The Heart-of-Heart Dharma may appear to belong to Esoteric Buddhism, but it takes Chan as its essence, Esoteric Buddhism as its function, and the Pure Land as its ultimate destination. It is a great Dharma that integrates the three traditions into one. Unlike other form-based esoteric practices, which require one to pass from form to formlessness before directly realizing one’s true nature, it enables one to see one’s true nature directly, without detours. Moreover, like the Chan school, it begins practice with the eighth consciousness; thus, in essence, it is Chan.

Practitioners of the Chan school must first understand the teachings, then firmly take up a huatou (critical phrase) and investigate it attentively and thoroughly before they can gain entry. Otherwise, they blindly cultivate and train, like headless flies boring through a paper window, with no way out.

Esoteric Buddhism is no exception. To practice Esoteric Buddhism, one must first understand Exoteric Buddhism. Thus, Esoteric Buddhism has the distinction of the nine vehicles: the outer three vehicles, the inner three vehicles, and the secret three vehicles. The outer three vehicles involve first studying the teachings of the vehicles of arhats, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. The inner three vehicles mark the stage of entering actual practice; they are divided into the Kriyā Tantra division, the generation stage, and the completion stage. Let us now discuss them briefly, one by one.

I. The Kriyā Tantra Division. This is the practical use of esoteric methods to cure illness, avert calamities, and increase prosperity in accordance with sentient beings’ wishes and needs. It is also an expedient means of guiding people into the Buddha Dharma: “First entice them with their desires, then lead them into the Buddha’s wisdom.”

Most people who study Buddhism and practice today do so to cure illness, become wealthy, or acquire spiritual powers. Those who truly seek to realize the mind, see their true nature, and transcend birth and death are fewer than one in a hundred. This is truly lamentable. There is certainly nothing objectionable about curing illness, but wanting to become rich is excessively foolish. This is especially prevalent among people in Hong Kong and Taiwan and among overseas Chinese. When they come to learn the Dharma, they all want to learn practices associated with the God of Wealth, so as to satisfy their desire for pleasure.

They do not realize that the dharmas of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and so forth are all flowers in empty space and the moon reflected in water: they may be seen from afar but cannot be grasped. However many schemes one devises and however much effort one expends, the so-called pleasurable feelings one gains are but dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, without the slightest genuine benefit. At the time of death, not only can one take none of them away, but the evil karma created during one’s life follows closely behind and cannot be shaken off; one must follow it and undergo evil retribution. As a sūtra says: “Nothing can be taken with us; only our karma follows us.” How can we fail to be deeply vigilant about this?

As for spiritual powers, there is truly no one who does not desire them. Yet only those that naturally manifest from the true nature of suchness after deluded thoughts have been exhausted and old habits completely removed are genuine spiritual powers that do not regress. If they are acquired through methods or sought by relying on external things, they are not genuine spiritual powers; not only will one fail to receive real benefit, but one will also bring great disaster upon oneself and undergo evil retribution. Therefore, while deluded thoughts have not ceased and the deluded mind has not been emptied, one must never seek them rashly, lest one suffer misfortune through reckless confusion and undergo evil retribution in future lives.

II. The Generation Stage. Only here does one truly begin to enter the course of actual practice. There are many esoteric methods for transcending birth and death and leaving the sea of suffering. Proceeding from shallow to profound, one first practices the generation stage, including such methods as phowa and the practices of channels, winds, and vital essences. One begins with visualization, bringing forth from nothing the functioning of channels, winds, vital essences, and the like.

The so-called vital essence is the eighth consciousness. One causes it to rise and descend with the breath from the perineum to the crown aperture. Once this has been refined, at the time of death one can transfer consciousness and attain rebirth in the Pure Land. All such accomplishments are practices involving form and cannot yet bring realization of the Way; one must further practice the completion stage.

III. The Completion Stage. One empties the form-based things produced through visualization—channels, vital essences, and the like—and accords with the dharmakāya, thereby entering the completion stage in support of attaining Buddhahood in this very life. The dharmakāya is formless. It does not establish a single dharma, is utterly bare, and is unstained by a single speck of dust. Electricity likewise has no visible form, yet all functioning arises from it: without electricity, lamps cannot shine and machines cannot operate.

The dharmakāya is likewise. Our ability to speak, hear, walk, and move is all its functioning. Apart from it, this physical body is like a stone slab or a block of wood: not only can it no longer move, but it will rot and decay. Our present practice is undertaken so that we may directly realize this formless dharmakāya. Only then can we avoid attachment to appearances, transcend birth and death, and leave cyclic existence. Entry into the completion stage is divided into three vehicles, the secret three vehicles:

First, Mahāyoga, which accords with the Great Perfection. One completely empties the form-based things, such as the channels, that have been produced through visualization in order to accord with the dharmakāya. To accord is yoga; yoga means “accordance.”

Second, Anuyoga, which accords with the supreme completion. Taking the wisdom of the realm as its gateway of entry, it further transforms all manifestations into a single reality.

Third, Atiyoga, which accords with the incomparable completion. These three vehicles together constitute the Great Mantra Vehicle.

Among the secret three vehicles, Atiyoga is supreme; it is also called the nondual Great Perfection. Its meaning is that all dharmas, whether defiled or pure, are completely present within the immediate, stainless, lucid, empty, and open primordial awareness. This is the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, which proceeds in deepening stages: transforming form into emptiness, finding even emptiness unobtainable, and then manifesting form again from emptiness.

Therefore, the Heart-of-Heart Dharma that we practice is a great Dharma in which no form can be obtained and one directly sees one’s true nature. Those with the affinity to receive this Dharma truly possess unsurpassed great blessings. Without having extensively planted wholesome roots in previous lives, how could one obtain it?

The Heart-of-Heart Dharma accords with Chan and is also integrated with the Pure Land, because it takes the Pure Land as its destination. The Buddha-Heart Sutra says that through the fourth mudrā of the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, one may attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land. One may also, according to one’s vows, attain rebirth in other pure lands. Thus, this Dharma is truly exquisite to the utmost. For sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age who wish to escape the cycle of birth and death, I fear that apart from this Dharma there is nothing else to seek.

The reason practicing this Dharma enables one to be reborn in the Pure Land is that mind is the land, and the land is mind. As a sūtra says: “If one wishes to purify one’s land, one must first purify one’s mind. As one’s mind is purified, the Buddha land is purified.” All things grow by relying on the earth; similarly, all worldly and supramundane dharmas arise from mind.

The four noble realms—Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas—and the six ordinary realms—devas, humans, asuras, hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals—make up the ten dharma realms. Together with mountains, rivers, the great earth, grasses and trees, and the myriad phenomena, all are created and manifested by our true mind.

When this is explained—that the ten dharma realms are all created by our true mind—people can readily understand and accept it. But when it is said that mountains, rivers, the great earth, and the myriad phenomena are likewise manifested by our dharmakāya, people find it more difficult to understand.

Let us now give a simple and readily understood example. To build a house, an engineer must first design its plans, after which the craftsmen construct it according to those plans. Are not both the designing of the plans and the building of the house wondrous functions of the true mind? Apart from the true mind, this physical body cannot move at all; could it still think, design plans, and build houses? Therefore, everything in the world is made by the true mind and manifested by intrinsic nature. Apart from the true mind, nothing exists.

The Western Pure Land is no exception. It is the great karmic fruition of merit and virtue called forth by Amitābha Buddha’s pure mind of true nature. If we wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, we must first cleanse our minds so that they accord with the Pure Land; only then can we attain rebirth there. Otherwise, if the mind-ground is foul and defiled, one can only be born in an impure land and cannot be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Practitioners of the Pure Land school recite 108,000 Buddha-names every day in order to cleanse away the accumulated grime and pollution in their minds with the sacred name, preparing for future rebirth in the Pure Land.

When we practice the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, forming mudrās and holding mantras each day, we too are cleansing and transforming our minds. Through the blessings of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, we eliminate the inverted views, attachments, deluded habits, and tendencies accumulated over countless kalpas and lives, thereby opening what is original and directly realizing Buddha-nature. When what is original is opened, because the mind is pure and undefiled, that very moment is the Pure Land. There is no need to await death and rebirth there; one is already in the Pure Land in this very life.

Since one already accords with the Pure Land while alive, one will surely attain one’s wish of rebirth in the Pure Land after death.

What the Pure Land school calls “When the lotus opens, one sees the Buddha and awakens to the unborn” does not mean that, after death, one is born in the West, sits within a lotus womb, cultivates diligently through many kalpas, and only after the lotus opens and one beholds Amitābha Buddha realizes that one’s original nature is neither born nor extinguished. Rather, it means that when our efforts have reached the point at which deluded thoughts are extinguished, the flower of the mind opens, and we directly see the true nature that is nondual with the Buddha.

Whether we can attain rebirth in the Pure Land depends entirely on whether our minds are pure, not on what Dharma we practice. Some people misunderstand the true meaning of the Pure Land school and believe that only those who recite the Buddha’s name can be reborn in the Western Pure Land, while those who do not cannot be reborn there.

If that were really so, the Buddha’s mind-capacity would be as narrow as that of us attached ordinary beings. Could such a narrow mind-capacity and such inferior conduct of discriminating, accepting, and rejecting lead to Buddhahood? Even while we remain ordinary beings, we must eliminate discriminating acceptance and rejection and work broadly for the welfare of the people; how much more must this be true of Buddhas and bodhisattvas who have already realized the Way? Such wrong views are merely the inferior view of “measuring a noble person’s heart by a petty person’s mind,” and are not worth discussing.

According to the scriptures of Esoteric Buddhism, the Buddha arouses unconditional great compassion. Regardless of what Dharma one practices or what school one studies, even if one does not study Buddhism, at the time of death the Buddha treats all equally, universally emits light to guide beings, and leads them to rebirth in the Pure Land. The Buddha certainly does not guide only those who study Buddhism while disregarding everyone else.

It is simply that those who do not study Buddhism have heavy karmic obstacles and therefore do not see the Buddha’s guidance. They are like those born blind, who do not see the light of day and thus fail to receive the Buddha’s grace. Some whose karmic obstacles are especially heavy even fear the intensity of the Buddha’s light, scurrying wildly toward darkness and instead falling into the realms of hell beings and hungry ghosts to suffer.

Therefore, if one wishes to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, in addition to Buddha-recitation, reciting sūtras, holding mantras, doing good deeds, and so forth are all equivalent to Buddha-recitation. So long as one cleanses one’s mind and vows to attain rebirth there, one will certainly have one’s wish fulfilled. Conversely, if the mind is impure and attached to the Sahā world, then however much one recites the Buddha’s name, one still cannot attain rebirth there.

For attachment in the mind is like trying to row a boat while holding fast to a mooring post: however much effort one expends, if the rope is tied to a post on the shore, how can the boat move? Then rebirth is hopeless. Thus, as stated above, whether one can attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land does not depend on what method one uses, but on whether one’s mind is pure and whether one has made the vow.

As long as we recite the mantra with one-pointedness of mind and make vows for rebirth, we shall certainly have our wishes fulfilled. There is no need, apart from meditation and Dharma practice, to cultivate an additional Pure Land practice of Buddha-recitation. The Heart-of-Heart Dharma is a great Dharma that integrates Chan, Pure Land, and Esoteric Buddhism. My late teacher, Mr. Xianglu, said that the Heart-of-Heart Dharma takes Chan as its essence, Esoteric Buddhism as its function, and the Pure Land as its ultimate destination. This is indeed a well-founded conclusion.

Patriarch Dayu was exceedingly compassionate. Fearing that we might worry about failing to succeed in practice in this lifetime, he also revealed for us the Maitreya Mantra, through which one may be reborn in the Tuṣita Pure Land and form an affinity with Maitreya Buddha, as a form of assurance. Those who do not wish to be reborn in Tuṣita but wish to be reborn in the Western Pure Land may also receive empowerment in the “Extensive Rebirth Mantra” and be reborn in the Western Pure Land. This mantra is originally a foundational mantra of the Pure Land school; the Ten Essentials of the Pure Land contains a special essay describing its merit and efficacy.

Regrettably, modern practitioners of the Pure Land school have all but forgotten it. This is truly a great pity. By cultivating the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, we may directly realize our intrinsic nature and attain great accomplishment in this very life; moreover, we have this double assurance of rebirth in the Pure Land at life's end. What is there to worry about? That we can encounter this great Dharma in this age of Dharma decline and yet fail to apply ourselves diligently would truly be most regrettable—a grave disappointment both of the Buddha's grace and of ourselves.

In studying Buddhism, people differ in five kinds of capacity. These differences arise from the varying depth and breadth of the wholesome roots planted in past lives; they are not arranged or determined by Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or anyone else. First is the human and deva vehicle. Many kindhearted people in the world think that, so long as they do good deeds, aid those in danger and relieve those in distress, help others, and do no harm, their life's task is complete. They believe there is no need to study Buddhism, much less cultivate Dharma practices. Such good people do indeed benefit society, but through good deeds they can only gain blessings and attain the lesser fruits of the human and deva realms; they cannot transcend saṃsāra.

Second is the arhat vehicle. Such people have more wisdom than those of the preceding kind. They know that although doing good brings blessings, once those blessings are exhausted, one still falls back into saṃsāra and undergoes suffering. To eradicate the suffering of birth and death, one must leave the six realms of rebirth. Thus, they arouse the resolve to study Buddhism and cultivate the Dharma. Yet they concern themselves only with their own liberation and are unwilling to liberate others. They realize only the principle of biased emptiness and do not understand attachment to dharmas. Therefore, the Buddha reproached them as scorched sprouts and rotten seeds.

Third is the pratyekabuddha vehicle. Like arhats, pratyekabuddhas seek only their own liberation, but they are more keenly intelligent. They discern the subtle and know the manifest; from causes, they awaken to effects. Therefore, they cultivate the twelve links of dependent origination, unlike arhats, who cultivate the Dharma gate of the Four Noble Truths and investigate causes from effects. When no Buddha appears in the world, they see flowers bloom and fall, awaken to suffering, emptiness, and impermanence, and realize the Way. Thus, they are slightly superior to arhats.

Fourth is the bodhisattva vehicle: realizing the principle of the twofold emptiness of self and phenomena, cultivating the six pāramitās and the four means of embracing beings, awakening oneself and awakening others in order to realize the Way of the Mahāyāna. Fifth is the Buddha vehicle: realizing that one's own mind and the Buddha are nondual and without distinction, that undefiled wisdom has never diminished in the slightest, and that beings have fallen into the condition of sentient beings only because, through nonawakening, they become deluded by sounds and forms and create karma.

If one now awakens, seeing the six sense objects as flowers in empty space, with nothing to grasp or cling to, and lets go of everything, one can recover one's inherent luminosity. It is like a dark room that has been dark for a thousand years: one lamp can illuminate it. There is no need to undergo every hardship before one can attain accomplishment, nor is it some inaccessible matter beyond everyone's hope. This concerns those of great capacity and sharp faculties; it is not something that those of lesser and inferior capacities would dare hope to emulate.

In studying Buddhism, we must have this kind of courage: dare to undertake it—“I am Buddha.” Then, without begrudging any sacrifice, decisively lay down the “butcher's knife,” turn the light inward at all times and in all places, and cultivate ourselves through every single thought. We will surely accomplish the great undertaking of perfect realization of Buddhahood. These five kinds of capacity each have their proper place and cannot be forcibly surpassed. Therefore, we must diligently cultivate merit and virtue, broadly plant wholesome roots, and nurture our own foundations. We must never regard merely sitting in meditation and practicing the Dharma as sufficient.

Most contemporary fellow practitioners of the Pure Land school do not dare to undertake the fact that they themselves are Buddhas. Those who can confirm without the slightest doubt that they truly possess the Tathāgata's Buddha-nature are already exceedingly rare and precious. Yet this is not like inviting guests to dinner; there is no need for modesty or yielding.

Once one courageously undertakes it, an invisible yet powerful driving force impels one forward, making one strive diligently and vigorously. If one recites a sacred name until the flowers of the mind bloom open, one can attain rebirth in the highest grade and walk together with the Buddha. Otherwise, at most one will attain rebirth in a lower grade. The reason there are nine grades of rebirth in the Pure Land lies wholly in whether we ourselves recognize this and strive diligently; it is not that Buddhas or bodhisattvas make partial arrangements favoring some over others.

Speaking of awakening and realizing the mind and seeing one's true nature, it is actually not difficult. The difficulty is that we do not recognize it and are deceived by ourselves at every turn. We have said before that the capacity to speak, hear, move, and act is Buddha-nature. Because it is formless and cannot be seen with the eyes, but can only be apprehended inwardly, it is said that the dharma eye of the mind-ground can see the Way.

In earlier times, Chan patriarchs directly instructed students to see their true nature here and now. Unlike today, there was no need to investigate a huatou. Only after the Southern Song, because students did not respect direct pointing, did the practice change to investigating huatou. Chan Master Linji, founding patriarch of the Linji school, once gave students this direct instruction: “Within this lump of red flesh there is a True Person of No Rank.”

“Do you wish to recognize this True Person of No Rank? It is precisely the one who is now speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma!” See how vivid, direct, frank, and sincere this instruction is! The so-called True Person of No Rank is the formless true nature of suchness. The Diamond Sūtra says: “All appearances are illusory.” The formless capacity is the true and unfailing dharmakāya.

Then where is it? It shines forth at the gateways of your six sense faculties; hence the expression “upon this lump of red flesh.” Fearing that we might not understand, he added: “It is precisely the one who is now speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma.” With instruction so frank and clear, can there still be any doubt?!

When we cultivate the Heart-of-Heart Dharma, we recite the mantra continuously and seamlessly. When we recite until there is no mind left that can be called mind, the mind that recites and the mantra being recited suddenly fall away. Within, body and mind; without, the world—all vanish together. Yet this is not the unconsciousness of wood or stone; spiritual knowing remains clear and distinct. This is when the true mind manifests and when one directly realizes one's original nature. Do not underestimate this point: the future manifestation of spiritual powers is wholly founded upon it.

It is like the golden-winged great garuḍa, which can fly hundreds of thousands of li with a single flap of its wings, entirely through the small force exerted beneath its feet. If its feet do not press against the ground, it cannot take flight. Directly realizing the original truth is precisely the moment when one's heels touch the ground. This is entirely different from an understanding gained by reading books or hearing others explain it.

The reason the Heart-of-Heart Dharma is practiced for one thousand sessions is that, if one cultivates it continuously and in accordance with the Dharma throughout those thousand sessions, one will certainly open up one's original nature and directly see one's true nature. If one has not yet reached this point, it may be because one's practice has been intermittent, or because it has not accorded with the Dharma—one entertains deluded thoughts while reciting the mantra—or because, when the breakthrough is about to occur, one stops the bursting open out of fear; or perhaps one passes over it because of a slight dullness or drowsiness. Such setbacks and detours occur because the practitioner lacks sufficient merit and virtue.

But this does not matter. If there is anything you still do not understand today, I shall explain it once more for everyone: that which can speak Dharma and hear Dharma is each person's true nature of suchness. So long as you hear this and believe it deeply without doubt, stand firm, safeguard it continuously and seamlessly, do not let external objects and circumstances pull you along, and do not let inner deluded thoughts turn you about, then, through long and sustained effort, you will certainly become continuous and undivided and perfectly realize Buddhahood. If you believe and doubt by turns, then you have only yourself to blame; even Buddhas and patriarchs can do nothing to help.

At this point, some people will inevitably ask: if that which can speak and hear is the Buddha-nature of suchness, and we now understand this, then if this is equivalent to awakening, why do spiritual powers not manifest? Is it not said that those who awaken should manifest great spiritual transformations? Yes. Those who thoroughly awaken do manifest great spiritual powers, because our intrinsic nature fully possesses the six supernormal powers.

But at present this is only initial awakening. It is like a newborn infant that has just left its mother's womb and cannot yet function. It must be properly nurtured before it can function when grown. Therefore, we must safeguard it continuously and seamlessly, diligently remove deluded habitual tendencies, and abide nowhere in anything. First, we attain the supernormal power of exhausted outflows; afterward, the five spiritual powers manifest. Only then are they genuine powers of the Way. By contrast, powers obtained through methods of practice, or through possession by ghosts, spirits, demons, and the like, are false powers. True powers endure forever and do not change; false powers end when one's breath no longer comes.

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: “In principle, awakening is sudden, and through awakening they are simultaneously extinguished; in actuality, they are gradually removed, and through successive stages they are exhausted.” This originally refers to two kinds of Dharma gates: one is the perfect and sudden teaching, and the other is the gradual teaching.

Those of great capacity awaken thoroughly in a single awakening. All attachments and deluded habitual tendencies are extinguished in the very instant of awakening, and spiritual powers may immediately manifest. Those whose capacities are somewhat dull must, after awakening, temper themselves amid circumstances and gradually remove their habitual tendencies before their functioning can slowly unfold. But people in this age of Dharma decline have dull faculties and heavy obstacles; they cannot awaken suddenly, cultivate suddenly, and realize suddenly. Therefore, they must combine the two Dharma gates into one: after awakening at the level of principle, safeguard realization and remove habitual tendencies, gradually manifest spiritual powers, and realize fruition.

Because Patriarch Linji was meticulous in his practice and had personally passed through this process of cultivation and realization, he explained it clearly and thoroughly. He said that, in expounding the essential vehicle, a single phrase must contain the Three Mysteries, and each Mystery Gate must contain the Three Essentials. These Three Mysteries and Three Essentials are the mind Dharma of the Linji school. We must investigate them carefully and penetrate them thoroughly before we can understand the profundity by which one gradually advances from initial awakening to consummation.

He said that a single phrase contains the Three Mysteries. What is this phrase? It is the phrase mentioned above: “Within this lump of red flesh there is a True Person of No Rank; it is precisely the one who is now speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma.” This True Person of No Rank, who speaks Dharma and hears Dharma, is the original and genuine one: the person of the Way in his native colors, neither produced by contrivance nor cultivated into being, and reliant on nothing.

As we now speak Dharma and hear Dharma, the material body of the four elements does not understand speaking Dharma or hearing Dharma; nor do the spleen, stomach, liver, gallbladder, empty space, objects, or circumstances understand speaking Dharma or hearing Dharma. That which understands speaking Dharma and hearing Dharma is this formless “thing,” clearly and singly luminous before each of us. To recognize this “thing” is only initial awakening. Since habitual tendencies have not yet been removed and we cannot save ourselves, we need to temper the mind through circumstances and advance ever higher. Thus, Patriarch Linji divided this course into the Three Mysteries and Three Essentials.

The True Person of No Rank who speaks Dharma and hears Dharma is divided into the Three Mysteries. What are these Three Mysteries? The first is the Mystery within Essence; the second is the Mystery within Meaning; and the third is the Mystery within the Phrase. From the wondrous essence realized in awakening arises its great meaning; from this meaning comes wondrous functioning, which is brought forth as verbal phrases. Master Linji had one statement for each Mystery. I shall now set them out and explain them for you all.

(Because this is broadly the same as the discussion in Slight Ripples on the Chan Sea concerning the Three Mysteries, the Three Essentials, and the koan of the “shout,” part of it is omitted here.)

In our practice, we must leave no trace of attachment, remaining free and at ease. Though responding to the endlessly changing demands of work and daily affairs, we should be like someone with nothing happening at all, without the slightest emotional stirring. Only then is there great capacity and great function, in accord with the guiding principle of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It certainly does not mean sitting rigidly without moving, guarding empty quiescence in the hope of realizing the great Way.

I hope that after hearing this, everyone will first recognize “presence”: understand that the person of the Way of No Rank who hears this Dharma is one’s own original Buddha-nature, and no longer seek outside oneself. Second, closely safeguard this empty, luminous, non-abiding True Person of No Rank. Whenever a thought arises, immediately recognize and dispel it; neither abide in circumstances nor guard emptiness. Third, do not rigidly safeguard it. Just as a child, when grown, should be allowed to move freely and not held fast, so one should sit when sitting is called for and walk when walking is called for, wholly unrestrained and free at ease. Only then can one gain its true benefit. As it is said:

Clinging to existence, one fails to understand emptiness and obscures the master within.

Abiding in neither emptiness nor existence—this is great spiritual power.

Abiding in emptiness without knowing presence, one is amid dead water and dark mountains.

Whoever understands this meaning faces west while looking east.