I happened across this passage in a book (Nature, Man and Woman) by Alan Watts the other day, which I'd say clearly pertains to the song. It is a quote of a poem by Chia Tao called 'Searching for the Hermit in Vain'
I asked the boy beneath the pines.
He said, "The Master's gone alone
Herb-picking somewhere on the mount,
Cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown.
I believe this may have been the inspiration for the song, in terms of modern man's search for something more real than the town and the empires that keep turning to rust (all the surface chatter of life).
Even when he says he's heading back to town, he states how he know's he'll be back to the countryside again soon. Like the hermit on the mount who cannot be found by the seeker,
Morrison is heading off into the depths of the Real. And like the seeker, we cannot expect to find the hermit and recieve our teaching; we too have to venture into the clouds.
I happened across this passage in a book (Nature, Man and Woman) by Alan Watts the other day, which I'd say clearly pertains to the song. It is a quote of a poem by Chia Tao called 'Searching for the Hermit in Vain'
I asked the boy beneath the pines. He said, "The Master's gone alone Herb-picking somewhere on the mount, Cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown.
I believe this may have been the inspiration for the song, in terms of modern man's search for something more real than the town and the empires that keep turning to rust (all the surface chatter of life).
Even when he says he's heading back to town, he states how he know's he'll be back to the countryside again soon. Like the hermit on the mount who cannot be found by the seeker, Morrison is heading off into the depths of the Real. And like the seeker, we cannot expect to find the hermit and recieve our teaching; we too have to venture into the clouds.