One day, a Zen Master was meditating on a rock at the base of a great mountain. While he was meditating, he heard a voice ask, “Excuse me?”

The Zen Master opened his eyes and looked around, but there was no one to be seen. He looked down, and spotted a small spider perched on his hand.

“Hello, Great Spider,” the Zen Master replied.

“I apologize for interrupting your meditation, Great Zen Master,” the spider said.

“It is nothing. Do you have a question for me?” the Zen Master responded.

“I do,” said the spider. “How do I climb this mountain, Master?”

“You want to know how you can climb this mountain, Great Spider?”

“Yes, Master. I want to see the view from the top of the mountain. I want to see the vast world before me,” the spider continued. “I spend all my time in a web and have never been anywhere else. But I do not know how to climb it.”

The Zen Master smiled.

“How will you eat when you arrive on the top of the mountain, Great Spider?”

“I don’t understand, Master.”

“You said that you wanted to leave your web and take a different perspective. Does this perspective include eating?”

“I suppose I will eat before I go.”

“And the view from the top of the mountain will be nourishment enough, Great Spider?”

“I will need to eat eventually, Master.”

“And where will you eat, Great Spider?”

“I will eat where I always eat–in my web, Master.”

“How does the view from the top of the mountain help you eat?”

“I don’t understand, Master.”

“Does the top of the mountain provide you with any type of food that will fuel your body in the subsequent hours, Great Spider?”

“I suppose not, Master.”

“If the top of the mountain will not feed you like your web will feed you, what is the use of traveling to the top of the mountain?”

“I want to see the world from a different point of view, Master.”

“Is this the only way to see the world from a different point of view, Great Spider?”

“I suppose not, Master.”

“What do you imagine the top of the mountain to be like?”

“I imagine that I’ll see the great forests, lakes, and clouds laid before me and I will breathe easily.”

“Is that a clear picture in your head, Great Spider?”

“It is, Master. It gives me great joy to think of it.”

“If you have already achieved joy from thinking of it, how will reaching the top of the mountain be more joyful?”

“It will feel more joyful because I will have achieved it.”

“And what does achieving it mean, Great Spider?”

“Achieving means completing the action in real life, Master.”

“Are your thoughts not real?”

“I don’t understand, Master.”

“Do your thoughts not run through your head? Are they not as real as the earth you walk on?”

“They are also real, but in a different way, Master.”

“Is there more than one way to be real?”

“I suppose not, Master.”

“If you can imagine what the top of the mountain will look like, how is that different from seeing the view after you have climbed the mountain?”

“Am I simply supposed to think about the top of the mountain and find joy in that, Master?”

“It’s not about finding or not finding joy in something. It is about stepping out of the idea of joy completely.”

“What do you mean, Master?”

“I asked you if going to the top of the mountain will feed you like your web feeds you, and you said you will need to eat in your web. You are living on your own great mountain that feeds you, and yet you want something different.”

“I don’t see how my web is a great mountain, Master.”

“The web is your own mountain, Great Spider. I watch you in your web, suspending your food as if it’s hovering by magic. That is your great mountain.”

“But I don’t see it as a great mountain, Master.”

“Does the snow on the top of the mountain enjoy the view?”

“I don’t think so, Master.”

“And why is that, Great Spider?”

“Snow cannot notice things, Master.”

“The snow cannot notice the view of the mountain. You cannot notice your own mountain you live on. You are no different from the snow. You wish to be on the top of the mountain. The snow wishes to be in the rushing river. They are the same. Only those who are not on the top of the mountain seem to value the view. Why is that, Great Spider?”

“They do not see the view every day. It is a special occasion, Master.”

“There is great beauty in your web, Great Spider. When was the last time you noticed the way the light hits the dew that gathers on your web each morning?”

“I haven’t noticed that since I started making webs, Master.”

“And why is that?”

“The webs were special because they were a new skill to me.”

“Is every one of your webs the same?”

“No, Master.”

“Then you have no right to climb the mountain.”

“I don’t understand, Master.”

“If you climb the mountain without first realizing your own mountain you live on every day, you will only be running away from the rich prize you have. Looking at the view of the mountain will only bring you further from what you seek.”

“Please continue, Master.”

“If you realize that your own beautiful web is the mountain view, then the urge to see the mountain disappears.”

“Why does it disappear, Master?”

“It disappears, Great Spider, because it is only more of the same. The view from on top of the mountain will be different than the view of your web, but it will be more of the same beauty. It will be beautiful with different colors, shapes, and light. However, it will be the same thing that you notice when you are in your web. Climbing the mountain without realizing your own mountain will only trick you into believing that beautiful mountains are always going to be elsewhere.”

“What is the question I should be asking instead, Master?”

“The question you should be asking instead, Great Spider, is ‘Have I climbed my own mountain?’ Only when you can say for certain that you have climbed your own mountain, that you have seen that your own web is as stunning as the mountain view, can you climb the mountain with ease.”

“How will it be easier, Master?”

“It will be easier because there will be no sadness about the beauty you are missing, because you always have that beauty, whether in your web or on top of the mountain. You will realize that the mountain was with you all along. That your web and the mountain are the same.”

“Thank you, Master. I will climb my own mountain before attempting a mountain outside of myself.”

“You are welcome, Great Spider. Remember this: you can always climb your own mountain. The answer simply lies in the act of looking for it.”