The Ideal Stages of Life in Daoist and Hindu Traditions
Sungchul Ji, Ph.D. (with ChatGPT assistance)
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Cell Biology
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
September 28, 2025
1. Introduction
How should one live a complete human life? This question has preoccupied sages across cultures. Two great traditions—Daoism/Zen and Hinduism—offer profound yet complementary answers. Daoism expresses the journey through the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures (see Table 30 below), a psychological and spiritual map of taming the mind. Hinduism expresses the ideal life through the four āśramas, or stages of life, which provide a social and ethical framework.
Placed side by side, these traditions reveal a universal pattern: a life of study, engagement, withdrawal, and ultimate freedom.
1. The Daoist Journey: The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures
The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures (十牛圖, shíniú tú) originated in China and later became a cornerstone of Zen Buddhism. The ox represents the mind or true nature, and the herding symbolizes spiritual practice. Each stage captures the seeker’s progression toward awakening:
Searching for the Ox – Restlessness, longing for truth.
Seeing the Tracks – Encountering teachings and glimpses of insight.
Seeing the Ox – First vision of the true self.
Catching the Ox – Struggling with the unruly mind.
Taming the Ox – Calming the mind through discipline.
Riding the Ox Home – Joyful harmony within.
The Ox Transcended – Dualities begin to fade.
Both Ox and Self Forgotten – Pure emptiness, non-duality.
Returning to the Source – Simplicity, naturalness, resting in Dao.
Entering the Marketplace with Helping Hands – Returning to society with compassion, sharing wisdom freely.
This is a map of inner life—an intimate unfolding of mind and spirit.
2. The Hindu Path: The Four Āśramas
In Hindu thought, human life ideally unfolds in four āśramas, each lasting roughly 25 years:
Brahmacharya (0–25) – The student stage: study, discipline, and preparation.
Gṛhastha (25–50) – The householder stage: marriage, family, livelihood, and social duty.
Vānaprastha (50–75) – The forest-dweller stage: gradual retirement, detachment, and spiritual focus.
Sannyāsa (75–100) – The renunciate stage: abandonment of ego, pursuit of moksha (liberation).
This is a map of outer life—a framework for ethical and social responsibility, while progressively opening the path to transcendence.
3. A Comparative Table
(See Tabled 30 above)
4. Moksha and Engaged Enlightenment
In Hinduism, the culmination of life is moksha—freedom from the cycle of rebirth, unity of the self (ātman) with ultimate reality (Brahman). This corresponds to the āśrama of sannyāsa, where one renounces the world.
In Zen/Daoist thought, the culmination is Stage 10: returning to the world with compassion. Rather than leaving the cycle, one acts freely within it, serving others without attachment.
Hinduism emphasizes transcendence: liberation beyond the world.
Daoist/Zen emphasizes immanence: liberation within the world.
Together, they form a complementary vision of freedom: transcendent release and compassionate engagement.
5. Conclusion
The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures and the Four Āśramas may arise from different cultures, but they converge on a shared wisdom: life is a journey of discipline, engagement, detachment, and ultimate freedom.
One tradition highlights the inner psychology of the journey; the other provides a social and ethical framework. Both point to the same horizon: a life well-lived is not just about personal fulfillment but about awakening to truth and contributing to the whole.
✨ Takeaway:
The ideal life is not linear but spiral—returning to society after transcendence, bringing wisdom and compassion into the world.
Reference:
[1] Korean Academy of Psychotherapists. https://taopsychotherapy.org