Walking with mountains

How much do the opinions I attribute to myself actually matter in this life?

So much pain and misunderstanding is caused by what I want and what I think. Every moment of suffering in my brief time on the planet has been caused by me and me alone.

To consider my pain to be the result of another's actions is folly and leads to, simply, more pain. Hate is a prime example of such. What positive effect has ever been caused by this torrential emotion? I hate therefore I am, perhaps.

In fact the realization of self is, in my humble experience, derived from negativity (or the lack thereof) and is inherently designed therefore to continue to feed on such emotions. To be begotten is to continuously shape your experience of life around either a repetition of such experiences or their absences.



So our teacher is who? To whom do we look for guidance in these times when we sink further and further into ourselves and our own negativity? To paraphrase the great teacher Dogen Zenji: we should walk with mountains.

Now, at first this may seem to be an ambiguous statement. And enigmatic though it may seem, it is actually very practical in helping one to ground experience in a truth other than that of the self. A mountain, seen from the distance, can inspire a person to feel dwarfed by reality though this is not, I believe, Master Dogen’s intention when referring to walking with mountains.

Though we perceive it not, all things, even those that seem immovable, are in a constant state of change, including the peaks of mountainous ranges. They too are moving, all be it, at a relatively much slower pace, and it is in this fact that we can find union with all things and, more importantly, peace.

As I walk and as the mountains walk, how do our experiences differ? A mountain simply is, until the eventual moment of becoming another (pebble on the beach, for example). I am simply not, or, to put it more clearly, I simply do not allow myself to just be. I am clouded by my own notions of distrust, unhappiness and fear, which distract me from being. This is especially true in consideration of the moment of myself truly becoming another, by which I mean death.

This can change though, when one realizes that the steps we take are not that different than those of mountains. The clouds of negativity around us are not realities, not permanent. They are fabrications issuing from the greatest fabrication of all: that which differentiates between action as actor. They are no more a problem for us as are the wisps of clouds to Everest. If we return to our mind and see it for what it is (pure and impartial) then we can truly walk with mountains.

So when you face another situation in which the self has created the discrimination of failure or success, please consider the mountain in your mind. You may then begin to perceive the beauty of the blizzard of chaos that surrounds you.