#Nature dies constantly, & so do we. #ZenBuddhism doesn’t hide from this. A falling leaf is not sad — it is #natural. Corpses decompose into soil. Animals eat each other. Trees fall. New growth arises. #ZenBuddhism accepts death not as tragedy but as rhythm. This is why many #ZenBuddhist masters requested to die outdoors or be buried beneath trees. In #Dōgen’s writings, death is not failure — it is release. A return to the great flow. (16/19)

Many ancient #ZenBuddhist masters lived in forests, caves, or simple hermitages in the mountains. Their practice wasn’t confined to monasteries. In #Japan, figures like #Ryōkan, #Dōgen, & #Ikkyū sought solitude in #Nature, using it not as escape but as direct encounter with mind. #Ryōkan, for example, lived in a small hut, played with village children, & wrote poems about frogs, birds, dew, & the moon. (3/19)

#Dōgen, founder of #SōtōZen in #Japan, wrote in #Shōbōgenzō that “green mountains are always walking.” This doesn’t mean mountains literally move but points to the dynamic, alive quality of #Nature. Mountains express the #BuddhaDharma just as clearly as any human teacher. (4/19)