The birds have vanished down the sky.
Now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
Li Po
Translated by Sam Hamill
It’s an early winter morning here in the Northern Hemisphere. Daybreak seems far away, with The Big Dipper and other nighttime constellations still glistening in the sky. As I settle in to watch the slow and gentle transition from darkness to light, I’m noticing a faint, yet clear, silhouette of a mountain ridge in the distance. Given the direction, it must be part of Mauna Loa, an esteemed mountain on the island of Hawaii where I’m staying in the home of a friend.
Even from afar, the presence of the mountain seems to draw my attention inward with the feeling of reverence for this and all other mountains and volcanoes around the world. These seeming timeless giants shape and hold life without asking for anything in return. In their circularity, they gently gather all directions and hold them at their apex – as they reach downward and across the earth and into the sky. When they rumble, they carry the forces of destruction and creation – e.g., create new land through lava flow – and then they settle back into their quietude.
As much as my mind had wanted to observe the arrival of a new day, it felt more resonance with the sweet calmness of the mountain. It had no hankering to follow the heed of shifting colors and sounds, or to be disturbed by the resulting chatter and inner dialog about the changes. Instead, my mind could simply be steadily present, like the mountain in the middle of all the outer movements without chasing after them. There is the sense of an inner mountain simultaneously embodying deep, clear stillness and sacred aliveness within all existence – from the distant stars to the tiniest microbes and atoms.
This momentary experience with the mountain inspires me to pause more and more often with the large and small transitions in life. Not only does the night give way to light each day, but the reverse happens at sunset. There are the slow, subtle transitions within the seasons marked by the equinoxes and solstices as well as the cyclical rising and receding of each movement, breath and sound – a never-ending flow of transitions – a natural continuum of prayerful and joyful reverence.
I am inspired to continue to humbly listen to the wisdom of our nature-kin, such as the mountain, as well that of the sages and saints who have long understood the mountainous grace of life and harmonic way of being. I hope you will join me.
Practice
This short practice supports awareness of the inner mountain.
Prepare –
- Please remove any digital devices from the area where you are, except the one you are using to support this practice. For that one, please place it in airplane mode. These practices are designed for you to tune into your own inner experiences and feelings, and are more fruitful without sound or energetic interruptions.
- Please come to a seated position. If on a bench or a chair, please rest the soles of your feet on the surface beneath you – e.g., the earth, the floor. Invite an awareness of being somewhat balanced between your left and right, and forward and back.
- Imagine your pelvis is the base of the mountain reaching and arising from the full circumference of the area around you.
- Imagine the center of the crown of your head is the summit of the mountain.
Practice –
- Still seated,
- Place your right palm over your heart center and then rest your left hand over your right.
- Pause here remembering the earth below, the sky above, and the circumference of space around you. Wherever you are, you are always evenly centered within these upward, downward and horizontal directions. They meet in an invisible and steady core of your being (beneath your hands).
- Gently move your hands away from your heart center as though making an offering to the space in front of you.
- Then, turn your palms inward toward one another just enough so that:
- the fingertips of your ring fingers (of both hands) can lightly touch one another. As they touch, acknowledge the element of earth within your body as bones and nutrients and the gift of smelling fragrances, just as this element exists in other beings offering shape and form. Release that touch, so that for a moment no fingertips are touching.
- the fingertips of your little fingers lightly touch one another. Pause and acknowledge the water element in your tissues and fluids in your body and the gift of tasting, just as there are rivers and other bodies of water in the landscape holding all beings. Release that touch.
- the fingertips of your thumbs lightly touch one another. Pause and acknowledge the fire element in the warmth of your body, and the light of awareness, digestive fire and the gift of sight, just as there is the sun offering warmth and nourishment to all beings. Release that touch.
- the fingertips of your index fingers lightly touch one another. Pause and acknowledge the air element offering breath and the gift of touch, just as there is the element of air in other beings. Release that touch.
- the fingertips of your middle fingers lightly touch one another. Pause and acknowledge the space element within you and the gift of hearing, just as space is within all existence. Release that touch.
- Slowly turn your fingertips so that they are lightly touching your heart-center. Again, acknowledge the calm, peaceful center at the core of your being. Like the still point within an infinity sign ( ∞ ) where there is dynamic movement outside this motionless center. If you have a particular faith, acknowledge this center as the eternal abode of the divine, ever-present within the heart of all existence.
- Gently, gather your hands together in a prayer position, fingertips and base of your palms touching, yet leaving a little space between your palms. (Symbolically, simultaneously holding movement and stillness.).
Transition back into your day –
- With your hands still in prayer position, slightly bow your head. Pause and sit quietly with reverence for the sacredness of all life, the eternal wisdom and the divine radiance within all. Stay for as long as you are comfortable.
This poem appears in Mala of Love: 108 Luminous Poems, page 123, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. H E A R T H is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2024.
To support your inner mountain, please consider gifting yourself with a copy of my book “Our Inherited Wisdom: 54 Inspirations from Nature and Poetry,” available through Bookshop, or order through your local independent bookstore.
My Upcoming Classes
Please pencil dates for my Winter Classes 2025: The College of Marin has scheduled two of my virtual courses (via Zoom) at the beginning of 2025. If you are interested, please pencil in the dates: “Transcendental Love,” Tuesdays, 1/28 – 2/25/2024 and “Pathways to Peace: Truthfulness, Non-violence, Compassion and Other Universal Values,” Thursdays, 3/27 – 4/10/2025, 3:10-4:30 p.m., Pacific Time. The College of Marin’s registration for classes opens on January 7, 2025.
