The Year of the Ox

Post Date:October 04, 2009

    The year of the Ox within the Chinese horoscope is a good year—usually.  The Ox is a steady creature—earthy even—and while is sometimes needs to be “encouraged” (hence a nose-ring to tug it along), the work of the year is rewarding and should yield benefits for years to come.  But those rewards, like the work of the oxen in the field, need to be earned with sweat and toil.
    This year of the Ox has been marked with trials and tribulations on a large scale:  the global recession, countless job losses, wars, health issues, and dissolved relationships have made suffering even more pronounced.  Perhaps not surprisingly, more than the usual numbers of people have been inquiring into the benefits of meditation, T’ai Chi, and Chi Kung.  People are looking for relief from their burdens.  While meditation, T’ai Chi, and Chi Kung provide just what a person needs to be healthy and happy, it is important to emphasize that these things in and of themselves are not the cure.  The cure must be within each individual; the prescription includes the ingredients of T’ai Chi and meditation, but the ultimate cure is what the practice must discover.
    “What does all this mean,” one might ask.  “You seem to be talking in a circle.”  Indeed, I am.  The process of meditation, T’ai Chi, and Chi Kung is a self-reflective informational loop.  Through these tools we learn to see ourselves clearly and enter the process of self-awareness of the habituated physical and emotional patterns that we think constitute ourselves.  For example, we begin to recognize our patterns of behavior when a certain person says “Good Morning,” I say “Good Morning.”  But when a different person says “Good Morning,” we pretend we do not hear him or her.  The self-awareness is also physical so that one becomes cognizant of what times of day one is sleepy or how certain foods may make a person feel sluggish or hyper.  We develop a consciousness of all of the things that go into our construct of ourselves and how that self is constantly interacting with the world. 
    This process makes the self more transparent—and the particular emotional, psychological, and physical state at any given moment is recognized as the product of a number of choices: patterns that are dietary, lifestyle, emotional, physical, and others.  In Buddhism, this is the essence of Karma, cause and effect, and the culmination of these various strands determines ones immediate situation and state of being.    As one becomes more aware of the various threads that make up this moment, the root causes and their various branches of ones current situation including ones suffering come into sharper focus through the tools of meditation and T’ai Chi.
    The awakening of awareness is possible for anyone, but the leap from awareness to transformation is much more difficult and requires discipline.  Essentially, in this process, we realize that we are the sole owners of our suffering.  Whereas if we have a headache, we can take an aspirin and the headache dissolves.  There isn’t quite the same over-the-counter analgesic for that tangle of our suffering.  An aspirin is temporary, but in order to commit to the long-standing eradication of suffering, we need to truly revise our lives.  We need to own them and in this process we cannot hide from ourselves.   I often think of the wonderful closing lines from Rainer Marie Rilke’s poem “The Archaic Torso of Apollo”:  “for here there is no place / that does not see you.  You must change your life.” 
    So, yes, if you meditate, play T’ai Chi, and practice Chi Kung, you will feel better.  It will be an aspirin for suffering and your health will improve, you will feel more balanced psychologically and emotionally, and you will feel more fit and gain a more positive self-image.  Beyond the surface, what is demanded of you for long-term health is even deeper revision.  To own your health and happiness, you need to grab the reins of the ox.  You need to plow your own field.
    Meditation and T’ai Chi provide the insights and the tools, but you still need to wield them.  Your health and happiness cannot happen nor can it be sustained without your very own sincere efforts and discipline. 
     As we say in the Evening Gatha at the close of our Ch’an (Zen) service:

    Let me respectfully remind you
    Life and death are of supreme importance.
    Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.
    Each of us should strive to awaken.
    Awaken.  Take heed.
    Do not squander your life.     

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