YEAR OF ZEN: AUTUMN: DAY 52

View of Lærdalsøyri - Themistokles von Eckenbreche

Q: Consider the view from the mountaintop and how everything unites. Now come off the mountain into the marketplace. What are the challenges?

A: I use the mountain, and the perspective it offers, a lot in my thought and speech because it is simultaneously powerful and simple to understand. On the mountaintop there are no obstructions and nobody is trying to sell you a perspective or version of reality that you can’t readily see and perceive for yourself. On the ground this usually isn’t the case. The marketplace is the world of human drama that loudly asserts itself. There is value in both places and I think they both affirm and reinforce each other.