Mountains Are Mountains

Text

Before I studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance, I am at rest. For it is just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Qingyuan Xingsi

Lineage: Qingyuan line

By Qingyuan Xingsi

• Mountains Are Mountains Againproverb
• Cutting an Axe-Handleproverb
• No Marvels at the Hermitageproverb
• Sound of Grassproverb

From Traditional Zen Sayings

• A Special Transmission Outside the Scriptures
• Thirty Blows
• A Day Without Work Is a Day Without Eating
• Cease and Desist
• Die While Alive
• The Whole Universe Is the Eye
• The Directness of Realization
• The Barrier of Words
• The Great Doubt Block
• Not Deceived by Words

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Attributed to Qingyuan Xingsi; Jingde Chuandenglu

  Traditional Zen Sayings: Mountains Are Mountains