Existential Threats
Given the severity of public health concerns, ongoing environmental crisis, the possibility of economic collapse, and various other seemingly insurmountable challenges weighing upon society in the present age, it may currently seem as though we have mountains closing in on us from every angle.
Such mountains represent the existential threats looming overhead. Their rocky, towering, formidable presence casts shadows over society, blanketing civilization in darkness and despair. Not only are these mountains standing threateningly over us, they are moving in rapidly. Life as we know it will come to an end, whether sooner or later. The quickness with which the mountains close in only seems to be accelerating in light of worsening conditions across the globe.
This sort of image features prominently in a discourse attributed to the Buddha known as the Pabbatūpama Sutta, the Simile of the Mountains, case 3.25 of the Saṃyutta Nikāya in the Pāli Canon. Although some 2,500+ years old, it speaks equally to us now as it did to contemplatives then. We thus take up this discourse as a classic encounter with the urgent need for liberating practice in the face of existential mountains closing in from all directions.
Mountains Closing In
Contextually, the Simile of the Mountains is a teaching imparted by the Buddha to a prominent ruler, King Pasenadi of Kosala. An important lay figure who acted as a patron of Buddhist monasteries during the early period, King Pasenadi was nonetheless ruler of a mighty kingdom known for its bustling activity. Kept constantly on his toes, the king frequently sought guidance from the Buddha for how to rule in the secular sphere as well as how to live a spiritual life.
Setting the stage for their conversation, we are informed that the king visits the Buddha after having busied himself with the duties of kings "who are infatuated with authority, and obsessed with greed for sensual pleasures."
In the course of their conversation, upon hearing King Pasenadi speak of his duties and activities as ruler, the Buddha proposes a hypothetical situation to the king. In this situation, the king receives news from a messenger claiming, "I saw a huge mountain that reached the clouds. And it was coming this way, crushing all creatures." He hears this not from one messenger, not from two, but from multiple sources reporting on a rogue mountain closing in from every direction, an set of avalanches advancing upon the kingdom from all sides.
With this image in mind, the king is asked how he would respond to such an emergency.
“Should such a dire threat arise—a terrible loss of human life, when human birth is so rare—what would you do?”
“Sir, what could I do but practice the teachings, practice morality, doing skillful and good actions?”
“I tell you, great king, I announce to you: old age and death are advancing upon you. Since old age and death are advancing upon you, what would you do?”
“Sir, what can I do but practice the teachings, practice morality, doing skillful and good actions?”
Faced with such questions, the king responds without hesitation that the best he could do under such conditions would be to practice diligently. His response is not to funnel resources to fortify the city, nor to evacuate the masses, nor to response through sheer force of military troops, as these would do no good in the face of such existential onslaught. With mountains closing in, with old age and death closing in, the only way to leap over them is by putting what one has learned into practice, existentially.
This kind of response flies in the face of emergency responses we may typically perceive as most practical and effective.
Certainly, if something can be done to prevent the mountains from closing in, then by all means, preventative measures should be taken. In the face of the climate crisis, the elimination of non-biodegradable waste, the promotion of restorative and regenerative efforts, and other such responses are worthy undertakings that must be pursued, lest the situation worsen irrevocably. In the face of violence and war, we should directly address the root of conflict rather than merely applying bandages over a festering wound.
With the mountains of old age and death closing in, an existential onslaught that cannot be prevented, contemplative practice may be an immediately relevant and viable remedy.
Contemplative Remedies
Recognizing that there are mountains closing in upon us, confronting the visceral reality of existential threat, instills in us an urgency to practice. We need not wait until the last moment to "practice the teachings, practice morality, doing skillful and good actions," as the king describes.
The sooner we undertake such practices (whether meditation or abstention from activities that harm ourselves and others, broadly understood) the better chances we face. A significant and central aspect of contemplative practice entails cultivating this awareness of the severity of our condition, not as a mere after-thought, but so it remains in the foreground, informing our every move. That said, there is a certain balance that must be struck so that the salience of this existential awareness leads not to paralysis, but moves us, motivates us to practice.
Indeed, near the conclusion of the discourse, a set of verses drive the message home for us:
Suppose there were vast mountains
of solid rock touching the sky
drawing in from all sides
and crushing the four quarters.
So too old age and death
advance upon all living creatures—
aristocrats, brahmins, merchants,
workers, outcastes, and scavengers.
They spare nothing.
They crush all beneath them.
Given the unrelenting, undiscriminating nature of old age and death, all are equally susceptible to their avalanche-like advance, kings and commoners alike. Rather than cling to superficial demarcations that set us apart, perhaps our efforts would be better spent if we banded together in addressing the existential threats that face us all.
Contemplative remedies work well at the individual level in reducing the stress associated with existential threat, often by contemplating the impermanence of conditions and meeting such unstable conditions with a stable mind, but what can be done at the collective contemplative scale?
Moreover, what can be done to prevent mountains from closing in upon us in the first place? While the mountains of aging and death will inevitably affect us all, contemplative practice will significantly transform how we respond to them, tending to their onslaught with wisdom and equanimity rather than ignorance and panic.
Climate change and spread of disease, on the other hand, can be mitigated. Bioregional regeneration and whole-systems permaculture are deeply promising solutions deserving of further exploration. As are contemplative methods such as mindfulness, not only in our everyday activities to prevent the spread of disease and in making informed choices in the realm of sustainability, but also in a much broader recognition of the occasionally invisible threads of ecological and epidemiological interconnectedness, an awareness that will enable us to co-evolve with ecology and remedy the challenges of epidemiology. Such awareness is the foundation for sustainable behavioral change that may spare lives.
Opportunities for practice abound in every waking moment today. Let not a moment go to waste. To be continued.
Source: Bhikkhu Sujato. Pabbatūpama Sutta: The Simile of the Mountain (SN 3.25), SuttaCentral, 2018. Dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0).
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