This is equivalent to seeing your self-nature for the first time. It is comparable to traveling a long distance and finally spotting a high mountain (your goal) in the distance ─ close enough to see, but too far away to climb. How high it really is and what is on it is still not clear. Also, you lose sight of the mountain when the skies are cloudy. But at least you have seen the mountain, or in the case of the pictures, the ox. Faith is firmly established.

In Ch'an, this stage is sometimes called "having opened one eye." But there are many eyes ─ physical eyes, Dharma eyes, wisdom eyes, liberation eyes, and others ─ so you are still nearly blind. With this type of experience, you might also say that your eye opened for a moment, and then closed again.

Imagine walking on a dark night, when it's raining hard and pitch black. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashes and illuminates the area for a brief moment. Before, you wandered and stumbled in the darkness, but now, because of the lightning flash, you are aware of your immediate surroundings. You can walk with certainty, but only for a short distance. Up ahead it's still dark.

No matter how you describe it, this type of experience is valuable, even it isn't deep. Are there people who open all their eyes and don't close them again? Yes, there are. But such people are rare. What is it that I'm talking about?

Student: It sounds like what Zen masters call kensho.

Shih-fu: Is kensho a big deal?

Student: From what I've observed, no.