The Golden Elixir Blog

Golden Elixir Press — Winter 2012 Catalogue

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:06:00 +0000

The new Winter 2012 Catalogue is available. Click the picture or the link below to access the download page:

• Winter 2012 Catalogue

As usual, the catalogue includes a code for a 10% discount on all PDF editions. This offer is valid until the end of Winter (March 20, 2012).

Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:08:00 +0000

An Introduction to the Classics
of Taoist Alchemy.
Available for free download from TCCII.

These excerpts are reproduced from the post entiled Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio, accessible from the Silent Tao website. Shawn Cartwright, who conducted the interview, is a co-founder of the Traditional Chinese Culture Institute International (TCCII), and a teacher of several Chinese internal arts. His website contains many materials of interest on Neidan (Internal Alchemy). The full interview is available in a PDF edited by Shawn, entitled Interpreting the Ancient Codes of Taoist Alchemy.

Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio
By Shawn Cartwright

Fabrizio Pregadio, one of the foremost translators of Taoist Alchemy classics, answers several questions about his work translating some of the most important texts of Nei Dan. Here is a selection of questions and his answers from the interview. The full interview can be found in the paper Interpreting the Ancient Codes available as a free download from TCCII.

Q: How did you become interested in Taoism and Taoist alchemy?

A: I was, and I still am, delighted by how Taoism represents the relation between the absolute principle (the Dao) and its manifestation in the world in which we live, and by how clearly it formulates several ways to realize the "return to the Dao." The essential features of these teachings are found in the Dao De Jing and are elaborated on (with some differences in emphasis) in the Zhuang Zi. Taoist Internal Alchemy (Nei Dan) is the main tradition that applies those teachings to the human being and offers a way to comprehend and realize them at the individual level.

Q: What benefit can internal alchemy practitioners derive from studying the classic texts?

A: What you call "classical texts" are signposts in the history of a tradition. By studying those texts, one can study the history of a tradition and how it has been transmitted and adapted to different circumstances.

Texts, moreover, are often the only sources we have to reconstruct the history of a tradition, and this is especially important with regard to Nei Dan. We often think of Nei Dan as a "school" of Taoism, but this is by no means correct. Nei Dan is best described as a tradition with Taoism, with its own branches, schools (or rather, lineages), and individual representatives. There are often major differences among the different Nei Dan lineages. Studying texts is virtually the only way to identify those differences.

There’s one more important thing. I can hardly imagine a Chinese — or Indian, Japanese, Tibetan, Persian, etc. — adept of a tradition who does not know, study, and often memorize the main texts of his or her tradition. Knowledge of the written records of a tradition should also be important for a Western follower. Without that knowledge, a Western follower could easily end up twisting and distorting the tradition that he or she claims to belong to, according to his or her own particular perspective. Any Eastern tradition teaches exactly the opposite attitude: until one reaches a truly advanced stage, one should follow the tradition "as is," with no attempt to reinterpret it or adapt it to any contingent circumstance. The re-adaptation (or rather, re-codification) of a teaching to different historical or social circumstances is a very important and interesting phenomenon in the history of any traditional teaching.

Q: Who is the intended audience of your translation of the Can Tong Qi?

A: The intended audience is, generally, everyone who is interested for any reason in the doctrines of the Way of the Golden Elixir, as they are presented by the main textual source of this tradition.

Q: You mention in your translation of the Can Tong Qi that you began your work on it back in 1990. Why is this text so interesting to you?

A: Why is the Can Tong Qi so interesting to me? Well, first of all because, in 1990, after I finished my dissertation on Wai Dan, I told myself, "I’d like to work on the main text in Taoist alchemy" and less than one second later I thought, "This means I should translate the Can Tong Qi." Second, because this text is crucial to understand Taoist alchemy in virtually all of its aspects. One important point here is that the Can Tong Qi talks almost exclusively of doctrine, but we (in the 21st century) should not think that the "doctrine" of a traditional teaching is equivalent to a "theory" in the modern sense of the term. A theory is something that requires proof, and is subject to change in the course of time. A doctrine is something from which a whole tradition develops, and from which the practices are devised. The concepts of "theory" and "proof" are entirely alien to traditional thought; you have, instead, a doctrine that requires personal comprehension and verification. This is why the Can Tong Qi is so important: it has provided the basic doctrine for virtually the entirely history of Chinese alchemy, in all of its forms, with the only exception of the Wai Dan texts written before it was composed, and of some later Wai Dan texts that are not related to it.

Download the full interview now.

End of Year Sale: 25% Discount on Paperbacks

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:05:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce that several paperbacks are available with a 25% discount until December 31, 2011.

For further information and to place orders, please see this web page: 2011 End of Year Sale.

These books are available for purchase with a 25% discount:

The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi, the Source of the Taoist Way of the Golden Elixir, by Fabrizio Pregadio [Web page]
List Price: $24.95 — Discounted Price: $18.71 (ca. €14.15)— You save: $6.24

Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan, by Wang Mu [Web page]
List Price: $16.95 — Discounted Price: $12.71 (ca. €9.60) — You save: $4.24

The World Upside Down: Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy, by Isabelle Robinet [Web page]
List Price: $15.95 — Discounted Price: $11.96 (ca. €9.05) — You save: $3.99

Awakening to Reality: The "Regulated Verses" of the Wuzhen pian, a Taoist Classic of Internal Alchemy, by Fabrizio Pregadio [Web page]
List Price: $15.95 — Discounted Price: $11.96 (ca. €9.05)— You save: $3.99

Hinduism and Buddhism, by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy [Web page]
List Price: $13.95 — Discounted Price: $10.46 (ca. €7.90) — You save: $3.49

Visit the 2011 End of Year Sale web page.

Prices in US Dollars are correct. Prices in Euros are provided only for reference and are approximate, based on exchange rates in late November 2011.

The Lovely Maid and the Yellow Sprout (from the Cantong qi)

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:15:00 +0000

This passage of the Cantong qi is reproduced from Fabrizio Pregadio, The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi, the Source of the Way of the Golden Elixir (Golden Elixir Press, 2011).

The Golden Elixir website contains an extended collection of of free translations, essays, and other materials on the Cantong qi reproduced from this book.

Book 2, Section 68: The Lovely Maid and the Yellow Sprout

1-4	The Lovely Maid of the River
	is numinous and supremely divine:
	when she finds Fire she flies away,
	leaving behind not a speck of dust.

5-8	Like a demon she hides, like a dragon she conceals:
	nobody knows her whereabouts.
	If you want to control her,
	the Yellow Sprout is the root.

Notes

The Lovely Maid of the River (heshang chanü) is True Mercury; she is the Yin line within Li , referred to as the "second daughter" in the terminology of the Book of Changes. Aroused by fire, she escapes and flies away. Only the Yellow Sprout (huangya), which is True Lead, can hold her. When they meet, they join and generate the Elixir.

The argument poetically expressed in these verses resounds at different levels and can be understood in different ways. From the perspective of the Cantong qi, all of them are instances of one and the same principle. In a material sense, the Lovely Maid of the River can be mercury, which escapes (volatilizes) when it is heated by fire. In a spiritual sense, referred to the human being, the Lovely Maid can refer to sentiments and passions. When one's own Fire is used to stimulate those sentiments and passions, they escape and run uncontrolled. When they are presided over by one's own True Nature (Lead, the Yellow Sprout), they turn into qualities — instincts, intuitions, propensities — that express one's Nature.

© Fabrizio Pregadio and Golden Elixir Press

New Translation of the Main Text of Taoist Alchemy

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:19:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Seal of the Unity of the Three, by Fabrizio Pregadio.

"The Cantong qi is the forefather of the scriptures on the Elixir of all times. Its words are ancient and profound, arcane and subtle. No one can fathom their meaning." Thus begins a preface found in one of the commentaries to the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three). These words express several significant features of the work translated in the present book: the charm of its verses, the depth of its discourse, its enigmatic language, and its intimate relation to the Taoist alchemical traditions.

Under an allusive poetical language and thick layers of images and symbols, the Cantong qi hides the exposition of a doctrine that inspired a large number of commentaries and other works, and attracted the attention not only of Taoist masters and adepts, but also of philosophers, cosmologists, poets, literati, calligraphers, philologists, and bibliophiles.

As shown by its title, the Cantong qi is concerned with three major subjects, namely Cosmology (the relation of the world to the Dao), Taoism (the way of "non-doing"), and Alchemy, and joins them to one another into a unique doctrine, known as the Way of the Golden Elixir. In addition to a complete translation of the text, this book contains explanations of each of its sections, notes on many of its verses, and a detailed introduction to its history and doctrines.

The book is offered with a 20% early publication discount until October 23, 2011. Please see below for this offer.

Visit the Web page on this book.

Publication Data

Fabrizio Pregadio
The Seal of the Unity of the Three:
A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi,
the Source of the Taoist Way of the Golden Elixir

Golden Elixir Press, 2011
ISBN 978-0-9843082-8-6
324 pp., paperback, US$ 24.95 (list price)

Early publication price: US$ 19.96 (20% discount)
Buy from CreateSpace.com — Enter discount code XK73HZN5 at checkout
This offer is valid until October 23, 2011 (*)

Preview and Samples

For a preview of the book (PDF, 28 pp.) and other online samples, see this page.

(*) By the time your read this, Amazon.com and other online bookstores may sell this book with a discount even higher than 20%. Except for CreateSpace — the online shop of the company that prints this book — Golden Elixir Press has no way to activate or influence any discount offered by online bookstores. You may want to check your favorite online bookstore's price before using this offer.

Autumn 2011 Catalogue — 10% discount on all PDF editions

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:50:00 +0000

The Autumn 2011 catalogue is now available. Click the picture or the link below to access the download page:

• Autumn 2011 catalogue

The catalogue includes a code for a 10% discount on all PDF editions. This offer is valid until the end of autumn (December 21, 2011).

Li Daochun on the Dragon and the Tiger

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:49:00 +0000

This passage from Li Daochun's most important work is quoted in Isabelle Robinet, The World Upside Down: Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy (Golden Elixir Press, 2011)

The image of the Dragon-Tiger undergoes a thousand transformations and ten thousand changes, and its transcendence (liao) is divine and unfathomable. This is why we use it to represent the ingredients, we establish it as Tripod and Furnace, and we move it with the Fire regime. By analogy, it is Kan and Li; by substitution (jia), it is Metal and Fire; by naming, it is the boy and the girl; by conjoining, it is the husband and the wife.

All these different names constitute the wondrous function (yong) of the Dragon and the Tiger. By virtue of their divine animation (ling gan), we call them ingredients; because they bring things to achievement, we call them Tripod and Furnace; by virtue of their transformations, we call them Fire regime; because they cross each other and join to one another, we call them Kan and Li; because they are firm and straight, we call them Metal and Wood; because they ascend and descend, we call them boy and girl; because they wondrously harmonize with one another, we call them husband and wife.

Li Daochun (late 13th century)

Zhonghe ji (Anthology of Central Harmony), chapter 4

Isabelle Robinet, The World Upside Down: Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:22:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of The World Upside Down: Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy, by Isabelle Robinet, in paperback and PDF editions.

The World Upside Down contains four essays on Internal Alchemy (Neidan), originally published in French and translated here for the first time into English. The essays are concerned with the alchemical principle of "inversion"; the devices used by the alchemists to "give form to the Formless by the word, and thus manifest the authentic and absolute Dao"; the symbolic function of numbers in Taoism and in Internal Alchemy; and the original meanings of the terms "External Elixir" (waidan) and "Internal Elixir" (neidan).

Visit the Web page.

About the Author

Isabelle Robinet (1932-2000) was one of the most important Western scholars of Taoism. Her work dealt with several major topics: the Laozi and the Zhuangzi with their commentaries; the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) school of Taoism; Neidan (Internal Alchemy); and Taoist thought and cosmology. Her publications in English include Taoist Meditation: The Mao-shan Tradition of Great Purity (1993) and Taoism: Growth of a Religion (1997).

Publication Data

Isabelle Robinet, The World Upside Down: Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy
Edited and translated by Fabrizio Pregadio
Golden Elixir Press, 2011
viii + 129 pp.
ISBN 978-0-9843082-6-2
Paperback, US$ 15.95 (list price)
PDF, US$ 9.95 (list price)

Free Online Samples

• PDF sample (62 pages)
• Yin and Yang in Internal Alchemy (web page)
• "Reversal" in Internal Alchemy (web page)
• The Language of Internal Alchemy (web page)

Nourishing Inner Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:49:00 +0000

This is one of the poems in the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three), the main text of Taoist Internal Alchemy (Neidan).

Innerly nourish yourself,
serene and quiescent in Empty Non-Being.
Going back to the fundament conceal your light,
and innerly illuminate your body.

"Shut the openings"
and raise and strengthen the Numinous Trunk;
as the three luminaries sink into the ground,
warmly nourish the Pearl.

"Watching, you do not see it" —
it is nearby and easy to seek.

For comments and notes on this poem, see this page
[http://www.goldenelixir.com/jindan/ctq_18.html]

Reproduced form Fabrizio Pregadio, The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi, the Source of the Way of the Golden Elixir (© Golden Elixir Press, forthcoming).

Liu Yiming on the Dao and Yin and Yang

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:25:00 +0000

This is one of the first passages of the Xiuzhen biannan (Clarifications on the Cultivation of Reality), a work containing conversations between Liu Yiming (1734-1821) and a disciple.

He asked: What is the Dao?

I replied: The Dao is Ancestral Breath prior to Heaven that generates all things. Look at it, and you do not see it; listen to it, and you do not hear it; grasp it, and you do not get it (Daode jing, 14). It envelops and enwraps Heaven and Earth, and gives life and nourishment to the ten thousand things. It is so great that there is nothing outside it, so small that there is nothing inside it. Confucians call it Great Ultimate; Taoists call it Golden Elixir; Buddhists call it Complete Awareness. Fundamentally it has no name or title, but if we are forced to give it a name, we call it Dao. If it is determined, one is in error; if it is discussed, one loses it. It has no shape, and it has no image; it is not form, and it is not emptiness; it is not Being, and is not Non-being. If it is attributed the images of form and emptiness, of Being and Non-being, it is not the Dao.

He asked: If the Dao has no shape and no image, and if it is the One inchoate Breath, why does the Book of Changes say: "One Yin, one Yang, this is the Dao"?

I replied: The words "one Yin, one Yang, this is the Dao" express the operation (yong) of the Dao. The words "it has no shape, and it has no image" express the substance (ti) of the Dao. Before the Great Ultimate divides itself [into Yin and Yang], the Dao envelops Yin and Yang. After the Great Ultimate divides itself, it is Yin and Yang that give life to the Dao.

Without Yin and Yang, the Breath of the Dao would not be visible. It is only in the alternation of Yin and Yang that the Breath of the Dao can grow and maintain itself for innumerable eons without being damaged. In the state prior to Heaven, there is the Dao; in the state posterior to Heaven, there are Yin and Yang. The Dao is the root of Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang are the evolvement of the Dao.

When we say that the Great Ultimate divides itself and becomes Yin and Yang, and that Yin and Yang join to one another and form the Great Ultimate, we mean that it is One but they are Two, they are Two but it is One.

Li Daochun on the "Mysterious Barrier"

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:19:00 +0000

This short passage is translated from the Zhonghe ji (Anthology of Central Harmony), a work containing writings by Li Daochun, who was active at the end of the 13th century. The passage is part of a conversation between Li Daochun and one his disciples.

The scriptures on the Elixir say that the wonder of the practice essentially lies in the Mysterious Barrier (xuanguan). I don't know where exactly is the Mysterious Barrier.

Li Daochun said: The Mysterious Barrier is an utterly mysterious and wondrous function. How could it have a fixed position? If it is situated in the body, this is not correct. If it is separated from this body and is searched outside of it, this too is not correct. Those who are mired in the body situate it in the physical shape; those who are mired in the outward situate it in the external things. In any case, the Mysterious Barrier is the place where the Four Elements and the Five Agents do not cling.

(The Four Elements of Buddhism are Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. The Five Agents of the Chinese tradition are Wood, Fire, Soil, Metal, and Water.)

Summer 2011 Catalogue — 10% discount on all PDF editions

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:47:00 +0000

The Summer 2011 catalogue is now available. Click the picture or the link below to access the download page:

• Summer 2011 catalogue

The catalogue includes a code for a 10% discount on all PDF editions. This offer is valid until the end of summer (September 22, 2011).

Golden Elixir Press Affiliate Program

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sat, 28 May 2011 07:44:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press has started an Affiliate Program. If you own a website or run a blog, and would like to sell the Golden Elixir e-books, consider joining the Program.

The Press offers a generous commission on each sale initiated by a click on your website or blog.

For details, please see this page:

• Golden Elixir Press Affiliate Program

The Book of the Nine Elixirs

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:22:00 +0000

The Book of the Nine Elixirs (Jiudan jing) is the main extant text of the Great Clarity (Taiqing), the earliest identifiable tradition in the history of Chinese alchemy. In its original form, this work dates from about 200 CE. It describes the preparation of nine elixirs, paying particular attention to the ritual context of the alchemical practice.

The main stages of the process are the ceremony of transmission from master to disciple, the establishment of the ritual area, the choice of an auspicious time, the compounding of the elixir, its offering to the gods, and its ingestion. It is this entire process, and not only the actual compounding of the elixirs, that constitutes the alchemical practice.

On the other hand, neither the Book of the Nine Elixirs, nor any other Great Clarity source, describes the alchemical process using the patterns, imagery, and language of Chinese cosmology and its system of correspondences. These features of the cosmological system become important in the history of Chinese alchemy only from the Tang period onward (approximately from the 7th century). They were first used in Waidan (External Alchemy), and paved the way for the emergence of Neidan (Internal Alchemy, documented from the 8th century).

When these new forms of alchemy became widespread, the Great Clarity tradition declined. No original text belonging to this tradition was composed in the Tang period or later. The Book of the Nine Elixirs is one of the few sources that provide glimpses into the earliest stages of the Chinese alchemical tradition.

Internal Alchemy and the Daode jing

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 06:15:00 +0000

In the Western world, those who are interested in Neidan (Internal Alchemy) sometimes claim that the Daode jing (Scripture of the Way and Its Virtue) is a Neidan text.

This view deserves attention, because it is in some respects similar to the traditional view held by Neidan masters and adepts in China. However, it also requires some comments.

While Neidan needs the Daode jing, the Daode jing does not need Neidan. The Daode jing is an integral statement of Taoist doctrine. Being complete and self-contained, it does not demand or await anything outside itself. Its doctrine, however, can be applied, to varying extents, to different practices, arts, and sciences. The Daode jing itself pays much attention to one particular application of its own doctrine: the art of government.

Since some fundamental principles of Neidan are based on the doctrine of the Daode jing, a Neidan practitioner might claim that the Daode jing is a Neidan text. But for a similar reason, an army general who practices the "art of war" might claim that the Daode jing is a text about making war.

Then, is the Daode jing about Neidan or about war? It is neither about Neidan nor about war — but its teachings can be applied to an indefinite number of fields. Neidan is one of those fields.

In other words, the Daode jing contains the main statement of doctrines that are fundamental in Neidan, but is not "a Neidan text" of its own.

Consider, for example, the famous passage found in section 42, which describes the relation of the Dao to the cosmos using a sequence of stages: "The Dao generates the One, the One generates the Two, the Two generate the Three, the Three generate the ten thousand things". Neidan masters of all times have applied these words to the Neidan practice, which goes through that sequence in reverse in order to "return to the Dao". Does this mean that the Daode jing describes the Neidan practice?

9 Taoist Books on the Elixir

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:53:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press has started the Occasional Papers series. This series will contain short articles, translations, reference works, or similar publications, distributed either for free or at a very low price. The Occasional Papers will be available only in PDF format.

The first publication in the series is:

Fabrizio Pregadio
9 Taoist Books on the Elixir: A Short Bibliography
23 pp., Golden Elixir Press, 2011
Web page

Please visit the Web page to download the bibliography for free.

This bibliography contains the main data on nine important original texts of Taoist alchemy. It includes two texts on Waidan (External Alchemy) and seven texts on Neidan (Internal Alchemy). In addition to their importance and renown, the selections concern texts for which at least one translation in a Western language is available.

Each entry contains: Title in Chinese, and translation; Information on author and date; A synthetic description; References to print editions of the Chinese text; Links to online versions of the Chinese text; Translations into Western languages (with links to relevant Web pages, if available); Main reference materials, both in print and online.

Most entries also include short translations, to provide at least a glimpse of the content of each text.

An appendix contains the titles of nine selected Western-language works on Taoist alchemy, with short notes on their content.

Spring Equinox Sale — 50% off all PDFs (until March 21, 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:55:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press celebrates the forthcoming Spring Equinox with a 50% discount on all PDF editions.

This year's Spring Equinox is on Sunday, March 20, 23:21 UTC. The sale is currently open, and will end on Monday, March 21, 23:20 UTC. (Depending on your location, the sale may end as early as Monday, 12:20, or as late as Tuesday, 16:20, local time.)

To use the 50% discount, please visit this web page:
Golden Elixir Spring Equinox Sale
http://www.goldenelixir.com/spring_equinox_sale.html

Titles and Discounts

Wang Mu, Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan
US$ 9.95 > 4.98

Fabrizio Pregadio, Awakening to Reality: A Taoist Classic of Internal Alchemy
US$ 9.95 > 4.98

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Hinduism and Buddhism
US$ 8.95 > 4.48

Jami, Flashes of Light: A Treatise on Sufism
US$ 4.99 > 2.50

Shaikh Sharfuddin Maneri, Letters from a Sufi Teacher
US$ 5.99 > 3.00

Fabrizio Pregadio, Chinese Alchemy: An Annotated Bibliography
US$ 5.00 > 2.50

Fabrizio Pregadio, Index of Zhonghua Daozang
US$ 9.95 > 4.98

Fabrizio Pregadio, Index of Zhengtong Daozang
Free download

Golden Elixir Press wishes everyone a Happy Spring!

Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan, by Wang Mu

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:06:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan, by Wang Mu.

Originally written for Chinese readers, this book provides a clear description of the Taoist practice of Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. The author describes the stages of the practice and clarifies several relevant terms and notions, including Essence, Breath, and Spirit; the Cinnabar Fields; the "Fire Times"; and the Embryo. The book is based on the system of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), one of the main sources of Internal Alchemy, and contains about two hundred quotations from this and other Taoist texts.

Wang Mu (1908–92) received the Longmen ordination in his youth. He taught Internal Alchemy (Neidan) and was held in high regard by both Taoist practitioners and scholars. He served as a board member of the China Taoist Association and was for some time in charge of its research activities. He is known outside China mainly for his annotated edition of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), the text at the basis of the outline of Internal Alchemy that he provides in Foundations of Internal Alchemy.

Foundations of Internal Alchemy is available in paperback and PDF editions.

Visit the Web page — Download PDF sample (68 pp.)

Publication details:

Wang Mu
Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan
Edited and translated by Fabrizio Pregadio
viii + 144 pp., Golden Elixir Press, 2011
ISBN 978-0984308255

Paperback, US$ 16.95
PDF, US$ 9.95

Visit the Web page — Download PDF sample (68 pp.)

PDFs and Free Book

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:13:00 +0000

All Golden Elixir books are now available as PDFs for immediate download. The PDFs are not protected and text can be selected, copied, and printed.

To celebrate the event, "Flashes of Light: A Treatise on Sufism" can be downloaded for free until the end of February, 2011.

If you are interested, here is what to do:

Go to http://www.goldenelixir.com/press/suf_02_flashes_ebook.html
On the right sidebar, under "PDF Edition - Immediate download", click Add to Cart
Enter this discount code: 000

The price will change to 0.00. Click Checkout, enter the required information, and you will receive an email with the download link within a few minutes.

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Hinduism and Buddhism (20% discount)

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:27:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of a new edition of Hinduism and Buddhism, by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.

This is the only English-language edition that includes all the additions and changes that the Author contributed, shortly before his death, to the French translation of his work.

For the first two weeks you can order the book with a 20% discount (US$11.16 instead of US$13.95, approximately corresponding to €8.15 instead of €10.20). The offer is valid until February 6, 2011.

To use this offer, go to http://www.createspace.com/3551156. At checkout, enter the following discount code, exactly as shown here: LSN5TBFB.

See a PDF sample of this book (two chapters from the Hinduism section and two chapters from the Buddhism section).

Publication details:

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
Hinduism and Buddhism
x + 112 pp., Golden Elixir Press, 2011
ISBN 978-0-9843082-3-1
Paperback, US$ 13.95 (list price)

First published in 1943, this outstanding book represents in many ways the most complete achievement of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), one of the main modern representatives of the Hindu tradition. Displaying an unequaled mastery of Sanskrit, Pali, Greek, Latin, and medieval German and Italian sources, Coomaraswamy shows that "the Indian tradition is one of the forms of the Philosophia Perennis, and as such, embodies those universal truths to which no one people or age can make exclusive claim."

This is the only English-language edition that includes all the additions and changes that the Author contributed, shortly before his death, to the French translation of his work.

Visit the Web page on this book.

Golden Elixir Books Available from Google eBookstore

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:20:00 +0000

Just a short note to announce that four books by Golden Elixir Press are now available in digital versions from Google eBookstore:

Awakening to Reality, $9.56 (instead of $15.95 paperback)
Bibliography of Chinese Alchemy, $3.85 (instead of $8.50 paperback)
Letters from a Sufi Teacher, $5.35 (instead of $12.95 paperback)
Index of Zhonghua Daozang, $$9.99 (instead of $17.95 paperback)

Please use the links above to access these titles. As of today, three of the four books cannot yet be found using the search field in the eBookstore home page.

As fas as I understand, the PDF files of all four books can be read only on the free Adobe Digital Editions reader.

"Bibliography of Chinese Alchemy" and "Letters from a Sufi Teacher" can also be downloaded as EPUB files. The EPUB versions can be read on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and many other ebook readers, but not on the the Amazon Kindle (if you use a Kindle, see this page).

In addition, any purchased book can be read online with your usual Web browser.

Prices shown above are correct as of today. Please note that the eBookstore is currently available only in the Unites States.

Jami, Flashes of Light: A Treatise on Sufism

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:09:00 +0000

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of Flashes of Light: A Treatise on Sufism, by Jami ('Abd al-Rahman al-Jami).

The book is available only in a digital version, in two formats: PDF and EPUB. Both versions are priced at US$ 4.99. A Kindle version should be available in a few days from Amazon.com.

• Web page
• 20-page preview (PDF)

Publication details

Jami
Flashes of Light: A Treatise on Sufism
Golden Elixir Press, 2010
ISBN 978-0-9843082-2-4 (ebook)
x+72 pp., US$ 4.99 (PDF or EPUB)

The renowned Persian thinker and poet 'Abd al-Rahman al-Jami (1414-92 CE) wrote his Flashes of Light (Lawa'ih) to explain "the intuitions and verities displayed on the pages of the hearts and minds of men of insight and divine knowledge." Each section of his work consists of a discussion in prose and a portion in verses. Jami provides one of the best, synthetic introductions to Sufi spirituality.

Chinese Alchemy in the Persée Portal

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:07:00 +0000

Persée is a free collection of journal articles published in France. It contains at present about 90,000 articles, mostly in French, but also in English and other languages. It is in some ways the French response to JSTOR, with the important difference that access is free and open to everybody: "Anyone and everyone may search, browse, and consult the documents dissiminated via the Persée portal, without restrictions, free of charge."

The collection contains these articles on Chinese alchemy:

• "Inner Alchemy: Notes on the Origin and Use of the Term Neidan," Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein

• "Taoist Beliefs in Literary Circles of the Sung Dynasty: Su Shi (1037-1101) and his Techniques of Survival," Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein

• "Lü Tung-pin in Northern Sung Literature," Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein

• "Le corps, champ spatio-temporel, souche d'identité," Catherine Despeux (in my opinion, the best survey of the Chinese and Taoist views of the human body)

• "L'alchimie intérieure réhabilitée?," Vincent Goossaert (review of Isabelle Robinet, Introduction à l'alchimie intérieure taoïste)

• "L'alchimie en Chine: Pratique et théorie," Joseph Needham

• "The Representation of Time in the Zhouyi cantong qi," Fabrizio Pregadio

• "Le monde à l'envers dans l'alchimie intérieure taoïste," Isabelle Robinet

• "Le rôle et le sens des nombres dans la cosmologie et l'alchimie taoïstes," Isabelle Robinet

• "Recherche sur l'alchimie intérieure (neidan): L'école Zhenyuan," Isabelle Robinet

• "L'alchimie interne dans le taoïsme," Isabelle Robinet [Review of Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein, Procédés Secrets du Joyau Magique—Traité d'Alchimie Taoïste du Xle siècle]

The Persée website is here:
http://www.persee.fr

Daoist Culture Centre Database

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:39:00 +0000

I hadn't seen the website of the Fung Ying Seen Koon in Hong Kong for quite a long time. Their "Daoist Culture Centre Database" is now arranged in Wiki format, with many entries available both in Chinese and in English.

The English translations are often problematic, but the website as a whole provides a good overview of Taoism as seen in present-day China.

There are several entries on alchemy in the section "Religious Practise".

The website is here:

English: FYSK Daoist Culture Centre Database
http://en.daoinfo.org

Chinese: 道教文化中心資料庫
http://zh.daoinfo.org

Two More Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Golden Elixir Press) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:48:00 +0000

Two more versions of the same picture (see the previous post), taken from different editions of the Xingming guizhi (Teachings on the Joint Cultivation of Nature and Life).

(Click to enlarge)