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

The chorus of this song: “First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is,“ may sound incomprehensible or silly, but the lines are a Zen saying Donovan borrowed and which have a meaning. The lines are intended to succinctly describe three stages of Zen. Pre-enlightenment, one’s aware of the Universe as physical (there is a mountain). Then through meditation one may experience a visionary state where the physical Universe seems to disappear (no mountain) where the “Buddha Mind“/Tao [Zen first developed in China as a blend of Indian Buddhism & Chinese Taoism] root of reality behind physical appearances is experienced as non-physical. After that vision, the mountain reappears, except in ones new enlightened state one is simultaneously aware of the physical mountain & the Void/Tao non-physical reality behind it & at its root... And now you know the rest of the story! As a Theravada Buddhist, I think of jhana. When one gets into these deep absorption states, you no longer see the mountain. When you come out you see the mountain and reality, clearer. My girlfriend filmed this when we spent Christmas of 2014 in Whistler, BC. This is filmed from the top of Whistler Mountain, just before we took the peak to peak gondola across to Blackcome Mountain. Donovan in Concert - There Is a Mountain There Is A Mountain