Table of Contents Cover Title Book Contents Introduction Contents of The Secret of the Golden Flower I The Celestial Mind II The Original Spirit and the Conscious Spirit III Turning the Light Around and Keeping to the Center IV Turning the Light Around and Tuning the Breathing V Errors in Turning the Light Around VI Authenticating Experiences of Turning the Light Around VII The Living Method of Turning the Light Around VIII The Secret of Freedom IX Setting Up the Foundation in a Hundred Days X The Light of Essence and the Light of Consciousness XI The Intercourse of Water and Fire XII The Cycle XIII Song to Inspire the World Questions and Answers Opening up the Mysteries of the Doctrine of the Golden Flower Translation Notes Translator's Afterword: Modern Applications of the Golden Flower Method Works Cited THE SECRET of the GOLDEN FLOWER The Classic Chinese Book of Life THE AUTHORTATIVE NEW TRANSLATION THOMAS CLEARY OTHER HARPER SAN FRANCISCO BOOKS BY THOMAS CLEARY The Essential Tao: An Initiation into the Heart of Taoism through the Authentic Tao Te Ching and the Inner Teachings of Chuang Tzu The Essential Confucius: The Heart of Confucius’ Teachings in Authentic I Ching Order The Secret of the Golden Flower The Classic Chinese Book of Life Translated, with Introduction, Notes, and Commentary by Thomas Cleary HarperOne A Division of HarperCollins Publishers HarperOne THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER: The Classic Chinese Book of Life, Copyright © 1991 by Thomas Cleary, All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews For information address: HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use For information please write: Special Markets Department, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 HarperCollins Web site: hrtp://www.harpercollins.com HarperCollins®, and HarperOne™ are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lü, Tung-pin, b 798 [T'ai i chin hua tsung chih English] The secret of the golden flower / translated, with introduction, notes, and commentary, by Thomas Cleary, — 1st ed p cm Translation of: T'ai i chin hua tsung chih ISBN: 0062501933, 978-0-06-250193-6 Spiritual life (Taoism) Spiritual life (Buddhism) I Cleary, Thomas E, 1949- II Title BL1923.L78 1991 299'.5144—dc20 90-55796 08 09 10 11 MART 20 19 Contents Introduction The Secret of the Golden Flower Translation Notes 73 Translator's Afterword: Modern Applications of the Golden Flower Method 131 Works Cited 154 Introduction Naturalness is called the Way