Chapter Three is the moment the Golden Flower stops describing and begins instructing.
If Chapters One and Two established:
- where to practice (the Heavenly Heart)
- who is practicing (Original Spirit, not the Conscious Spirit)
Then Chapter Three tells us how practice actually happens.
It introduces the method that defines the entire text:
Turning the Light Around
(返照、回光)
Many people read the phrase and imagine a metaphor.
It isn’t a metaphor.
It is literal, technical, and experiential.
In other words:
It is a method, not a philosophy.
Let’s clarify what that method actually is.
1. What Does “Turning the Light Around” Mean?
The text says:
「回光者，非回一身之精華，直回造化之真氣。」
“Turning the Light Around does not mean returning the body’s essence; it means returning the true energy of creation.”
Most beginners misunderstand and try to pull the breath, tense the forehead, hold the eyes, or force energy upward.
That is not Turning the Light Around.
The text repeatedly warns against force:
「非止一時之妄念，直空子劫之輪回。」
“It does not merely stop thoughts of the moment; it empties the cycle of wandering consciousness.”
In other words:
Turning the Light Around is not controlling anything.
It is changing the direction of awareness.
When awareness no longer pours outward through the senses,
when it no longer scatters toward objects or memories,
then the Original Spirit returns to its throne.
This inward turn is “Turning the Light Around.”
2. Where Does the Light Turn? — The Heavenly Heart
Turning the Light Around requires a destination.
The text names that destination:
天心
The Heavenly Heart (Celestial Pivot)
This point is not imaginary.
It is located:
- between the eyebrows
- slightly inward, inside the skull
- not on the skin
- not on the forehead surface
It is the natural resting place where the Original Spirit can sit like a king on his throne.
The Golden Flower emphasizes this with ancient imagery:
「凝守元宮，如英明之主在上。」
“Hold firmly to the Original Palace, as a wise ruler presides above.”
This is not visualization.
It is placement.
Awareness rests, but does not focus with effort.
It rests the way dust rests upon still water.
3. Eye Technique: How to Let the Light Turn
The most misinterpreted instruction is about the eyes.
The text clarifies:
“垂簾恰好，任彼光自然透入，不勞你注射與不注射。”
“Lower the eyelids just right and let the light enter naturally. Do not push it, do not hold it.”
This detail is extremely precise:
- Eyes neither fully open, nor fully closed
- If too open → the mind chases outward
- If too closed → the mind sinks inward into dullness
- “Just right” lets light reflect inward, not outward
In practice:
- Allow the eyes to relax downward
- Let the awareness rest near the inner point behind the eyes
- Do not strain; do not visualize; do not aim
You are not imagining the point.
You are noticing the resting direction of awareness.
This is the true start of practice.
4. What Happens Next? — Spirit-Fire Begins
When the light stays at the Heavenly Heart without effort,
something subtle happens.
The text describes this as:
「百日專功，光才真，方為神火。」
“After a hundred days of devoted practice, the light becomes true, and becomes Spirit-Fire.”
This does not mean:
- one hundred calendar days
- straining to produce energy
- forcing sensations in the head
It means:
- after the light stabilizes
- without greed or striving
- when awareness no longer leaks outward
Then, naturally, the light gains intensity.
This “intensity” is not heat, pressure, force, or excitement.
It is clarity.
A presence.
A lucidity.
When clarity gathers and no longer scatters, the text calls it:
Spirit-Fire (神火)
fire without heat, illumination without thought
Nothing is done to create it.
The light gathers on its own.
5. The Initial Result: The “Millet Pearl” Appears
Once Spirit-Fire forms,
something else arises without seeking it.
「光中自然一點真陽，忽生黍珠。」
“In the light, a natural point of true yang appears suddenly — the Millet Pearl is born.”
This tiny “pearl” is not a sensation.
It is not tingling, pressure, warmth, or light seen with eyes.
It is the experience of presence becoming an object.
The unconditioned becomes perceptible.
The formless becomes noticeable.
The unborn acquires a point.
This is the first condensation of Elixir-Seed.
It is not imagination.
It is not visualization.
It is the formation of something that was always there, but never recognized.
And if it is recognized without attachment,
it grows.
If you chase it,
it dissolves.
6. Why Turning the Light Around Works When Everything Else Fails
Most meditation tries to stop thoughts,
or change thoughts,
or relax the body,
or watch the breath,
or be mindful,
but all these methods operate from the Conscious Spirit.
This is the fundamental problem.
You cannot use the thinking mind to transcend the thinking mind.
The Golden Flower teaches a different solution:
Change the direction of the light.
Do not change what it shines on.
Once the light returns to the Heavenly Heart:
- the Original Spirit becomes bright
- the Conscious Spirit stops dominating
- the Po becomes quiet
- the Hun becomes clear
- Spirit-Fire gathers
- the Elixir-Seed is conceived
All without effort.
This is why the text says:
「無為而為，即此意也。」
“To act without acting — that is the meaning.”
What Comes Next — Chapter Four Preview
Chapter Four reveals what to do after the Millet Pearl appears:
- When to engage breath
- How Spirit-Fire nourishes the Elixir
- What “breathing through the top of the head” actually means
- How not to destroy the growing Elixir by effort
- Why desire ruins the entire process
It introduces the first real danger in the practice:
trying to help.
Next article: How the Elixir Grows (and How People Ruin It).
If this article deepens your understanding, and you’d want my practitioner charts, system diagrams, or step-by-step instructions, feel free to let me know.