In the same place

“The birds have vanished in the sky, 

and now the last cloud drains away. 

We sit together, mountain and I, 

until only the mountain remains.” 

Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain Poem by Li Bai (Li Po), translated by Sam Hamill

What would have to happen for your mind and body to be in the same place at the same time?  

It’s such a seemingly simple thing.  

Your mind has been elsewhere for so long. 

Day after day, telling its story, over and over, looking for answers. Blaming the world. 

While your body waits patiently, at best forgotten, but really absorbing the endless disappointment. 

Imagine. Body and mind in the same place at the same time.  

No desire to be elsewhere. 

Not in the past, not in the future, just here.  

No separation. Fully connected.  

Whole. 

And healthy. 

Such a poignant sense of aliveness. 

Connected and whole in every step. 

There’s nothing wrong.  

There’s no mountain to climb out there. 
You can let your mind know that right now.  

Tell it to stop its endless search. 

 
The mountain is within. 

Your mind and body in the same place.  

THAT is the mountain. 

Freedom. 

—
Andrew.