Scalding Cauldron Meditaion

This morning's meditation proved to be a hot topic that took me back a few years to the Kung Fu television series of the 70's. If you were a fan, you might remember Chang Cain as he branded dragons onto his forearms by lifting a red hot cauldron in some kind of kung fu rite of passage. Branding has always seemed a little extreme for me, much like walking on a bed of hot coals. But I was reminded of this display of mental iron this morning.

These days I generally meditate for about 20 minutes, which is what I recommend for most people. For the first ten minutes I focus of breath and progressive relaxation. It takes about that long to get fully relaxed and to begin to move the qi energy (chi). Today I was feeling rather joyful and grateful so it was hard to start focusing on energy movement, but I knuckled down and made it work.

This is when I began to imagine my arms wrapped around a large iron cauldron filled with smoldering hot coals that exuded tons of qi energy. The cauldron grew hotter and hotter and the energy began to flow into my arms and through my body. It was intense! I began to feel warm. Sweat poured down my pits and back, but I kept my concentration.

I ended the meditation feeling re-energized with a sense that I had passed my rite of passage--although I didn't get a dragon tatoo (bummer).

Namaste