A famous Zen teaching states:
“Before practicing Zen, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers.
While practicing Zen, mountains are no longer mountains, rivers no longer rivers. After mastering Zen, mountains are again mountains, rivers again rivers.”
A student asked: “What does this mean?”
The master explained:
“The beginning and end states appear similar — only the middle stage brings confusion. Initially, reality is perceived directly. During practice, concepts shatter perception: mountains lose ‘mountain-ness,’ rivers lose ‘river-ness’ — all becomes chaos. This ‘clouded confusion’ exists only in the middle stage. In ignorance, all is as-is; in enlightenment (samādhi), all returns to suchness. The problem lies between — where thought, ego, and suffering arise.”
The student sighed: “Then ordinary people and the enlightened seem no different!”
The master replied:
“Exactly — no difference except the enlightened float six inches off the ground.”
Philosophical Notes:
Three Stages of Perception:
Pre-practice: Naive realism (mountains=mountains)
Practice: Deconstructive confusion (mountains≠mountains)
Enlightenment: Transcendent return (mountains= mountains as emptiness)
“Six Inches Off Ground” as Liberation:
The final line reveals enlightenment’s paradox:
No external difference >> Same world, same forms
Radical internal shift >> Detachment from conceptual gravity (ego/duality)
Walking the earth without being stuck to it — perceiving mountains as mountains yet knowing their suchness.
Chaos as Necessary Crucible:
The “clouded middle stage” symbolizes ego-death through koan practice — where dismantling illusions precedes clarity.
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