The Secret of the Golden Flower The 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.