The Secret of the Golden Flower: Chinese Book of Life [Hardcover]

Thomas Cleary (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1993

This ancient Chinese manual of spiritual alchemy was brought to the West in translation by missionary and theologian Richard Wilhelm. According to Carl Jung, he had reached an impasse in his work on the psychology of the unconscious when Wilhelm introduced him to "The Secret of the Golden Flower". This proved to be a monumental event in Jung's career and he credits this text with having provided him with a key to the resolution of this impasse. In view of the influence of Jung's work in the subsequent development of psychology, religious studies and New Age culture in general, the importance of this work in the introduction of traditional oriental psychology into modern Western mental culture has been great indeed. Written over 200 years ago as a revival of an ancient teaching, the work is a popular guide to Buddhist and Taoist techniques, for clarifying the mind and awakening its latent potential.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

About the Author

Thomas Cleary is the preeminent translator of classic Eastern texts, including The Essential Tao, The Essential Confucius, The Secret of the Golden Flower, and the bestselling The Art of War.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco (January 11, 1993)
• ISBN-10: 0062501844
• ISBN-13: 978-0062501844
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practitioners will find they owe Thomas Cleary a serious debt, October 18, 2006

By 

John S. Klingler (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secret of the Golden Flower (Paperback)

I have been a practitioner in the Tibetan Vajrayana for over thirty years. This short book, which I have put into daily practice has corrected mistakes in my practice to such an extent that I feel I have wasted thirty years. This, of course, is not entirely true. Because of the extensive study during those years I could appreciate the depth of Cleary's translation and commentary as one who has successfully practiced this meditation.

With practice, the book gets more and more profound and the practice more refined. It subsumes the whole of the Buddhist canon and that of Taoism and Confucianism and Christianity as well. In particular it brings one to the realization that scriptures, while valuable, have the danger of enmeshing one in words and concepts. On a more personal note, it has helped free me from trying to reproduce past experiences of enlightened mind, which are now just memories and therefore also concepts and ideas.

I have waded through Stopping and Seeing, also translated by Mr. Cleary in volume V of his collected translations, and would advise against it. It is very similar to Ashvagosha's Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, translated by D.T. Suzuki, which I studied at length many years ago. After your practice has reached a certain point, perhaps it might be of value to study such treatises.

Another thing that commends Mr. Cleary's translation is that he puts his commentary at the end so the translated text is presented without distractions. For this I am also grateful.

One thing that is not addressed in this or other meditation texts, nor by the meditation instructors I have had, is the basics of sitting meditation. I spent years "on the mat" working through bodily problems such as back aches, legs falling asleep and painful tensions that can be avoided by a few expediencies, to say nothing of the fact that posture is essential to integrating one's entire being in the practice.

First of all, it is important that the body be relaxed. One should not waste precious time trying to assume unfamiliar and strenuous asanas, e.g. the Lotus posture, but should sit on a cushion, e.g. a Zafu, that raises one's butt and use a mat, e.g a Zabuton, that protects one legs and ankles from hard surfaces.

Secondly, it is necessary to sit with the back straight and the spine unsupported. However, one needs to relax into this position, like stacking a pile of coins, once they are straight, you can let go. You do not want to let go entirely because from time to time tensions arise, for example you begin tensing your back, neck or legs. This subtle awareness will allow you to immediately relax such tensions and again let go. In this way you can eliminate years of trial and error on the mat.

I would add that this relaxing into the posture is the same approach you should take to the meditation itself.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book needs more than one reading, October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Secret of the Golden Flower (Paperback)

Cleary writes an excellent translation of a foundational text. This is not a book that can be understood unless one has a general familiarity with Taoism and Buddhism. As a person follows either one of these disciplines, he or she may use the book as a sort of a gauge as to the depth of understanding one has gained. Each time I reread the book, I find that the content becomes clearer. In this sense it is excellent. It compliments other books in an eastern philosophy student's library.

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clearly not for the beginner, December 24, 2003

By 

V. K. Lin (Eugene, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of the Golden Flower (Paperback)

I had difficulty with this book. As I've stated before, finding
English translations on any text is difficult, because Chinese
ideograms are themselves sometimes associated with different
meanings based on context, and because, especially with regards
to religious symbolism and internal alchemy, the symbolism can
be quite esoteric.

This book is divided into sections. The first is Cleary's
direct translation. The second is his commentary for each verse.
The last is an afterward regarding the "technques" espoused in
this book relevant to modern life.

Personally, I would have found the commentary more useful
integrated directly after each verse. The translation is still
highly symbolic, and the commentary adds a little to
understanding what is trying to be said. As it is, I found
myself re-reading the translation verse by verse, at the end of
each verse thumbing to the appropriate commentary. I did not
find the direct translation so poetic that the interruptions
would have destroyed any aesthetic sense from reading it. At
the very least, commentary at the end of each chapter would
have been better.

To a layperson like me, this book provided illumination in
glimpses only. It was hardly direct, clear, or straightforward.
A very strong working knowledge in Chan Buddhism or the
Completely Real School of Taoism would have served me well, but
alas, I don 't have that. The symbolic content was frankly
overwhelming, and it wasn't until I re-read along with the
commentary that I had a sideways understanding of what the goal
of "turning the light around" actually meant.

In fact, much of this book is written like a dissertation.
Cleary spends much of his commentary efforts explaining why
his translation is superior to Wilhelm's, and why Jung's
theories are therefore misguided and/or incomplete since Jung
relied on the Wilhelm translation. I found this decidedly
distracting, but scholars may not.

For someone well-versed in this type of meditation technique,
this analogy-filled work may provide insights in stages. One
verse may be striking now, another verse revelationary only
years later. To me, trying to get a handle on the basic
principles and goals, this was like trying to see Michelangelo's
David through a stained glass-window. The color, the frilly
designs, the artistry of the window obscured my vision of
the very clearly masterful sculpture beyond.

Cleary would have been better-served writing an introduction
emphasizing required reading prior to reading this. For
someone who claims to actually practice this technique, he
never talks about the symbolic in more real terms-- even in
speculation. "Midnight refers to stillness, and water to
hidden knowledge, and fire to creativity..." and commentary
like that led me to respond not "Of course! Brilliant!"
but rather "Thanks a lot, that really helped... not."

I will likely re-read this book in a few years, and hope my
second time around proves more rewarding. Again, I did gain
some small insights... I think.