Kunlun Mountain

Draw a line going straight north from Kathmandu and another going east from Kabul; where they intersect is the ‘official’ location of the Kunlun Mountains. For what was likely thousands of years, this mountain range was actually one mountain—Kunlun Mountain—and it didn’t have just one resting place. Kunlun Mountain was the mystical, mythical, migrating home of Taoist sages. It wasn’t until east met west that finally China acquiesced and said, ok, Kunlun Mountain is…. here:

East from Kabul, North from Kathmandu: Kunlun Mountain(s)

Kunlun Mountain for the Taoists was a macrocosmic representation of a human. Its peak reached up to the heavens and its base sank down into the earth. It expressed each of the five elements: fire in the heavenly light from above, wood in its cloudy mists, earth in its fertile fields at its base, metal inside its core, and water in its cavernous labyrinth below. Each of these elements represented very real facets of human psychology and spirituality and the mountain was a way to understand how they could harmoniously interact and support one another.

Today I’m here to tell you that Kunlun Mountain (singular) is alive and well in the land of archetypal mythology. It hasn’t lost a bit of its potency and is still ready to help humanity, even if humans have erroneously posted its location on Google maps with some hilarious reviews to boot. Try this Kunlun Mountain meditation adapted from Lorie Dechar’s fantastic book Five Spirits today, or ask me about it at your next acupuncture appointment and I can guide you through it… with needles.

For this meditation, sit in a chair or on a cushion on the floor with the back straight, forming a vertical axis from top to bottom.

Close your eyes and visualize your body as the mythical mountain with your peak reaching up toward heaven and your base planted deep in the earth. Feel the beauty and power of the mountain with mists swirling around you and streams of water and light rushing through you.

Bring your awareness to the top of the head and visualize a single star shining just a few inches above you. Feel the light of this star pouring down on you in a radiance of liquid gold.

Feel this light drift down through your head, coming to rest in the space at the center of your heart. Breathe into the heart space and visualize your spirit in your heart taking a form that subtly drifts and moves about with the gentle breeze of the mountain.

As the light moves about in the breeze, it collects the moisture of the clouds and starts to take more earthly form. These forms are your vision and imagination; let them flow.

Let the light then drift downward to the solar plexus region. Breathe into the solar plexus and let the light gain potency and weight as it descends toward the base of the mountain, toward the earth.

Feel the light as it moves down into the belly where it takes root at the bottom of the mountain in the fertile valley. Imagine the light taking the form of a seed that goes into the rich soil.

Drop your awareness deeper, below the horizon, into the labyrinth of caves under the mountain, in the viscera of your pelvic basin. Bring your awareness to a point about three inches below the umbilicus and feel the powerful energies that reside there.

Go even deeper, to the base of the spine, down to the deepest cave. Feel the pulsating energies here as the cerebral spinal fluid expands and contracts. Let the darkness envelop the light that has journeyed all the way from above. Let yourself become awash in the dark ocean below. At this point, in the darkest cave in the lowest place, do nothing. Surrender to the feminine power and breathe into the deepest, most hidden parts of yourself.

As you continue to breathe and release yourself into nothingness, you’ll feel a tingling at the base of your spine. This is the yin fire; a liquid fire that comes from below. Let your breath become like a pump that pumps this fire upward, through the pelvis and the solar plexus and all the way up to the heart. Breathe into the heart and feel the radiant golden light from above mix and mingle with the liquid yin fire from below. As these lights come together from above and below, allow the energy to pulsate outward throughout your entire being, filling your body. Let compassion and love pour through you as you continue to breathe these two lights from above and below into your heart. You are now experiencing the sacred union of yin and yang. Let this continue as you open your eyes and let the light shine from your heart outward to the world.

That was great, right? If meditation isn’t your thing, you can go the easy route and light yourself a nice candle and gaze at the flame for a few minutes. This will calm your spirit and invite your guiding lights back in. The universe is always trying to support you and even the simplest effort on your part will be met with generosity in return.

See you at your next appointment.

—Jaime