The Zen Ox Herding Pictures, sometimes called "In Search of the Missing Ox," are a famous set of images in Zen Buddhism. The pictures are arranged in a progression, and are designed to show the stages of spiritual development in Zen. As far as I know, there is no canonical interpretation of the images (for instance see Zen Training, where the author gives two separate interpretations of the same images), but they are popular objects of commentary within the tradition.
The Ox is often interpreted as one’s Original, True, or Buddha Nature.
The images are as follows:
Starting the Search for the Ox
Finding the Footprints
Catching a Glimpse of the Ox
Catching the Ox
Taming the Ox
Riding the Ox Home
