...bits of autumn...

we have friends who live their lives quite differently from each other and never tire of criticizing the other's choice

green mountains are green mountains, white clouds are white clouds

one seemingly immovable, the other seemingly in perpetual motion - however, one moves in harmony with its environment! shouldn't we be trying this rather than criticizing?

"A person of the Way fundamentally does not dwell anywhere. The white clouds are fascinated with the green mountain's foundation. the bright moon cherishes being carried along with the flowing water. The clouds part and the mountains appear. The moon sets and the water is cool. Each bit of autumn contains vast interpenetration without bounds." - Hongzhi Zhengji 1091-1157, Chinese Chan Master

Calligraphy: White Clouds by Seki Rozan 1865 - 1944
White Clouds of Themselves Go and Come
The first half of this well-known Zen phrase is "Green Mountains Originally Don't Move." There is a contrast (and harmony) between the eternally unmoving mountains and the constantly changing clouds. Also, our ephemeral lives are like the white clouds, coming and going, here and there, nowhere to settle down-and that is fine, just the way things are.