sansuigyo
The Sutra of Mountains and Water
San means “mountains,” sui means “water” – rivers, lakes, and so on. Sansui suggests natural scenery, or Nature itself. Kyo or gyo means Buddhist sutras. So Sansuigyo means mountains and water, or Nature, as Buddhist sutras. Buddhism is basically a religion of belief in the Universe, and Nature is the Universe showing its real form. So to look at Nature is to look at the Buddhist truth itself. For this reason Master Dogen believed that Nature is just Buddhist sutras. In this chapter he explains the real form of Nature, giving particular emphasis to relativity in Nature.