The Secret of the Golden Flower

• occult and esoteric
• alchemical
• Richard Wilhelm
• disciple
• aficionado
• Astral
• Buddha Sakyamuni
• astute

its hidden secret to meditation an out of body journeys.

第一章： 天心 （第三眼） Chapter 1: The Third Eye

• 1.1 吕祖曰：“自然曰道，道无名相，一性而已，一元神而已。According to Lu-zu, “dao” was not a tangible phenomenon. It had no name or appearance, just mere nature. Hence, Lu-zu continued stating that “Dao” was the Universal nature or character, and equivalent to the “primordial spirit.”
• 1.2 性命不可见，寄之天光，天光不可见，寄之两目。Similarly, one’s life span was also not tangible. It relied on the intangible “light of heaven”. Only our two eyes could show life.
• 1.5 必于人伦日用间，立定脚跟，方可修真悟性。 Only those who could establish themselves in daily practices would have the opportunity to taste the real enlightenment.
• 1.6 太乙者，无上之谓。 “tai yi” meaning ultimate
• 1.8 所传宗旨，直提性功，不落第二法门，所以为妙。 .. this particular text began with the technique itself.
• 1.10 取象于金华，亦秘一光字在内，是先天太乙之 。。。this light had the golden bright quality. one could equate it to the ultimate vitality.
• 1.11回光之功，全用逆法，注想天心，天心居日月中。 In order to accomplish the light reflex, one would focus its attention on the third eye, located between two eyes.
• 1.12 ‘寸田尺宅可治生’， 尺宅面也。面上寸田，非天心而何？ the third eye is a specific area on our face that could regulate life.
• 1.13 方寸中具有郁罗肖台之胜，玉京丹阙之奇，乃至虚至灵之神所住。The third eye was likened to be the splendid spiritual residence.
• 1.15 盖天心犹宅舍一般，光乃主人翁也。In short, the light dwells in the third eye.
• 1.16 Once the light reflex started, all the bodily energy would gather upward at the top of the head, just like mighty king receiving tributes from all nations at the capital city. Similarly, just like an astute master, the servants would naturally obey its leader.
• 1.17 诸子只去回光，便是无上妙谛。 Therefore, practicing the technique to realize the light reflex was the ultimate purpose here.
• 1.18 光易动而难定， 回之既久，此光凝结，即是自然法身，而凝神于九霄之上矣。 the light was restless. With the light reflex practice, the light could be sustained longer, leading to the natural revelation of the ultimate self and finally reaching the state of heavenly rapture.
• An ideal practitioner must possess both a penetrating and a calm mind.

第二章 ：元神，识神 Chapter 2 Primordial Spirit & Consciousness

• 2.5 能守护元神，则超生在阴阳之外，不再三界之中，此惟见性方可，所谓本来面目也。 Therefore, the primary objective for a “Dao” practitioner is to safeguard and preserve the primordial spirit, which could lead to enlightenment beyond the Samsaric wheel of life. In this regard, one must penetrate and fully realize the true nature of being, i.e. the ultimate self or reality.
• 2.12 丹道，以精水、神火、意土三者， 为无上之诀。 In the pursuit of immortality, there were 3 crucial elements – essence (water element), spirit (fire element), and mind (thought) (earth element).
• 2.13 精水云何？乃先天真一之。。， 神火即光也，意土即中宫天心也。 Essence referred to energy of life. Spirit referred to light. Mind/thought referred to both the Chest / heart area and the third eye.
• 2.15 凡人以意生身，身不止七尺者为身也。 盖身中有魄焉，魄附识而用，识依魄而生。魄阴也，识之体也，识不断，则生生世世，魄之变形异质无已也。The human body was a derivation of mind. Here, not only it referred to the 7 feet flesh and blood structure, it comprised the soul, i.e. anima (feminine) and animus (masculine) as well. Anima was embodied in Consciousness. So long as consciousness remained, one would be roll unceasingly from life to life. Anima would continue to be attached to consciousness, regardless of body.
• 2.16 惟有魂，神之所藏也。魂昼寓于目，夜舍于肝，寓目而视，舍肝而梦， 梦者神游也，九天九地，刹那历遍。觉则冥冥焉，渊渊焉，拘于形也，即拘于魄也。 On the other hand, animus was embodied in spirit. It resided in the eye during day time and liver in the night time. In the eyes, men could see. In the liver, men could dream. Dreaming was the act where the spirit wondered. However, one could not remember the dreams after awaken, because of the constraints of the body and anima.
• 2.17 故回光所以炼魂，即所以保神，即所以制魄，即所以断识。 Therefore, the purpose of practicing light reflex was to refine the animus. In doing so, the spirit would be safeguard. The anima would be subjugated and the consciousness could cease.
• 2.18 one would have to eliminate the anima and preserve the animus.
• 2.19 the state of light reflex actually meant the state of enlightenment.
• 2.22 一灵真性，既落乾宫，便分魂魄。魂在天心，阳也，轻清之。。也， 此自太虚得来，与元始同形。 The true nature of the ultimate self is split into anima and animus. Animus, dwelled in the third eye as well, was the “yang” soul, with a quality of lightness and purity, which came from the universe, and shared similar form as the primordial spirit from the beginning of time.
• 2.23 魄阴也，沉浊之气也，附于有形之凡心。Anima was the “yin” soul, with a quality of darkness and impurity, which was enslaved in the worldly desire.
• 纯阳子

第三章：回光守中 Chapter 3: Light Reflex and Observation

meditation

• 3.3 初行此诀，乃有中似无，久之功成，身外有身，乃无中似有。When one began to practise, it felt as if nothing could be perceived (within the body structure). Over time, as one gained mastery of the technique, one could perceived everything (our of nothing), achieving the state of ultimate self (alongside the apparent self).
• 3.4 百日专攻，光才真，方为神火。 In this regard, one had to work hard full concentration (for 100 days consecutively) so that the “real” light could be realized, penetrating the actual spirit within.
• 3.7 故金华之道，全用逆法。 回光者， 非回一身之精华，直回造化之真。。， 非止一时之妄念，直空千劫之轮回。故一息当一年，人间时刻也，一息当百年，九途长夜也。 However, in this “jin hua” (golden light / flower) technique, this habitual pattern would be broken away. That was why the technique was referred to as a reversal method. [In fact, light reflex connotes the same phenomenon.] To summarize, the objective of light reflex was not only to recover the essence of being, but to recover the entire flow of energy at the creation process. It was not only to stem out the delusional thoughts, but to release one from the wheel of Samsaric life. The wheel of life followed every being like breathing. Every breath taken was considered as one year according to human reckoning, and 100 years accordingly to the realm of the dead.
• 3.9 “纯想即飞，纯情即堕。” “pure mind led to enlightenment, pure desire led to destruction (suffering). “
• 3.10 惟谛观息静便成正觉，用逆法也。 Only through the reversal method of inner self searching and contemplative meditation, one could realize the right awareness.
• 3.11 ‘人身精华，皆上注于空窍是也。’ the essence of being could be unlocked through “emptying” the apertures of the body.
• 3.13 Light is everything and everywhere. 光不在身中， 亦不在身外，山河大地，日月照临，无非此光， 故不独在身中。聪明智慧，一切运转，亦无非此光， 所以亦在身外。 The light was neither inside nor outside the body. For example, the earth received light form the sun and the moon. Thus, the light was not inside the earth. 【错误翻译：But, in order for the earth to rotate and function properly, it depends on the lights of the sun and moon, which meant that the light could not be outside the earth either. 】
• 3.14 天地之光华，布满大千，一身之光华，亦自漫天盖地，所以一回光，天地山河一切皆回矣。 Once the state of light reflex was achieved, all things on earth would return to its ultimate state.
• 3.16 子辈思之，一日不静坐，此光流转，何所底止！若一刻能静坐，万劫千生，从此了彻。万法归于静，真不可思议，此妙谛也。 Just imagine, without practicing meditation, the light would not be retained but would continue to flow out. With meditation, the rot of suffering in Samsaric life could be eliminated all together. This was a powerful tool indeed.
• 3.19 反照， 致知， 观心，内观。 inner-self reflection and contemplation “ultimate knowing”, “contemplative heart”, “inner contemplation”.
• 3.21 反者， 自知觉之心，反乎形神未兆之初，则吾六尺之中，反求个天地未生之体。 Here, the real purpose of self-reflection and contemplation was to penetratingly lead one to the ultimate self.
• 3.22 the observation of the nose tip
• 3.25 The real purpose of observing the nose tip was to place the eyes properly. When sitting down to meditate, one should keep the eyes half closed.
• 3.26 Once the eyes and gaze were fixed, one could disregard it accordingly.
• 3.29 The meditation practice required one to sit in upright position, with both eyes gazing at the nose tip. This would suffice to calm oneself. next, one would fix the thoughts at the third eye area.
• 3.33 以后凡念起时， 不要仍旧兀坐， 当究此念在何处，从何起，从何灭，反复推究，了不可得。 即见此念起处也，不要有讨过起处，觅心了不可得。 吾与汝安心竟，此是止观， 反此者，名为邪观。 During meditation, if worldly thoughts arose, one might investigate and examine from where the thoughts originated, to where the thoughts disappeared. But, to be sitting still and examining the origination and passing away of each thought could lead to a pointless process. Here, the ideal for right meditation was to balance between concentration and wisdom.
• 3.34 如是不可得已，即仍旧绵绵去止， 而继之以观，观而继之以止， 是定慧双修，此为回光。 When thoughts arose, one would stop concentrating (i.e. samatha) to apply vipassana (i.e. gaining wisdom). After a while, one would switched back to Samatha. This technique allowed for practice of both concentration and wisdom. This was in line with the state of light reflex.

第四章： 回光调息

• 4.1 吕祖曰：“宗旨只要纯心行去，不求验而验自至。
• 4.2 大约初机病痛，昏沉散乱，二种尽之。
• 4.3 却此有机窍，无过寄心于息，息者自心也。自心为息，心一动，而即有气，气本心之化也。 In order to address these problems, one would have to put emphasis on breathing. To elaborate, breathing was the gateway to the mind. Hence, … creating is the reflection of one’s heart / mind. Any movement of the mind, there would be a corresponding breath.
• 4.4 吾人念至速，霎顷一妄念，即以呼吸应之。 故内呼吸与外呼吸，如声响之相随，一日有几万息，即有几万妄念。神明漏尽，如木槁灰死矣。
• 4.5 然则欲无念乎，不能无念也，欲无息乎，不能无息也。莫若即其病为药，则心息相依是已。
• 4.6 故回光兼之以调息，此法全用耳光。一是目光，一是耳光。目光者，外日月交光也，耳光者，内日月交精也。Therefore, during the state of light reflex, one would need to regulate the breathing as well. Light reflex could be observed through sight, whereas breathing could be observed through sound. Here, both the eyes sense door (sight) and the ears sense door (sound) were used to penetrate the ultimate truth (at the spiritual level) and the apparent truth (at the essence level) respectively.
• 4.9 坐时用目垂帘后，定个准则便放下。然竟放下，又恐不能，即存心于听息。When sitting down to meditate with eyes half closed, one would try to relax the mind. But it might not be possible to just relax immediately. In this case, one could fix the mind on the sound / rhythm of breath as transition.
• 4.10 息之出入，不可使耳闻，听惟听其无声也。一有声，便粗浮而不入细，即耐心轻轻微微些，愈放愈微，愈微愈静，久之，忽然微者遽断，此则真息现前，而心体可识矣。 When breathing, one should not hear the sound of breath, but to be aware of the inhaling and exhaling. If the should of breath could be heard, it meant that the breath was still coarse (reflecting a gross mind). In this regard, one should focus patiently to reach softer and softer breath (and hence a subtler and subtler mind), until it reached a state as though the physical breath had stopped. At that time, one would be sustained by the “true breathing”, enabling the mind to penetrate the ultimate truth.
• 4.11 盖心细则息细，心一则动炁也，息细则心细，炁一则动心也。
• 4.12 定心必先之以养炁者，亦以心无处入手，故缘炁为之端倪，所谓纯炁之守也。
• 4.25 静坐时欲睡去，便是昏沉。
• 4.26 却昏沉，只在调息，息即口鼻出入之息，虽非真息，而真息之出入，亦于此寄焉。
• 4.29 即眼光自照。目惟内视而不外视，不外视而惺然者，即内视也，非实有内视。 Here, the eyes sense door would observe inward. One who was alert and not seeing the surrounding, was deemed to be observing inwardly.
• 4.30 何谓听？
• 4.31 即耳光自听。耳惟内听而不外听，不外听而惺然者，即内听也，非实有内听。Similarly, the ears sense door would listen to the inner self as well. One who was alert and not listening to his surrounding, was deemed to be listening inwardly.
• 4.32 听者听其无声，视者视其无形。In short, one would hear no sound and see no shape.
• 4.34 昏沉欲睡，即起散步，神清再坐。If one felt drowsy and sleepy, one could stand up to take a walk, and return to meditate when the mind was clear and alert.
• 4.35 清晨有暇，坐一炷香为妙。Every morning, it would be recommended to mediate for 40-60 minutes.
• 4.36 过午人事多扰，易落昏沉，然亦不必限定一炷香，只要诸缘放下，静坐片刻，久久便有入头，不落昏沉睡者。 Normally, there would be distractions of worldly affairs after noon time. One would easily feel drowsy sitting for meditation. Hence, there would be no need to insist on a sitting of 40-60 minutes. One could simply relax and meditate for some moments. Over time, one would gain mastery to sit on a prolong basis, without feeling drowsy.

第五章：回光差谬

• 5.5 静时正要得机得窍， 不可坐在无事中里，所谓无记空也。 万缘放下之中，惺惺自若也。又不可以意兴承当，凡大认真，即易有此。非言不宜认真，但真消息，在若存若亡之间，以有意无意得之可也。惺惺不昧之中，放下自若也。又不可堕于蕴界，所谓蕴界者，乃五阴魔用事。
• 5.6 如一般入定，而槁木死灰之意多，大地阳春之意少。
• 5.7 又不可随于万缘，

第六章：回光验证

• 6.2 静中绵绵无间，神情悦豫，如醉如浴，此为遍体阳和，金华乍吐也。
• 6.3 既而万籁俱寂，皓月中天，觉大地俱是光明境界，此为心体开明，金华正放也。
• 6.4 既而遍体充实，不畏风霜，人当之兴味索然者，我遇之精神更旺，黄金起屋，白玉为台；世间腐朽之物，我以真炁呵立生；红血为乳，七尺肉团，无非金宝，此则金华大凝也。
• 6.6 日落者， 从混沌立基， 无极也。
• 6.7 上善若水，清而无暇，此即太极主宰，出震之帝也。
• 6.10 第二段，即肇基于此，大地为冰，琉璃宝地，光明渐渐凝矣。所以有蓬台而继之有佛也，金性即现，非佛而何，佛者大觉金仙也。
• 6.11 可考有三：一则坐去，神入谷中，闻人说话，如隔里许， 一一明了，而声入皆入谷中答响，未尝不闻，我未尝一闻，此为神在谷中， 随时可以自验； 一则静中，目光腾腾，满前皆白，如在云中，开眼觅身，无从觅视，此为虚室生白，内外通明，吉祥止止也；一则静中，肉身yin yun，如绵如玉，坐中若留不住，而腾腾上浮，此为神归顶天，久之上升可以立待。