O Boi e o Pastor: uma vereda chamada si-mesmo

Abstract

The Ten Oxherding Pictures is a Chinese poem written in the twelfth century. It has ten stages, each with its own figure, preface and verse. The path presents a herdsman who searches for his ox that has been lost. Along the way he finds it, tames it and takes it back home. There is a break from the eighth image, where ox and man disappear leaving only an empty circle. The ninth image presents a flowing river and a flowering tree and the tenth and last one is the encounter between an old man and a young boy. As part of the teachings of Zen Buddhist tradition, the poem's first objective is to teach the disciples the meditative experience and the states achieved with such practice. According to Shizuteru Ueda of the Kyoto School, from the last three figures it is possible to understand the true Self for this tradition. Far beyond the limits of the I, it extends to the world and the other and is embraced by emptiness or absolute nothingness, as this philosophical school best explains the transcendent aspect that underlies being, existence and reality as a whole. The present thesis sought to investigate the ground of this Self, studying masters of the tradition and also the philosophers of the Kyoto School with emphasis in Ueda. Fundamental themes such as religion, art, nature, poetry have been revised to understand a construction of being that is part of an ordinary mystique that, although profound and refined, insists on the simplicity of life. As a bridge between East and West, this research raises more questions than answers. Who am I? is the first question and the one that puts man facing himself and his ethical responsibility to life. The answer goes beyond words. It reverberates in the chant of all things, since Siddharta Gautama opened the gates to Zen, with the twirl of the udumbura flower in his hand more than two thousand years ago. And finally, as a thesis, this answer returns to words. As Dōgen teaches, "the path of letters leaves no trace, yet the teaching is revealed"!