This depiction of the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures, also known as The Ten Bulls, stems from the Zen tradition of Buddhism and represents the stages one goes through in taming the mind. Though of Buddhist origin, it is relevant to the journey of gaining mastery over one’s mind, and being in the world with the intent and gifts to benefit others regardless of one’s faith tradition or beliefs. I revised the text to make the series more inclusive and to express a non-denominational vocabulary.

I began studying Buddhism at the age of 14, at the prompt of an 8th-grade English teacher. He had written in the margins of a paper I wrote “your writing rings the bell of the dharma.” My life was forever changed by the deafening bells that rang within the walls of my heart when my eyes first set sight on the word “dharma.”

All Buddha’s teachings are aimed at inner transformation. The Tibetan word for Buddhist is “nang-pa la” which can be translated as “inside dweller, or “inside traveler.” Buddhism invites us to scale the Himalayas of our inner psychological constructs. The teachings of Buddha are aimed at recognizing and transforming our wrong view of reality, which is brought about by the tendency to identify ourselves as an independently existing entity.

I’ve been lucky to have met and learned from many spiritual teachers. In 1979 I first saw His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whom I consider my root guru, and have taken teachings with him yearly ever since. Through my work with different monasteries I have been able to take teachings with many of Tibet’s greatest teachers.

This story is not about a Tibetan teacher, nor is she a Buddhist as far as I know. Still, I consider her my first Buddhist teacher, someone who taught me the essence of all the Buddha’s teachings.

Before we can discuss the role ignorance has in Buddhism in general and the Abhidharma in specific it is helpful to find a definition of ignorance that fits with its original usage as well as an understanding that is relevant to our lives. In our western world, the word ignorance is often used synonymously with naiveté, or, more bluntly, stupid. The language of Buddhism obviously did not originate in English. It is important when we are trying to grasp some basic concepts of Buddhism, to dig deeper into what the word meant and how it was used in its original languages before we can extract and transpose meaning into our own language.

The goal of this paper is to discuss the Rangtong and Shentong views of emptiness through the lens of Tibetan Buddhist history as well as through the lens of some of the general points of Buddhism. Through this discussion, I hope to point out that when discussed in a political/historical setting the Rangtong/Shentong perspectives take on a different, less philosophically charged focus.

My two-and-a-half-year-old grandson Theo is fascinated with the different items in my house related to Tibetan Buddhism. He loves playing with the malas, the prayer wheels, the bells, and has been identifying Buddhas in his neighborhood since he was around two.

I made this chart for chaplaincy students and the inmates in my groups in San Quentin. I hope you find it useful. In 2021 I was blessed to have Professor Donald Lopez, Buddhist Scholar, look it over and suggest edits.