climax of the exercise of turning the light around. Wilhelm had
apparently never read or heard this story.
17. "Once you reach this ungraspability" is translated by Wilhelm as "That
leads to no goal." In many cases Wilhelm does not seem to have been able
to decipher the text well enough even to discern where a sentence begins or
ends. He also translates "stopping" as "fixating," but fixation is definitely
proscribed in the instructions of this very same text.
18. The canonical Chinese text ends the section here; Wilhelm’s includes a
rather long discourse on yogic technique, which he treats as an addition
separate from the main text. The content of the interpolated passages points
to a fairly typical kind of cultism and mentions practices that are popular
but dangerous. It is worth reemphasizing this danger, for such practices are
also found in other popular books on Taoism in English, without the
warnings that accompany their mention in authentic Chinese Taoist books.
These exercises are in fact unnecessary for the practice of turning the light
around as taught in the real golden flower doctrine.
IV. Turning the Light Around and Tuning the Breathing
1. Chan Buddhism teaches that realization comes of itself and cannot be
anticipated because it is not a product of subjective
