Notes to Poem: Chinese Ideogram Shan for Mountain

Notes to Poem:
Chinese Ideogram Shan for Mountain

Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

Preface: For my book Platonic Lambda: Soul of the Universe, the first chapter would be "Mountains", since their shape resembles Lambda Λ. I've depicted Matterhorn on the cover, and am compiling notes covering mountain art, music, poetry, biblical citations, photos, quotes, symbolism. When I realized that the Chinese ideogram shan for mountain is made of kun and k'an (container), I recalled Carlos Suarès 1973 lecture (whose notes I just found) that the Hebrew letters Alef and Beth mean "infinite energy" and "container of energy". That's how this poem was born. Writing these Notes refreshed memories of meetings with sages with mountain-top visions and spiritual quest for cosmic consciousness.

Commentary on Poem "Chinese Ideogram Shan for Mountain":

The Chinese ideogram shan for mountain
has three strokes— bottom k'an is a container
with vertical down stroke kun appearing as "1".

C.F. Fenn's The Five Thousand Dictionary: Chinese-English (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 1976)
has the three-strokes Chinese ideogram shan for mountain on page 434. The bottom strokes k'an (p. 241)
is defined "To contain, a vessel". The vertical (p. 275) is defined " Dowm stroke, perpendicular". It's interesting
the ideogram ch'ung meaning reverence and lofty (p. 111), has shan mountain on the top, with the character
below tsung meaning ancestor and honor (p. 563).

On "Kabbalah" lecture in Cambridge, Mass.
June 6, 1973, Carlos Suarès gave insights
on letters on the Hebrew alphabet—

Carlos Suarès
(1892-1976)
Cipher of Genesis
(Shambala, 1970) I was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1970-1977), doing post-doctoral research in Gerald D. Fasman's lab at Brandeis University predicting protein structures. Haven O'More taught yoga to a dozen Brandeis students at the
Institute of Traditional Science in Cambridge that I went. Carlos Suarès came
on June 6, 1973, and gave a talk on "Meaning of the Kabbalah". I just found
my four pages of Notes on this lecture. Suarès said "Structure of cosmic energy is the greatest legacy which was left to us by ancient civilization. Sepher Yetsira or Book of Structure was given to Abraham to work out the code. Kabbalah means to receive. The first two chapters of the Bible are from the Kabbalah. The ancient science of cosmic energy tells us that the energy in our psyche is of cosmic origin. Every letter in the Hebrew alphabet became a language, an equation representing a state of energy." I had read that Suarès was a good friend of Jiddu Krishnamurti. Suarès waved his hand, saying he's beyond that now with his Kabbalah studies.

Photo Sources: Carlos Suarès (dodona777.wordpress.com); Cipher of Genesis (amazon.com)

"Aleph, first letter is infinite energy"
"Beth, house, is container of this energy" ,
together they form image shan for mountain.

Alef
Hebrew
Beth
Hebrew
Alif
Arabic
Baa
Arabic Although the first two letters Hebrew alphabet, Alef and Beth do not combine to form the Chinese ideogram shan for mountain, the first two letters of Arabic alphabet Alif and Baa can be assembled to form shan for mountain.
I recall vividly Suarez saying "Aleph is immeasurable infinite energy which is
alive permeating everything. Beth is the container of energy.

Photo Sources: Alef (sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alef); Beth (bencrowder.net); Alif (sponsorshipletterr.com; Baa (sponsorshipletterr.com).

In Chapter III "The Way of Ascent" in
Harold Bayley's Lost Language of Symbolism
is a figure of "Dove on the mountain-top"

Lost Language
of Symbolism
Page 39, Chapter III
"Ways of Ascent"
Dove on Mountain-top
Figure 74, Page 39
Bird on Table Mountain
Cape Town, South Africa (*)
Eagle on Mountain-top
Barrow, Alaska (*)

While compiling Notes on Mountain Symbolism, came across Chapter III: "The Ways of Ascent" in Harold Bayley's The Lost Language of Symbolism (1912), pp. 32-54. The author has drawings of the Ladder as an emblem of ascent to the Gods (Figs. 52-55 on page 33). Drawings of mountains with cross on top (Figs. 60-65 on p. 35) symbolized ascent to Christ. What surpised me was Fig. 74 on page 39, showing a dove on the mountain-top. The mountain image resembles the Chinese ideogram shan for mountain. I've seen birds on tree tops, and didn't know whether birds could fly so high
to reside on mountain-tops. But a Google Image Search showed many photos of birds on mountains— Bird on Table Mountain; Eagle on Mountain-top; Bergdohle on mountain-top; Red-winged starling on Table Mountain; Seagull on mountain; Bird on mountain peak; Two eagles on mountain-tops; Birds hovering around Firewatch Hills.
Photo Sources: Lost Language of Symbolism (priverwashbooks.com); Page 39 "Ways of Ascent" (wisdomportal.com);
Dove on Mountain-top (wisdomportal.com); Bird on Table Mountain (flickr.com); Eagle on Mountain-top (etsy.com)

with mountain image as the Chinese shan
and the dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit
for in myth, birds represent the human soul

Descent of the Holy Spirit
by Albrecht Dürer (1510)
Dove on Mountain Top
Christian Music Hits Album
Birds with Human Souls
by Beryl Rowland (1978)

Birds symbolize spirits of the air, ascent, freedom, the soul, and transcendence. Beryl Rowland (1918-2003)
wrote a book Birds with Human Souls: A Guide to Bird Symbolism (University of Tennessee Press, 1978)
covering 57 birds from Albatross to Wren (plus Harpy & Siren). More than fifty illustrations from medieval
manuscripts accompany her discussions on the allegorical meanings and symbolisms of these birds. While
writing poem "Dove of Discovery" (1-16-2006) and Notes (12-12-2006), also researched Dove Symbolism
in alchemy. Photo Sources: Descent of the Holy Spirit (artbible.info); Mountain Top Dove (images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com);
Birds with Human Souls (amazon.com)

and Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens 1617
alchemical work shows birds on mountain-tops
in Emblema VII and Emblema XLIII.

Atalanta Fugiens
by Michael Maier (1617)
Emblema VII
Baby Eagles on Mountain-top
Emblema XLIII
Vulture on Mountain-top

Recalled Emblemas in Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens with birds on mountain-tops. My copy
of Gardening: Maitreya 3 (Shambala, Berkeley 1972) has all 50 Emblemas from Maier's book.
On page 59 is Emblema VII: A young bird came into being, flying up from the nest, & fell back
into the nest again. Epigramma VII: The eagle had built a nest in a hollow rock / In which it hid
and fed its young: / One of them wanted to rise on its light wings, / But was kept back by its brother,
a wingless bird. That was why the bird, flying up, fell back into the nest, which it had left; /
Connect them head to tail, and you will succeed. On page 95 is Emblema XLIII: Listen to the
garrulous vulture, which does not deceive you at all. Epigramma XLIII: The vulture is standing
on the top of a high mountain, / Incessantly calling: It is said that I am white & black, / Yellow
& red and I do not lie at all; / The same is the case with the raven, which is accustomed to fly
without wings / In the dark night & in the clear light of the afternoon, / For the one as well as
the other is the main thing of your art. Amazing to find in this issue of Gardening: Maitreya 3,
an essay by Carlos Suarès "I Am Cain II" (pp. 9-17)— "Aleph being the timeless, unthinkable,
eternal, or explosive Energy... and Bayt being any container, shape, or compressive Energy...
that everything that is, in whatever realm, is both spirit and matter."
Photo Sources: Atalanta Fugiens (wikipedia.org); Emblema VII (commons.wikimedia.org);
Emblema XLIII (commons.wikimedia.org); Colored Emblemas (pinterest.co.uk)

Since the mountain peak is highest point on earth,
it's the meeting place of heaven, home of the gods—
all depicted in the Chinese ideogram shan

India 244-245: Mt. Everest (2 annas & 14 annas)
Conquest by Hillary & Tenzing (5-29-1953)
(issued October 2, 1953)
Japan 364: Mt. Fuji
by Hokusai (1 yen)
(issued Aug. 1, 1946)
Nepal 106: Mt. Everest
& Glacier (4 paias)
(issued 1959)

In J.E. Cirlot's A Dictionary of Symbols (1971), pp. 208-211 cover "Mountain" symbolism— "Mountain is equated with inner 'loftiness' of spirit, that is, transposing the notion of ascent to the realm of the spirit. The vertical axis of the mountain drawn from its peak down to its base links it with the world-axis, and, anatomically, with the spinal column. This is why Eliade says that 'the peak of the cosmic mountain is not only the highest point on earth, it is also the earth's navel, the point where creation had its beginning'— the root. The mystic sense of the peak also comes from the fact that it is the point of contact between heaven and earth, or the centre through which the world-axis passes... Mount Olympus, the supreme, celestial mountain which Schneider sees as corresponding to Jupiter and equivalent to the principle of the number one."
In G.A. Gaskell's Dictionary of All Scriptures and Myths (1976), mountain is described as "symbol of aspiration towards ideals, or the rise of the soul to higher planes of consciousness" (p. 515). Mount Olympus: "symbol of height of perfection & attainment; or the plane of atma, the summit of manifestation" (p. 549). In Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant's Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (1996), "Mountains are places where Heaven and Earth meet, where the gods have their home and human ascension its boundary. Viewed from above, the vertical point of their peaks make them the centres of the world: seen from below, they stand against the horizon like World Axes, their slopes like a ladder to be climbed" (p. 680).
Photo Sources: India 244-245 Mt.Everest (hipatamp.com); Japan 364 (onehundredmountains.blogspot.com); Nepal 106 (mountainstamp.com)

for the vertical stroke kun is heaven
and the bottom strokes k'an is earth—
only a sage could have envisioned this!

Kun "1" for Heaven

K'an "container" for Earth
Shan for mountain
Mountain

The Chinese ideogram An for peace & tranquillity has a woman under the roof. A Chinese Professor at Cornell
told me this ideogram means a woman's touch brings tranquillity under the roof (household). I accepted his interpretation, until reading Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, I realized that it's the Eternal Feminine that brings peace under the heavens. In his Symbolism of the Cross (1975), René Guenon, expounds on the cross as the horizontal and vertical. The horizontal line representing temporality (flow of time or Earth, Prakriti), the vertical line representing eternality (outside of time or Heaven, Purusha). The center is the place of perfect equilibrium, where the 'Activity of Heaven' is directly manifested. This is the unmanifested "actionless activity" (wei wu wei). The Chinese sage who designed the ideogram shan must have intuited what Carlos Suarès said about Alef (infinite energy) and Beth (container), how Heaven and Earth meet and unite in the mountain. In David Fontana's The Secret Language of Symbols (1994), there's a mountain image & caption: "The meeting place of heaven and earth, mountains symbolize masculinity, eternity, and ascent from animal to spiritual nature. Mountain tops are traditionally the home of the weather gods," (p. 114) Photo Sources: Kun (wisdomportal.com); K'an (wisdomportal.com); Shan (wisdomportal.com); Mountain scanned from David Fontana's The Secret Language of Symbols (wisdomportal.com)

Wei Wu Wei says "an awakened sage lives & thinks
vertically"— no wonder the Platonic Lambda Λ
"Soul of the Universe" is shaped like a mountain.

Wei Wu Wei
(1895-1986)
Ask the Awakened
(published 1963)
Platonic Lambda
Plato's Timaeus 35b
Plato (428 BC-348 BC)
by Raphael (1508)

Wei Wu Wei (aka Terence Gray) was an Irish sage, whose book Open Secret I stumbled upon in the Cornell Library
stacks (1968) and his Only by Failure bio in the Stanford Library stacks (2008). I wrote about this exhilarating experience (9-11-2008). In Ask the Awakened, Wei Wu Wei discussed Vertical Vision 1 (Chapter 16): "an awakened sage lives and thinks vertically. If his body is flowing horizontally in the stream of time, his mind has acquired the vertical dimension which rises at right-angles from each moment of that time-river... Vertical vision is a consequence, not a method. It cannot be practised. But the understanding of it, its being envisaged, may point towards the state of wisdom from which it will result." (p. 33) Vertical Vision 2 (Ch. 79): "Objects can be said to be perceived in a horizontal space-time dimension. Subjectivity can be said to be vertical seeing." (p. 188) Vertical Living (Ch. 96): "The Kingdom of Heaven is the 'vertical' mind. The 'vertical' mind is always present— in the Now-moment. Intuition is an expression of the "verticality" of mind. D.C. Harding's "headlessness" is 'vertical' living. All truth is 'vertical': nothing 'horizontal' can be true. All true-seeing is 'vertical'. The 'vertical' is 'real': the 'horizontal' is 'unreal'. Plato (428 BC-348 BC) was truly an enlightened sage. In his cosmology text Timaeus 35b, he writes about God creating the "Soul of the Universe" in the Lambda Λ shape that resembles a mountain. It's interesting that Chinese creation of Heaven & Earth (I Ching II.9.1-2) and Plato's God creating the "Soul of the Universe" both adds up to 55 in different ways. Photo Sources: Wei Wu Wei (wisdomportal.com); Ask the Awakened (wisdomportal.com); Platonic Lambda (wisdomportal.com); Plato (wisdomportal.com)

Additional Notes of Interest

Carlos Suarès visiting Wei Wu Wei (circa 1970)
In the second stanza of this poem, I mention the "Kabbalah" lecture by Carlos Suarès (6-6-1973) that gave me insights on the Hebrew alphabet Alef and Beth, which I associated with the formation of the Chinese ideogram Shan for mountain. In the 9th & final stanza of the poem, I cite Wei Wu Wei's writings on vertical vision of an awakened sage.
I spent a week (October 23-29, 1978) with Paul Brunton (PB) in his home in Corseux sur Vevey, Switzerland. On October 29, 1978, PB told me that Wei Wu Wei would be visiting him from Monaco the following day. He said Wei Wu Wei was self-enlightened without a guru like Ramana Maharshi. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay an extra day, since my flight back to Boston from Geneva was scheduled. I often wondered how those conversations between PB & Wei Wu Wei went: two enlightened sages with mirror minds reflecting infinite lights.
Just found an interesting photo of Carlos Suarès visiting Wei Wu Wei.

Wei Wu Wei photo archives identifies those in the above photo from Gstaad, Switzerland (1970), From Left to Right:
1) Carlos Suarès (1892-1976), author Cipher of Genesis (1970), Song of Songs (1972), & Sepher Yetsira (1976)
2) Georgian Princess Nathalie Margaret Imeretinsky (b. 8-28-1926), wife of Wei Wu Wei (1957-1986)
3) Nadine Tilche Suarès (1893-1990), wife of Carlos (1922-1976 his death) (floral dress)
4) Douglas Harding (1909-2007), author of On Having No Head (1971) (dark suit)
5) Wei Wu Wei (1895-1986), bearded Irish sage, author Open Secret (1965)
6) Robert Lissen (1911-2004), Belgian Zen Buddhist (dark glasses)
What's amazing about this gathering is that all the gentlemen are enlightened. As birds of the same feathers gather together, minds of the same nature do likewise. I was fortunate to meet Carlos Suarès (1973), invited by Wei Wu Wei and Nathalie to visit them in Monaco (August 1979). Since I spent my last three days in Switzerland with Paul Brunton, couldn't make the trip to Monaco. However the three letters from Wei Wu Wei and his gift of signed book Open Secret will remain priceless treasures from this Irish sage.

— Peter Y. Chou
Mountain View, 1-27-2018