the mountains danced and rivers overflowed...

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Peter Kropotkin
Posts: 1505
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2022 5:11 am

the mountains danced and rivers overflowed...

Post by Peter Kropotkin »

One of my favorite sayings, in regard to philosophy,
is an ancient saying about Zen....

"Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains,
and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the
truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains
and waters are no longer waters; and after enlightenment,
mountains are once again mountains and waters once again
waters"

The time period that I like is the "during" Zen period..
for I too have gone from the stability of the mountains to
the dancing of the mountains and watching the sea be calm
to the raging of the seas, the river flowing in its banks to
rivers overflowing their banks to the rivers flowing back
into their banks...

but I want to express this a different way today...
before I began to question, I accepted what my parents
and society and state and church told me to be true...
and around high school, I began to question those ''truths''..
and my days were confusing because the mountains were dancing
and the seas were wild and the river overflowed it banks and all
because I challenged the conventional vision of the society/state...

I thought about what it meant to be human with a new vision....
and until I achieved something resembling Zen, I was reeling...
and once the 'truth'', once I could see my new reality, the mountains
returned to being mountains and the sea returned to being the sea...
I had achieved a new understanding of reality...I reached what could be
called Zen...

Many years later, I once again found myself dazed and confused because
my view of reality change and the mountains began to dance and
the sea became wild and the rivers overflowed their banks...

and today, today the mountains are calm and the sea smooth
as glass.. and why? because I am old.. I no longer have the energy
to chase dragons and overcome my vision of reality...
but the question is this....

once upon a time, I changed my viewpoint from moderate
democrat, the views of my family and neighbors and became,
after much thought, a anarchist... I was radicalized by the election
of Ronald Raygun...I was young, 21...and I had the energy of youth..
I wanted to change the world.... because I was brimming with
energy, way too much energy.. and I needed to expend that energy..
and so instead of running or climbing mountains, I tried to change
world through becoming an anarchist.. I lived the life, I was paid under
the table, I didn't have a car, I didn't pay taxes, I didn't have a license,
I didn't have a bank account, I didn't have even have an apartment..
I was one small step from being homeless...
and I didn't care.. I had the energy of the young.. I was like
the mountains and the sea and the river.. I danced and overflowed
and cheered as I was the sea, wild and full of waves...

and today, what has changed? I am calm and no longer care to
see the mountains dance and the seas become wild... I am an
adult.. and what that means is that in being young, I had no
cares, no responsibilities, no one else to account for...
today, today I am a "responsible" adult with a job and bank accounts
and a condo and two cars... I pay my taxes and my bills...
and that is the difference between my youth and today..
I have an obligation to others, my wife and my daughter
and my civilization... not to my race or to my nation, but
to those who will come next... for civilizations matter..
much more than any other criteria... why?

Because a civilization is what makes us human..
we are successful as human beings because there
are schools and roads and hospitals and fire departments
and garbage pickups... the true signs of civilizations...
and we should give our children a civilization equal
or even better than the one we have today....
it isn't about who has the biggest military, but
who has the best infrastructure.. and that doesn't make any
sense if you are young, but it makes perfect sense when you
are old.... I no longer need the mountains to dance if, if I
have streets to drive on and police to call and a hospital to
go to if I have a problem....

the young want mountains to dance and the rivers to overflow,
and because you have the energy to make it happen, you
hope to burn it all down... remember I too wanted to burn it all down....
and I now see the problem with that.. what if you succeed? the world
is corrupt and bankrupt.. it is time to blow the whole thing up..
the belief of the young...and once you become wiser, you will
see blowing up the whole thing has no point...
it is the civilization that makes our lives worth living...
not blowing up the whole dam thing because that doesn't
lead anywhere but a big mess someone will have to clean up...
and will you voluntarily clean up the entire dam world?

no, and don't lie.. you just want to see the whole thing explode
without any consequences... but that is the curse of being young....
you are like the river that has overflowed its banks.. how do you
return to the banks? what does it take to return to the banks?

Years of effort... and lost time in your life... not in mine,
because I am old and I am comforted in the civilization
that keeps the roads fixed and the garbage picked up and
the police and fire when needed... one might say, Kropotkin..
you have lost your step and need to move aside for the young...
no, I am old, but I see what the consequences of overthrowing
civilization.. and that is the difference between the old and the
young, I can see the consequences of overthrowing everything...
for you, it sounds like fun...because you can't see the consequences...

maybe the mountains won't dance for me or the river overflowing
its banks, but I can survive that.... for what I do, I do within me..
I have no need to chase danger or dragons.. I can find out who I am
and that is more than I can ever achieve by chasing danger or dragons....

the battle, the battle lies within.. not outside of us, but
inside of us...that is the lesson of being old....and having no
energy.... my battle today is, how do I become a better person..
what is your battle today?

Kropotkin
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Agent Smith
Posts: 1442
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2022 12:23 pm

Re: the mountains danced and rivers overflowed...

Post by Agent Smith »

Have you ever visited Athens or Rome or Cairo? :)
Peter Kropotkin
Posts: 1505
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2022 5:11 am

Re: the mountains danced and rivers overflowed...

Post by Peter Kropotkin »

Agent Smith wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:49 am Have you ever visited Athens or Rome or Cairo? :)
K: twice over 30 years or so.... never to Athens, want to, and never
to Cairo... Egypt more than Cairo...

Kropotkin
User avatar
Agent Smith
Posts: 1442
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2022 12:23 pm

Re: the mountains danced and rivers overflowed...

Post by Agent Smith »

Peter Kropotkin wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:08 am
Agent Smith wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:49 am Have you ever visited Athens or Rome or Cairo? :)
K: twice over 30 years or so.... never to Athens, want to, and never
to Cairo... Egypt more than Cairo...

Kropotkin
How very fortunate. Cheers!
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