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theesotericcamel's review
3.0
This book is a fairly recent translation of a Taoist classic text on meditation, usually attributed to Liu Dongbin of the late Tang Dynasty (though the validity of this has been disputed). The book is an interesting mix of Taoist spiritual alchemy and Buddhist meditation technique. Specifically the northern Chan Buddhist school that was the precursor to Zen Buddhism. The book itself describes silent meditation that is the corner stone of Chan and Zen. A technique in the book that is referred to as "turning the light around." The general idea is to quiet your mind and try to pay attention to the source of your mind and thoughts, rather than the thoughts in themselves... Easier said than done, but the book tries to describe ways to go about it, and also tries to describe the experience itself, in an attempt to give you a way to gauge your own experiences.
This particular edition is a fairly recent translation by Thomas Cleary, who is a scholar of Eastern studies, particularly Buddhism and Taoism. Apparently he first encountered this book in the more famous edition that was translated by Richard Wilhem, and annotated by C.G. Jung. He was so displeased with the translation that he found a version of the original Chinese and made his own translation. I personally have not read Wilhem's version, but Cleary seems to make up for this fact by constantly referring to it in his own notes and annotations.
The translations itself is quite pretty and easy to grasp. Cleary's own notes to each verse help to elucidate and explain various stock Buddhist and Taoist phrases that are used throughout the book, for the most part. Phrases that have definite meanings, because they appear in similar contexts in other Chinese spiritual books. A generous chunk of Cleary's notes are also used to critique Wilhem and Jung's versions and to show how much their version and translation was inferior to his. It was okay the first couple of times, but it ran throughout the entire notes and even spilling over into the afterwards written by the author. Wilhem's version is arguably the reason "The Golden Flower" has become so well known in the west, and I can see Cleary's frustration in how everyone was given a false impression of the book. He gives an interesting explanation of why he was displeased with Wilhem and Jung, but I think Cleary's book would have been much better if it had keep these critiques to a minimum, or at least relegated completely to the afterward or a separate appendix. I felt that they often took away from his translation because it was clear that he was always comparing himself to Wilhem's and expected us to do the same.
This particular edition is a fairly recent translation by Thomas Cleary, who is a scholar of Eastern studies, particularly Buddhism and Taoism. Apparently he first encountered this book in the more famous edition that was translated by Richard Wilhem, and annotated by C.G. Jung. He was so displeased with the translation that he found a version of the original Chinese and made his own translation. I personally have not read Wilhem's version, but Cleary seems to make up for this fact by constantly referring to it in his own notes and annotations.
The translations itself is quite pretty and easy to grasp. Cleary's own notes to each verse help to elucidate and explain various stock Buddhist and Taoist phrases that are used throughout the book, for the most part. Phrases that have definite meanings, because they appear in similar contexts in other Chinese spiritual books. A generous chunk of Cleary's notes are also used to critique Wilhem and Jung's versions and to show how much their version and translation was inferior to his. It was okay the first couple of times, but it ran throughout the entire notes and even spilling over into the afterwards written by the author. Wilhem's version is arguably the reason "The Golden Flower" has become so well known in the west, and I can see Cleary's frustration in how everyone was given a false impression of the book. He gives an interesting explanation of why he was displeased with Wilhem and Jung, but I think Cleary's book would have been much better if it had keep these critiques to a minimum, or at least relegated completely to the afterward or a separate appendix. I felt that they often took away from his translation because it was clear that he was always comparing himself to Wilhem's and expected us to do the same.
anitaashland's review against another edition
4.0
This ancient Taoist text (only around 40 pages) had an enormous influence on Jung and the development of his personality theories. He discovered it shortly after his break with Freud. This version contains commentary by Richard Wilhelm and a meaty introduction by Jung.
Jung: “The art of letting things happen, action through non-action, letting go of oneself, as taught by Meister Eckhart, became for me the key opening the door to the way. We must be able to let things happen in the psyche. For us, this actually is an art of which few people know anything. Consciousness is forever interfering, helping, correcting, and negating, and never leaving the simple growth of the psychic processes in peace.”
Jung: “The art of letting things happen, action through non-action, letting go of oneself, as taught by Meister Eckhart, became for me the key opening the door to the way. We must be able to let things happen in the psyche. For us, this actually is an art of which few people know anything. Consciousness is forever interfering, helping, correcting, and negating, and never leaving the simple growth of the psychic processes in peace.”