The Sun and the Secret of the Golden Flower
The Sun and the Secret of the Golden Flower
By Paul V Young © 2020
By Paul V Young © 2020
Seekers may state the ultimate aim of their quest as being Enlightenment, Ascension, Self-Realization or being Born Again. Drunvalo Melchizedek wrote of preparing the Ascension Vehicle. My friends and I speak in terms of activating the Light Body.
The Hebrew tradition, not to mention other apparently unrelated cultures around the world, has left us with legends of Fallen Angels, the Fall of Mankind and a Great Flood. On the subject of the Fall of Mankind, I became intrigued many years ago by the premise of a book titled The Division of Consciousness by Peter Novak. Could The Fall refer to our descent to the Earthly plane from a higher realm, resulting in a division of ‘Self’? When you stop to think about it, many (if not all) of humankind’s woes are caused by separation and division among people, and by competition – which is drilled into us from a young age and presented as being good for us.
Following the same line of thinking, it can be said that each person is divided within themselves. Which may be why the words inscribed at the Temple of Delphi exhorted us to ‘know ourselves.’ And why Jesus stated in the evangelical gospels that we need to be ‘born again,’ and in the Gospel of Thomas that we need to make the ‘two into one.’ And why mystical orders teach us of the need for an ‘alchemical marriage.’
Six months ago I published a blog called Mending the Divided Self in which I wrote about how we search for the part of our self that is ‘separated.’ The first thing many will think of in this regard is a split between body and soul, or even between the left and right brain. I have been studying various religious teachings, mystical orders and esoteric techniques for most of my life, and particularly in earnest over the past 25 years, so I have formed, under guidance, my own approach and practices. Since joining Cosolargy 5 years ago, I have to come to realize that the Sun and its Light play a much greater role in our lives, both physically and spiritually, than I had hitherto appreciated.
As part of my studies in Cosolargy, I was encouraged to read the Chinese work, The Secret of the Golden Flower, translated (with much acclaim) by Richard Wilhelm and with a commentary by Carl Jung. For me personally, things really clicked into place as I read it, because it was like a summary and confirmation of so much I had studied before, while adding a few pieces that had been missing for me. And now I can add that the secret to activating the whole process is receiving the Light of the Sun.
The Hebrew tradition, not to mention other apparently unrelated cultures around the world, has left us with legends of Fallen Angels, the Fall of Mankind and a Great Flood. On the subject of the Fall of Mankind, I became intrigued many years ago by the premise of a book titled The Division of Consciousness by Peter Novak. Could The Fall refer to our descent to the Earthly plane from a higher realm, resulting in a division of ‘Self’? When you stop to think about it, many (if not all) of humankind’s woes are caused by separation and division among people, and by competition – which is drilled into us from a young age and presented as being good for us.
Following the same line of thinking, it can be said that each person is divided within themselves. Which may be why the words inscribed at the Temple of Delphi exhorted us to ‘know ourselves.’ And why Jesus stated in the evangelical gospels that we need to be ‘born again,’ and in the Gospel of Thomas that we need to make the ‘two into one.’ And why mystical orders teach us of the need for an ‘alchemical marriage.’
Six months ago I published a blog called Mending the Divided Self in which I wrote about how we search for the part of our self that is ‘separated.’ The first thing many will think of in this regard is a split between body and soul, or even between the left and right brain. I have been studying various religious teachings, mystical orders and esoteric techniques for most of my life, and particularly in earnest over the past 25 years, so I have formed, under guidance, my own approach and practices. Since joining Cosolargy 5 years ago, I have to come to realize that the Sun and its Light play a much greater role in our lives, both physically and spiritually, than I had hitherto appreciated.
As part of my studies in Cosolargy, I was encouraged to read the Chinese work, The Secret of the Golden Flower, translated (with much acclaim) by Richard Wilhelm and with a commentary by Carl Jung. For me personally, things really clicked into place as I read it, because it was like a summary and confirmation of so much I had studied before, while adding a few pieces that had been missing for me. And now I can add that the secret to activating the whole process is receiving the Light of the Sun.
My rough diagram of the four centres involved.
Some readers find it hard-going to plough through translations of ancient texts, not only this book, but others such as the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching. I believe this might be partly due to the allegorical and poetic nature of many of the passages, and even more so by the terminology used, which sometimes uses a multitude of terms – both in English and Chinese - to describe basically the same thing over and over. So, this is my own personal experience with it, paraphrased in places and stated simply as I can put it.
The Secret of the Golden Flower identifies our two divided parts like this:
The first is called Human Nature but also referred to as Consciousness. Jung called it the personal Logos and, if you like to think in terms of the divided Yin & Yang symbol, this is the Yang. It is connected with what the Chinese called the Heavenly Heart, said to reside in the ‘one square inch’ between the eyes. It may also be identified as Spirit.
The second component is known as Life – the Vital Breath (and many will be familiar with the Oriental terms Chi, Qi and Ki – the Vital Life Force). Jung called it the personal Eros. It is Yin and equates to Soul.
On my rough diagram above, I locate the first of these in the Head and the second in the Heart. We are all familiar with the tug-of-war that goes on between the two. The Secret of the Golden Flower says that, when we incarnate into our bodies of flesh, there is a separation of ‘Life’ and ‘Consciousness.’ Some say that it happens at the moment of conception, when the cells first divide, and others believe it happens as the baby takes its very first breath.
The Process
What follows is my simplified summary of the steps to be taken to reach the Golden Flower.
Unknowingly, most of us lose our Vital Energy in a process referred to as ‘flowing out’ (flowing downward). By tracing these steps, particularly by the use of the right way of breathing described in the Technique below, we change this to a ‘backward-flowing’ movement (flowing upward at our back).
Allegorically we are told to “re-enter the womb.” What we are really going to do is to draw Consciousness/Human Nature down from the Head, and Life from the Heart, and bring them together in the ‘Germinal Vesicle’ (located at the Solar Plexus). They actually exist on a level beyond space but, because our minds perceive things in the third dimension, we use our sense of visualization to “move them.” In actual fact, the Golden Flower work states that the two are never really out of the Germinal Vesicle.
By this visualization, we have engaged our willpower to heal the division between Spirit and Soul and unite them in the same space. Yin and Yang will become One. Back to the Tao.
To begin the process of unity, the Vital Breath (Soul) must first ‘stir’ (see Technique below and note that it is initiated by receiving Light).
Continuing to use willpower, enabled by visualization, the Spirit is guided to enter the Soul. They commingle in an act of love. The Soul receives the Spirit in a similar manner to an ovum receiving sperm. The Spirit is the ‘masculine’ element and the Soul is receptive. [Note: also located in the region of the solar plexus are what the Chinese called the Hun and the P’o or the earthly spirit forms that animate our bodies – Wilhelm and Jung called them Animus (Hun, masc.) and Anima (P’o, fem.) – once again, extensions of Yang and Yin].
The Soul must envelop the Spirit, then ‘crystalize’ around it. The word ‘crystalize’ is used here the same way as we speak of a thought or idea beginning to crystallize, i.e. it takes shape and becomes something definite. As part of The Golden Flower teaching there is a book called The Book of Consciousness and Life (the Hui Ming Ching) which tells us that there is a ‘Fire’ within the Germinal Vesicle, and that the Immortal Light Body must be “melted out.” Most of my Chinese friends accept it as a matter-of-fact that we humans have a ‘fire inside’ us and even Westerners describe passion as being a ‘fire in the belly.’ Tibetan Buddhists call it the Tummo fire and say that it blazes through our energetic channels, melting away blockages - it is ‘the source of love, joy, happiness and bliss.’ My suggestion is that the practitioner not only visualizes a physical flame, but accepts this Fire as being Love.
By this process the embryo of our Light Body is born, and gradually takes the shape of a child. Old Chinese depictions such as the ones at the very top and very bottom of this article show it as being a boy growing inside a man; Carl Jung called this boy the Puer Aeternus and elaborated by saying it is “the boy within ourselves, the Christ, who must be born in us and who, in another way, is the bridegroom of the soul.” Obviously, all this was written long ago and the Process & Technique described here may apply equally to men and women. I believe they probably depicted a man to differentiate this process from the commonly understood physical conception. It does not imply ‘gender’ in the material sense.
The immortal body emerges in birth as a child, from the ‘etheric,’ in the ‘Shen’ below, corresponding to the Sacral region. It has been said that we must first descend before we can ascend, and this is reflected in the story of Jesus Christ, who descended to redeem the lower being. Hence the ‘child’ is seen as being born ‘below,’ shown on my diagram as the red circle representing the Shen.
Ultimately, the Light Body then flows upward and emerges from the top of the head. This is the Golden Flower.
Ancient Hindu tradition teaches that the energy centres ascend from the base of the spinal column in the pelvis, toward the top of the head, to the ‘thousand-petaled-lotus’ at the crown of the cerebrum, which can be opened ‘like a lotus flower’ to attain higher consciousness.
The Secret of the Golden Flower identifies our two divided parts like this:
The first is called Human Nature but also referred to as Consciousness. Jung called it the personal Logos and, if you like to think in terms of the divided Yin & Yang symbol, this is the Yang. It is connected with what the Chinese called the Heavenly Heart, said to reside in the ‘one square inch’ between the eyes. It may also be identified as Spirit.
The second component is known as Life – the Vital Breath (and many will be familiar with the Oriental terms Chi, Qi and Ki – the Vital Life Force). Jung called it the personal Eros. It is Yin and equates to Soul.
On my rough diagram above, I locate the first of these in the Head and the second in the Heart. We are all familiar with the tug-of-war that goes on between the two. The Secret of the Golden Flower says that, when we incarnate into our bodies of flesh, there is a separation of ‘Life’ and ‘Consciousness.’ Some say that it happens at the moment of conception, when the cells first divide, and others believe it happens as the baby takes its very first breath.
The Process
What follows is my simplified summary of the steps to be taken to reach the Golden Flower.
Unknowingly, most of us lose our Vital Energy in a process referred to as ‘flowing out’ (flowing downward). By tracing these steps, particularly by the use of the right way of breathing described in the Technique below, we change this to a ‘backward-flowing’ movement (flowing upward at our back).
Allegorically we are told to “re-enter the womb.” What we are really going to do is to draw Consciousness/Human Nature down from the Head, and Life from the Heart, and bring them together in the ‘Germinal Vesicle’ (located at the Solar Plexus). They actually exist on a level beyond space but, because our minds perceive things in the third dimension, we use our sense of visualization to “move them.” In actual fact, the Golden Flower work states that the two are never really out of the Germinal Vesicle.
By this visualization, we have engaged our willpower to heal the division between Spirit and Soul and unite them in the same space. Yin and Yang will become One. Back to the Tao.
To begin the process of unity, the Vital Breath (Soul) must first ‘stir’ (see Technique below and note that it is initiated by receiving Light).
Continuing to use willpower, enabled by visualization, the Spirit is guided to enter the Soul. They commingle in an act of love. The Soul receives the Spirit in a similar manner to an ovum receiving sperm. The Spirit is the ‘masculine’ element and the Soul is receptive. [Note: also located in the region of the solar plexus are what the Chinese called the Hun and the P’o or the earthly spirit forms that animate our bodies – Wilhelm and Jung called them Animus (Hun, masc.) and Anima (P’o, fem.) – once again, extensions of Yang and Yin].
The Soul must envelop the Spirit, then ‘crystalize’ around it. The word ‘crystalize’ is used here the same way as we speak of a thought or idea beginning to crystallize, i.e. it takes shape and becomes something definite. As part of The Golden Flower teaching there is a book called The Book of Consciousness and Life (the Hui Ming Ching) which tells us that there is a ‘Fire’ within the Germinal Vesicle, and that the Immortal Light Body must be “melted out.” Most of my Chinese friends accept it as a matter-of-fact that we humans have a ‘fire inside’ us and even Westerners describe passion as being a ‘fire in the belly.’ Tibetan Buddhists call it the Tummo fire and say that it blazes through our energetic channels, melting away blockages - it is ‘the source of love, joy, happiness and bliss.’ My suggestion is that the practitioner not only visualizes a physical flame, but accepts this Fire as being Love.
By this process the embryo of our Light Body is born, and gradually takes the shape of a child. Old Chinese depictions such as the ones at the very top and very bottom of this article show it as being a boy growing inside a man; Carl Jung called this boy the Puer Aeternus and elaborated by saying it is “the boy within ourselves, the Christ, who must be born in us and who, in another way, is the bridegroom of the soul.” Obviously, all this was written long ago and the Process & Technique described here may apply equally to men and women. I believe they probably depicted a man to differentiate this process from the commonly understood physical conception. It does not imply ‘gender’ in the material sense.
The immortal body emerges in birth as a child, from the ‘etheric,’ in the ‘Shen’ below, corresponding to the Sacral region. It has been said that we must first descend before we can ascend, and this is reflected in the story of Jesus Christ, who descended to redeem the lower being. Hence the ‘child’ is seen as being born ‘below,’ shown on my diagram as the red circle representing the Shen.
Ultimately, the Light Body then flows upward and emerges from the top of the head. This is the Golden Flower.
Ancient Hindu tradition teaches that the energy centres ascend from the base of the spinal column in the pelvis, toward the top of the head, to the ‘thousand-petaled-lotus’ at the crown of the cerebrum, which can be opened ‘like a lotus flower’ to attain higher consciousness.
Credit: https://www.booksfact.com/mantra-sastra/significance-gods-goddesses-lotus-flowers.html
The Technique: Circulation of the Light
According to Wikipedia: “Despite the varieties of impressions, interpretation and opinion expressed by translators, the meditation technique described by The Secret of the Golden Flower is a straightforward, silent method; the book's description of meditation has been characterized as "Zen with details". The meditation technique, set forth in poetic language, reduces to a formula of sitting, breathing, and contemplating.
“Sitting primarily relates to a straight posture. Breathing is described in detail, primarily in terms of the esoteric physiology of the path of qi (also known as chi or ki), or breath energy. The energy path associated with breathing has been described as similar to an internal wheel vertically aligned with the spine. When breathing is steady, the wheel turns forward, with breath energy rising in back and descending in front.”
Before beginning the breathing technique, as noted in the Process above, the Vital Breath (Soul) must first ‘stir.’ The Secret of the Golden Flower tells us, “According to the law, but without exertion, one must diligently fill oneself with light.” We do this by receiving the Light of the Sun. If you are not trained in the proper technique of Sun-gazing, do not risk damaging your eyes by staring at the Solar Orb. Rather, just be seated in the Sunlight and face in its direction, allowing your eyes to safely absorb the rays of light.
Circulating the Light
Sitting with straight posture, breathe slowly and rhythmically in a state of contemplation.
The Golden Flower suggests looking down at your nose, but this is optional.
You then circulate the light by intentionally willing your breath to carry it downward at the front of the body, starting from the head, then to the heart, from there to the solar plexus – the location of the Germinal Vesicle. (This is where the commingling of Soul and Spirit occurs).
From there, move on to the perineum in the Sacral area, over to the base of the spinal column in the pelvis, then upward along the spine itself, via the neck right up to the top of the head.
The diagram below contains more information than is needed – I include it here simply to indicate the direction of flow and the four main points down the front before reaching the perineum.
There is no specified number of times to do this, but I find it is effective to start out with 10-minute sessions, breathing slowly, and increasing over time, if it feels comfortable to do so. The Golden Flower work tells us that it could take 10 to 12 months to perfect but, it must be said, some practitioners receive instant results.
According to Wikipedia: “Despite the varieties of impressions, interpretation and opinion expressed by translators, the meditation technique described by The Secret of the Golden Flower is a straightforward, silent method; the book's description of meditation has been characterized as "Zen with details". The meditation technique, set forth in poetic language, reduces to a formula of sitting, breathing, and contemplating.
“Sitting primarily relates to a straight posture. Breathing is described in detail, primarily in terms of the esoteric physiology of the path of qi (also known as chi or ki), or breath energy. The energy path associated with breathing has been described as similar to an internal wheel vertically aligned with the spine. When breathing is steady, the wheel turns forward, with breath energy rising in back and descending in front.”
Before beginning the breathing technique, as noted in the Process above, the Vital Breath (Soul) must first ‘stir.’ The Secret of the Golden Flower tells us, “According to the law, but without exertion, one must diligently fill oneself with light.” We do this by receiving the Light of the Sun. If you are not trained in the proper technique of Sun-gazing, do not risk damaging your eyes by staring at the Solar Orb. Rather, just be seated in the Sunlight and face in its direction, allowing your eyes to safely absorb the rays of light.
Circulating the Light
Sitting with straight posture, breathe slowly and rhythmically in a state of contemplation.
The Golden Flower suggests looking down at your nose, but this is optional.
You then circulate the light by intentionally willing your breath to carry it downward at the front of the body, starting from the head, then to the heart, from there to the solar plexus – the location of the Germinal Vesicle. (This is where the commingling of Soul and Spirit occurs).
From there, move on to the perineum in the Sacral area, over to the base of the spinal column in the pelvis, then upward along the spine itself, via the neck right up to the top of the head.
The diagram below contains more information than is needed – I include it here simply to indicate the direction of flow and the four main points down the front before reaching the perineum.
There is no specified number of times to do this, but I find it is effective to start out with 10-minute sessions, breathing slowly, and increasing over time, if it feels comfortable to do so. The Golden Flower work tells us that it could take 10 to 12 months to perfect but, it must be said, some practitioners receive instant results.
Credit: http://richardleirer.org/the-small-heavenly-circulation-cannot-cause-qi-deviations/
The generation of the Light Body is not an end it itself but, once it comes into existence, it culminates in a fifth state, similar to what Buddhism and Jainism calls the ‘Arhat.’ The Secret of the Golden Flower says, “Outside the body there is a body called the Buddha image.”
The book also refers to the creation of the ‘Diamond body’, and this brings to mind the image of the Star Tetrahedron. My own experience is that the Field that envelops the whole being is a Sphere, and even if the immortal Light Body takes on the appearance of a Diamond or Star Tetrahedron, it is ultimately encased in an electromagnetic Sphere.
The purpose of this Field to organize the parts of our Self that were once separated, and keep them together. The Light Body is the product of our Soul and Spirit (Life and Consciousness) and now successfully incorporates our Ego (See more on the Ego below). This whole Self is held together by the Field – the Buddha image or Arhat.
The book also refers to the creation of the ‘Diamond body’, and this brings to mind the image of the Star Tetrahedron. My own experience is that the Field that envelops the whole being is a Sphere, and even if the immortal Light Body takes on the appearance of a Diamond or Star Tetrahedron, it is ultimately encased in an electromagnetic Sphere.
The purpose of this Field to organize the parts of our Self that were once separated, and keep them together. The Light Body is the product of our Soul and Spirit (Life and Consciousness) and now successfully incorporates our Ego (See more on the Ego below). This whole Self is held together by the Field – the Buddha image or Arhat.
|
|
The Way (the Tao)
Humankind comes from the One, but as we incarnate into our fleshly bodies, there is a division of Life and Consciousness. Our Soul and Spirit become separated.
If the Consciousness remains in the physical brain, and Life in the Heart, they are bound to separate when those organs wither at the death of the physical body.
As a summary, here below are excerpts from The Secret of the Golden Flower, p.64/65:
“The Tao, the undivided, great One, gives rise to two opposite reality principles, the dark and the light, yin and yang. These are at first thought of only as forces of nature apart from man. Later, the sexual polarities and others as well are derived from them. From yin comes K’un, the receptive principle; from yang comes Ch’ien, the creative masculine principle; from yin comes ming, life; from yang, hsing or human nature.
“Each individual contains a central monad, which, at the moment of conception, splits into life and human nature, ming and hsing. These two are supra-individual principles, and so can be related to eros and logos.
“In the personal bodily existence of the individual they are represented by two other polarities, a p’o soul (or anima) and a hun soul (animus). All during the life of the individual these two are in conflict, each striving for mastery. At death they separate and go different ways. The anima sinks to earth as kuei, a ghost being. The animus rises and becomes shen, a spirit or god. Shen may in time return to the Tao.
“If the life energy flows downward, that is, without let or hindrance into the outer world, the anima is victorious over the animus; no spirit-body or Golden Flower is developed, and at death the ego is lost. If the life-energy is led through the ‘backward-flowing’ process, that is, conserved, and made to ‘rise’ instead of allowed to dissipate, the animus has been victorious, and the ego persists after death. It then becomes shen, a spirit or god. A man who holds to the way of conservation all through life may reach the stage of the Golden Flower, which then frees the ego from the conflict of opposites, and it again becomes part of the Tao, the undivided great one.”
Note from the passage quoted above that the aim is for the Ego to persist after death.
I believe that Ego in this sense should be spelled with a capital E. You may have been advised by well-meaning teachers to discard the ego, but in this case, we are referring to your sense of “I Am.” The Higher has redeemed the Lower.
Humankind comes from the One, but as we incarnate into our fleshly bodies, there is a division of Life and Consciousness. Our Soul and Spirit become separated.
If the Consciousness remains in the physical brain, and Life in the Heart, they are bound to separate when those organs wither at the death of the physical body.
As a summary, here below are excerpts from The Secret of the Golden Flower, p.64/65:
“The Tao, the undivided, great One, gives rise to two opposite reality principles, the dark and the light, yin and yang. These are at first thought of only as forces of nature apart from man. Later, the sexual polarities and others as well are derived from them. From yin comes K’un, the receptive principle; from yang comes Ch’ien, the creative masculine principle; from yin comes ming, life; from yang, hsing or human nature.
“Each individual contains a central monad, which, at the moment of conception, splits into life and human nature, ming and hsing. These two are supra-individual principles, and so can be related to eros and logos.
“In the personal bodily existence of the individual they are represented by two other polarities, a p’o soul (or anima) and a hun soul (animus). All during the life of the individual these two are in conflict, each striving for mastery. At death they separate and go different ways. The anima sinks to earth as kuei, a ghost being. The animus rises and becomes shen, a spirit or god. Shen may in time return to the Tao.
“If the life energy flows downward, that is, without let or hindrance into the outer world, the anima is victorious over the animus; no spirit-body or Golden Flower is developed, and at death the ego is lost. If the life-energy is led through the ‘backward-flowing’ process, that is, conserved, and made to ‘rise’ instead of allowed to dissipate, the animus has been victorious, and the ego persists after death. It then becomes shen, a spirit or god. A man who holds to the way of conservation all through life may reach the stage of the Golden Flower, which then frees the ego from the conflict of opposites, and it again becomes part of the Tao, the undivided great one.”
Note from the passage quoted above that the aim is for the Ego to persist after death.
I believe that Ego in this sense should be spelled with a capital E. You may have been advised by well-meaning teachers to discard the ego, but in this case, we are referring to your sense of “I Am.” The Higher has redeemed the Lower.
|
|
The Yin – Yang Symbol (above left): The two parts of us that must be reconciled.
The intention is to heal the division within our self.
To reach a state of deep peace.
To be whole again.
The translation of the Book of Consciousness and Life ends with this picture (above right) of a circle.
Just like the Sun.
The intention is to heal the division within our self.
To reach a state of deep peace.
To be whole again.
The translation of the Book of Consciousness and Life ends with this picture (above right) of a circle.
Just like the Sun.
Credit:chrome://global/skin/media/imagedoc-darknoise.png