Falling Off the Mountain:
The Mountain Koan

You can’t fall off a mountain.

It’s not something you would notice

While clinging to that ledge up there,

But carefully consider: You really can’t!

Where does a mountain begin?

Where does it end? At which altitude does

It start? How deep do its roots reach?

How broad is its circumference?

When we tightly close our eyes

Does any mountain cease to exist?

How far do we need to travel from it

Before we have actually left it?

When you finish climbing a route

Does the mountain disappear?

When we travel away from it,

Do we take any of it with us?

As your weary fingers peel off

The little ‘nothing’ holds high up

The face, as gravity makes you slip,

Are you falling off the mountain? No!

When we start toward the summit

Does the mountain take us with it?

Think hard about it; no matter how hard

You try, you can’t fall off a mountain!