Mountain Presence with Nietzsche, Lin-Chi and Conan the Barbarian

Lin-Chi

This text can probably be described as one step further from the last one. In the last text (Let the Thunder Rumble: Natural Movement with Thoreau and Chuang Tzu) I wrote about how moving in accordance with nature, which means constantly adapting, may reduce some of the suffering most of us live through (caused by the refusal to accept nature/change). Going further, it seems to me as if embracing this chaos of change, also makes for a special kind of person. "The torch of chaos and doubt, that's what the sage steers by.", is how the Daoists put it.*


Figuratively speaking, this torch seems to be pretty heavy because it takes quite an amount of strength to carry it. It's far from easy to sacrifice solid ground and attempt to adapt and flow with everything. It takes a strong personality, or rather an adequate one. People who have lived alongside the ever-changing nature with full awareness and came out 'on top' (not depressed, or dead) tend to have something about them. Something powerful and intense. As if all the thunderous storms, the heat and the cold, the beauty and the danger, have somehow found a way inside of them and now glow in their eyes. Zen master Lin Chi is often portrayed with a strong, penetrating look in his eyes, as if he is seeing through things, as if he has seen nature as it is and has grown stronger from it.**

* I picked this up from Daniele Boelli's Daoist lecture series which is available on his website danielebolelli.com.

**Seeing things 'as they are' is an important point in Zen Buddhism which leads me to that conclusion.

Such strength also derives from a very clear mind which is mirrored in Lin-Chi's very direct way of expressing himself: "When hungry eat, when tired sleep. Shit, piss and just be human." This is the idea of going with it reduced to the minimum. "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.", as Einstein put it. There is no need to debate about what to do next, just eat when you're hungry and sleep when you're tired. Sure enough, we would say that it is not always that easy and that may actually be true. Yet when it comes down to the most existential questions like: "Should I run from that tiger?" the answers suddenly seem a lot clearer. Being in nature, in the wild then, might be helpful for developing such a clear mind, as it is necessary for survival. If you decide to run, you run. If you decide to fight, you fight. Not much left to discuss. This does not mean that discussion or contemplating things are bad, not at all, but in this day and age a lot of people, like myself, could benefit from a certain degree of clarity inside their heads. Often times anxiety rules our lives. We don't know whether to go right or left and go over possible consequences of each decision over and over again, ending up unable to act at all. What an in close experience with the often times brutal reality of life might teach us then, is that if you look at what's going on right now, your decision should be easier to make. Also, you might not have the time to think about what the best thing to do might be. You are forced to act and the mind is forced into temporary silence.

A clear and 'fresh' mind is also a quite important topic in Nietzsche's Zarathustra. Zarathustra despises the overly intellectual, weak person that has forgotten what the sun looks like. When Zarathustra returns from his hermit-home in the mountains, he realizes that all he has preached seemingly went to waste:

"Diese jungen Herzen sind alle schon alt geworden - und nicht alt einmal! nur müde, gemein, bequem - sie heißen es 'wir sind wieder fromm geworden.' Noch jüngst sah ich sie in der Frühe auf tapferen Füßen hinauslaufen: aber ihre Füße der Erkenntnis wurden müde, und nun verleumden sie auch noch ihre Morgen-Tapferkeit!"

Freely translated:

"These young hearts have already grown old - and not old even! just tired, mediocre, comfortable - they call it 'we have become pious again.' Not long ago I saw them in the morning, walking outwards: but their feet of knowledge have become tired, and now they defame their morning-courage on top of that!"

 Looking past Nietzsche's constant bashing of Christianity for a second, what interests me the most here is Zarathustra's "morning-courage". When he first left the people, they had gained courage and were willing to go outside into the cold and clear air of the morning and take strong and deep breaths. Now they want to be comfortable and warm again and hence remain inside. Going out into the morning's cold clarity requires a certain kind of inner warmth. If there is no fire inside of you, you will be freezing. This fire, this warmth is what is exhaled with every breath and step. A vibrant strength is the guide through the cold and clears the mind. The stuffy, hot air of over-crowded rooms does not bear enough space for the expansion of both mind and body. Outside in the wildly changing, refreshingly cold reality, that is where this kind of person dwells. Aware of all the danger, he or she has only grown stronger instead of more afraid. Being aware of nature and growing stronger with it, can change a person. Daniele Bolelli suitably quotes Werner Herzog in his book On the Warrior's Path for that matter:

"My steps are resolute. And now the earth shakes. When I walk, a buffalo walks. When I rest, a mountain rests." 

This is what I want to call Mountain Presence. A person who has lived through the changing nature of reality with awareness and came back with a mind as clear as ice and enough strength to carry the torch of chaos and doubt. Breathing more deeply, living deep..

Enter Conan the Barbarian. (Big shout-out to Daniele Bolelli for introducing me to Conan by way of his books and podcast)

Guess who

"Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over quetions of reality and illusion. I know this: If life is illusion, I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay and am content." 

Being as clear and straight-forward in his expression as Lin-Chi and expressing the mentioned attitude physically on top of that, Conan exemplifies Mountain Presence. The intensity and power of Conan combined with being aware of the beauty and mysteriousness of nature as Thoreau was (more about that here) may make for a good mixture. Further, it does not stop there. This is not a call to leave your home and go live on a mountain top, but rather a reminder that there may be a lot to learn out there.