《太上升玄三一融神变化妙经》

At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) sat upright upon a throne of the Seven Treasures, empty and spontaneous, wondrous beyond compare. With spirit gathered in deep contemplation, he roamed at ease through a realm of profound stillness. He expounded the Great Dao (the Way) to all sages and worthies and to the beings of the various heavens, explaining that cultivation may be gradual or sudden, and that advance and retreat differ according to each one’s conditions. The Celestial Worthy, still in Wuwei (non-action), discerned the countless approaches of the teaching and clearly understood the empty and the substantial, void and existence, the true and the false, the orthodox and the deviant, good and evil, the pure and the turbid, high and low, noble and base, inner and outer, civil and martial, and the distinctions of great and small among all things and affairs. These circumstances are endless and cannot be recounted one by one.

Beings, each shaped by past habits and karmic deeds, cling to different things and pass through different circumstances: sometimes gathering and sometimes parting, sometimes existing and sometimes perishing; coming and going, advancing and retreating, arising and ceasing, sometimes present and sometimes absent; the true and the false, the noble and the base, suffering and joy, poverty and wealth; some as men and some as women, some scholars and some warriors; circumstances sometimes favorable and sometimes adverse, inauspicious or auspicious; some remaining in the ordinary realm and some attaining the realm of sages and worthies. The karmic fruits that beings receive, and the manifold conditions involved, cannot be fully explained.

All of this is because the various good and evil acts done and cultivated in the past formed different karmic causes, so the fruits received today also differ. Beings have not realized the Great Vehicle’s teaching of Wuwei, and therefore liberation is hard to attain. They remain within the understanding of the Lesser Vehicle, their insight limited and their minds bound, unable to grasp the mysterious principle or to awaken suddenly to the Great Dao, to penetrate Wuwei and merge with the empty, still Dharma-nature—the fundamental nature of all things—so that mind and Shen (spirit) become settled and clear.

Some practitioners, though they cultivate according to the Dao of Wuwei and seek liberation, cling only to the methods they happen to encounter. They do not recognize that their own nature is originally pure and still; instead they give rise to craving and attachment and are bound by every kind of condition. They have not realized the supremely true and unsurpassed Great Dao to which the root vehicle—the fundamental path of cultivation—points. The Great Dao is originally perfect and complete, able to accomplish all spiritual powers, merit, wisdom, and liberation. If one holds only to a partial view, forces distinctions, and even slanders on that account, one fails to understand that the nature of all things is originally the One Vehicle, without a second. For a time, beings follow ordinary circumstances through every kind of movement and stillness; causes and effects differ, and suffering and joy are not the same. This is precisely what past accumulated habits and karmic deeds have brought about, and so today they receive different karmic fruits.

At this moment, one among the assembly, the Dao-lord of Mysterious Unity (Xuanyi Daojun, a Daoist honorific title), stepped forward. He circled the precious throne in homage, clasped his hands before him, bowed with reverence, and then addressed the throne:

“Unsurpassed Great Dao (the Way), you are the supreme honored one of emptiness and nonbeing. The spirit-consciousness of living beings differs from one to another precisely because the karma each created in former lives is not the same; thus in this life each receives a different karmic result.

“Unsurpassed Great Dao, your wisdom is lofty, far-reaching, and vast, wondrously penetrating and free of every obstruction; you are the great sage who holds all things in your sway. In the heavens above and on the earth below, your Dao-nature pervades and fuses without hindrance. You are able to disclose innumerable Dharma gates, so that emptiness and existence each come to rest in peace. You see into the causes and conditions of every karmic result, clearly discern the forms and appearances of things, and with mysterious wisdom illuminate the causes of karma. Through compassion you teach, transform, and deliver living beings, opening wide the gates of the teaching.

“We earnestly beseech you to bestow relief. Those present today are fortunate: the kindness, merit, and blessed rewards cultivated over successive lifetimes have allowed us this day to behold the honored countenance of the Unsurpassed Great Dao and to hear you set forth the teaching. Together we pray that all living beings may attain realization: that the deluded may be guided to reach the farther shore of the Dao before long, and together enter the way of the Great Vehicle.

“Your Dharma-form is majestic and your merit complete. You thoroughly comprehend the mysterious essentials of Wuwei (non-action) and the root of the Great Vehicle; wisdom and virtuous conduct are both perfected in you. You assist the transforming work of the Dao, universally delivering celestial beings, human beings, and all living beings, and rescuing innumerable lives. May all living beings attain realization, enter the Dharma gate together, worship and attend upon you, and personally receive the great teaching. May offerings and the rites of cultivation express our reverence, so that all that is sought may be granted as wished, merit brought to completion, and wisdom and practice both possessed.

“We earnestly beseech you to spread your teaching widely, so that all living beings may enter the Great Dao. May living beings attain realization and at last become one with the Dao.”

“The farther shore of the Dao” and “entering the way of the Great Vehicle” are both metaphors in religious cultivation. They refer to leaving delusion and suffering behind and moving toward awakening and attainment.

At this time the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning said to the Dao Lord of Mysterious Unity: “Well said, well said. The question you now raise is of the utmost importance, supreme and unsurpassed. The causes and conditions of this great Dharma are profound and subtle, difficult to make clear by thought or by words. Sit down once more and listen with full attention as I explain the unsurpassed great Dharma, and the principles by which every method of practice is brought to completion.

In the world there is success and failure, birth and perishing, appearing and vanishing, progress and retrogression, right and wrong, good and evil, long and short, folly and wisdom, light and darkness. All these differences arise because the karmic causes accumulated through past habit are not the same.

Methods of a lower level of cultivation are only the branches and leaves of the great Dao (the Way). All the merit gathered through practice can for a time bring blessed rewards in the human world or in the heavens; yet when those causes, conditions, and retributions come to an end, the blessings also disperse. One still cannot avoid wandering through the six paths (the six destinations of rebirth for sentient beings) and receiving every kind of karmic fruit. The causes and effects of good and evil never cease: one is born and then dies, dies and then is born again. Amid endless birth and death one creates both good and evil and bears retribution without limit, so that liberation is very hard to attain.

Without the extraordinary causes and conditions of the great Dharma, it is difficult to uproot and transcend the bondage of all karma, and difficult to leave the three evil paths (hell, hungry ghosts, and animals), the five paths (different scriptures classify the destinations of rebirth differently), the Ninefold Darkness and the Eight Difficulties, and the three mires and five sufferings; to pass beyond the three realms (the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the formless realm); to escape the cycle of birth and death; and to reach liberation in Wuwei (non-action).

All the conditioned practices one cultivates (practices and merits that involve deliberate making and arise in dependence on causes and conditions) have blessings that come to an end. In the end they still decay and scatter, like soil. The root reason one cannot gain true liberation is that mind and understanding have not become penetrating: one clings to conditioned methods and hopes for blessings and reward. When the fruits brought by merit are used up, everything still falls apart. Cultivating with such toil, one still cannot escape impermanent change, but can only drift with the karma of the past, unable to be one’s own master, pulled along by karma without rest or end.

As for those who have the aspiration of the Great Vehicle, whose wisdom is lofty and clear, and who can penetrate and realize the nature of the Dao: when they cultivate every merit they do not seek reward, and there is no clinging in their minds. The conditioned merits they perform serve only to make the principle plain and to uphold the teaching, guiding the ignorant away from suffering into release, so that they gradually receive benefit and enter the methods of cultivating the Dao. By means of these merits they accumulate blessing and goodness, adorn themselves, and form a bond of causes and conditions with the great Dao.

All the causal merits they cultivate are for preserving the root of life. As for such conditions as seeking life and receiving retribution, I, as teacher, employ within them every kind of cause, condition, and outward affair to guide and instruct, and I offer all of it to the spirits of heaven and earth. I save the beings of the six paths, the nine mysteries and seven ancestors of the past (the ancestors of successive generations), all the dead, and guilty beings who suffer, so that they leave the sea of suffering, enter the gate of the Dao, and together attain liberation.

I alone hold to Wuwei and return to the root, settling my spirit-consciousness in calm clarity and purifying the nature of my Qi (vital energy), and guarding body and mind. No deluded thoughts arise within, and nothing from outside can stain or adhere. The mind clings to no thing, and whatever is done is complete. One does not lean on some particular teaching and cling to its marks, nor abide in some particular teaching and be bound by it. One does not give rise to the thought of seeking blessings or seeking the conditions of merit.

What I study and cultivate looks as though there were no cultivation; yet what I carry out is the doing of every kind of merit. Even if it seems there is no blessed reward, I dare not hope for recompense, but transfer the merit to all beings of the human world and the heavens. I wish only to offer these merits universally to all, so that the blessings and goodness of beings in the six paths are all adorned, and I wish that they be liberated together with me, return together to the supremely true, and at last ascend together to the other shore of the Dao.”

The Most High (Taishang) said to the Great Dao Lord of Mysterious Unity (Xuanyi Dadaojun): “You disciples, each endowed with your own share of the various duties, together bring to fulfillment the blessed merit and good deeds of beings in the six realms, and thereby adorn the methods of the Dao. You are to attain liberation together with me, enter together the realm of ultimate truth, and in the end all reach the farther shore of the Dao.”

The Most High spoke again to the Great Dao Lord of Mysterious Unity: “You disciples are to assist in the practice and teaching of the methods of the Dao, awaken beings lost in delusion, and serve as the great boat of the teaching for all men and women. Like the vast ocean of the teaching, you are to contain and embrace beings as numerous as the ten thousand rivers; and, like heaven and earth sheltering the myriad things, you are to benefit living beings and instruct those of the human world and the celestial realms.

You are to follow causes and conditions and adapt your teaching with flexibility. According to whether each person’s root capacity is keen or dull, intelligent or foolish, clear or turbid, lucid or dim, lead them step by step or guide them directly to understanding. Weigh the condition of their body and mind and teach each according to the person, so that all may grasp the purport of the methods of the Dao. Where understanding is shallow, give a shallower prompting; where understanding is deep, give a deeper instruction. For those of turbid capacity, teach in a manner suited to them; for the good, guide them in keeping with their goodness; for those who have done evil, guide them by a corresponding method as well. Employ flexible and skillful means to lead them gently onward, so that they leave the realm of suffering and reach the farther shore, encounter the Great Dao and receive the methods of the Dao, loosen the bonds of causes and conditions, accomplish the root of the Great Vehicle teaching, and at last attain the lofty and unsurpassed Great Dao.”

End of the upper scroll of the Wondrous Scripture of the Most High on Ascending to the Mysterious, the Three-in-One Fusion of Shen (spirit), and Transformative Change (Taishang Shengxuan Sanyi Rongshen Bianhua Miaojing).

The lower scroll.

Among the myriad things, the human being is the most honored; among the various methods, the One is the most honored; among the various Ones, the True One is the most honored; among all that is true, the sage is the most honored; and among all sages, the Dao (the Way) is the most honored. The Mysterious One, the True One, the Great One, and the Three-One spoken of in the scripture (Jing) each have distinct meanings.

“Xuan” means empty, remote, and profoundly deep: upward there is no limit, downward there is no foundation, and viewed from within there is no boundary. It is therefore called the Mysterious One (Xuanyi). Xuan also carries the sense of depth and far reach. Its fundamental body has no fixed form or substance, yet it can embrace the myriad things and does not obstruct them, and so it is called emptiness and non-being. “Emptiness” means free and unobstructed passage, while “non-being” means vacant stillness. Because its nature has no form or substance, it is also called the void.

The Mysterious One is the One, and the One is the Dao; its nature is pure and clear. The True One (Zhenyi) is what is genuine and real, and its principle is upright correctness, so it is also called Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity). “Tai” means vast and great. It can generate the myriad things and hold sway over all, and is therefore called the Great One (Taiyi).

The Three-One (Sanyi) refers to the crimson child (Chizi), the infant who symbolizes newly born life. He receives from above the numinous Qi (vital energy) of the Mysterious Father—wondrous vital energy—and from below the primordial Jing (essence) of the Mysterious Mother—the fundamental essential energy—and is thereby nurtured into form. The scripture says that two portions of the Qi of the Mysterious Father are taken from above and one portion of the Qi of the Mysterious Mother from below; the two are harmonized in the middle and together form a single body. Hence it is said that “two halves make one.” The One is also the child, and so it is called the infant brother, the crimson child. The form of the crimson child resembles a newborn infant. Endowed with the Qi of the third position, it is called the Three-One crimson child.

The first position is the Mysterious Father, formed by receiving the Qi of mysterious emptiness and of masculine Yang, and called the Mysterious One. The second position is the Mysterious Mother, formed by receiving the Qi of feminine Yin, and called the Feminine One. Because the Mysterious Mother can give birth to the myriad things and nurture sentient beings, she is also called the Great One. The One bears the sense of vastness, and she is therefore also called the Mother of the Dao.

Thus the Mysterious One corresponds to the station of the Celestial Worthy; the Feminine One of the Mysterious Mother corresponds to the station of the Celestial Sovereign; the True One and the Sovereign One correspond to the station of the Lord of the Dao; the Three-One corresponds to the station of the True Person of the crimson child; and Zhengyi corresponds to the station of the Great Ritual Master.

The “Nameless, Ever-Abiding Three-One” refers to the beginning of primordial chaos: the empty Qi of the Dao has not yet differentiated, and form and image have not yet appeared. All remains an undifferentiated whole, without shape and without shadow, and is therefore called chaos, and also the Nameless Ever-Abiding. When the Dao-Qi of the Three-One differentiates and takes form, displaying transformation and immeasurable spiritual powers, it is called the transformation of the empty void. The Three-One further differentiates Yin-Yang, generates the myriad things, and spreads transformation throughout the ten directions, and is therefore called the Yin-Yang Three-One.

The scripture lists nine kinds of the One: the first is the Nameless Three-One; the second, the Three-One of emptiness, non-being, and spontaneity; the third, the Three-One of empty-void transformation; the fourth, the Mysterious One; the fifth, the True One; the sixth, the Three-One of the Primordial Sovereign; the seventh, the Great One; the eighth, Zhengyi; and the ninth, the Yin and Yang of the crimson child. These are called the Way of the Nine Ones.

The void has its Nine Ones, constantly corresponding to the Nine Qi; the Dao has its Nine Ones, corresponding to nine honored stations; Heaven has its Nine Ones, and above there are the Nine Clarities; Earth has its Nine Ones, and below there are the Nine Springs; the human being has the Nine Ones, and within the head there are the Nine Palaces.

The scripture further says that the Three-One is called the Three Treasures. Within emptiness there are the three Qi of Xuan, Yuan, and Shi—Mystery, Origin, and Beginning. Heaven has the Three Realms. Earth has the Three Treasures, namely mountains and peaks, rivers and waterways, and water and fire. The Three Treasures of the human body are the upper, middle, and lower Dantian (energy center), together with sites such as the Niwan and the Crimson Palace.

As for what is called the “Three and Five,” the “three” refers to the three Qi of Mystery, Origin, and Beginning, and the “five” refers to the Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). The nature of the Five Phases appears in empty space as the Five Qi, in the heavens as the Five Stars, in the celestial offices as the Five Emperors, on earth as the Five Directions, and in the human body as the five viscera.

The Dao (the Way) says: The Three-One—the deities within the human body that govern and harmonize the various Shen (spirit) together with Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy)—move through the palaces and residences. Their transformations never cease, and their dwelling places are not fixed. At times they guard the Palace of the Seven Treasures of the Mysterious Heaven; at times they spread transformation upon Kunlun and roam the Mysterious Capital; at times they command the Great Canopy and inspect the Mysterious Terrace; at times they govern the Cavern Chamber and the Hall of Light of the celestial court. They also travel throughout the Six Directions (heaven, earth, and the four quarters), and at last arrive at the secluded chamber of the Jade Emperor, the Mysterious Pass, and the Palace of the Floral Canopy.

The Nine-One has nine sons and nine daughters. The Nine Sovereigns pass in and out of Kunlun, govern the Nine Heavens, and illuminate the Nine Heavens; like the sun and moon they travel throughout the Six Directions, and at last arrive at the secluded chamber of the Jade Emperor, the Mysterious Pass, and the Palace of the Floral Canopy. The Nine-One has nine sons and nine daughters. The Nine Sovereigns pass in and out of Kunlun, govern the Nine Heavens, and illuminate the Nine Heavens; they also go out through the Celestial Pass and come in through the Hidden Gate. At times they dwell between the Celestial Cottage and the sun and moon; at times they descend to the Yellow Court, the Muddy Pellet, and the Crimson Palace—terms of Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy) referring to different sites within the human body. At times they also live in seclusion within the Great Spring of the North Pole.

They breathe Jing and Qi, ride six dragons, and roam toward Turtle Mountain. At times they ride the numinous waves and harness nine dragons, fly astride nine phoenixes, and command such spirits as the Great One, the Elder of the Beginning, and the Imperial Duke. They move between the Third Month and the Three-One, bringing the transformations of the myriad things into accord, refining and nourishing the passes and apertures throughout the body, clearing the fluids, and setting spirit and mind at peace and the body secure.

The Yellow Elder of the Center governs the realm of the Jade Emperor and presides over the Dongshen of Wu and Ji. The Imperial Perfected of the Original One governs the Secluded Valley, replenishes and nourishes the Floral Plain, rides upon Qi and receives the Perfected, and comes and goes along the path of life. At times he dwells at the Gate of Life and closes the door of the Dao, so that Jing and Qi do not leak outward and nothing evil can intrude.

The flowing auroras of Great Simplicity ride the wind and turn into mist and smoke, float through the void and mount the emptiness, and ascend to the Cloud Court, opening and closing as they come and go among the palaces and lodges. A thousand spirits and a hundred numina come to audience at the imperial court; walls and towers stand linked in varied array, and curtains hang like clouds. The Celestial Perfected preside over primordial Qi and cause it to communicate upward with the Sagely Pass. The ultimate Dao of the Mysterious One comes and goes at will. Here there is the sight of pearls being swallowed and jade stored away, and also crags of white stone; towers and pavilions rise in ten thousand stacked tiers—the immortal residence of the Yellow Emperor. The Sweet Abyss is without end, and mysterious mushrooms grow there; golden liquor, jade fluid, and the deathless divine elixir are all found within. They can restore a person’s youth and preserve life, and the bones as well can be refined and transformed so as to ascend.

They roam the eight directions, ascend to court the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), descend to govern the Three Realms, transform without end, gather at the Mysterious Terrace, and come to audience...

The Sagely Emperor travels back and forth to the Golden Palace (the palaces of the celestial realm) and descends to overlook the imperial capital of the human world. The Five Sacred Mountains (the five great mountains) and the Four Great Rivers (the four major rivers) are at peace; the state is stable, secure, and prosperous, and all the people long enjoy auspicious fortune.

The Heavenly Lord of the Nine Emperors of the Upper Prime bears the personal name Ningtian and the courtesy name Xuanxian. His Imperial Minister (an immortal official who assists the Emperor-Lord) is named Zhaolejing, and the celestial immortal troops and horses in attendance number twelve thousand.

The Emperor of the Three Ones of the Middle Prime bears the personal name Shenzhu and the courtesy name Zidan. His Imperial Minister, a Perfected One named Guangjian, is accompanied by twelve thousand divine immortal troops and horses.

The True One of the Lower Prime bears the personal name Shenjing and the courtesy name Guxuan. His Imperial Minister is named Guishangming, and the earthly immortal troops and horses in attendance number twelve thousand.

The True One of the Upper Prime stands nine cun and nine fen in height, wears a purple cape embroidered with gold, and bears a precious crown of the Mysterious Heaven. Seated upon a throne of the Seven Treasures, he at times rides a nine-dragon chariot, tours the Three Realms, holds the Heavenly Treasure censer, and governs and instructs the realm of Jade Clarity.

The True One of the Middle Prime stands three cun and three fen in height, wears a cinnabar-red brocade cape, and bears a crown of nine phoenixes. Seated upon a throne of the Seven Treasures, he at times rides a nine-qilin chariot, tours the ten directions, holds the Heavenly Treasure censer, and governs and instructs the realm of Jade Clarity.

The scripture then further records a True One three cun and three fen in height: wearing a cinnabar-red brocade cape and a crown of nine phoenixes, seated upon a throne of the Seven Treasures, at times riding a nine-qilin chariot and touring the ten directions, holding a golden censer, and governing and instructing the realm of Supreme Clarity.

The True One of the Lower Prime stands five cun and five fen in height, wears a yellow brocade cape, and bears a nine-dragon far-roaming crown. Seated upon a throne of the Seven Treasures, he at times rides a five-colored lion chariot on circuit through the Five Sacred Mountains, holds a precious incense censer, and governs and instructs the realm of Great Clarity.

When the Three Ones (the True Ones of the upper, middle, and lower) assemble, at dawn they attend court before the Supreme Emperor, the One Lord, blending Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy) so as to replenish the bone marrow and draw in the florid fluids within the body, filling spirit and vital energy to abundance and causing the body to shine with radiance. At noon they gather in the Crimson Palace, where the Middle One resides, to instruct and refine the Infant (the original spirit within the body), restoring the hun and po souls, returning from old age to youth, and prolonging life. At dusk they gather in the palace of the True One of the Lower Prime, washing away foul and turbid Qi, casting out the old and taking in the new, so that the Five Elder Imperial Perfected are generated within the body; the bone marrow is transformed, the intestines become sinews, and golden bones and jade marrow are achieved, in accord with the Dao (the Way) and in response to the True. Thus transformation proceeds of itself without end, and for long, together with the Three Treasures (the Dao, the Jing [scripture/classic], and the Master), they uphold the root of life.

What is called the “Three Ones” (Sanyi) is the Palace of the True One of the Lower Prime (the divine palace in the Lower Prime that presides over the True One). It can wash away impurity, cast off the old and receive the new, bring forth my Five Elder Imperial Perfected (five exalted deities representing the five directions), transform the marrow, turn the intestines into sinews, and form bones as firm as vajra and marrow like jade. In this way one may unite with the Dao (the Way) and with the True, so that endless transformations arise of themselves, forever guarding the root of life together with the Three Treasures (the three fundamental powers revered in Daoism).

What is called the “Three Ones” means that each “One” can transform into “Three”; through the uniting of three into one and the transforming of one into three, the Way of the Nine Ones is further generated.

The Venerable of the Upper Mystery (the exalted deity of the Upper Prime) has two great ministers, three in all: the minister on the left is named the Lord of the Mysterious One, and the minister on the right is named Lord Lao of Great Harmony. Lord Lao of Great Harmony has white hair and wears white robes; the Lord of the Mysterious One has azure hair and azure robes. They respectively symbolize the hun-soul and the po-soul of the Dao.

The Venerable of the Middle Prime (the exalted deity of the Middle Prime) has two grand ministers: the one on the left is named the Perfected, and the one on the right is named Guangjian.

Beside the True One Imperial Lord of the Lower Prime stand, on the left, the Hidden Essence and, on the right, the Imperial Minister and other spirits (Shen). Each of the three venerable True Ones of the upper, middle, and lower levels is attended on either side by two great ministers, and from this are formed the three spirit-persons within a single body. The three True Ones each further transform and come into being, becoming nine spirit-persons; this is the “Way of the Nine Ones.”

They abide in the void and the formless. The upper level is called the Nine Mysteries, the middle level the Nine Voids, and the lower level the Nine Qi (vital energy); taken together they are therefore called “the void.” The spirits of the Three Ones are born by transformation from the Nine Mysteries and preside over the realm of the Dao (the Way). The Nine Voids preside over the realm of the sages, and the Nine Blacks preside over the realm of the perfected; this is the “Way of the Nine Ones” within the Dao. The Nine Mysteries are called the Celestial Worthy of the Nameless and Ever-Abiding, the Nine Voids the Celestial Worthy, Empty Sovereign of the Hollow Void, and the Nine Qi the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning.

The “One” of the upper level transforms into the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the “One” of the middle level into the Three Realms, and the “One” of the lower level into the Three Wheels. The Three Pure Ones belong to the realm of the sages, the Three Realms to the realm of the perfected, and the Three Wheels to the realm of the immortals. The “wheels” spoken of here refer to the revolving condition in which ordinary people find themselves: whether on the upper, middle, or lower level, their coming and going and their rising and falling are never fixed, and so they are called the Three Wheels. The lower wheel enters the underworld, the middle wheel is reborn in the heavens, and the upper wheel enters the realm of the perfected; hence they are called the Three Wheels.

Thus the Dao has its Nine Ones, Heaven has its Nine Ones, Earth has its Nine Ones, and human beings likewise have their Nine Ones. The four sets of Nine Ones together form thirty-six Qi, which gather to become the Thirty-Six Heavens. Each “One” further transforms to produce Nine Ones, and nine multiplied by nine yields eighty-one primordial Qi. In the void there are eighty-one Qi of the Dao; Heaven has eighty-one kinds of sagely transformation; Earth has eighty-one kinds of perfected Qi; and human beings have eighty-one kinds of immortal Qi. Together these amount to three hundred and sixty Qi. The higher Dao comprises three hundred and sixty ways of void spontaneity and empty mystery; Heaven has three hundred and sixty ways of sagely transformation; Earth has three hundred and sixty ways of Dongzhen (Cavern of Perfection); and human beings have, in the three hundred and sixty places of the bones and joints, the ways of transformation and of ascending in flight to become immortals.

Human beings are endowed with these Qi-natures, and breathing too has greater and lesser grades. Breathing of the higher grade corresponds to thirty-six thousand spirit-consciousnesses, the middle grade to three thousand six hundred, and the lower grade to three hundred and sixty. These numbers correspond to the three hundred and sixty days of the year, and all of them are present within the human body. If one can cultivate perfection and study the Dao, one can bring the thirty-six thousand spirit-consciousnesses to completeness in the body; the body then naturally becomes light and vigorous, one ascends in broad daylight, and becomes one with the Dao.

Terms such as the “Three Ones,” the “Nine Ones,” and “Qi” are used in the scripture to explain the successive levels into which the Dao differentiates and their correspondence with Heaven, Earth, and the human body. “Qi” (炁) is read as qi, and in Daoist classics it commonly denotes the primordial energy that constitutes life and the workings of Heaven and Earth.

The scripture describes Qi (vital energy)—the energy of life and the cosmos, as Daoism understands it—as the root of the transformations of all things in heaven and earth: three hundred and sixty kinds of Qi give rise to the thirty-six voids and thirty-six heavens above, and on earth to three hundred and sixty roads, or three hundred and sixty famous mountains; in the human being, these correspond to thirty-six thousand kinds of spirit-consciousness. The scripture holds that one who has succeeded in cultivation can make the body light and vigorous, ascend in broad daylight, and unite with the Dao (the Way).

The Dao has thirty-six thousand kinds of marvelous transformations and mysterious sights; heaven has thirty-six thousand palaces; earth has thirty-six thousand grotto abodes; and human beings have thirty-six thousand kinds of spirit-consciousness. “Thirty-six thousand” is used here to indicate that each is abundant in kind and that they correspond to one another. The Dao is the purest source within the mysterious void; the human being is an existence condensed from the numinous, refined Qi between heaven and earth; and heaven and earth manifest the vast spectacle of the mysterious void and the great Dao. The Dao dwells within the mysterious void and can penetrate and bring about transformation.

Heaven receives a pure and tranquil nature, and so is clear and bright; earth receives coagulated Qi, and so has form; human beings receive Jing (essence) and Qi together with spirit-consciousness, and so are able to be born. Without primordial Qi, the Dao could not transform, heaven could not remain clear and mysterious, and earth could not generate and nourish the myriad things; if a person loses the primordial Qi that sustains life, the very foundation of life cannot be maintained. Therefore, in cultivating the Dao and nourishing life, one must first learn to preserve and nurture primordial Qi and to regulate and nourish the spirit. If Shen (spirit) and Qi can rest securely in the body, life can be prolonged.

The scripture further explains Shen and the Dao through a chain of progressive statements: Shen is consciousness; consciousness is rectitude; rectitude is the true; the true is the sagely; the sagely is nature; and nature is the Dao. The Dao is emptiness; emptiness is mystery; mystery is void non-being; void non-being is spontaneity; spontaneity is the constant and unchanging. The constant Dao cannot be called by any fixed name, and is therefore termed “Hundun” (the undifferentiated). Hundun has neither form nor shadow, neither boundary nor end.

Qi, for its part, has differing manifestations—void, non-being, penetration, wind, movement, image, transformation, and the like—and is also related to breathing, the lightening and raising of the body, soaring, dispersal, and life. Qi can open the myriad things and make them bright, bringing forth appearances of light; it can also conceal forms and shadows and set their turning in motion. From this the scripture marvels that the workings of the transformations of Shen and Qi are profound, subtle, and hard to fathom.

Lower volume of the Marvelous Scripture of the Most High on Ascending to the Mystery, the Three-in-One Fusion of Shen (spirit), and Transformation.