Tag Archives: Ch’an

The inspiration for this series dawned one day while recollecting an earlier episode in my life as a young man who had been living for three-years in the urban-wildness of South Florida. It was a deeply transitional time in the equally paralleled transitional living-modes of the South Florida experience; indeed, it was a home for “transients” of all types and from all walks of life. The year was 1981 and this young man of 23 found himself reading from a selection of works by Carl Jung entitled “Psyche and Symbol”, a Doubleday paperback priced at $3.50. This young man was deeply impressed by Jung’s erudite mind and quickly became enamored with his insights into the workings of the psyche. One particular chapter dealt with Jung’s commentary on the Daoist classic, “The Secret of the Golden Flower”. Returning to it now in the same old paperback—which has surprisingly survived the passage of time quite well—I’m reliving the mind of this young man who had studiously highlighted pertinent verses and also reinforced some of them with underlining, accompanied with some asterisks. Are these the same passages that I would highlight today, or were they only relevant to that younger mindset?  Whichever it may be it brings me great joy to revisit them now—or is it that young man’s mind returning to visit me?  One thing is certain—The Secret of the Golden Flower is as fascinating now, perhaps even more so, than when it was originally interpreted back in 1981. read more