Product Description

The first volume of the Starseed Trilogy: Intuitive knowledge featuring a startling new view of human evolution.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171589 in Books
• Published on: 1993-03-12
• Released on: 1993-03-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

About the Author

Thomas Cleary is the preeminent translator of classic Eastern texts, including The Essential Tao, The Essential Confucius, The Secret of the Golden Flower, and the bestselling The Art of War.

Customer Reviews

Awareness is the key ...
I have read with some dismay the more negative reviews of this wonderful translation by Thomas Cleary. In humble opinion (after nearly 30 years of practice and initiations with Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Pinor Rimpoche, Yogi Ramaiya, Juramidame, amongst others) those with sufficient awareness will receive clear and direct instruction and this makes this particular volume no less than excellent. Ignorance and inferior awareness will certainly viel the truth. Also recommend those with desire for liberation to study the Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng (the 6th Patriarch).

Practitioners will find they owe Thomas Cleary a serious debt
I have been a practitioner in the Tibetan Vajrayana for over thirty years. This short book, which I have put into daily practice has corrected mistakes in my practice to such an extent that I feel I have wasted thirty years. This, of course, is not entirely true. Because of the extensive study during those years I could appreciate the depth of Cleary's translation and commentary as one who has successfully practiced this meditation.

With practice, the book gets more and more profound and the practice more refined. It subsumes the whole of the Buddhist canon and that of Taoism and Confucianism and Christianity as well. In particular it brings one to the realization that scriptures, while valuable, have the danger of enmeshing one in words and concepts. On a more personal note, it has helped free me from trying to reproduce past experiences of enlightened mind, which are now just memories and therefore also concepts and ideas.

I have waded through Stopping and Seeing, also translated by Mr. Cleary in volume V of his collected translations, and would advise against it. It is very similar to Ashvagosha's Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, translated by D.T. Suzuki, which I studied at length many years ago. After your practice has reached a certain point, perhaps it might be of value to study such treatises.

Another thing that commends Mr. Cleary's translation is that he puts his commentary at the end so the translated text is presented without distractions. For this I am also grateful.

One thing that is not addressed in this or other meditation texts, nor by the meditation instructors I have had, is the basics of sitting meditation. I spent years "on the mat" working through bodily problems such as back aches, legs falling asleep and painful tensions that can be avoided by a few expediencies, to say nothing of the fact that posture is essential to integrating one's entire being in the practice.

First of all, it is important that the body be relaxed. One should not waste precious time trying to assume unfamiliar and strenuous asanas, e.g. the Lotus posture, but should sit on a cushion, e.g. a Zafu, that raises one's butt and use a mat, e.g a Zabuton, that protects one legs and ankles from hard surfaces.

Secondly, it is necessary to sit with the back straight and the spine unsupported. However, one needs to relax into this position, like stacking a pile of coins, once they are straight, you can let go. You do not want to let go entirely because from time to time tensions arise, for example you begin tensing your back, neck or legs. This subtle awareness will allow you to immediately relax such tensions and again let go. In this way you can eliminate years of trial and error on the mat.

I would add that this relaxing into the posture is the same approach you should take to the meditation itself.

Whatever the secret is, you won't find it in this translation
Thomas Cleary has probably done more harm to the cause of Western understanding of Asian philosophy than any other individual, even perhaps including H. P. Blavatsky. He seems to translate one word at a time with the result that you understand each word as you read it, only to find that the sentences are incoherent. Since Cleary has been prolific, not hard considering how carelessly he translates, his translations flood the market making it unlikely that others will be published, particularly of works, such as the Secret of the Golden Flower, with a limited market. We can avoid reading Cleary's translations but then cannot find others by more competant hands.

Cleary translates philosophical terms with rather vague English equivalents but never indicates the Chinese term in question. Thus with terms such as "essence" and "primal spirit" one realizes as one continues to read that their meaning is entirely obscure. Of course, the Chinese used terms with multiple meanings that often must be pondered to be understood, as do Western philosophers. "De" of the Daodejing" is an example. It is not exactly the same as its usual English translation as "virtue" but close enough. In the case of Cleary's vague terms one actually has no idea of what they mean. "Essence" has no equivalent in Chinese philosophical writings, nor does "primal spirit." There are various Chinese terms that might be translated as "spirit" but we have no means to determine which is in the original. The book is elegantly printed but of more value would have been the Chinese text on opposite pages, or at least a glossary.

What most frustrates is that one can glimpse what the original text is saying just enough to wish that an understandable translation existed. Sadly, none does. Though Wilhelm's is much better, it is still inadequate because he lacked the concepts to fully understand the text, as did other Westerners of his generation. We can excuse this in him because he exerted himself to trying to understand. One cannot say the same for Cleary, who significantly, never appears at academic conferences in his field.