symbol from the ancient I Ching representing the true sense of the
knowledge of reality enclosed within conscious knowledge. To say that it is
just one flavor means that it is attained by the essence of consciousness
itself, not by any modification of consciousness. This is what makes it truly
universal and unlimited by sectarian or cultural discriminations.
11. The expression "turning the light around" refers to the Chan Buddhist
exercise of mentally looking inward toward the source of consciousness.
Wilhelm translates this as "circulation of the light" which is not very
plausible linguistically but nevertheless could have been an honest mistake.
Evidently he confused this with the waterwheel exercise of Taoist
energetics, in which a quantity of psychic heat would be consciously
conducted along a certain route through the body.
Many cultists imitated this exercise on the level of fixated attention
without the psychic heat and noticed the characteristic modifications
of consciousness these postures produce. It is quite possible that
Wilhelm got this idea from a member of such a cult. The notes added
to the Golden Flower text he used (which was printed some two
hundred years after the movement had arisen) tend to dilute the Chan
with materials that make it look like a run-of-the mill mixture of
alchemy and energetics, Wilhelm's medical training also seems to
have predisposed him to make physiological interpretations.
