8. Both Boy and Ox Forgotten: Serene emptiness, a state of mind from which all desire has been eliminated, is symbolized by the image of the empty circle. Verse: Whip, rope, man, and ox,
all are non-existent.
The blue sky being vast,
no message can be heard,
Just as the snowflake cannot last
in the flaming red furnace.
After this state, one can join
the ancient teachers.
—Trans. Gen Sakamoto