Customer Reviews

The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life

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A very interesting and meaningful book to say the least. And like Jung, gratitude must be given Richard Wilhelm for his insight in the East and translation of the text.

A manual written symbolically for the practice of meditation, where thoughts are reduced to the square inch between the eyes, the eye lids half closed, eyes centered near the tip of the nose, the heart rate next to nothing in quietude, controlled breath of a circular motion that becomes quiet. The "white light" so spoken in Buddhist terms and various states of consciousness are related. However, this is far more than a mere meditation manual, but symbols which convey non-intellectual ideas, that is, non-Western rationalism, and yet significant and advanced in both it's teaching and applications.

Ultimately for myself, it is Jung's commentary that my Western mind needed to interpret the text itself and the subsequent interpretations. I am moved in profundity on Jung's analysis that man's consciousness advances non-rationally, but psychically. Where the advancement cannot be spoken or written of in intellectual terms but rather can be done so in symbols. In this, Jung expounds on the idea that symbols convey advanced images that relate to the psyche and can never be proved intellectually or rationally. This is where images, as in Mandalas, come in. Images and symbols speak what words cannot. They are of a higher conscious level awareness, a psychical advancement. None of this is rationally or mathematically equated, none, nor can it be languistically conveyed. Humans can only point, using symbols and images, they can not expound, explain and reason on such.

Jung's acknowledges the law of opposites and how the Chinese contain a higher culture or mind than the West, one that can contain contradictions or opposites without one-sided fundamentalism. And this is no doubt far ahead of most Western thinking in terms of black and white thinking, or what Jung calls barbarism. This reminds me of Walt Whitman's self poem of containing all contradictions and Keats "negative capabilities" and Shakespeare's comments on having all thoughts together without becoming irritable over such, and that including the beat poet, Allen Ginsberg, who spoke of the same.

In Jung's memorial words dedicated to Richard Wilhelm, he relates to his thoughts on Synchronistic principle, which confirm his validity on the practices of Chinese wisdom found in I-Ching and Astrology, both sciences based not on Newtonian, or causality principles but rather through a remarkable phenomena of the unconscious, psychic parallelisms based which cannot be related to each other causally. The Tao will never be created with words and concepts, a teaching that is absent from the history of philosophy since the time of the pre-socratic, Heraclitus, and only reappears as a faint echo in Lebinitz.

This book is absolutely worth reading, from cover to cover, including all of the commentaries and introductions and what have you. The text itself is, of course, incredible, with a surprising clarity that is rare among aged religious and philosophical texts, especially those pertaining to meditative practice, and Richard Wilhelm's somewhat outdated translation doesn't inhibit it much. Carl Jung's commentary is equally worth reading, and could easily stand as a book of its own. It also thankfully puts this book at arm's length from watery New Age "spirituality." Get this book and don't skip anything.

The "Secret of the Golden Flower" is the best book i have ever read. I have read hundreds of nonfiction books searching for hidden knowledge - none of them (with an exception of Sri Swami Sivananda's Yogic Texts) speek so clearly and openly of the divine secret which has eluded mankind for so long. I cannot posibly put into words the extreme importance of the contents of this book. The ancient Taoist translations are priceless. Read it and then read it again. I have read the two Chinese texts, with Wilhelms excellent translations, over ten times - and haven't even glanced and Jung's commentary. For the spiritual aspirant contemplating the deep secrets of the alchemical sciences, ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Biblical texts - look no further - this book is worth it's weight in "gold."

Some people struggle with this book. The reason? It's not an intellectual read. You have to practice the method to understand it. At the same time, you have to master each technique, one at a time. Only when you master Technique A, can you move on to Technique B. It's like a treasure hunt; you can only get to Point B after you reach Point A. This frustrates some people. But that doesn't deter from the underlying value of the method, or its truth, that it does contain the secret of life

I spent two years breaking it down. Sure , I became frustrated. Sure, I doubted, but in the end I understood that this method was part of the Buddha's practice. If He'd learned and mastered these principles and passed them on to us, there must have been a reason: that, with effort, we, too, could master the science of Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time.

I'm just starting meditation. My teacher recommended this
book, but I didn't pay attention to the author. The first
part was really hard to understand. Then I came to a
section that gave a really clear description of a meditation
technique. Later in the week, when seeing my teacher, I
happened to have the book out. He said I had the wrong
edition! I should get the one by Thomas Cleary.

Read the Afterward in Thomas Cleary's edition and you will
see why this one has so many errors in its translation.

The first part of the book was much easier to understand,
and it turns out that the meditation technique was a yogic
exercise that is not in the Chinese text (but that was not
clear from the formatting of the text).

I'm giving this book a low rating. But you might as well
get both books anyway, just to see the huge differences.

I bought this book for my son, who says that he thoroughly enjoyed this book, though its wisdom is steeped in esoteric meaning. The commentary by Jung is helpful, but it also helps to have a companion book, "Deciphering The Golden Flower One Secret at a Time" by JJ Semple, which gives examples and applies the concepts. He highly recommends it.

If what you seek is a meditation method that will develop in you the basis for illumination [ the Spiritual Child as described in the book ], you will find that by following the methods prescribed therein, in 90 to 100 days you will have it. The book tells it like it is, if only you can read it without intellectual wrangling..... i succeeded in 90 days exactly following the intructions.

The translation of the book is more than worth the price. With the commentary and explanation of the terms it exceeds the price paid. The subject matter and the commentary by Jung makes it pricless. I am familiar with many meditation styles and i must say this is a gem. I would recommend that before this work is done one has trained several years in the magical arts, the worker should at least be over thirty and has a family.Also a working knowledge of chi kung or tai chi should be had. Otherwise the treasure gained will not be as grand or the work never begun properly.

A wonderful tool for anyone to have it there box for personal development and spiritual growth.

The main text of this book "Secret of Gold Flower" deals with both an age old meditative practice and a supportive theory in the Taoist tradition. Carl Jung's commentary basically dealt only with theory part and interpreted as similar in concepts to his individuation process (the development of the self as similar to development of the golden flower). It adds credibility to both sides: Taoist practice gained western academic respectability whereas Jung's concepts of collective unconscious and archetype gained supportive evidence from an old high-culture. It is interesting to note that whereas Wilhelm was a Taoist practitioner who had brought himself full-scale into Taoist yoga, Jung on the other hand advised against western people taking up such practice!

On the practice side, the choice of texts is excellent: "Secret of Golder Flower" deals with the leading role of "human nature" (collective unconscious)in Taoist meditation with full supportive theory, whereas "Hui Ming Jing" deals with the procedural details of the practice itself (a combination of Taoist and Buddhist practice, the author himself a Buddhist monk of Zen tradition). Though an English translation might not be able to present and differentiate finer points that can only be understood if one can read the Chinese language, one benefit is that a translation can do away with some unnecessary mystical elements (for example in the book symbols from I-Ching are replaced by alphabets)that often times leads would-be practitioners into unnecessary maze. Though I have to complain that more of the Hui Ming Jing had not been translated (included) for a more complete manual for practice reference.

For those who are interested in the texts as a living practice, do not miss Wilhelm's excellent summary on the practice of Hui Ming Jing quoted by his wife in her Forward. For those who seek for historical similarity between this practice and similar western practice (now for all intend and purposes is extinct), do not miss Wilhelm's "Discussion of the Text" concerning past persecution in China towards some serious practitioners due to their (sometimes unavoidable - guess why!) linkage with political intrigues and peasant uprisings. In comparison, similar persecutions in the West had been more religious in nature.

On the psychological commentary, Jung is as usual, profound in his analysis. More of his analysis towards other Eastern text can be found in his Psychology of Eastern Religion (a collections of his articles on the subject matter - also highly recommended).