《太上升玄消灾护命妙经颂(司马承祯)》

Preface to the Hymn on the Wondrous Jing (scripture) of the Most High for Ascending to the Mystery, Dispelling Calamities, and Protecting Life

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) appears within the Three Realms. In compassion he pities all living beings, opens the gate of the myriad wonders, and delivers them from suffering without end. He therefore transmits a mysterious teaching and gives voice to a profound and wondrous sound of the teaching, so that those who have never heard may hear, and those not yet awakened may awaken.

This Jing is said to have been composed by the Most High Lord Lao of Mysterious Origin (Taishang Xuanyuan Laojun, the deified Laozi revered in Daoism). Its purpose is to make clear the root of wondrous nature, which is also the source of the myriad teachings. Though the text is brief, its meaning is deep and subtle: a single hair can hold the waters of the four seas, and one large grain of millet can contain living beings beyond number. Even gods and spirits can scarcely fathom it, and human wisdom and insight can explain it even less. It cannot be sought by sound, nor seen by outward form. Call it distant, and it has no boundary; call it near, and it cannot be approached. Pursue it, and one does not see what lies before it; wait for it, and one does not meet it coming from behind. It stands above all things, and there is no higher stair by which to climb; it is mystery upon mystery, and cannot be made plain by words that are heard.

It is seamlessly at one with the Prior Heaven (Xiantian), yet is not bound by ancient or modern times. It passes through countless kalpas of calamity and still endures. It is honored, yet bears no title; it is exalted, yet holds no office. It moves amid every kind of transformation, and in an instant becomes boundless. Its radiance makes even the sun and moon seem dim. It covers and upholds the myriad things, and heaven and earth cannot compare with it. According to differing circumstances it teaches and transforms living beings, and before outer conditions it is not pulled along by thoughts. It loosens the net of doubt, leads people into the mysterious gate of the Dao (the Way), and guides living beings in the round of rebirth back to the path of awakening.

It spreads forth the one Qi (vital energy) and nourishes the myriad things. Lose it, and life slips away as swiftly as flowing water; hold fast to it, and one may pass beyond the aging of the Posterior Heaven (Houtian). To disparage it is like taking a great broom to sweep Mount Kunlun clean; to exhaust it is like a great swan drinking the vast sea dry. Precisely because mysterious words can hardly express it in full, and the great Dao of the sages can hardly be brought to light, even those who cultivate often do no more than read and recite at length. From ancient times there has been the saying that to hear the Dao in the morning is to die in the evening without regret, yet no one has been seen who truly achieved this. Unequal to the task, I venture to compose this hymn.

The Most High is, from the very beginning, a true existence free of falsity, holding the wondrous and mysterious within the void. If one can realize this from within, one comes to understand that outside the body there is no other, independent “body.”

At this point the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun, a revered Daoist deity symbolizing the origin of all things) speaks:

“Primordial Beginning” is only a borrowed title. The Primordial Beginning is rooted in the void and is the supreme, unsurpassed foundation. The source of the human mind and nature is itself the Primordial Beginning; the truly supreme Dao (the Way) has nothing else that could surpass it.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning is within the Palace of the Five Brilliances in the Forest of the Seven Treasures—the Forest of the Seven Treasures and the Palace of the Five Brilliances are images of a solemn and sacred immortal realm. In fact, every person already possesses such a realm in their own person; people simply do not know how to turn inward and contemplate their own mind.

He is together with the holy assembly of the Limitless (the many sages and perfected beings of the highest order).

The sages and perfected of all the heavens—past, present, and future—all follow one and the same root of original nature. It is not that the myriad dharmas are absent from a single body; the myriad dharmas are all in communication with this one body.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning sends forth boundless light, illuminating boundless worlds.

This light shines through worlds without limit, so that all within and beyond heaven and earth stands clearly revealed, and even the radiance of the sun and moon grows dim.

He beholds the boundless multitudes of beings and sees them enduring endless affliction.

When one contemplates, with wondrous wisdom, the inexhaustible sufferings of living beings, one finds that they do not understand their own original nature. They let deluded thoughts arise in response to external conditions, and do not know when they will ever leave the realm of suffering.

They wander through the world, cycling in birth and death—when will arising and ceasing ever come to rest? This transmigration, in which beings draw one another along through vast kalpas, is like ants turning endlessly around a ring, or like a cart wheel grinding through the dust.

Living beings drift on the river of craving and desire, rising and falling with the winds and waves of the sea of desire. Everyone knows that rivers and seas may be wide or narrow, deep or shallow; yet craving, desire, and emotional clinging are bottomless—in what year will one ever break free?

They are sunk in sounds and sights.

The cries of waterbirds and the wind blowing through the trees may all be gathered into one and the same Dharma-sound (the sound that manifests the Dao). Why, then, does a confused and inverted mind-nature give rise instead to every kind of discrimination and thought?

Living beings are bewildered by “being” and “non-being.”

The void contains every kind of image, and what has form returns at last to the void. If the mind can understand this, one will know that “being” and “non-being” are only expressions used according to circumstances. In non-being one may speak of emptiness; in being, emptiness may also appear. Within the formless, forms and appearances can manifest, and what possesses form will in the end return to the formless.

Emptiness is not an absolute void, and form is not a fixed, unchanging form. If one can understand the principle that joins form and emptiness, one realizes that neither form nor emptiness is rigid and immutable; what matters is to realize this for oneself.

When one speaks of “non-being,” “being” is already within it; when one speaks of “being,” “non-being” is likewise contained in it. Being and non-being communicate with each other and cannot be sharply divided. When the mind is empty and still, undisturbed by clinging, the subtle Dao (the Way) manifests of itself.

If a person remains always in dim confusion, that person cannot see the principle clearly alone. It is like someone who has walked into darkness: what can the eyes see? To see clearly, one needs a lasting lamp able to shine through the dark.

If delusion continues, then even talk of the marked and the markless never brings true understanding. Not yet having perceived one’s own nature, how can one untie the doubts in the mind?

The Celestial Worthy—the Daoist title of honor for the supreme venerable deities—said: “You sentient beings have shallow thoughts and shallow conduct, and you have lost the root of the Dao. I therefore set forth the essentials for you, and teach you to enter the subtle gate of the Dao.”

One should understand that being can appear out of what was originally without being; this is not a matter of forcing a verdict upon one’s doubts. Non-being, too, can be realized from within being; it does not mean that nothing whatsoever exists. The myriad things emerge from non-being, while the Dao can be realized as formless within the myriad things that have form. Do not cling to views of “being” or “non-being,” and deluded attachment will dissolve of itself.

Within form there is emptiness, and within emptiness there is form. Emptiness and form depend upon each other and are mutually entangled, like ink traces snarled together. To understand the principle of emptiness and form, do not force the two apart.

The Dao is not the “being” of ordinary speech, nor is it “non-being” in the sense of annihilation. The nature of the Dao is originally void; the very term “void” is only a name borrowed for the moment. Cling to being or to non-being, and in the end one is still bound by these notions.

Form is not a fixed and unchanging form, and emptiness is not a sheer absence of anything. True emptiness is not the emptiness of annihilation, and true form is not form frozen and unchanging. Realized in this way, both emptiness and form disclose what is real—yet the so-called “true Dharma” is not something that can be seized and possessed.

Emptiness is emptiness, yet emptiness has no fixed and unchanging appearance; form is form, and form likewise has no fixed and unchanging appearance. In the end, neither emptiness nor form can be clung to as truly existent. To know the true principle of form and emptiness, one should turn back and observe one’s own body and mind.

Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. If one understands that emptiness is not annihilation and form is not substantial existence, one should release attachment to both emptiness and form together, without leaning to either side. Emptiness and form are originally unobstructed; their nature is spontaneously thus, equal and one. This is called zhaoliao—clear and thorough discernment—and only then has one truly comprehended the subtle Dao.

Subtle Sound (the subtle sound) is a metaphor for the empty and quiescent inherent nature; the empty mind (a mind clear, luminous, and free of clinging) is not itself the Subtle Sound. If one clings to minute things, it is hard to attain a mind at ease.

Between form and emptiness (physical form and the nature of emptiness) there is no obstruction; inherent nature is originally free in just this way. Only when one can illuminate and clearly understand this point can one be said truly to have grasped the Subtle Sound.

The Subtle Sound is a metaphor for the empty and quiescent inherent nature; the empty mind is not the Subtle Sound. If one clings to minute things, it is hard to attain a mind at ease.

When one recognizes that all phenomena are originally empty, insight into everything meets with no obstruction.

Contemplating the myriad things with a single mind, one sees that all phenomena are the same in essence. Only if one understands in this way can one be said to have grasped the principle by which wisdom penetrates freely.

Entering the gateway of all subtleties, one naturally comes to understand and awaken.

To awaken to the root of inherent nature is called entering the wondrous gate. The wondrous gate is only an expedient means for guiding cultivation; do not cling to it or linger upon this gate.

Cast off every kind of doubt, and do not cling to the view of emptiness.

Thoroughly undo the net of doubt, and do not be bound by the notions of “being” or “non-being.” When the mind within is upright, one can long remain at ease, as though following a standard and stepping into the clouds.

Make pure and still the six faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—and cut off deviant views and obstructions.

When the six faculties are pure and still, one can function in accord with inherent nature. When inherent nature does not cling to external things, deviant obstructions have nowhere to arise.

Therefore I proclaim to you this wondrous scripture (jing), named Protecting Life (Huming).

What the wondrous scripture speaks of is unobstructed inherent nature; “wondrous scripture” is only a name set up for convenience. For this reason I proclaim it to living beings, teaching everyone to awaken to the principles within the scripture.

Saving and delivering living beings is like carrying it on one’s person and reverently upholding and offering it.

The One True (yizhen, the inherent nature that is real and not dual) can save all living beings, just as oars carry one across a swift current. True nature lies within oneself; do not seek it outside the body.

Transmit the teaching into the world, let it circulate widely, and recite the scripture.

Bring the principle of emptiness, nothingness, clarity, and stillness into the world and spread it abroad. Even if one recites the scripture ten thousand times, one must truly understand its meaning; once the meaning of the scripture is thoroughly penetrated, clarity comes of itself.

The scripture mentions the Divine King Who Flies through Heaven and the Vajra Who Breaks Deviance: the Divine King Who Flies through Heaven symbolizes true nature, which has no fixed place or quarter; true nature can break through external deviance and delusion and is firm and powerful, and so the vajra is used as a metaphor.

The Spirit Lad Who Protects the Teaching, the Perfected Who Saves from Suffering, the Fierce Beast of Metal Essence (Jing), and the like are also protective powers mentioned in the scripture. The Spirit Lad Who Protects the Teaching symbolizes correct nature; the concrete meanings of the Perfected Who Saves from Suffering and the Fierce Beast of Metal Essence are not further explained in this passage of the scripture.

The numinous child refers to a nature that is lucid, clear, and upright. When original nature has not been defiled, one is called a True Person. Mighty as a lion—though the names differ, in essence they all belong to one and the same Dharma-body (the shared fundamental substance).

Sentient beings numbering in the hundreds of billions all come to serve and uphold this Jing (scripture/classic).

The various heavens and the assemblies of sages can be said neither to be wholly the same nor to be entirely without relation to one another. Their nature does not rise and fall or shift with external conditions; only this is true service and true upholding.

Wherever offerings are made to this Jing, calamity can be warded off and the weak can be supported.

Whether speaking or silent, acting or at rest, not the slightest delusive thought arises. Forgetting the bodily form and returning to a state of elusive vagueness and empty clarity, even spirits and ghosts cannot glimpse it.

All sentient beings are delivered, so that they may leave behind every kind of defilement.

Deviant teachings are delivered by means of the correct teaching. Sentient beings are often one-sided in their attachment because of what they see. If one clings to the view that “there is nothing at all,” the field of the mind is defiled just the same.

At this, the Celestial Worthy spoke in verse:

The Celestial Worthy proclaimed the verse once more, pointing directly to the root of mind and nature and guiding the confused to return to the correct Dao (the Way).

All sentient beings are delivered, so that they may leave behind every kind of defilement.

Deviant teachings are delivered by means of the correct teaching. Sentient beings are often one-sided in their attachment because of what they see. If one clings to the view that “there is nothing at all,” the field of the mind is defiled just the same.

At this, the Celestial Worthy spoke in verse:

The Celestial Worthy proclaimed the verse once more, pointing directly to the root of mind and nature and guiding the confused back to the gate of liberation.

Look, and you do not see me; listen, and you do not hear my voice.

The Dao does not lie within seeing or hearing. If one seeks the Dao only by means of sight and hearing, doubt arises instead. When facing things and responding to circumstances, if one can keep the mind empty and free of attachment, one may then realize it.

To depart from the two extremes of every kind of one-sided clinging is called the wondrous Dao.

When doubt fills the mind, one rises and falls with every circumstance, and then, following those circumstances, one fixes upon mind and nature. The Dao is not something that can be deliberately fabricated and grasped as a substantial thing. Only by being able to leave behind every attachment to extremes can it be called the wondrous Dao.