perception can also see at a glance where a train of thought will lead,
conserving untold mental energy.
With any exercise that stills the mind; at first there is a tendency for
random thoughts and images to occur with seemingly greater-than-ordinary
frequency and strength. Jung became aware of this phenomenon and
attempted to exploit what he thought was its potential as a means for
exploring the unconscious. He was also aware of danger in this, and he
stresses this danger in his works on both Eastern and Western alchemy.
In golden flower practice this problem is avoided by relinquishing all
obsession with thoughts and images that come to mind in the course of the
exercise. It is only after the actual awakening or blossoming of the golden
flower has taken place that examination of mental phenomena with
detached objectivity is considered possible. Before this breakthrough, too
much introspection of psychic contents is viewed as a distraction from the
primary purpose of arriving at the source of awareness itself.
Golden flower exercise is not focused on forms of images or ideas, and
in that sense it is not and cannot be culture bound. For this reason it is not
peculiarly Chinese, nor is it known and practiced by Chinese people in
general through the influence of their cultural heritage.
To adapt a practice to a new cultural setting is one thing; to turn it into
something fundamentally different is another In order to benefit from
whatever is useful in Eastern teachings, they need to be reduced to their
