The Secret of the Golden Flower

A Kundalini Meditation Method

Since the publication of Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time in 2008, readers have asked for an in-depth guidebook on using The Secret of the Golden Flower (SGF) to awaken kundalini in the manner, and with the same results, as those described in JJ Semple’s Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time.

The Secret of the Golden Flower Book Cover

The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Kundalini Meditation Method is that book, a much-anticipated companion guide to the SGF as well as a sequel to Semple's autobiographical kundalini memoir.

A treatise on Chinese kundalini meditation and ontology, The Secret of the Golden Flower is a third-century masterpiece, whose teachings are somewhat obscured by a poetic style and baffling metaphors.

The SGF has two objectives. One, it's a manual for kundalini meditation, even though the term "kundalini" never appears in the text. Put aside what you may have been told or read about the SGF and accept this as a fact that's been authenticated by centuries of realized practitioners who practiced the method and vetted by prominent contemporaries like Gopi Krishna.

Two, it's an explanation of ontology, which the dictionary defines as: “the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.”

Neither objective is readily understood without practicing the method. Sure, it’s possible to approach the SGF as an academic challenge, but the best way to reconcile the two objectives is by practicing the method, which, if you are patient, allows you to “grok” the ontological elements as you move forward. The two are not separated in the text; they’re mingled together, which, as you might imagine, makes understanding problematic.

Says JJ Semple, “Although the ontological portions obscured the practical aspects to some degree, I decided to forge ahead. Ultimately, once the meditation took its course, once the light started to circulate, I was catapulted out of the limiting duality of the physical world into the metaphysical actuality of ‘the great One...which has nothing above it.’

“As my practice moved forward, the ontological portions took on meaning. To my amazement, my kundalini became aroused and ultimately active, which surprised me greatly because I’d never heard of kundalini. As already stated, the word isn’t mentioned in the SGF. Surprised and distressed to find myself in a state I had no name for, I quickly realized it wasn’t something I could talk about with so-called normal people, much less to members of the medical profession. This was in 1971; there wasn’t a lot of information about changes in ‘Being,’ at least none I was able to find. I was being transformed by the oft-alluded-to ‘Primal Spirit,’ whose power and purpose I finally understood. Fortunately, I kept a journal of my practice.”

The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Kundalini Meditation Method is a guidebook to using The Secret of the Golden Flower (SGF) as a meditation method for activating kundalini. An authoritative interpretation by someone, who, unlike Jung, Cleary, or Wilhelm, actually deciphered and practiced the method. This book compares their translations and commentaries with JJ Semple’s empirical practice of the method, using his ultimate success in awakening kundalini as the arbiter of its suitability as a method  — in essence, the author identifies where the written word deviates from actual practice. He extracts the workable teachings from the esoteric text of the SGF and shapes them into a practical modern method. By cross-referencing both the Cleary and the Wilhelm versions, the author details each version’s contribution to the kundalini awakening process. A chapter comparing Golden Flower Meditation (GFM) to the Microcosmic Orbit (MCO) is also included.

Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time is JJ Semple’s autobiographical memoir of awakening and living with kundalini. The author doesn’t leave anything out: “A childhood accident that robbed me of my talents and memory, my battle with drugs and alcohol, the influential women in my life, my slow deterioration and eventual disequilibrium. The young girl in Paris who gave me a copy of The Secret of the Golden Flower, which led to my discovery of Kundalini meditation — an esoteric energy cultivation technique — that actually overhauled certain aspects of my anatomy and metabolism, a wholesale biological retrofitting that opened up a consciousness of unlimited dimension.”

Deciphering the Golden Flower is a full-circle account of the journey to self-actualization and the inevitability of Karma.

Says one reader about this book: "JJ Semple's Deciphering the Golden Flower reads like an Old World romance movie. I am surprised by how good a writer he is. The book brings to mind images of smoky Parisian cafes, beautiful yet mysterious women, countryside charms that are remote and of another world. Somerset Maugham himself could have been sipping tea with the author at some point, debating the finer points of writing and breathing, with Anais Nin listening in from the next table.”