Translator's Afterword:
Modern Applications of the Golden Flower
Method
For me the experience symbolized by the golden flower has
always been a practical concern. This new translation of The Secret of the
Golden Flower arose from a confluence of several courses of events. One of
them was my own introduction to the golden flower practice of "turning the
light around" long before I knew of the existence of this particular book.
Finding that method of mindfulness extremely powerful and versatile, I
subsequently spent many years studying its use in experience and looking
for tested information pertaining to its objective application.
Eventually this pursuit led to studies of classical sourcebooks in Chinese,
Sanskrit, and Japanese. I began translating relevant texts from Buddhist and
Taoist traditions, because I felt that their psychological insights could be
useful in some way to people today, wherever they were. Although I had
not read his views on the subject, I agreed with Jung that such information
should not be cloistered. Whoever we may be and whatever we may do,
