INTRODUCTION
🌿 In this reflection, Master Woo Myung explains the deeper meaning behind a poem written by a Chinese monk:
“The green mountain tells me to live silently,
and the blue sky asks me to live simply;
to let go of greed and anger,
and to live, and leave the world,
as the water and wind do.”
The monk’s words show a deep reverence for nature’s calm simplicity, yet Master Woo Myung reveals that this realization was not complete.
True enlightenment is not about imitating nature but realizing that nature and oneself are one and the same — that the green mountain, blue sky, wind, and water are not outside of us but are our true selves.
ORIGINAL WRITING BY MASTER WOO MYUNG
What Does the Following Poem Mean?
The green mountain tells me to live silently,
and the blue sky asks me to live simply;
to let go of greed, and anger,
and to live, and leave the world,
as the water and wind do.
This poem was written by a Chinese monk,
and it means that nature is man, and man is nature.
Although it may seem in the poem
that he knew that nature is him,
he did not achieve full or absolute enlightenment.
His enlightenment was only up to a certain level.
He still had some self remaining
because he was not able to see
that he is one with the green mountain,
the blue sky, the wind, and the water.
In other words,
he tried to emulate nature which he thought was separate from himself,
and he did not truly know that nature is him.
Therefore it can be seen that he did not achieve full enlightenment.
When one achieves absolute enlightenment
he will know that all things, just as they are, are himself.
– Woo Myung
REFLECT AT SANTA CLARA MEDITATION
🍀 True enlightenment is not found by following nature’s example — it is realizing that you and nature are not two.
When the self disappears completely, the mountain breathes through you, the water flows within you, and the sky’s vast stillness becomes your own mind.
Master Woo Myung teaches that only when all boundaries between self and existence vanish can one say he has reached absolute enlightenment — the state of being one with all creation.
