Secret
of the Golden Flower
Secret
of the Golden Flower
This ancient esoteric treatise was transmitted orally for centuries before being recorded on a series of wooden tablets in the eighth century. It was recorded by a member of the Religion of Light, whose leader was the Taoist adept Lu Yen (also known as Lu Yen and Lu “Guest of the Cavern”). It is said that Lu Tzu became one of the Eight Immortals using these methods. The ideas have been traced back to Persia and the Zarathustra tradition and its roots in the Egyptian Hermetic tradition.
1.
HEAVENLY CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE HEART
Master
Lu Tzu said: That which exists through itself is called Meaning. (Tao). Meaning
has neither name nor force. It is the one essence, the one primordial spirit.
Essence and life cannot be seen. It is contained in the Light of Heaven. The
light of Heaven cannot be seen. It is contained in the two eyes. Today I will be
your guide and will first reveal to you the secret of the Golden Flower of the
Great One, and, starting from that, I will explain the rest in detail.
The
Great One is the term given to that which has nothing above it. The secret of
the magic of life consists in using action in order to achieve non-action. One
must not wish to leave out the steps between and penetrate directly. The maxim
handed down to us is to take in hand the work on the essence. In doing this it
is important not to follow the wrong road.
The
Golden Flower is the Light. What color has the light? One uses the Golden Flower
as an image. It is the true power of the transcendent Great One. The phrase,
"The lead of the water-region has but one taste," refers to it. The
work on the circulation of the Light depends entirely on the backward-flowing
movement, so that the thoughts are gathered together (the place of Heavenly
Consciousness, the Heavenly Heart). The Heavenly Heart lies between sun and moon
(i.e., the two eyes).
2.
THE PRIMORDIAL SPIRIT AND THE CONSCIOUS SPIRIT
Master
Lu Tzu said: In comparison with Heaven and earth, man is like a mayfly. But
compared to the Great Meaning, Heaven and earth, too, are like a bubble and a
shadow. Only the primordial spirit and the true essence overcome time and space.
But,
besides this, there is the animus in which the spirit shelters. The animus lives
in the daytime in the eyes; at night it houses in the liver. When living in the
eyes, it sees; when housing itself in the liver, it dreams. Dreams are the
wanderings of the spirit through all nine Heavens and all the nine earths. But
whoever is dull and moody on waking, and chained to his bodily form, is fettered
by the anima. Therefore the concentration of the animus is effected by the
circulation of the Light, and in this way the spirit is protected, the anima
subjected, and consciousness is annulled. The method used by the ancients for
escaping from the world consisted in burning out completely the slag of darkness
in order to return to the purely creative. This is nothing more than a reduction
of the anima and a bringing to perfection of the animus. And the circulation of
the Light is the magical means of limiting the dark powers and gaining mastery
of the anima. Even if the work is not directed toward bringing back the
creative, but confines itself to the magical means of the circulation, one
returns to the creative, If this method is followed, plenty of seed-water will
be present of itself; the spirit-fire will be ignited, and the thought-earth
will solidify and crystallize. And thus can the holy fruit mature. The scarab
rolls his ball and in the ball there develops life as the effect of the
undivided effort of his spiritual concentration. If now and embryo can grow in
manure, and shed its skin, why should not the dwelling place of our Heavenly
Heart also be able to create a body if we concentrate the spirit upon it?
The
one effective, true essence (logos united with life), when it descends into the
house of the creative, divides into animus and anima. The animus is in the
Heavenly Heart. It is of the nature of light; it is the power of lightness and
purity. It is that which we have received from the great emptiness, that which
has form from the very beginning. The anima partakes of the nature of darkness.
It is the power of the heavy and the turbid; it is bound to the bodily, fleshly
heart. The animus loves life. The anima seeks death. All sensuous pleasures and
impulses to anger are effects of the anima; it is the conscious spirit which
after death is nourished on blood, but which, during life, is in direst need.
Darkness returns to darkness and like things attract each other. But the pupil
understands how to distill the dark anima so that it transforms itself into
Light.
3. CIRCULATION OF THE LIGHT AND PROTECTION OF THE CENTER
Master
Lu Tzu said: Since when has the expression "circulation of the Light"
been revealed? It was revealed by the "true men of the beginning of
form". When the Light is allowed to move in a circle, all the powers of
Heaven and earth, of the light and the dark, are crystallized. That is what is
described as seed-like, or purification of the power, or purification of the
concept. When one begins to apply this magic, it is as if, in the middle of
one's being, there was a non-being. When in the course of time the work is
finished, and beyond the body is another body, it is as if, in the middle of the
non-being, there were a being. Only after a completed work of a hundred days
will the Light be real, then only will it become spirit-fire. After a hundred
days, there develops by itself in the middle of the Light, a point of the true
Light-pole. Suddenly there develops a seed pearl. It is as if man and woman
embraced and a conception took place. Then one must be quite still in order to
await it. The circulation of the Light is the epoch of fire.
In the midst of primal becoming, the radiance of the Light is the determining
thing. In the physical world it is the sun; in man the eye. The emanation and
dissemination of spiritual consciousness is chiefly brought about by this power
when it is directed outward (flown downward). Therefore the meaning of the
Golden Flower depends wholly on the backward-flowing method.
Circulation of the Light is not only a circulation of the seed-blossom of the
body, but it is, in the first place, a circulation of the true, creative,
formative powers. It has to do, not with a momentary fantasy, but with the
exhaustion of the circular course (soul wanderings) of all the eons. Therefore a
breath-pause means a year – according to human reckoning – and a hundred
years measured by the long night of the nine paths (of reincarnation).
After a person has the one tone of individualization behind them, they will be
born outward according to the circumstances, and not until he is old will he
turn a single time to the backward-flowing way. The force of the Light exhausts
itself and trickles away. That brings the nine-fold darkness (of rebirths) into
the world. In the book Leng Yen it is said: By concentrating the thoughts, one
can fly; by concentrating the desires, one falls. When a pupil takes little care
of his thoughts and much care of his desires, he gets into the path of
depravity. Only through contemplation and quietness does true intuition arise;
for that, the backward-flowing method is necessary.
In the book of the Secret Correspondences, it is said: Release is in the eye. In
the Simple Questions of the Yellow Ruler, it is said: The seed-blossom of the
human body must be concentrated upward in the empty space. That refers to it.
Immortality is contained in this sentence and also the overcoming of the world
is contained in it. That is the common goal of all religions.
The Light is not in the body alone, neither is it only outside the body.
Mountains and rivers and the great earth are lit by sun and moon; all that is
this Light. Therefore it is not only within the body. Understanding and clarity,
knowing and enlightenment, and all motion (of the spirit), are likewise this
Light; therefore it is not just something outside the body. The Light-flower of
Heaven and earth fills all thousand spaces. But also the Light-flower of one
body passes through Heaven and covers the earth. Therefore, just as the Light is
circulating, so Heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, are all rotating with it
at the same time. To concentrate the seed-flower of the human body above in the
eyes, that is the great key of the human body. Children, take heed! If for a day
you do not practice meditation, this Light streams out, who knows whither? If
you only meditate for a quarter of an hour, you can set ten thousand eons and a
thousand births at rest. All methods take their source in quietness. This
marvelous magic cannot be fathomed.
But when the work is started, one must press on from the obvious to the
profound, from the course to the fine. Everything depends on there being no
interruption. The beginning and the end of the work must be one. In between
there are cooler and warmer moments, that goes without saying. But the goal must
be to reach the breadth of Heaven and the depths of the sea, so that all methods
seem quite easy and taken for granted. Only then do we have it in hand.
All holy men have bequeathed this to one another: nothing is possible without
contemplation. When Confucious says: knowing brings one to the goal; or when
Buddha calls it: the view of the Heart; or Lao Tzu says: inward vision, it is
all the same.
Anyone can talk about reflection, but he cannot master it if he does not know
what the word means. What has to be changed by reflection is the self-conscious
heart, which has to direct itself toward that point where the formative spirit
is not yet manifest. Within our 6 ft. body, we must strive for the form which
existed before the laying down of Heaven and earth. If today people sit and
meditate only one or two hours, looking only at their own egos, and call it
contemplation, how can anything come of it?
The two founders of Buddhism and Taoism have taught that one should look at the
end of one's nose. But they did not mean that one should fasten one's thoughts
to the end of the nose. Neither did they mean that, while the eyes were looking
at the end of the nose, the thoughts should be concentrated on the yellow
middle. Wherever the eye looks, the heart is directed also. How can the glance
be directed at the same time upward (yellow middle), and downward (end of the
nose), or alternating, so that it is now up, now down? All that means confusing
the finger with which one points to the moon with the moon itself.
What is really meant by this? The expression, "end of the nose," is
very cleverly chosen. The nose must serve the eyes as a guiding line. If one is
not guided by the nose, either one opens wide the eyes and looks into the
distance, so that the nose is not seen, or the lids shut too much, so that the
eyes close, and again the nose is not seen. But when the eyes are opened too
wide, one makes the mistake of directing them outward, whereby one is easily
distracted. If they are closed too much then one makes the mistake of letting
them turn inward, whereby one easily sinks into a dreamy reverie. Only when the
eyelids are sunk properly halfway, is the end of the nose seen in just the right
way. Therefore it is taken as a guiding line. The main thing is to lower the
eyelids in the right way, and then allow the Light to stream in of itself,
without trying to force the Light to stream in by a concentrated effort. Looking
at the nose serves only as the beginning of the inner concentration, so that the
eyes are brought into the right direction for looking, and then are held to the
guiding line; after that, one can let it be. That is the way a mason hangs up a
plumb line. As soon as he has hung it up, he guides his work by it without
continually bothering himself to look at the plumb line. Fixating contemplation
is a Buddhist method which by no means has been handed down as a secret.
On looks with both eyes at the end of the nose, sits upright and in a
comfortable position, and holds the heart to the center in the midst of
conditions (on the fixed pole in the flight of phenomena). In Taoism it is
called the yellow middle, in Buddhism the center in the midst of conditions. The
two are the same. It does not necessarily mean the middle of the head. It is
only a matter of fixing one's thinking on the point that lies exactly between
the two eyes. Then all is well. The Light is something extremely mobile. When
one fixes the thought on the midpoint between the two eyes, the Light streams in
of its own accord. It is not necessary to direct the attention especially to the
central castle. In these few words the most important thing is contained.
"The center in the midst of conditions," is a very fine expression.
The center is omnipresent; everything is contained in it; it is connected with
the release of the release of the whole process of creation. The condition is
the portal. The condition, that is the fulfillment of this condition, makes the
beginning, but it does not bring about the rest with inevitable necessity. The
meaning of these two words is very fluid and subtle.
Fixating contemplation is indispensable, it ensures the strengthening of
illumination. Only one must not stay sitting rigidly if worldly thoughts come
up, but one must examine where the thought is, where it began, and where it
fades out. Nothing is gained by pushing reflection further, One must be content
to see where the thought arose, and not seek beyond the point of origin; for to
find the heart (consciousness), to get behind consciousness with consciousness -
that cannot be done. We want to bring the status of the heart together in rest
– that is true contemplation. What contradicts it is false contemplation. This
leads to no goal. When the flight of thoughts keeps extending farther, one
should stop and begin contemplating. Let one contemplate and then start
concentrating again. That is the double method of strengthening the
illumination. It means the circular course of the light. The circular course is
fixation. The Light is contemplation. Fixation without contemplation is
circulation without Light. Contemplation without fixation is Light without
circulation.
4.
CIRCULATION OF THE LIGHT AND MAKING THE BREATHING RHYTHMICAL
Master
Lu Tzu said: The decision must be carried out with a whole heart, and, the
result no sought for; the result will come of itself. In the first period of
release there are chiefly two mistakes: laziness and distraction. But that can
be remedied; the heart must not enter into the breathing too completely.
Breathing comes from the heart. What comes out of the heart is breath. When the
heart stirs, there develops breath-power. Breath-power is originally transformed
activity of the heart. When our hearts go very fast they imperceptibly pass into
fantasies which are always accompanied by the drawing of a breath, because this
inner and outer breathing hangs together like tone and echo. Daily we draw
innumerable breaths and have an equal number of fantasy-representations. And
thus the clarity of the spirit is depleted just as wood dries out and ashes die.
Should a man have no images in his mind? One cannot be without images. Should
one not breathe? One cannot do without breathing. The best way is to make a cure
out of the illness. Since heart and breath are mutually dependent, the
circulation of the Light must be united with the rhythm of breathing. For this,
Light of the ear is above all necessary. There is a Light of the eye and a Light
of the ear. The Light of the eye is the united Light of the sun and moon
outside. The Light of the ear is the united seed of sun and moon within. The
seed is also the Light in crystallized form. Both have the same origin and are
different only in name. Therefore, understanding (ear) and clarity (eye) are one
and the same effective Light.
In sitting down, after dropping the lids, one establishes a plumb-line with the
eyes and shifts the Light downward. But if the transposition downward is not
successful, then the heart is directed toward listening to the breathing. One
should not be able to hear with the ear the outgoing and inhaling of the breath.
What one hears is that it has no tone. As soon as it has tone, the breathing is
rough and superficial, and does not penetrate into what is fine. Then the heart
must be made quite light and insignificant. The more it is released, the less
important it becomes; the less important, the quieter. All at once it becomes so
quiet that it stops. Then the true breathing is manifested and the form of the
heart can be made conscious. When the heart is light, the breathing is light,
for every movement of the heart brings about breathing power. If breathing is
light, the heart is light, for every movement of the breath affects the heart.
In order to steady the heart, one begins by cultivating the breathing power. The
heart cannot be influenced directly. Therefore the breathing power is used as a
handle, and this is what is called protecting the collected breathing power.
Children, do you not understand the nature of motion? Motion can be produced by
outside means. It is only another name for mastery. One can make the heart move
merely by running. Should one not be able to bring it to rest then by
concentrated quietness? The great holy ones who knew how the heart and breathing
power mutually influence one another, have thought out an easier procedure as a
way of helping posterity.
In the Book of the Elixir, it is said: The hen can hatch her eggs because her
heart is always listening. That is an important magic spell. The reason the hen
can hatch her eggs is because of the power to heat. But the power of the heat
can only warm the shells; it cannot penetrate into the interior. Therefore with
her heart she conducts this power inward. This she does with her hearing. In
this way ash concentrates her whole heart. When the heart penetrates, the power
penetrates, and the chick receives the power of the heart and begins to live.
Therefore a hen, even when she has left her eggs, always has the attitude of
listening with a bent ear. Thus the concentration of the spirit is not
interrupted. Because the concentration of the spirit suffers no interruption,
neither does the power of heat suffer interruption day or night, and the spirit
awakes to life. The awakening of the spirit is accomplished because the heart
has first died. When a man can let his heart die, then the primordial spirit
wakes to life. To kill the heart does not mean to let it dry and wither away,
but it means that it is undivided and gathered into one.
Buddha said: When you fix your heart on one point, then nothing is impossible
for you. The heart easily runs away, so it is necessary to gather it together by
means of breathing power. Breathing power easily becomes coarse, therefore it
has to be refined by the heart. When that is done, can it then happen that it is
not fixed?
The two mistakes of laziness and distraction must be combated by quiet work that
is carried on daily without interruption; then results will certainly be
achieved. If one is not seated during meditation, one will often be distracted
without noticing it. To become conscious of the inattention is the mechanism by
which to do away with inattention. Laziness of which a man is conscious, and
laziness o f which he is unconscious, are many miles apart. Unconscious laziness
is real laziness; conscious laziness is not complete laziness, because there is
still some clarity in it. Distraction comes from letting the spirit wander
about; laziness comes from the spirit not yet being pure. Distraction is much
easier to correct than laziness. It is as in sickness if one feels pains and
itches, one can help them with remedies, but laziness is like a disease that is
attended by loss of feeling. Distraction can be overcome, confusion can be
straightened out, but laziness and absent-minded are heavy and dark. Distraction
and confusion at least have a place, but in laziness and absent-mindedness the
anima alone is active. In inattention the animus is still present, but in
laziness pure darkness rules. If one becomes sleepy during meditation, that is
an effect of laziness. Breathing alone serves to remove laziness. Although the
breath that flows in and out through the nose is not the true breath, the
flowing in and out of the true breath is connected with it.
While sitting, one must, therefore, always keep the heart quiet and the power
concentrated. How can the heart be made quiet? By breathing. The heart alone
must be conscious of the flowing in and out of the breath; it must not be heard
with the ears. If it is not heard, then the breathing is light; if light, it is
pure. If it can be heard, then the breathing power is heavy; if heavy, then it
is troubled; if it is troubled, then laziness and absent-mindedness develop and
one wants to sleep. That is self-evident.
How to use heart correctly during breathing must be understood. It is use
without use. One need only let the Light fall quite gently on the hearing. This
sentence contains a secret meaning. What does it mean to let the Light fall? It
is the radiance of the Light of one's own eyes. The eye looks inward and not
outward. To sense brightness without looking outward means to look inward; it
has nothing to do with an actual looking within. What does hearing mean? It is
hearing the Light of one's own ear. The ear listens only within and does not
listen to what is outside. To sense brightness without listening to what is
outside, is to listen to what is within; it has nothing to do with actually
listening to what is within. In this sort of hearing, one only hears that there
is no sound; in this kind of seeing, one only sees that no shape is there. If
the eye is not looking outward and the ear is not harkening outward, they close
themselves and are inclined to sink inward. Only when one looks and harkens
inward does the organ not go outward nor sink inward. In this way laziness and
absent-mindedness are done away with. That is the union of the seed and the
Light of the sun and moon.
If, as a result of laziness, one becomes sleepy, one should stand up and walk
about. When the spirit has become clear one can sit down again. If there is time
in the morning, one may sit during the burning of an incense candle, that is the
best. In the afternoon, human affairs interfere and one can therefore easily
fall into laziness. It is not necessary to have an incense candle. But one must
lay aside all complications and sit quite still for a time. In the course of
time there will be success without one's getting lazy and falling asleep.
Master
Lu Tzu said: Your work will gradually draw itself together and mature, but
before you reach the condition in which you sit like a withered tree before a
cliff, there are many other possibilities of error which I would ;like to bring
to your special attention. These conditions are only recognized when they have
been personally experienced. I will enumerate them here, My school differs from
the Buddhist yoga school, in that it has confirmatory signs for each step of the
way. First I would like to speak of the mistakes and then the confirmatory
signs.
When one sets out to carry out one's decision, care must be taken to see that
everything can proceed in a comfortable, easy manner. Too much must not be
demanded of the heart. On must be careful t hat, quite automatically, heart and
power correspond to one another. Only then can a state of quietness be attained.
During the quiet state the right conditions and the right place must be
provided. One must not sit down (to meditate) in the midst of frivolous affairs.
That is to say, one must not have any vacuities in the mind. All entanglements
must be put aside and one must be supreme and independent. Nor must the thoughts
be directed toward the right procedure. If too much trouble is taken there is
danger of doing this. I do not mean that no trouble is to be taken, but the
right behavior lies in the middle way between being and non-being. If one can
attain purposelessness through purpose, then the thing has been grasped. Supreme
and without confusion, one goes along in an independent way. Furthermore, one
must not fall victim to the ensnaring world. The ensnaring world is where the
five kinds of dark demons disport themselves.
This is the case, for example, when, after fixation, one has chiefly thoughts of
dry wood and dead ashes, and few thoughts of the resplendent spring on the great
earth. In this way one sinks into the world of darkness. The power is cold
there, breathing is heavy, and many images of coldness and decay display
themselves. If one tarries there long one enters the world of plants and stones.
Nor must a man be led astray by the ten thousand ensnarements. This happens if,
after the quiet state has begun, one after another all sorts of ties suddenly
appear. One wants to break through them and cannot; one follows them, and feels
relieved by this. This means the matter has become a servant. If a man tarries
in this state long he enters the world of illusory desires.
At best, one goes to Heaven; at the worst, one goes among the fox-spirits. Such
a fox-spirit might also occupy himself in the famous mountains enjoying the wind
and the moon, the flowers and fruits, and taking his pleasure in coral trees and
jeweled grass. But after he has been occupied thus for three to five hundred
years, or at the most, for a couple of thousand years, his reward is over and he
is born again into the world of turmoil.
All of these are wrong paths. When a man knows the wrong paths, he can then
inquire into the confirmatory signs.
Master
Lu Tzu said: There are many kinds of confirmatory experiences. One must not
content oneself with small demands but must rise to the thought that all living
creatures have to be freed. It is not permissible to be trivial and
irresponsible in heart. One must strive to make deeds one's words.
If, when there is quiet, the spirit has continuously and uninterruptedly a sense
of great gaiety as if intoxicated or freshly bathed, it is a sign that the Light
principle in the whole body is harmonious; then the Golden Flower begins to bud.
When, furthermore, all openings are quiet, and the silver moon stands in the
middle of Heaven, and one has the feeling that the great earth is a world of
light and brilliancy, that is a sign that the body of the heart opens itself to
clarity. It is a sign that the Golden Flower is opening.
Furthermore, the whole body feels strong and firm so that it fears neither storm
nor frost. Things by which other men are displeased, when I meet them, cannot
cloud the brightness of the seed of the spirit. Yellow gold fills the house; the
steps are white jade. Rotten and stinking things on earth that come in contact
with one breath of true power will immediately live again. Red blood becomes
milk. The fragile body of the flesh is sheer gold and diamonds. That is a sign
that the Golden Flower is crystallized.
The second part refers to the building of the foundation on this. The great
world is like ice, a glassy world of jewels. The brilliancy of the Light is
gradually crystallized. That is why a great terrace arises and upon it, in the
course of time, Buddha appears. When the Golden Being appears who should it be
but Buddha? For Buddha is the Golden Saint of the Great Enlightenment. This is a
great confirmatory experience.
Now there are these confirmatory experiences which can be tested. The first is
that, when one has entered the state of meditation, the gods are in the valley.
Men are heard talking as though at a distance of several hundred paces, each one
quite clear. But the sounds are all like an echo in a valley. One can always
hear them, but never oneself. This is called the presence of the gods in the
valley.
At times the following can be experienced: as soon as one is quiet, the Light of
the eyes begins to blaze up, so that everything before one becomes quite bright
as if one were in a cloud. If one opens one's eyes and seeks the body, it is not
to be found any more. This is called: In the empty chamber it grows light.
Inside and outside, everything is equally light. That is a very favorable sign.
Or, when one sits in meditation, the fleshly body becomes quite shining like
silk or jade. It seems difficult to remain sitting; one feels as if drawn
upward. This is called: The spirit returns and pushes against Heaven. In time,
one can experience it in such a way that one really floats upward.
And now it is possible to leave all three of these experiences. But not
everything can be expressed. Different things appear to each person according to
his gifts. If one experiences these things, it is a sign of a good aptitude.
With these things it is just as it is when one drinks water. One can tell for
oneself whether the water is swarm or cold. In the same way a man must convince
himself about these experiences, then only are they real.
7.
THE LIVING MANNER OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE LIGHT
Master
Lu Tzu said: When there is gradual success in producing the circulation of the
Light, a person must not give up their ordinary occupation in doing it. The
ancients said: When occupations come to us, we must accept them; when things
come to us, we must understand them from the ground up. If the occupations are
regulated by correct thoughts, the Light is not scattered by outside things, but
circulates according to its own law. Even the still-invisible circulation of the
Light gets started this way, how much more then is it the case with the true
circulation of the Light which has already manifested itself clearly. When in
ordinary life one has the ability always to react to things by reflexes only,
without any admixture of a thought of others or of himself, that is a
circulation of the Light arising out of circumstances. It is the first secret.
Master
Lu Tzu said: Yu Ching has left behind him a magic spell for the Far Journey:
Words
crystallize the spirit in the place of power.
The
sixth month the white snow is suddenly seen to fly.
The
third watch the disk of the sun sends out shining rays.
The
water blows the wind of gentleness.
Wandering
in Heaven, one eats the spirit-power of the receptive.
The
deeper secret within the secret:
land
that is nowhere, that is the true home.
These
verses are full of mystery. The meaning is: The most important thing in the
Great Meaning is the four words: non-action in action. Non-action prevents a
person from becoming entangled in form and image (substantiality). Action in
non-action prevents a person from sinking into numbing emptiness and a dead
nothingness. The effect is in the two eyes. The two eyes are like the pole of
the Great Wain which turns the whole of creation; the cause the poles of Light
and darkness to rotate. The Elixir depends from beginning to end on the One; the
metal in the middle of the water, that is, the lead in the water-region.
Heretofore we have spoken of the circulation of the Light, indicating thereby
the initial release which works from without upon what lies within. This is to
aid one in obtaining the Master. It is for the pupils in the beginning stages.
They go through the two lower transitions in order to gain the upper one. After
the sequence of events is clear and the nature of the release is known, Heaven
no longer withholds the Meaning, but reveals the ultimate truth. Disciples keep
it secret and hold to it strictly!
The
circulation of the Light is the inclusive term. The further the work advances,
the more can the Golden Flower bloom. But there is a still more marvelous kind
of circulation. Til now we have worked from the outside on what is within; now
we tarry in the center and rule what is external. Hitherto, it was a service in
aid of the Master; now it is a dissemination of the commands of this Master. The
whole relationship is now reversed. If one wants to penetrate the more delicate
regions by this method, one must first see to it that the body and heart are
completely controlled, that one is quite free and at peace, letting go of all
entanglements, untroubled by the slightest excitement, with the Heavenly Heart
exactly in the middle. Then let one lower the lids of the two eyes as if one
received a holy edict, a summons to the minister. Who would dare disobey? Then
one illumines the house of the abysmal (water) with both eyes. Wherever the
Golden Flower appears, the true Light of polarity goes out to meet it. The
principle of that which adheres to (lightness), is light outside and dark
within; it is the body of the creative. Darkness enters and becomes master. The
results is that the heart (consciousness), becomes dependent on things, is
directed outward, and is tossed about on the stream. When the rotating Light
shines within the heart, it does not become dependent on things, the power of
the dark is limited, and the Golden Flower shines with concentration. It is then
the collected Light of polarity. Things that are related attract each other.
Thus does the polarity Light-line of the abysmal press upward. It is not only
the Light in the abyss, but it is creative Light meeting creative Light. As soon
as these two substances meet each other, they unite inseparably, and unceasing
life begins; it comes and goes, and rises and falls of itself, in the house of
primordial power. One is aware of effulgence and infinity. The whole body feels
lighter and would like to fly. This is the state of which it is said: Clouds
fill the thousand mountains. Gradually it (life) goes here and there quite
quietly; it rises and falls imperceptibly. The pulse stands still and breathing
stops. This is the moment of true creative unity, the state of which it is said:
The moon gathers up the ten thousand waters. In the midst of this darkness, the
Heavenly Heart suddenly begins a movement. This is the return of the one Light,
the time when the child comes to life.
But the details of this must be carefully explained. When a person looks at
something, listens to something, eyes and ears move and follow the things until
they have passed. These movements are all underlings, and when the Heavenly
ruler follows them in their tasks, it means: To live together with demons.
If now, during every movement and every moment of rest, a person lives together
with people and not with demons, then the Heavenly ruler is the t rue man. When
he moves and we move with him, the movement is the root of Heaven. When he is
quiet and we are quiet with him, this quietness is the cave of the moon. When he
continues to alternate movement and quietness, one ought to go on with him
unceasingly in movement and quietness. If he rises and falls with inhaling and
exhaling, we must rise and fall with him. That is what is called going to and
fro between the root of Heaven and the cave of the moon.
When the Heavenly Heart still preserves calm, movement before the right time is
a fault of softness. When the Heavenly Heart has already moved, the movement
that follows afterwards, corresponding with it, is a fault or rigidity. As soon
as the Heavenly Heart is stirring, one must immediately mount with all one's
feeling to the house of the creative. Thus the Light of the spirit sees the
summit that is the leader. This movement is in accord with the time. The
Heavenly Heart rises to the summit of the creative, where it expands in complete
freedom. Then suddenly it wants the deepest silence, and one must lead it
speedily and with one's whole being into the yellow castle. Thus the eyes behold
the central yellow dwelling place of the spirit.
When the desire for silence comes, not a single thought arises; he who is look
ing inward suddenly forgets that he looks. At this time, body and heart must be
left completely free. All entanglements disappear without trace. Then I no
longer know at what place the house of my spirit and my crucible are. If a man
wants to make certain of his body, he cannot get at it. This condition is the
penetration of Heaven into earth, the time when all wonders return to their
roots.
The One is the circulation of the Light. If one begins, it is at first scattered
and one tries to collect it; the six senses are not active. This is the care and
nourishment of one's own origin, the filling up of the oil when one goes to
receive life. When one is far enough to have gathered it, one feels light and
free and need take no further trouble. This is the quieting of the spirit in the
space of the ancestors, the taking possession of former Heaven.
When one is so far advanced that every shadow and every echo has disappeared, so
that one is quiet and firm, it is safe within the cave of power, where all that
is miraculous returns to its roots. The place is not changed but divides itself.
It is incorporeal space where a thousand and ten thousand places are one place.
The time is not changed, but divides itself. It is immeasurable time when all
the eons are like a moment.
As long as the heart has not attained complete peace, it cannot move itself. One
moves the movement and forgets the movement; this is not movement in itself.
Therefore it is said: If, when stimulated by external things, one is moved, it
is the instinct of the being. If, when not stimulated by external things, one is
moved, it is the movement of Heaven. The being that is placed over against
Heaven, can fall and come under the domination of the instincts. The instincts
are based upon the fact that there are external things. They are thoughts that
go on beyond their own position. Then movement leads to movement. But, when no
idea arises, the right ideas come. That is the true idea. If things are quiet
and one is quite firm, the release of Heaven suddenly moves. Is this not a
movement without purpose? Action in inaction has the same meaning.
As to the beginning of the poem, the first two lines refer entirely to the
activity of the Golden Flower. The two next lines are concerned with the mutual
interpenetration of sun and moon. The sixth month is the adhering fire. The
white snow that flies, is the true darkness of polarity in the middle of the
fire sign, that is about to turn into the receptive. The third watch is the
abysmal water. The sun's disk is the one polar line in the sign for water, which
is about to turn into the creative. In this is contained the way to take the
sign for the abysmal and the way to reverse the sign for the adhering fire. The
following two lines have to do with the activity of the pole of the Great Wain,
the rise and fall of the whole release of polarity. Water is the sign of the
abysmal; the eye is the wind of softness. The light of the eyes illumines the
house of the abysmal, and controls there the seed of the great Light. "In
Heaven" means the house of the creative. "Wandering, in Heaven, one
eats the spirit-power of the receptive." This shows how the spirit
penetrates the power, and how Heaven penetrates the earth; this happens so that
the fire can be nourished.
This version of the Secret of the Golden Flower was translated by Walter
Picca in 1964 as part of his work with the Church of the Word of God to
“explain the doctrine of desire-imagination to win the promise of God.” Much
of group’s work survives in the Temple Aum Ru (http://home.earthlink.net/~wisetiger/secret.html).
Alchemy Home Study | Alchemy Journal | Art Gallery | Consultations | Directory | Electronic Dictionary | Elixirs Tinctures & Cures | Esoteric Catalog | Feedback | Lectures & Workshops | Link | Networking | Personal Transformation | Recommended Books | Riddle | Search