The secret of the Golden Flower

Conscious TV

July 10, 2021

"The Secret of the Golden Flower" speaks of the powers that lie within the human psyche, dormant and waiting to be awakened. It is a Chinese Taoist work on meditation. Despite the different interpretations and translations, among which are the famous translations of Wilhelm and Jung or Cleary, all agree that it is a meditation technique, enunciated in a poetic, simple and close language. It is based above all on posture, breathing and contemplation. Many have described it as Zen philosophy in detail.

The posture is based on having a straight back, sitting on the ground. Breathing, gentle, in terms of esoteric philosophy opens the way for qi (chi or ki) popularly known as vital energy. Breathing has been described as:

(Breathing is)... akin to an internal wheel aligned vertically with the spine. When the breath is steady, the wheel turns forward, with the vital energy rising in the back and descending in the front.

Bad posture habits or bad breathing habits can obstruct the proper functioning of this "wheel", causing it not to turn or even to go backwards. even causing it not to turn or even to go backwards. This can weaken the flow of essential life energy. According to The Secret of the Golden Flower, during contemplation, thoughts appear in a procedural way, arising and receding.

In The Secret of the Golden Flower, a minimum of 15 minutes of daily practice is recommended. In the original work, several drawings portray images relevant to the personal evolution of the meditation practitioner, images which can be somewhat confusing in terms of a purely rational analysis:

1. The first of the illustrations depicts the first of the hundred days of meditation, or the gathering of the light.
2. The second stage depicts an emergence of meditative awareness.
3. The third stage depicts a meditative awareness that exists even in the mundane, in everyday life, in all everyday things.
4. The fourth stage depicts a higher meditative perception, where all conditions are recognised, where the spirit is lifted.
   

When the practice takes effect, the initiate comes to see a mandala, or golden flower. In Wilhelm's translation, his Chinese master taught him the following explanation: the practitioner will see a bright image in front of the midpoint of his two eyes. This image was called a mandala, or in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy dkyil-vkhorin.

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