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Day 6 – Admiring the Recoiling Dragon
Last update: 26 October 2010 8:08AM (GMT+08:00)
Reported by Sherwin Ng.
Qing Cheng Mountain
Qing Cheng Shan, or 'Green City' Mountain (yesterday was Green Dragon Mountain), is a well-known hiking and scenic spot for many locals. And also the numerous temples located on this mountain is another cause for crowds of devoted worshippers. Our first stop was the Quan Zhen Temple, which is about a 30 minute walk up - or 15, if you run. Of course, the other option would be sedan chairs available for hire.
Whatever your transportation of choice, the route up through the pine trees, mountain cliff, gentle streams, and cool moist mountain air... will prove to be an experience either way.
The temple itself has multiple layers and storeys, all built against the mountain. From the highest storey (dedicated to Celestial Master Tai Shang Lao Zun), most of us could spot the beautifully embraced water mouth, guarded by Wood Transforming Fire Stars - Spiritual Qi. The temple taps into SE1 and sits NW1, tapping in the spiritual axis of the Graveyard Stars.
But we could not really make out the overall peculiar formation, where the Right Embrace seemed a little too short.
This is a special formation, Joey said, called the 'Recoiling Dragon'. Notice how the massive Left Embrace actually formed the body of the Dragon, with 5 Flower Petal formations. The Dragon curls behind the temple and out again to the right and stops directly in front, forming a Table Mountain. When seem from afar, the Table Mountain was shaped as a 'Fairy Seat' and sat right in the center of the nestling Dragon. Hence, all the Qi spirals to gather at the center of the entire mountain formation, and the temple is built to tap into this concentration pool.
To further enhance the quality of this site, the natural Qi Mouth is flanked by the Sun and Moon Stars, and multiple other Wood-Fire Stars collectively seen as a 'High Level Plum Blossom'.
Without too much time to digest the rare Recoiling Dragon, we were up the steps again to the next stop - Tian Shi Dong, the temple of Spiritual Master Jiang. This brought back some memories from 2008's excursion at Long Hu Shan, the 7 Star North Dipper formations, which was the exact location Master Jiang meditated and achieved spiritual mastery.
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From the highest point of the temple, most of the students noticed the tight embrace, but this was part of a formation called the 'Fairy Seated in the Clouds', facing a Daoist Brush formation to the East... making this the perfect location for Spiritual Master Jiang, the legendary Exorcist.
From a Feng Shui perspective, we were given a glimpse on the different approaches used by ancient Daoist masters as compared to Buddhist masters that exemplify their own unique philosophies and practices. I'll leave you today with something else I wrote at the first temple today...
What the Dragon Said
'Watch as I recoil, so
You, turn to face me
Sit quietly in the center
Focus
Still your impatient heart
And I will not harm you
Inhale
This gathering force
Nestled between us
The sun and moon
What more do you need?
Still that impatient heart
My future saint'
- Kingfisher
Reported by Sherwin Ng.
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