7/26/2019 The Secret of the Golden Flower 1 Introduction
1/3
Introduction
Research on the textChapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Confucius giving the Buddha child toLaozi, China, Qing
Dynasty
>
Mahavairocana Buddha seated on a golden lotus flower , by Unkei,
13th C, Japan
Introduction
The translation and interpretation of The Secret of the Golden
Flower in this
website is based on the idea that all esoteric traditions have
the same inner
meaning. In China during the Song (9601279) and Ming (1368-1644)
Dynasties,
Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were considered to be
different paths to
the same goal.
Is it not a fact that the three doctrines (of Taoism, Buddhism
and
Confucianism) may be three, but the Way is ultimately one? But
that
hasn`t stopped the priesthood of later generations from sole
devotion to
their own sects and repudiation of others, causing the basic
essentials
of all three philosophies to be lost in false distinctions, so
that theycannot be unified and end up at the same goal. --
Introduction of
Understanding Reality by Chang Po-tuan (11th C. Taoist
master)
Although these scriptures are the source of foreknowledge
and
reflection for my school, they are truly the origin of all Three
Schools.
-- Journey to the West (one of the four great Chinese classical
novels)
Not only Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are different paths
to the same
goal, the inner meaning of all esoteric traditions is basically
the same. In fact,
once one understands the inner meaning, one sees they are
actually the same
path to the same goal.
Ask of those who have attained God; all speak the same word. All
the
saints are of one mind; it is only those in the midst of the way
who
follow diverse paths. All the enlightened have left one message;
it is
only those in the midst of their journeywho hold diverse
opinions.
Chapter 8
Chapter 9Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Summary
About & Contact
links
Iranian miniature of a warrior smellinga flower,1651, Hermitage
museum,
St. Petersburg
A drawing by William Blake
http://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/index.htmhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/links.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/contact.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/summary.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch13.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch12.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch11.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch10.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch9.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch8.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/index.html#http://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch7.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch6.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch5.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch4.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch3.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch2.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/ch1.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/esposito.htmlhttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/index.html
7/26/2019 The Secret of the Golden Flower 1 Introduction
2/3
A rock painting in the Canyon StateHistorical Park, Texas. 2,000
BC
Hexagram #1 Heaven, from the I Ching
-- Dadu (16th c. Indian saint)
The Hierarchy is one, and the esoteric sides of all religions
were
launched by it, as was the great experiment started through
Ouspensky and Gurdjieff for our own time.
-- Rodney Collin (20th c. Fourth Way spiritual teacher)
The sacred texts of all esoteric traditions use symbols and
metaphors.
Higher esoteric ideas are coded to protect the knowledge from
being
lost in the tide of time and humanity. They are coded through
symbol,
sign, idiom, analogy, metaphor, and parable, to protect
esoteric
knowledge from the profane. -- Alexander Horn (20.th c. Fourth
Way
spiritual teacher)
The sutras of the Buddha contain countless metaphors.
Because
mortals have shallow minds, they don't understand anything
deep.
-- Bodhidharma (First Patriach of Zen Buddhism. 6th c.)
These symbols and metaphors can be unique to one particular
tradition, relating
to the culture and time that the tradition developed in, or
common to many or all
esoteric traditions.
The mystery of Christ`s redemption was not absent in any
previous
era, but it was made known under different symbols.
-- St. Augustine (4th c. Christian saint)
The inner meaning of all symbols in saced texts revolve around
the principles of
control of the worldly lower self, the cultivation of a
spiritual path, and the
awakening of the Higher Self into the Divine Present.
From the most ancient times till today, this is not empty talk,
but the
sequence of the Great Way in the true method of producing an
eternally living and immortal spirit and holy man.....When the
conscious
spirit has been transformed into the primal spirit, then only
one can say
that it has attained an infinite capacity for transformations
and,
departing from the cycle of births, has been brought to the
sixfold
present, golden genius. -- Commentary on Chapter 2 of the Secret
of
the Golden Flower (Edition of Richard Wilhem)
The holy man who understands the mysteries of creation inherent
in
end and beginning, becomes superior to the limitations of
the
transitory. For him, the meaning of time is that in it, the
stages of
growth can unfold in a clear sequence. He is mindful at every
moment
and uses the six stages of growth as if they were six dragons
(theimage attributed to the individual lines) on which he mounts to
Heaven.-
- Commentary on hexagram #1, the Creative (The I Ching p
371,
Wilhelm/Baynes edition)
Heaven refers to an internal state of peace and true happiness.
Everyone is
looking for happiness in their life. Most people think that
external things such as
money, power, status or relationships will make one happy. When
people
understand that true happiness comes from within, and cannot
come from
externals, they become interested in religion or spirituality.
Those who are
fortunate, know that happiness is an internal state of conscious
awareness, in
which one is freed from one`s inner demons.
Happiness as a path is all a matter of compliance; the way to
bring
about happiness is to be able to act in accord with the time.
When one
acts in accord with the time, the yang energy expands, so that
all
demons flee. The life-giving potential continues increasing, and
the
earth is always covered with yellow sprouts, the world
blooms
A Mexican figurine called "FirstWoman" with a vessel coming
from
her heart, 1200 BC
Jacobs Ladder, Jacques Stella (c. 1650)Los Angeles County Museum
of Art
(Click to enlarge)
Two dragons chasing a flaming pearl
(Click to enlarge)
Reality is so subtle that the ancientimmortals called this
reality a tiny pearl.In reality it has no such shape; they ca
ll
it thus because there is a point ofconscious energy hidden in
the center,and because that point of awareness
contains the whole cosmos, space, andthe universe.-- Liu
Yiming
http://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/image/image77.jpghttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/image/image149.jpghttp://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/index.html#http://thesecretofthegoldenflower.com/index.html#http://bepresentfirst.com/ghosts-desire-and-happiness/
