on the back of the bull.
Now the bull is forgotten and the man is at ease.
He may still sleep though the sun is high in mid-heaven.
Whip and rein are now useless, and put away under the eaves.
2.
Though the herdsman has brought the bull down from the mountain, the stable is empty.
Straw coat and bamboo hat, too, have become useless.
Not bound by anything and at leisure, singing and dancing,
Between heaven and earth he has become his own master.
3.
The herdsman has returned home. Now home is everywhere.
When both things and self are wholly forgotten, peace reigns all day long.
Believe in the peak 'Entrance to the Deep Secret' -
No man can settle down on this peak.
(The Bull and his Herdsman: The Ten Traditional Pictures, Zen Master D.R. Otsu, pub. Zen Centre, London 1989)
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