The True Nature of Things

Years ago I was told by a good friend of mine the words given by venerable JiXing and honestly these words has become a part of me since then - To cultivate the ability to see and understand the true nature of things.

In Chinese text there is a saying, “参禅之初，看山是山，看水是水；禅有悟时，看山不是山，看水不是水；禅中彻悟，看山仍然山，看水仍然是水，但山更绿，水更清。”

It means "a mountain is a mountain and water is water at the beginning stage of meditation; a mountain is not a mountain and water is not water when meditation bears some fruits; and mountain remains a mountain and water remains water when it reaches realizing the real meaning of meditation, except the mountain is greener and the water is clearer".

What is the true nature of things?

What do you see?