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Deep In Cold Mountain

from Opening the Mountain by West Riding

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"Cold Mountain" is a bit of a double meaning here.

"Cold Mountain" is the name of a famous Tang Dynasty-era Chinese Zen and Taoist hermit and poet (Hanshan), and I wish to pay homage to the influence his writing has had on my practice.

But it's also a literal meaning: many Zen practitioners who, in light of the previous work, climbed the mountain and set up shop so to speak, then had to get busy with the daily cycle of eating, sleeping, tending the grounds, growing food, receiving visitors, but also buckling down and making a sincere effort to practice the Buddha Way and uncover their own inherent enlightenment. Many a Zen student has had what in the Catholic tradition they call "the dark night of the soul," where the demons of greed, anger and ignorance seem to be winning, and all appears to be lost. In those dark, cold moments, the first glimmers of hope and light can finally appear, as all the barriers of this and that, right and wrong have been broken down, and having hit veritable "rock bottom," the practitioner is finally exhausted enough to actually see the infinitely deep pool of wisdom they possess.

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from Opening the Mountain, released August 30, 2023

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West Riding Portland, Oregon

West Riding (aka James M Gregg) produces ambient, neo-classical and cinematic music inspired by quiet mountains, intrepid journeys and Zen koans, as well as artists such as Olafur Arnalds, Phillip Glass, Max Richter, Arve Henriksen, Hans Zimmer, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Gustav Mahler and many more westriding.net ... more

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