What is "First there is a mountain" by Donovan about?

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

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Location
Mid-Missouri

I have no idea. :unsure:

Isn't there a saying in Zen Buddhism that includes "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is."?
 

The song’s lyrics refer to a Buddhist text originally formulated by the 9th century Zen Buddhist teacher Qingyuan Weixin, later translated by D.T. Suzuki in his ‘Essays in Zen Buddhism’, one of the first books to popularize Buddhism in Europe and the US. Qingyuan wrote:


“Before I had studied Chan / 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’s just that I see mountains once again as mountains and rivers once again as rivers.”
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In 1965, Donovan was introduced to the Qingyuan Zen text by the US banjo player Derroll Adams, a popular figure on the British 60’s folk scene. Donovan took the text and adapted it to create lyrics that would become the song, ‘There is a Mountain’.


…First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.

The caterpillar sheds his skin to find a butterfly within.
Caterpillar sheds his skin to find a butterfly within.

First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is….

At the heart of Buddhist teachings we are told that all things are impermanent and subject to change and flux. Simply stated, nothing in the world around us or our self is fixed or solid.

There are no things, just process and flux. There is no fixed unchanging centre in any object in our experience. Unfortunately, we suffer and experience difficulties in life because we perceive the world around us as solid, looking for stability where there is none.

Incidentally....Donovan and his wife Linda used to be my neighbours..
 
Sorry forgot to post the rest...


Upon meditative reflection we come to realise that the idea of the mountain as being a solid fixed object in our experience is a limited and false misconception.
We begin to see more clearly that it is something arising moment by moment in time, dependent on many conditions. It is alive, vibrant, constantly changing and moving. It is not a static, solid fixed object.
In the final stage, with a deepening insight, we no longer perceive the mountain as a solid thing but as a flowing process and we then use language to describe the idea or concept of what a mountain is, but from a new awareness where we hold any concepts of things in the world very lightly.
 
hollydolly said:
Sorry forgot to post the rest...


Upon meditative reflection we come to realise that the idea of the mountain as being a solid fixed object in our experience is a limited and false misconception.
We begin to see more clearly that it is something arising moment by moment in time, dependent on many conditions. It is alive, vibrant, constantly changing and moving. It is not a static, solid fixed object.
In the final stage, with a deepening insight, we no longer perceive the mountain as a solid thing but as a flowing process and we then use language to describe the idea or concept of what a mountain is, but from a new awareness where we hold any concepts of things in the world very lightly.
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Thank you, O Buddess 💕
 
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hollydolly said:
Sorry forgot to post the rest...


Upon meditative reflection we come to realise that the idea of the mountain as being a solid fixed object in our experience is a limited and false misconception.
We begin to see more clearly that it is something arising moment by moment in time, dependent on many conditions. It is alive, vibrant, constantly changing and moving. It is not a static, solid fixed object.
In the final stage, with a deepening insight, we no longer perceive the mountain as a solid thing but as a flowing process and we then use language to describe the idea or concept of what a mountain is, but from a new awareness where we hold any concepts of things in the world very lightly.
Click to expand...


The line "The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is". Still baffles me.? Maybe 1692399860940.jpeg ? I can understand the everchanging metaphor with the butterfly. Everchanging and temporary also. I remember now the Buddhist saying. I fool myself into hanging onto certain things and thoughts/emotions like they are more "solid" than they are.
Yea, remembering that song brings back my late teen years. I never heard the B00bie theory. o_O :LOL:
 
Paco Dennis said:
The line "The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is". Still baffles me.? Maybe View attachment 299713 ? I can understand the everchanging metaphor with the butterfly. Everchanging and temporary also. I remember now the Buddhist saying. I fool myself into hanging onto certain things and thoughts/emotions like they are more "solid" than they are.
Yea, remembering that song brings back my late teen years. I never heard the B00bie theory. o_O :LOL:
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If I had to touch a snail to open a garden gate, I'd be incline to move on to another garden.

snail high-five

snail hi-5.jpeg
 
https://www.ratherrarerecords.com/donovan-zen-mountains/


It says in the above article that Donovan's records are not collectible..his music is not in Demand... I can understand that... he was of his time, and his time was the 60's.... he plays still to this day..live concerts usually small ... but Donovan believes to this day he's as popular as he ever was, and who can take that away from him..?... he's a genuinely , nice guy... altho' his Brain might be a little addled after all the junk he took alongside the Beatles in the 60's...


 
hollydolly said:
https://www.ratherrarerecords.com/donovan-zen-mountains/


It says in the above article that Donovan's records are not collectible..his music is not in Demand... I can understand that... he was of his time, and his time was the 60's.... he plays still to this day..live concerts usually small ... but Donovan believes to this day he's as popular as he ever was, and who can take that away from him..?... he's a genuinely , nice guy... altho' his Brain might be a little addled after all the junk he took alongside the Beatles in the 60's...
Click to expand...
I bet he made more money as a songwriter than a singer. But he IS as popular as he ever was in the US because he was never all that popular. Kind of a niche performer.
 
Murrmurr said:
I bet he made more money as a songwriter than a singer. But he IS as popular as he ever was in the US because he was never all that popular. Kind of a niche performer.
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lol..he was very popular in the UK in the 60's.. and into the 70's.. but like the USA he's a niche singer now...and only us oldies have heard of him...
 
Murrmurr said:
I bet he made more money as a songwriter than a singer. But he IS as popular as he ever was in the US because he was never all that popular. Kind of a niche performer.
Click to expand...
He was always popular with me!! 😍🥰

I even liked his crappy folk music!
 
I'm still trying to figure out what this one is about.

 

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