(public domain image from www.pixabay.com)
Mountains are very important in Buddhism. Physically, a mountain resembles an individual in a cross legged seated meditation posture. An ancient Vedic text, Chandogya Upanishad, includes the mountain as nature description of meditation: “The earth meditates...the waters meditate…. ….mountains meditate.” Buddhist art prominently features mountains both for their beauty and their powerful stillness. Historically Buddhist monasteries are located high up in the mountains far away from dense city populations for two reasons. First, is nature. Monasteries on mountains provide intimate contact with the natural world. On mountains in the countryside, monks could sit in quiet meditation unencumbered by the sounds and commotions of urban life. Secondly, Buddhists have favored mountains as a way of distancing themselves from political power and social pressures. Being away from political authorities gave monks wide freedom to live and teach without surrendering to preferences which come from being too close to centers of power. The distancing also allowed monks to maintain greater objectivity about political dramas and preserve an important critical eye concerning the manipulations and manifestations of worldly power.
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