Climbing Tian Ti Mountain

Climbing Tian Ti Mountain    near Anshun

Gentle Reader...

The Gentle Rise of the Incense

Climbing Tian Ti Mountain...

An adventure for my eyes

and heart

and feet that are accustomed to

wider Western steps

Each turn of the mountain

revealed new visions. 

Years ago

I was told that the Chinese

believe that showing all at once

revealing all in a swoop of sensation

is simply obscene.

Instead,

little by little,

a new sight 

at each curve, each turn.

Always more to reveal,

keeping the eyes in suspense.

The waiting is intrinsic, natural.

I did not know my breath

could be so taken,

so overwhelmed,

by each new vision.

I found myself inhaling,

breathing in each new turn,

undizzy at such heights.

Wanting to memorize each curve of land,

each zag of step.

One rung from the top of the mountain,

and there is incense.  

I feel it curl around my face,

beneath my fingernails,

into the pores of my mountain climbing skin.

I have ascended to the temple,

knowing that the top of a mountain

is the only soulful place for worship.

An intermittent gong.

Apples and peaches on the offering table.

Flowers along the path.

A phoenix carved into the sky

Coexisting with the dragon.

There is no hesitancy here.

No yearning.

Just the permeating incense

and feeling my rightful place

in the family of all beings...

                    Namaste,

                        Marianne/Bailing