This is a longer than normal post. Thank you for patience.

The remaining four pictures will be difficult for many of us to practice with, mostly because our ordinary minds won't believe in the truth of something it doesn't already know. We are moving into very sacred territory. We must move at the speed of our own heart, trusting that wisdom arises on its own in the present moment. That being said, last month was about embodiment (bringing the body and mind together in the present moment). This month is about what it feels like to live in a dualistic world with a unified mind.

In the 7th story the oxherder arrives home. This word "home" can refer to the present moment, the direct experience, the body, and your physical home - the places you live and work. You can see in the picture that this is the first time that the ox is not really part of the story. In this picture there is no ox. In other pictures, the ox is way off in some field grazing. Moreover, the verse notes that the practitioner has abandoned the whip and rope. This represents the unification of the ox and the oxherder. This picture and verse are pointing to the unification of our ordinary mind and our Buddha Nature as one.

Unification of mind is important. We live in the dualistic world of Samsara. That duality exists because our ordinary mind operates out of habit/conditioning rather than direct experience, meaning we live out of what we think reality should be rather than what is actually occurring. To live in reality with what is actually occurring requires the unification of our ordinary minds with the heart and courage of our true self - Buddha Nature. Turning back to the picture and verse, we see the practitioner is alone in a lush and more dense environment. They are coming into the dawn and they are looking out at the world yet they are inwardly in blissful repose, like at the end of a meditation retreat where we feel rested and still. All of this points to the nature of unification of mind.

A unified mind is at ease with reality. This doesn't mean that we ignore harm. Nor that we have no responsibility to respond to harm. In fact a unified mind would clearly comprehend and feel the effects of harm much more deeply and a practitioner with such a mind would respond directly to any harm without hesitation. This is because in Dhamma there is no duality. There is no fighting with reality, no wishing reality to be other than what it is. We let go of preferences and accept reality at face value. Our response is then based on our direct experience which represents, in and of itself, non-duality.

Reading this might lead you to believe that this 7th picture is way beyond your present moment practice level. But keep in mind a quote by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, "In this moment we have all we need to awaken." What His Holiness is saying is what this 7th stage of practice is pointing to. Each of us on the path already has the capacity for a unified mind. It's the time spent in pictures 3 through 6 that cultivate the conditions that allow for picture 7 to come into existence. This means it's not about are you in picture 7; it's about are you on the path practicing.

As with every picture, there are a couple of challenges with this stage of practice. First, we can easily get identified with this stage and create a grandiose notion of self righteousness around who we think we are as a practitioner. We end up stopping practice because of this sense of arrival. Eventually find ourselves in the struggle of picture 4. It therefore is important to keep wise attention on our identification with practice. We don't want to get identified with the missteps or unskillful actions, nor do we want to get identified with the forward movement or skillful actions. The point is to simply be aware of practice as practice, not as result.

Secondly, because of the ease connected with this stage of practice, we can fall into future thinking and our wish to be in a state of ease all of the time. Our ordinary mind projects that into our current reality and again, we stop practicing. We abandon the whip and rope when we're still in pictures 3, 4 or 5 because of our future thinking of picture 7. The point here is the recognition that picture 7 arises out of years of practice and many, many hours of discipline and resolve that comes with silent meditation. In my opinion, a practitioner's life is spent primarily in circumambulating pictures 3 through 6. There's no need to strive for picture 7. It arises on its own simply because we are on the path.

Finally, picture 7 is not the end. We are not enlightened. We are still subject to conditionality. No matter what you see or experience, keep practicing.

With a deep bow...Tuere