Chapter X of the Golden Flower Transmission

[deci belle]

The Secret of the Golden Flower is an ancient transmission directing  people towards a subtle recognition of inherent capacities underlying habitual patterns of self-reifying psychological activity. The general mind-ground constituting these inherent capacities can be termed nonpsychological awareness.

There have been attempts at giving this transmission a cultural attribution, but, to quote the Avatsakam Sutra (Hua Yin or Flower Ornament Scripture), "Civilization is by virtue of Universal Good, not a country." Ultimately, the true teacher is in one's heart of hearts.

I am quoting directly from some of the 16 paragraphs comprising the tenth chapter of the volume translated by Thomas Cleary to serve as an introduction to the book, The Secret of the Golden Flower, Harper San Francisco ISBN 0-06-250193-3, as well as to help point out basic tenets of 24/7 subtle observation which is beyond the scope of rote reformative meditation practice done in private or in cloistered settings by beginners and those habituated to such methods of comfort.

I have already introduced the elements of general practice in differentiating the psychological and nonpsychological capacities comprising human awareness. The title of chapter X makes this differentiation obvious in terms that should be recognized as having the same source, that is, the light of awareness.

Chapter X is titled, The Light of Essence and the Light of Consciousness.

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1. The method of turning the light around is basically to be carried on whether walking, standing, sitting, or reclining. It is only essential that you yourself find the opening of potential.

The opening of potential is a very slippery term. By the end of the chapter, what comprises potential may become clearer. The point is that "turning the light around" is not a matter of time, place, activity or conditions. What matters is finding the opening of potential.

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3. Now when this mind forms a thought, this is the present mind. This mind is light; it is medicine. Whenever people look at things, when they perceive them spontaneously all at once without discriminating, this is the light of essence. It is like a mirror reflecting without intending to do so. In a moment, it becomes the light of consciousness, through discrimination…

The key to recognizing the opening of potential is in spontaneous activation of mind without falling into the habitual patterns of discriminatory consciousness. Spontaneous activation of mind is up to conditions. When it arises, subtle observation comes into play. Just see without entertaining views relative to self and other, right, wrong, good or bad and the opening of potential is ephemerally present …before the first thought, it's your own mind right now.

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4. At first, when the light of essence turns into thought, then it is consciousness. When consciousness arises, the light is obscured and cannot be found. It is not that there is no light, but that the light has become consciousness…

When the light turns into ideational consciousness relative to self and other, the opening of potential is once again obscured, in that it cannot be seen by seeing. One must then concentrate subtle awareness and await the arising of the light of potential in the midst of situations unbeknownst to anyone. The real (potential) is found only by virtue of the false (delusional karmic evolution). One must await conditions to see reality. The taoist phrase, "Water produces metal", symbolizes an alchemic formula referencing the refinement of the body or vitality, (sensory awareness) into real knowledge.

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6. Things must have an attribution. Transmission of light is attributable to doors and windows, light is attributable to the sun and moon. Borrowing them for myself, after all I find "it is not mine." When it comes to where "it is not you," then who attributes it if not you?

Answer~ not you. Your own mind before the first thought is not you. The special use of the term "not you" is just the selflessly aware potential essence not attributable to the psychological apparatus of the being that is going to die (the being that is going to die is you). Therefore, potential is termed "other", as in the saying, "Essence is the self, use it to call back sense", that is, use essence to recognize the real knowledge of the impersonal sense of potential. That's "not you." Calling it back is seeing potential. Seeing potential is itself absorption.

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9. Only the seeing essence cannot be attributed to anything. But if when seeing seeing, seeing is not seeing, then the seeing essence also has an attribution, which refers back to the seeing essence of the revolving flow of consciousness, alluded to in the Buddhist scripture where it says "Using your flowing revolving consciousness is called error."

"Mistaking the thieving human mentality (the light of consciousness) for the light of essence is the number one error of students.", is a very ancient warning for those whose introspective practices are not producing evidences of efficacy after even 5, 10, 20, or more years spent on the meditation cushion.

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11. When turning the light around, you properly turn around the primary unattributable light, so not a single thought is applied.

Therefore the opening of potential is recognized in the quality of awareness which is not thought. Specifically, this is the mind which underlies the thinking, self-referencing function of the personality. When the thinking human mentality is forgotten, this is the true arising of essence. Therefore, this mind is not some other mind; there are no two minds: Mind is one. This is why it is said that all beings are already this enlightenment, but they are simply unable to recognize and permanently stabilize selfless potential in the midst of conditions due to habit energy (karmic psychological momentum). This is the alchemic correlate of the refinement of body/sense/water/vitality mentioned in section 4. This section refers to mind/essence/fire/energy, where energy refines into essence. 

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12. What causes you to flow and revolve is just the six sense organs; but what enables you to attain enlightenment is also just the six sense organs. But the fact that sense objects and sense consciousnesses are not used at all does not mean using the sense organs, just using the essence in the sense organs.

This is the heart of the meaning of the Golden Flower transmission. Objects and sense organs are not the issue. There is no need to deny, restrict, or renounce anything in the Golden Flower method. The Secret of the Golden Flower is just recognizing, activating and using essence directly without intermediary (being the working definition of enlightening activity) in the midst of ordinary situations simply as a matter of effective use of mind which does not employ self-reifying consciousness habitually or unawares. It is fluid and impersonal communion with inconceivable reality as the totality of being within Suchness, that is, emptiness which has no such emptiness. This is one's spontaneously adapted expression of selfless unity neither conditional nor absolute. This is innate enlightening function which is not dependent on sudden enlightenment. The sudden is one such result of accrued virtuous activity carried out secretly in public over a long period of time.

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13. Now if you turn the light around without falling into consciousness, you are using the original essence in the sense organs. If you turn the light around fallen into consciousness, then you use the nature of consciousness in the sense organs. Herein lies the hairsbreadth distinction.

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14. Deliberate meditation is the light of consciousness; let go, and it is then the light of essence. A hairsbreadth's difference is as that of a thousand miles, so discernment is necessary.

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15. If consciousness is not stopped, spirit does not come alive; if mind is not emptied, the elixir does not crystallize.

These are terms denoting advance practice. If one cannot forget the self that thinks, consciousness will not be stopped and the medicines will not become accessible for further refinement. Seeing potential is seeing unrefined potential. After a period of maturation, refined potential is released from the matrix of karmic evolution, that is, Creation (which is "crystallization of the elixir"). This is the meaning of the saying, "planting lotuses in fire, transcending endless transformations and entering the Way in Reality."

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16. When mind is clean, that is elixir; when mind is empty, that is medicine. When it doesn't stick to anything at all, it is said that mind is clean; when it doesn't keep anything in it, it is said that the mind is empty. If emptiness is seen as empty, emptiness is still not empty. When empty and mindless of emptiness, this is called true emptiness.

 

 

 

ed note: typo 3rd; add "vitality" in 4th section's commentary; add to commentary of 6th section; change "enlightened" to "this enlightenment" in the commentary after 11th section; add commentary after 15th section

Edited November 24, 2018 by deci belle

[ShugendoRa]

Very intreseting percpetive. 

[deci belle]

hi ShugendoRa~

I've added to the commentaries of several sections since you responded to this thread.

This teaching is as ancient as it gets, yet the most recent historical account of its re-transmission occurred during the British rape of China during the 18th century. A corrupted version of this book was first translated into the German language by Richard Wilhelm in 1929 that subsequently became fashionably popular with the intelligentsia in Europe by its association with C. G. Jung's commentary. It is essentially a taoist/buddhist lay manual for the benefit of ordinary people, without regard to religious affiliation, being a concentrated revival of an ancient universalist teaching, according to Thomas Cleary 's translation, copyright 1991.

I believe that I became aware of this current and correct version of the Golden Flower teaching's translation of the T'ai i chin hua tsung chih, sometime around the turn of the century and found that it fully corroborates my direct experience in inherent enlightening function pertaining to the means relative to recognizing potential and furthermore carrying out the operation of impersonal adaption to situations which is properly termed the absorption of potential.

This current volume's version is associated with the great taoist alchemic teacher, Lü Tung-pin, who, by some accounts. is believed to have been born in 798 CE. He is purported to have appeared at various times during the last millennium.

 

 

ed note: typo 1st sentence; add "by some accounts" in penultimate sentence

Edited November 24, 2018 by deci belle