The Secret of the Golden Flower

[3mty1]

Hey y’all!  I recently read The Secret of the Golden Flower translated by Thomas Cleary. I started using this method a few days ago and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with this method. What sort of texts or practices do y’all use to meditate? Thanks!

Edited July 19, 2020 by 3mty1

[thelerner]

Very often people's practice of the Golden Flower is very different then others.  Being outside the culture and time its hard to know what's authentic.  Or even, as some suggest, a part of the practice was kept verbal and somewhat secretive.

 

I've written a bit about it.  Here's a post that is one of the most modern action oriented takes on the practice-

I started meditating simply, after years got involved in Healing Tao, which led me to more active meditations, esoteric energy stuff.  After a decade or two, I went to simple.  Just sitting.  The last few year or two I've been doing this style of meditation from Spotless-

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by thelerner

[3mty1]

This took me a while to read over lol. Thank you so much, this was very helpful! I’ve been reading Thomas Cleary’s translation and it’s a lot to absorb! 

[forestofemptiness]

1. Be careful. The habit of meditation you install now can persist for quite a period of time. Treat meditation with a healthy respect. You are, in mind, doing brain surgery on yourself. I would be careful about narrowing, too much focusing, fixating, etc. This stuff can cause knots and blocks that can be hard to remove later. I would urge a soft focus over a strong focus. 

 

2. Read up on it. Find what styles you are interested in, and what you will actually do. Try to get a sense of what traditions and traditional teachers say. This is important for the next step. Once you find what you are interested in, then:

 

3. Find a teacher you trust and who's instructions you will follow. You may have to try out a number of teachers. In this day and age, many teachers are available online and/or have online programs to follow. Take advantage of this. Meditation is best learned from a person. If you can't or won't, then at least follow a program. 

 

4. Relax! It is better to take your time and learn the basics now then have to go back and redo it later. Also, there is no hurry. It takes time to grow flowers and develop your mind. 

 

On 5/21/2020 at 10:24 PM, 3mty1 said:

Hey y’all!  I recently read The Secret of the Golden Flower translated by Thomas Cleary. I started meditating a few days ago and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with this method. Actually, any meditation advice is welcome lol. So far I’ve just been trying to focus on deep abdominal breathing, letting go of thoughts that arise during meditation, and listening to the ringing in my ears. What sort of texts or practices do y’all use to meditate? Thanks!

 

[freeform]

Very good advice from @forestofemptiness ! It's spot on.

 

I would go further and recommend starting with something more simple and foundational than the golden flower method.

 

It's like diving deep into post-doctoral level of algebraic mathematics before having learned addition and subtraction.

[shazlor]

On 22/05/2020 at 2:24 PM, 3mty1 said:

Hey y’all!  I recently read The Secret of the Golden Flower translated by Thomas Cleary. What sort of texts or practices do y’all use to meditate? Thanks!

 

Greetings! I use this: 

 

To make the light “circulate” means reversing the direc-
tion, bringing the light back to itself and to the origin, just as in a circle;
so that the light, meaning the union of seeing and understanding (light

of the eye + light of the ear), gathers itself and now illuminates the
interior, rotating around itself.

 

6. “Therefore, understanding (ear) and clarity (eye) are one and the same

effective light.”

The way is found by means of “extreme intelligence and clarity, and

the most complete absorption and tranquility” (p. 23).

“There should be no movement in the mind” (p. 44). 7

 

The “magical key” is indicated by these expressive words:

☆☆☆☆☆

“One should only let the light fall quite gently on the hearing.”

☆☆☆☆☆

(The upper palace is likened to brittle crystalline - to much 'force' - pressurized into a singularity - and it will shatter into a million electric jolts! Like mine did! Many years to repair. It did. LOL.)

 

○

 

It does not happen through
contemplation alone; it already involves a change of state that is fanned
like a fire by the “rotation” and crystallization of the intellectual light

in the center between the eyes.

 

(((Eventually ones entire xingedminged elixir field of originalnatureexistence is the 'centre' of refinement. - See Book of Balance & Harmony - Discourse on the 3 vehicles - lower/high/highest(ODIN?) - I think LOL - for details on 're-arranging' the cauldron and the furnace.)))

+

(To paraphrase some of Lu Dong Bins words)

(The 'unpractice' goes from the course to the fine.)

('Focus' on the centre is very subtle - there is life to this word.)

 

○

 

In the midst of the light, a point of the
yang pole arises; “Then suddenly there develops the seed pearl. It is as if
man and woman embraced and a conception took place”