Accept Unconditionally, and Be Grateful Unconditionally
Not far from Mount Koya, in the mountains near the border with Wakayama Prefecture, lies the village of Nosegawa. Beside the prefectural road that runs through the village, at an elevation of 980 meters, there is a viewpoint known as the 'Sea of Clouds Scenic Spot.' It looks out over layer upon layer of mountains, and it has been selected as one of Nara Prefecture's scenic heritage sites.
A sea of clouds is said to appear on clear, calm mornings after a day of rain. Autumn, with its cold mornings and evenings, is said to be a season when such mornings come more often. When the conditions come together, every valley fills with white clouds, and only the tops of the distant mountains float above them like islands. As the sun rises, the sea of clouds turns a soft gold, and by around eight in the morning, it slowly comes apart.
There are also mornings when the conditions never come together. Not a single cloud lies in the valleys, and the familiar mountains simply overlap one another, quietly, in the morning light.
In life, we often tend to attach conditions to things, such as 'Once I can do this, I will do that,' or 'If someone acts this way, then I will do that too.'
But this makes your own life very cramped, and at the same time, it causes you to lose all sense of where to stop.
When the condition cannot be met, you feel down, and even if you do manage to meet it, you are never satisfied, always wanting more and more.
What matters is to accept others and yourself unconditionally, and to be grateful for each day unconditionally.
Then you will be freed from suffering, to a surprising degree.
As the sun climbs higher, I leave the viewpoint. Whether or not the sea of clouds appears, the mountains are always there, and the morning light reaches the valleys just the same. In the mountains of Nosegawa, another quiet day is beginning today.