《太上大道玉清经》Vol. 2

The Dao gives rise to primordial Qi (yuanqi); primordial Qi gives rise to Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), the undifferentiated, integrated source state before Yin-Yang divides; Taiji gives rise to heaven and earth; and heaven and earth in turn give rise to the myriad things. Good man, the wonder of the way of primordial Qi is exactly like this. Therefore the Great Dao has no name, and primordial Qi has no form. Precisely because it is nameless, it can accord with endless transformations, circulate, and generate the myriad things. All sentient and insentient beings are endowed by the Great Dao and come into being. If people cherish primordial Qi, they can endure long. Primordial Qi is Shen (spirit); when it joins with Qi, one can enter the formless realm and, in union with the Great Dao, become true.

Good man, the myriad kinds are all different, yet primordial Qi comes from one and the same source. It is like the great sea: its waters flow without exhaustion, available for people to take and use, for people to irrigate as they wish. The wise penetrate deeply into the principle of the formless and, in union with the Great Dao, become true. The wise dig channels and guide the water, and can irrigate without limit; the foolish take leaking vessels to rivers and seas to fetch water and obtain very little; and there are also blind people who cannot see the great sea at all, and so have no way to receive its moistening. Good man, you should understand: water’s nature is fundamentally still; the moisture it confers is deep or shallow according to circumstances. The way of primordial Qi is also like this, mysterious and inconceivable.

At that time, the great assembly present, hearing the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) expound, opened their minds and understood; all realized the subtle principle within the formless. Heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, celestial deities, earth deities (earth gods), and all creeping and moving creatures responded with one voice, like thunder, and praised the Dao in unison:

The Great Dao has neither birth nor extinction;

Primordial Qi never comes to final rest.

Those who lose it decay forever;

Those who attain it roam forever.

Looking down within the six directions,

Beings drift and sink in the stream of birth and death.

Looking up at those amid the rosy clouds,

They are serene and without sorrow.

When the praise was finished, in an instant, five-colored rosy clouds gathered in the sky a hundred zhang above the ground and naturally formed the “Cloud-Seal Eightfold Assembly Heavenly Script” (Yunzhuan Bahui Tianshu; mysterious writing formed from patterns of cloud Qi, “eightfold assembly” meaning convergence from the eight directions). Each character measured one zhang square, and rays of light radiated from its eight corners, brilliant and resplendent, illuminating the void throughout. The assembly looked up at the heavenly script, bowed reverently, and said in unison: “These are characters transformed by the Heavenly Worthy’s spontaneous true Qi in resonance with the primordial Qi of the True Child (the pure, original Qi of the source). We have only heard of the heavenly script and have never seen it with our own eyes; today we are fortunate to see it. We do not know whether we, who are defiled by worldly dust, may copy and recite the heavenly script.” The Heavenly Worthy replied: “This is produced by the Great Dao’s awe-inspiring divine power, responding to circumstances as they arise. If you wish to copy the true text and the Dragon Chapters and Phoenix Seals (mysterious Daoist talismanic writing), to make offerings and bow in worship, and to recite single-mindedly, you should first receive the precepts, cultivate virtuous conduct, and keep far from all dust and impurity. Only then may you write, uphold, and recite them, doing everything according to the precepts.” When the great assembly heard the Heavenly Worthy’s instruction, they were joyful and enthusiastic, faithfully accepted and put it into practice, and after bowing, departed.

Chapter Title: Skillful Means of Saving People in the Dragon Kalpa

“Dragon Kalpa” refers to a period of kalpa calamity, while “saving people by skillful means” means saving sentient beings through expedient and skillful methods.

Jinque Tianzun, the Heavenly Worthy of the Golden Citadel in the Jade Clarity Heaven (the principal deity of the Jade Clarity Heaven and one of the Three Pure Ones [Sanqing]), together with the great sages and countless sentient beings as numerous as fine dust, all harbor vast compassion. They are endowed with the six supernatural powers (the divine eye, divine ear, knowledge of others’ minds, recollection of past lives, supernatural feet, and exhaustion of outflows), respond freely to circumstances, possess unobstructed spiritual power, and endure forever without beginning or end. Their responsive resonance is subtle and refined, wondrously attuned to all things. They constantly manifest billions of forms from a single incarnation of the Dao, bestowing corresponding salvation according to the different kinds of sentient beings, and thus enable sentient beings to attain long life.

The latter passage restates the former: the Heavenly Worthy carries out salvation through the power of great compassion, and his spiritual power, responsive resonance, and methods of manifestation are the same as above.

At that time, the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun), with the power of the greatest compassion, constantly used “Dharma thunder” (the Dharma sound spoken of in Buddhism and Daoism, capable of awakening people’s hearts) to alert sentient beings and bring them to awakening. He also constantly covered sentient beings with cloud-like grace, so that they would not be lonely and helpless; moistened and universally benefited them with Dharma rain, so that they would no longer be parched and lacking; blew upon and stirred them with the breeze of compassion, so that they would establish the roots of faith; and shone upon them with the sun of wisdom, so that they would no longer be benighted and ignorant. He also opened broad ferry crossings with boats, rescued sentient beings, gathered and sustained the principles of their lives, carried them without limit, nurtured and sheltered them over the long term, and served as a guiding teacher for sentient beings. He earnestly taught them as parents treat their children, constantly keeping them in mind and letting them freely use treasures, without any stinginess in his heart.

Yet sentient beings did not understand these principles. Instead, they resented and blamed, deviated from the great Dao and corrupted De, eagerly promoted so-called “benevolence and righteousness,” and drifted and sank along with their own karmic force without knowing to turn back. They lost their way in deviant paths and did not walk the right road, each clinging to one-sided views, so that even the five viscera and six bowels were disturbed. They followed evil people and their companions, and the six sense faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) were disturbed by external things. Desire, like dust, obscured the mind, and afflictions and fixed obsessions grew day by day.

(The following passage repeats in the original, so it is interpreted together here.) Because of attachment to the “self,” they created the three kinds of karma (evil actions of body, speech, and mind). These karmas gradually increased until they committed the ten evils (ten grave evil deeds). Thereupon all blessings departed, and after death they fell into the Nine Dark Regions (Jiuyou, the deepest and darkest hells), enduring every kind of suffering. These sufferings all arise from affectionate attachment, yet sentient beings cannot understand this; truly they are pitiable. The Heavenly Worthy could not bear to abandon them, so again and again he earnestly taught, revealed, lifted, and guided them, so that they would not fall into deviant and crooked ways.

At that time, the Heavenly Worthy and all the great sages pitied and cared for sentient beings as a loving mother looks after her child. Even if the child travels far in all directions, the mother surely worries about him and waits for his return; as the child eats and dresses, the mother constantly protects him, and even after he grows up she still does not abandon or leave him. How much more for a young child: she nurses and nurtures him morning and evening, according to the seasons, responding to his wishes without ever failing.

At that time, six million years had already passed since the middle kalpa. Throughout all lands beneath the four quarters of heaven, the people’s blessings had run out, and heaven and earth were collapsing. Calamitous qi shrouded the sky; the sun and moon grew dim and lightless; the stars and constellations lost their regular courses; wind and rain no longer came on time. The earth shook, rivers and seas diminished, metals and stones were scorched dry, springs and sources were cut off, the ground cracked everywhere, mountains collapsed and rocks split, and ghosts and spirits wailed. Medicinal herbs ceased to grow, trees withered, and the five grains set no seed. Black winds overturned houses and swept up sand and stones; stones struck one another and sent out sparks, burning through forests and marshlands. There were also a hundred thousand evil ghosts, each leading countless millions of followers, rushing about the world, flames shooting from their mouths and poisonous qi issuing forth to blind people’s eyes. Birds fell from the sky, and livestock died of themselves. Four great pythons, each six million li in length, coiled around Mount Kunlun, their great mouths open toward the four directions. From their scales were born countless millions of small snakes that crawled in all directions; their poison was fierce, and anyone bitten rotted at once. This suffering lasted six hundred years, and sentient beings were oppressed beyond endurance.

At that time, the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) and great sages as numerous as motes of dust, at noon on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the first year of Xuanhua, a xinmao year, within the Cloud Palace of Jade Clarity Heaven (Yuqing), the highest of the Three Pure Ones’ (Sanqing) heavens, together emitted divine light that illuminated the lower world and the heavenly realms of the four quarters. These rays flowed and changed beyond counting, and within each ray appeared a realm of the Dao, vast and boundless. Sun, moon, stars and constellations, mountains and rivers, cities and towns, towers and palaces were all exquisitely magnificent. Around each city terrace were encircling pools, from which golden lotuses and jewel flowers surged forth. A gentle breeze stirred the flowers, releasing wondrous fragrance that filled all space. These flowers were extraordinarily tall and grand, born in the Jade Clarity Heaven. Within each flower floated a dragon-shaped jewel throne among the blossoms, likewise surrounded by pools. Upon each jewel throne, heavenly true great sages proclaimed the wondrous Dharma.

Around the jeweled pool of Jade Purity Heaven (Yuqing Tian) were rows upon rows of jeweled trees. Their branches hung down like strips of jade; their branches and leaves were emerald green and crystalline; their crowns spread like canopies and shaded the entire world. The trees bloomed with flowers of the seven treasures and put forth leaves of the seven treasures, gleaming at night with pearl-and-jade radiance. Gentle breezes often stirred the jeweled trees, and wondrous sounds came from among the leaves. From these sounds unfolded ethereal and natural Brahma chanting (pure and solemn recitation), intoning the “Chapter of Divine Treasure” and the “Essay on Returning the Soul,” used to harmonize the three Qi (vital energy) of heaven, earth, and humanity and to transform and generate the myriad things.

In the air congealed nine-colored radiance, forming jeweled canopies that filled the whole world. Beneath the palace terraces, seven streams of Qi floated in the air and supported the palace. In the void around the palace, music arose spontaneously—clear and bright, harmonious and elegant. On each terrace, Zhenren (Perfected) chanted the “Chapter on Condensing the Embryo and Blending Transformation,” causing the myriad things to grow, fill the world, and have disasters removed.

On the fifteenth day of the tenth month at noon, the Tianzun (Heavenly Worthy), accompanied by countless attendants, descended through the air from the Cloud Palace of Jade Purity Heaven, passed through the Four Heavens, and halted above the morning star. The Northern Dipper at the center transformed into a jeweled carriage, bearing the Tianzun’s feet: the Eastern Dipper supported him on the left and the Western Dipper on the right; the Northern Dipper formed a canopy, and the Southern Dipper a small stool. The sun stood in attendance on the left and the moon on the right. The ornate canopy cast down shade; fragrant clouds spread through the four directions; divine wind harmonized the void; sweet dew flowed and moistened. Heaven and earth each returned to their places; mountains rose again; rivers surged; the sea of suffering turned clear; the Qi of the four seasons was harmonized; and the three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—all shone together. Withered bones became immortals again; those who received the teaching were reborn; the five grains were abundant; and the world was at peace. Demons lost their Jing (essence) and Qi; the True Dao prevailed; all inauspicious beings became good; and humans and Shen (spirit) alike maintained purity. This vast and boundless teaching-transformation is difficult to describe in words.

At that time, the kings, princes, ministers, consorts, and queens under the Four Heavens, along with officials of every rank and countless men and women—whether human or nonhuman, such as ghosts, spirits, and numinous beings—each gazed upward into the distant, mysterious reaches of the sky. From afar they saw the true body and countenance of the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun, the supreme deity of Daoism), radiant with shining light, his spirit clear and bright, his glory brilliant, his venerable face and awe-inspiring dignity manifest. Jeweled canopies spread across the sky, long banners streamed in the wind, smoke rose from dragon-patterned incense burners, wondrous fragrance curled upward, all things sang in unison, and celestial music sounded together. All prayed that sentient beings might deeply recognize their own karmic conditions—the causes planted and fruits received in past and present lives.

When the multitude witnessed this extraordinary and supremely wondrous sight, shame arose in their hearts. They wished to bow in worship and give thanks, but feared that the road was too far and their intentions might not reach above. So they made vows in secret, earnestly beseeching the supremely honored Great Sage to ride a cloud chariot and descend into this impure mortal world. Each returned to their dwelling, directed their hearts upward, bowed their heads in homage, and made vows with utmost sincerity, until their foreheads were bloodied and blood covered the ground. For nine days and nine nights they burned incense and scattered flowers, their vows and aspirations unceasing. Everyone grew weary and exhausted, their spirits dazed as if dreaming, yet despite the extreme hardship they did not slacken at all.

Moved by their sincerity, the Heavenly Worthy emanated hundreds of billions of transformation bodies above, all seated upright on cloud-dragon thrones. Each person saw one transformation body appear before them, expounding the wondrous Dharma according to their kind and language, so that everyone gained some understanding. The people under the Four Heavens all attained the same understanding, without difference.

At that moment, the human kings of the Four Heavens, in an instant, all heard the Heavenly Worthy speak subtle and wondrous meanings of the Dharma within their own hearts. Their bodies and minds were delighted, happy and at peace. Though they rejoiced and felt fortunate, they still could not fully understand. So each bowed and asked the Heavenly Worthy about the causes and origins of the Dharma sound in their hearts, saying: “We people have met with the celebration of Great Peace and have been permitted to see the Heavenly Worthy descend into the human world and bestow the wondrous Dharma upon us. Having received the deep grace and abundant blessings of the compassionate Worthy, we feel deeply ashamed and do not know how to repay it. Again we hear Dharma sounds arise within our hearts, and our bodies and minds are at ease, joyful and peaceful. We do not know what causes and conditions this comes from.”

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) replied to the king of the human realm: “Well said! Good sons, you should understand that the awe-inspiring spiritual power of the unsurpassed Great Dao is inconceivable and omnipresent. How could it be limited to the echoes of Dharma sounds within the mind? Every joint and every pore of the body, even a mote of dust in heaven and on earth, is filled with the breath of the Dao.

As kings of the human realm, you should feel profound shame and constantly keep the meaning of the Dharma in your hearts, always examining yourselves: removing false views, removing distracting thoughts, removing impatience and greedy seeking. Bathe yourselves in the Great Dao and wash away the burdens and defilements of the world. Always practice great compassion, reverently make offerings to the unsurpassed Great Dao, uphold the precepts, practice giving widely, endure humiliation, and cultivate diligently. When afflictions and defilements are completely removed, the wondrous light of Dao-nature will naturally appear among people.

At that time, all the kings beneath the four heavens and their subjects simultaneously saw the Heavenly Worthy earnestly instructing them. After a long while, they gathered their thoughts, and body and mind became settled and still. In an instant, everyone saw the Great Compassion Heavenly Worthy (Dabei Tianzun) and all the holy assembly simultaneously raise within their minds countless billions of banners and canopies (flags and parasols in ceremonial processions, symbols of nobility and protection), which serenely welled forth from their minds, joints, pores, and skin—tall and broad, filling the entire world.

The Great Compassion Heavenly Worthy then used these banners and canopies to guide beings to Mount Kunlun (a sacred mountain in Daoist legend) within the four heavens, where they paused in the void ten thousand ren above the ground, yet their forms could become small enough to fit within a single hair, and they sat upright together with the great assembly. For nine days and nine nights, divine light shone brilliantly and illuminated the void, and with a voice as mighty as thunder he proclaimed the wondrous Dharma. Its sound spread far, reaching the ten directions (the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, and above and below—that is, the entire universe).

The Heavenly Worthy universally addressed all beings and spoke a verse: “The Great Dao always harbors compassion and takes pity on all beings. The supreme Dharma universally opens and transforms; whether one has already cultivated or not yet cultivated, all receive benefit. I am fundamentally without mind and without form; relying on the movement of the Dao, I establish the shapes and names of the myriad things.”

At this time I leave it to you to ask questions, and I will answer immediately according to your thoughts. The provisional (the methods established as skillful means) and the real (the ultimate and true principle) are fundamentally not two; both arise from the same true Jing (essence) of mysterious quiescence. Primordial Qi spreads widely, and both sentient beings and insentient things receive its nourishment.

When the Greatly Compassionate Honored One (the honored deity who saves beings through compassion) had finished speaking these words, he and the great assembly beneath his seat sat silently upright.

At that time, the celestial lords (the divine beings of the heavenly realm) in the Heaven of Initial Azure in the East, led by the Heavenly Lord Wuyi (No-Intent), led their retainers, nine hundred million in all, as numerous as the dust motes of the great earth. To hear the wondrous teaching, they brought treasures and offering implements of the azure heaven, burned incense and scattered flowers, performed celestial music and dance, and came riding celestial palaces and pavilions. They raised high azure jie (ceremonial staffs), azure banners, azure pennants, azure canopies, and seats of azure clouds (all celestial insignia, symbolizing nobility and protection); their seats rose high to the summit of heaven, their flowered canopies covering the boundless sky, as they arrived through the air. By the majestic power of the Dao, their forms could actually enter within the tip of a most subtle hair. Then they circumambulated and praised him, bowed and offered greetings, displayed celestial offering implements, and then withdrew to sit facing east, solemn and dignified, still and motionless.

The various Heavenly Princes within the Southern Cinnabar Heaven, led by Yanguang Tianzi (Flame-Light Heavenly Prince), came to hear the teaching with a retinue of eight hundred million—numerous as motes of dust upon the earth. Carrying treasures and offering vessels of the Cinnabar Heaven, they burned incense, scattered flowers, and played heavenly music; riding upon celestial palaces and pavilions, they raised cinnabar-red ceremonial banners and streamers, jeweled canopies, and seats of radiant cloud, arriving through the air. By the divine power of the Dao, they contracted their bodies into a tiny hair-tip (an extremely minute space), surrounded the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun; the Supreme Deity, an honorific for the Dao), praised and extolled him, bowed in greeting, set out their solemn processions and offerings, and then withdrew to the south, sitting upright and composed.

Next, the various Heavenly Princes within the Western White Heaven, led by Suzhen Tianzi (Pure-True Heavenly Prince), brought a retinue of six hundred million and likewise carried treasures and offering vessels of the White Heaven. They burned incense and played music, rode upon celestial palaces, and came through the air bearing pure-white ceremonial banners, pennants, streamers, canopies, and cloud seats. By the compassionate power of the Dao, they too entered within the tiny hair-tip, surrounded the Heavenly Worthy in praise, bowed and made offerings, and then withdrew to the west, sitting upright and motionless.

Then the various Heavenly Princes within the Northern Dark Heaven, led by Minghui Tianzi (Profound-Wisdom Heavenly Prince), brought a retinue of five hundred million and carried treasures and offering vessels of the Dark Heaven. They likewise burned incense and played music, rode upon celestial palaces, and came through the air holding dark-colored ceremonial banners, pennants, streamers, canopies, and cloud seats. By the power of the Dao’s compassion they entered within the tiny hair-tip, praised and venerated the Heavenly Worthy, and then withdrew to sit in the north, peaceful and motionless.

At this time, the great deities of the eight seas and the dragon kings and water emperors also came to hear the teaching. Riding towering waves, they arrived through the air by the divine power of the Dao and halted around the tip of the hair like enormous clouds.

Next came the Five Emperors (the celestial emperors of the five directions), the Earth Deities (gods of the earthly realm) and their retinues, together with five trillion worlds as numerous as motes of dust upon the earth. Each world was complete with mountains and hills, rivers and seas, lands, and peoples. By the awe-inspiring power of the Dao, they came to hear the teaching and gathered at the assembly of the teaching, halting outside the tiny hair-tip; together with the divine kings of the eight seas, they stood in the void, clear, calm, and motionless.

Then the Great Sage of the Central Heaven, the Yuanhuang Dao Lord, the Void Heavenly Worthy, together with countless billions of great sages from the ten directions, came to the assembly above the yellow clouds in the sky. This assembly was situated more than five hundred ren (an ancient unit of length, about seven or eight chi) above the tiny hair-tip. When the displays from all directions were fully arranged, the Dao Lord at the center summoned the divine wind, roused the heavenly sounds, and expounded ethereal, profound words and the Numinous Stanzas of Pacing the Void (a laudatory chant in Daoist Zhaijiao purification rituals, with a melody like pacing through the void). The assembled perfected beings responded with thirty-seven thousand kinds of melodic sections, and the chanting continued for ninety-nine days before it concluded.

At that time, the Great Compassionate Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) of Jade Clarity (Yuqing), within a single fine hair, commanded the immortals of Taiwei Heaven to wield the “Returning the Soul and Brushing Away Demons” chapter—a wondrous ritual method capable of dissolving demonic obstructions and harmonizing Yin-Yang—and to perform sixty-four thousand eight hundred and forty-two qì of the “Melody of Yin Birth” (qì may be understood as sections of a musical piece). After regulating them in this way for eighty-eight days, all the various sounds finally ceased completely. By this time, the Heavenly Worthy had completed two matters and handled them with meticulous thoroughness; then he sat silently with the assembled sages.

At this moment, the great deities of the Eight Seas, the Five Emperors, and the earth deities (dizhi, gods of the earth) gave rise to doubt in their minds and could not produce a heart of faith. The Heavenly Worthy knew their doubts and, by the power of compassion, caused the earth and the seawater to overturn one another upward and downward, back and forth seven times. He then caused the earth to tremble and split open, shatter into fine dust, and in an instant gather again into a single mustard seed. Next he caused the waves of the Eight Seas to scatter in all directions and suddenly dry up, so that the deities of the water palaces and the fish and dragons all revealed their forms. After a moment, the Heavenly Worthy gathered the Eight Seas into a single drop of water the size of a needle tip and blew it into the air. In the blink of an eye, everything returned to its original state.

The earth deities and the great deities of the Eight Seas, witnessing such power and transformation at will, were all stunned and lost their composure. Though they relied on Dao power, they still could not discern the nature and appearance of all dharmas. What was the reason? Because earth and water belong to Yin, and their divine minds were not sufficiently numinous and bright; therefore they could not comprehend.

After a long while, their divine minds slightly awakened. Thereupon, beyond the tip of that hair, they bowed toward the north in repentance, blaming their own faults. They prostrated themselves with all five limbs to the ground, like a collapsing mountain, their whole bodies nearly streaming blood, and they wept sorrowfully for a long time. Then the earth deities said before the Heavenly Worthy: “We, your servants, have divine minds that are not wise enough, and so we could not comprehend. After a long while, our divine minds have slightly awakened…”

At that, the Earth Deities (the spirits who govern the earth) spoke thus before the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun): “I, your servant, was born amid the hidden darkness of the obscure realm, and my duty is to govern the earth. Though I command the Nine Provinces, I have never dared to slacken for a single moment. By means of the righteous Qi (vital energy) of the Great Dao (the Way), I transform, generate, nurture, and sustain the myriad beings; I support the good and promote moral teaching, yet never dare to claim merit for myself. Only because the various impurities of the dusty world obscure me have I failed to penetrate the Great Dao. I only wish that the Heavenly Worthy, in great compassion, take pity on me.” Having spoken, he wept uncontrollably and could not restrain himself.

Next came the great gods of the eight seas, the retinues of the dragon kings, and aquatic beings of countless kinds. Among them, the Lizhu Dragon King (named for the precious pearl said to lie beneath a dragon’s chin) was by nature the most clever and quick, and was the foremost lead chanter among all the water deities. Treading the waves, he came forth and reported to the Heavenly Worthy: “I, your servant, have been fortunate enough to govern the water palaces, save boats and ships, moisten and nourish all living beings below, assist the Great Dao, promote teaching, and wash away filth. Though I have some small merit, in my heart I do not dare to rely on it. But day and night I am sunk amid the waves; my body is coarse, large, and heavy, so I cannot rise lightly, and turbid Qi follows me. Because my experience and understanding are narrow and shallow, I have been unable to glimpse the mysterious, wondrous, refined, and subtle realm. For many years I have looked up toward the Supreme Venerable One. Now, relying on the divine power of the Great Dao, I have come to assemble, hoping to hear the Great Dharma, yet I can only remain outside the most minute and subtle boundary and may not enter. My heart is isolated and doubtful, and I cannot decide. I only wish that the Heavenly Worthy, through great compassion and great pity, grant me guidance and receive me, so that I may enter the subtle and wondrous realm.”

After speaking, he reproached himself; the waters surged and the waves billowed to the sky, and sounds of grief and sighing rose like boiling water, while cries of mourning were piercing and sorrowful. In an instant, all rivers, lakes, and seas churned like boiling blood. The Five Thearchs and Earth Deities therefore shook the earth and shared their grief and suffering. Metal and stone wept for them; plants and trees were shrouded in mist; springs flowed backward; the earth gave forth a rumbling sound like thunder. Beings beneath the earth trembled in their minds and did not dare blink; birds fell from the sky, and beasts collapsed against one another. The Five Thearchs and Earth Deities bled from both eyes, and the blood sprinkled over the whole earth. The earth, rivers, and seas all at once turned crimson, like cinnabar-red clouds. Only after a full eight months did the color begin to fade.

The lands of the Five Directional Heavenly Emperors seemed as if both eyes were bleeding, and blood splattered across the whole earth. The earth, rivers, and oceans all at once turned red, like cinnabar clouds; only after eight months did the color begin to change.

At this time, there were also great divine kings—heaven deities, earth deities, lightning deities, thunder deities, and wind deities—who, in order to come and hear the Dharma, drove wind and thunder. The thunder pealed and crashed, shaking hard objects, startling deeply hidden insects, uprooting grasses and trees, scattering dust, and gathering from the four directions to halt in the air.

At this time, the various divine kings within the earth also came: the king of great mountains, the king of fragrant trees, the king of divine medicinal herbs, the king of fish, the king of turtles, the king of birds, the king of horses, the king of oxen, the king of lions, the king of wind-beasts, the king of fierce beasts, as well as heavenly lin-beasts, heavenly birds, heavenly horses, heavenly deer, and so on. These kings all followed the earth to the site of the Dharma assembly. Although they could hear the scripture and Dharma, they could not open their mouths to express themselves. Seeing the deities’ vital spirits wailing in grief and distress, they too wailed without cease, blood flowing from their eyes; one after another they fell prostrate on the ground and could not rise.

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun, the supreme deity of Daoism, namely Taishang Daojun), taking pity on these divine spirits—sunk in stagnation and defilement, unable to hear the true Dao, and suffering so bitterly—told them in a voice as loud as thunder: “Good, good! You should now know the place of this Dharma assembly, as well as its original cause and conditions.” The scripture says: six million years after the Dragon Kalpa (Longzhong jie), the blessed fortune of heaven and earth was exhausted and disasters arose. The Heavenly Worthy could not bear to see this, so together with the great sages he descended to the four continents, guarding and stabilizing the kalpa, causing the myriad things to be transformed and born anew and all conditions to arise anew, according with the movement of Qi and universally saving living beings; therefore he came here and assembled. By his sovereign spiritual power, the Heavenly Worthy caused the deities to come.

The Heavenly Worthy continued: You should know that the great assembly of this Dharma gathering are all beings from the boundless Dao-realms of the ten directions’ heavens and earths; even if they all entered a single hair, they would not feel crowded. But you deities can be contained only within five trillion worlds as numerous as the dust motes of the great earth, together with the eight great oceans—so why do you still complain that there are too many? You suspect that a single hair cannot contain them because your divine spirits are turbid and evil, you hold wrong views, your minds are narrow, and you have not deeply believed in the awe-inspiring spiritual power of the unsurpassed Great Dao. If you wish to enter this hair, you should remove distracting thoughts, afflictions, love and attachment, greed, hatred, delusion, and other inverted wrong views, all kinds of doubts, and the obscurations of dust and toil; cut off the habitual tendencies of every kind of clinging—only then can you enter this wondrous Dharma assembly.

The Heavenly Worthy, by the power of skillful means, subdued the assembled gods and spirits and told them: Your karmic offenses are deep and heavy; you are turbid, evil, defiled, and obstructed, and still cannot enter this subtle Dharma assembly. You should reflect on being far from dust and defilement, reform your faults and turn toward goodness, and come to see me in the future.

When the Heavenly Worthy had spoken these words, he manifested from the cloud gate on the eastern side of the hair-tip. With his left hand he gathered up the entire earth together with the waters of the sea, kneaded them into a mustard-seed-sized pellet, and tossed it into the void above; after eighty thousand great kalpas, it remained serene and unmoving.

During this time, the Heavenly Worthy remained within the hair-tip and expounded the subtle Dharma for the great assembly, teaching for eighty thousand kalpas before concluding. Then he retrieved that mustard seed from the void above, placed it at the hair-tip, and restored the earth and seas to their original state. The earth deities, water gods, human kings, common people, and all sentient beings none noticed this.

Seeing that the assembled deities had still not awakened in their minds, the Heavenly Worthy manifested a gigantic Dharma body filling the void and slowly emerged from the left side of the hair-tip. With the point of a needle he lifted the earth and seas, drew them into the hair-tip, and placed them in the mysterious void of the north. This was like a mote of dust falling into vast space, without any hindrance.

At that moment, the dragon gods of the eight seas and the earth deities of various regions entered the hair-tip and circumambulated the Heavenly Worthy. Even exhausting kalpas, they could not complete the circuit; even flying, they could not go all around it. Only then did the assembled deities awaken, marveling that such a thing had never occurred.

(Note: “Hair” here refers to the hair-tip where the Heavenly Worthy resides, a subtle space within the extremely minute; “great kalpa” is an extremely long unit of time in Daoism; “earth deities” refers to deities of the earthly realm, and “dragon gods of the eight seas” refers to dragon deities governing the oceans of the eight directions.)

Within this great earth, kings, subjects, and various kinds of foreign beings who enter here from beneath the ground all fail to notice it, nor do they leave any trace of coming or going. Yet within this single hair is contained a boundless Dao realm (the state realized by cultivators, the place where the Dao manifests), one Dao realm linked to the next. In each Dao realm are heaven and earth, sun and moon, mountains and rivers, seas and oceans, lands and peoples, numbering in the hundreds of millions; altogether there are thirty-six thousand kinds of “heavenly species-natures” (referring to the types and inherent natures of the various beings of the heavenly realms).

At that time, among twelve thousand people from “Zhonglang” (a designation for a stage of cultivation, referring to cultivators of medium capacity), there was an elder of advanced years and great virtue named Huiming (meaning a cultivator whose life is wisdom). He and the others witnessed such wondrous power and were perplexed and full of doubt. Supporting and guiding one another, they came to the place of the Dharma assembly where the Dao was being expounded, paid respects with reverence, and reported to the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun): “We do not understand: when the Heavenly Worthy first descended from the heavens, in the palaces, city terraces, and lofty pavilions, and within the lotus, the Heavenly Worthy Great Sage and those who first heard the Great Dao—within their bodies and minds each had a Heavenly Worthy expounding the wondrous Dharma, and compassionate Heavenly Worthies calmly emerged from their hearts, surrounded by jeweled trees, with heavenly music spontaneously playing. And within this single hair, lands and cities, banners, standards, and jeweled parasols were everywhere sublime, with all kinds of transformations—so extraordinary. May we ask whether these things are eternal and unchanging, or are they impermanent and subject to change?”

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) replied: “Very good, very good! Good man, listen carefully, and I will explain it for you. I have descended from heaven to the mortal realm, responding to all kinds of transformations and revealing seven subtle matters. You should know that the Supreme Great Dao constantly uses the ‘Seven Awakening Sacred Path’—the seven sacred ways that awaken people—to instruct the world below, conforming to the seven subtle Qi of nature in order to accomplish the method of seven transformations. Because the capacities of people in the world are limited, the Great Dao borrows names and numbers to respond; the names and numbers it speaks of all accord with the subtle principles of nature.

Good man, this exquisite principle you ask about—is it permanent or impermanent? You should know that the Dharma of the Great Dao is without birth and without extinction; how can one ask of it in terms of ‘permanent’ and ‘not permanent’?

Good man, the divine power of the Great Dao transforms all things, is present everywhere, adapts to all, and responds to all. Its true transformations are inexhaustible: it gathers the mind and spirit, deeply plants the roots, bends down in compassion for sentient beings, and responsively manifests palaces and various other scenes. These minor causes and conditions are not worth doubting. If it wishes for existence, there is existence; if it wishes for nonexistence, there is nonexistence; if it wishes for permanence, there is permanence; if it wishes for cessation, there is cessation. When it operates through the divine power of the Dao, there is no obstruction at all.

You also ask: the Heavenly Worthy within the lotus—is it the vast diffusion of my true Qi, or is it my own manifestation and not that of another sage? You also ask: when a person first hears the Great Dao, subtle Dharma sounds issue forth from within body and mind—is this what is meant by ‘the human king who first hears the Dao’ (meaning the first person to awaken to the Great Dao)? Such a person has deep faith without doubt, cultivates to mastery, and is not burdened by various thoughts of deliberate action. This body is the Dharma body (fashen), the true body united with the Great Dao; all the bones and joints of the whole body and the nine orifices receive the Qi of the Dao, and this person’s body is no different from the Great Dao. The people in the Dharma assembly are likewise; therefore the Great Dao, in its compassion, can illumine the Dao-nature within them.

Good man, you also have doubts about the various wondrous things in this subtle Dharma assembly. You should understand that the Great Dao, even within a tiny hair’s tip, is no different from all things. The people in the Dharma assembly are likewise; therefore the Great Dao, in its compassion, illumines what is within their bodies.”

You must understand that my Great Dao, even within a single hair, can become a complete Dao-realm—the realm in which the Great Dao manifests. One Dao-realm can in turn transform into immeasurable Dao-realms, while the Dao-realm itself is eternal and unchanging.

Why is this said? Ordinary people, who have not yet cultivated the Dao, see things arise and cease and change, and so they call them “impermanent.” Only the Great Sage who has attained the eternal Dao calls it “eternal.” The reason is that ordinary people’s lifespans are of uncertain length; viewing things through such uncertainty, they suppose that the Great Dao, too, is not eternal. The Great Sage who has attained the eternal Dao, by contrast, exists long and continuously, without interruption, and has a thorough understanding of the eternal Dao.

Good man, you should know that if the eternal Dao were taught directly to ordinary people, doubt would arise in their minds, producing inverted false views and thereby increasing unwholesome thoughts. Therefore the Great Dao must adapt to conditions and match capacities—that is, respond to each person’s karmic conditions and, discerning the person’s faculties, teach accordingly and transform them according to their capacity.

Why must it be so? Because ordinary people in the lower realm are all different, and their minds and natures also differ. Those of superior capacity, upon hearing the Great Dao, devote themselves single-mindedly to practice and can attain the True Immortal and never retreat; only then can one speak to them of the principle of the “eternal.” Those of middling capacity have faith that is not yet pure, and their thoughts rise and fall from time to time, so sometimes one speaks of the eternal and sometimes of the impermanent. Those of inferior capacity, upon hearing it, give rise to slander, and so one can only speak to them of the “impermanent,” and what is shown to them is also this principle.

In the subtle Dharma assembly, the teachings spoken by the Heavenly True Great Sage are sometimes called eternal and sometimes called impermanent, depending on the capacities of the listeners. In this assembly, when he teaches various demons, ghosts, and spirits as well as all kinds of mixed sentient beings, he calls it impermanent. Good man, it is the same even at the tip of a tiny hair.

Ordinary people cannot see the eternal Dao and do not penetrate the subtle principle; therefore they cannot reach the subtle true limit. Even if, by the power of Dao, they temporarily enter a state of diligent practice, they still fear that later they will fall away and degenerate, and so it is still called impermanent. Tianzun, the Heavenly Worthy, and the Great Sage have minds without attachment or bondage; they can emerge from emptiness and enter nonbeing, coming and going freely, without ever being obstructed. Therefore it is called eternal.

Good man, the power of the wondrous Dao is inconceivable. Precisely because it is inconceivable, it can cause all the myriad things throughout the heavens and earth of the ten directions to enter into this single hair, and within that hair there is no sense of narrowness or crowding. Good man, if the unsurpassed power of Dao could be measured by ordinary understanding, then the myriad things of heaven and earth could not enter this subtle Dharma assembly.

Good men, you should know that all who can enter this assembly of my holy multitudes dwell in inconceivable knowledge and vision of liberation; therefore, even within a hairsbreadth, they do not feel confined. Good men, if the power of the supreme Great Dao could be fathomed by ordinary worldly reasoning, then the myriad things between heaven and earth could not enter this subtle Dharma assembly.

To enter this assembly is not by entering with the body, nor by entering with the mind; it is not by bodily fabrication, nor by mental fabrication, nor by reasoning and analysis. It is only by directly relying on the compassion and forbearance of the Great Dao that one can enter this Dharma assembly within a hairsbreadth.

At that time, Elder Huiming (the name of a cultivator, meaning a senior of wisdom and long life), together with his retinue of twelve thousand and with believers as numerous as fine dust, heard the Heavenly Worthy explain these principles. Their minds opened suddenly, and they grasped the meaning. Thereupon they bowed again to thank the Heavenly Worthy and spoke in verses:

I bow my head to the Venerable of Hidden Wisdom and Vacuity,
I bow my head and take refuge in the Lord of Double Mystery.

You fashion and complete heaven and earth; no designation can match you.
For all beings you become reliance and protection.

With compassion you rescue the souls revolving in the five destinies;
With pity you save the suffering of the three wretched paths and hell.

I take refuge in the Venerable in the Golden Palace in Heaven,
I take refuge in the compassionate father of the Six Perfections.

I take refuge in the supreme Perfected of Yuqing (Jade Clarity),
Who departs from birth and death and endures forever.

Emerging from existence and entering vacuity, depending on nothing,
You can turn the withered and decayed into immortals.

Hard to meet even once in a thousand or ten thousand kalpas;
For beings you broadly expound the causes and conditions of karma.

You restore bones and raise the dead to everlasting life,
So that my form and spirit undergo no change.

In plain paraphrase: I bow to the Heavenly Worthy of profound wisdom and supreme vacuity, and I take refuge in the Lord of the realm of Double Mystery. Heaven and earth are both ordered and completed by you; nothing can compare with you. You are reliance and shelter for all beings. With compassion you rescue souls revolving in the five destinies (the realms of rebirth such as gods, humans, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, or hell beings), and with pity you save the suffering of the three wretched paths (the three evil destinies of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals). I take refuge in the Venerable in the Golden Palace in Heaven, and I take refuge in the compassionate father of the Six Perfections (the six practices of giving, precepts, forbearance, diligence, meditation, and wisdom). I take refuge in the supreme Perfected One of the Yuqing realm, who causes beings to escape birth-and-death and rebirth and to abide long. You can cause people to leave the realm of conditioned action and enter the domain of vacuity, without relying on external things, and make withered, decayed bodies into immortals. Rare to encounter once in a thousand or ten thousand kalpas, you broadly expound for beings the principles of karmic causes and conditions. You can restore withered bones to life, raise the dead again, and make them endure forever, so that my form and spirit undergo no change.

After Elder Huiming finished the verses, he prostrated himself with the five limbs touching the ground, bowed in gratitude to the Heavenly Worthy, and asked: Since the Heavenly Worthy attained the Dao, how many kalpas have passed? What merit did you cultivate to become so exalted? What karmic conditions did you cultivate to attain deathlessness? And by what merit do you rescue the suffering of hell?

(Kalpa: in Buddhism and Daoism, a unit for calculating extremely long periods of time. Yuqing: one of the Daoist Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the highest immortal realm.)

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) replied: Since I attained the Dao (the Way), the kalpas I have passed through are as numerous as motes of dust in the ten directions of heaven and earth; they cannot be calculated, and like the void they are immeasurable. Good man, I cultivate great compassion and great mercy, make vows to save living beings, and constantly treat others with gentleness, forbearance, and impartiality; therefore I can long endure without dying, and I constantly use the six perfections (the six Buddhist practices: giving, observing precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom; borrowed here) to relieve beings in hell. Although I have already attained the Dao, I still do not depart from compassion and patience—how much more so ordinary people?

When Elder Huiming, together with his family and followers—twelve thousand people of various kinds—heard these words, they rejoiced and celebrated, bowed repeatedly, and performed obeisance to the Heavenly Worthy with their foreheads to the ground, saying: “Because of deep blessings from former lives, we have been born in the age of the Heavenly Worthy’s teaching and have been able to see the Compassionate Worthy with our own eyes and hear the wondrous Dharma with our own ears. We are foolish and benighted, and when receiving the secret essentials we often forget much, yet our hearts are directed toward the Dao and De (Virtue/Power). We only fear that our bodies will decay and cannot remain long; we constantly worry that once we die like ants, our bodies will enter the long night, we will have no chance to see the Dao, and having lost the root of nature and life, we will wander through ten thousand kalpas. Fortunately we have met the exalted sage; we wish to receive salvation and beg to be granted the Dao of long life and enduring vision (long survival and preservation of vitality). We only pray that the Compassionate Worthy grant us a path to life.” Having said this, they prostrated themselves with all five limbs on the ground, beat their heads and wept bitterly, until their whole bodies bled. The Heavenly Worthy remained silent and did not consent. Then these twelve thousand people of various kinds, as numerous as motes of dust, were so grieved that they fainted and fell to the ground. The Heavenly Worthy pitied them and earnestly rose in person to support and guide them; only after a long while did they revive.

The Heavenly Worthy told them: “In past kalpas you once made offerings to the true immortals of the Void and Nonbeing and to the honored deities of the Dao and De; therefore blessings and good fortune have continued into this life, and your names have already been entered in the left contract (in ancient contracts there were left and right halves; the left half served as the credential, here meaning that your names are already registered and you have a karmic connection with the Dao). Moreover, my Dharma assembly has descended to the lower world to teach in generation after generation and kalpa after kalpa; it is precisely causes and conditions that have brought you to meet me. You should cultivate single-mindedly, remove distracting thoughts and burdens, reflect on your faults, and observe fasting and purification in repentance. Come back after three months, and I will transmit to you the essential instructions of the true Dao for long life.”

The people were joyful and leaped with delight. After thanking the Heavenly Worthy with rites, they each returned home, washed away worldly defilements, and became pure within and without. When the three-month period was complete, each brought incense, flowers, and offerings and came to the assembly place. At that time in the Dharma assembly, countless kings, princes, subjects, and men and women from worlds as numerous as motes of dust heard that Elder Huiming was about to request the essentials of the Dao; with one voice they addressed the Heavenly Worthy and prepared to present verses of praise.

After the great assembly had recited this hymn together, they all prostrated themselves on the ground and requested to receive deliverance. In the unseen depths there is originally no partiality; responses come solely according to the causal conditions of each person’s cultivation. May the Dao of long life be sown in the field of my heart. May the clear-source water of the Six Perfections (the six Buddhist practices leading to the other shore, here used to refer to the meritorious foundation of cultivation) flow vast and boundless.

When the Great Demons of the Five Emperors (Wudi Damo; demon-kings incarnated from the five directional emperors, who specifically test cultivators) saw the assembled crowd prostrate themselves and request the teaching, each had string music and drumming performed, and only after a long while did it stop.

Hymn of the Great Demon of the Green Emperor (Qingdi): Cultivating the Dao requires accumulating meritorious practice; the entrance tests are administered by heavenly demons. Do not let yourself have any deficiency or transgression, otherwise my singing in the sky will be utterly in vain. Once I take in your bodily form, who can do anything to me? First you must cut off desire and go deep into the famous mountains to wash and purify your body. Do not sink into the dusty world and hastily chase after the waves of worldly custom.

Hymn of the Demon King of the Red Emperor (Chidi): The palace of flames reflects upon the cinnabar sky, and the qi of light floats. Wicked winds stir up turbid dust, in chaotic profusion long without cease. The realm under my dominion is difficult to deliver; wishing to leave, I hesitate and linger. Merit and fault are naturally distinct; it is not that the Demon King comes to force the matter.

Hymn of the Demon King of the White Emperor (Baidi): The silver palace towers within the Great Void, and the round luminous net shines with the glow of night. Repeatedly reciting the numinous chapters, wandering souls return with the qi. If one turns away from the Great Dao and falls into the dark underworld, bitter fog will long pervade. Love and affection wear away the spirit, and the stagnant body despairs, unable to ascend. My realm is unwilling to be delivered, causing the Demon King to grieve in the sky.

Hymn of the Demon King of the Black Emperor (Heidi): With mysterious and wondrous nourishment one nurtures the beautiful jade root; with jade liquid one cultivates the rite of truth. The setting sun turns back to Fusang, and form and spirit then long endure without decline. Why betray the Dao and De, so that the rotting body constantly harbors bitterness? Within the Six Heavens, who still wishes to preserve himself? In the end there is despair, and one cannot ascend. My realm is unwilling to be delivered, causing the Demon King to grieve in the sky.

Hymn of the Demon King of the Black Emperor (another version): The wording is the same as the preceding hymn, except that the last line reads “Lin’an fan geng wei,” meaning that to be in a place of safety is instead more dangerous.

Demon King of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi): Here only the introductory phrase that leads into the hymn is found.

The Cloud Palace, deep and exquisite, emerges from the cinnabar sky;

A floating canopy flies through the air toward the first dawn of heaven.

(This is the opening of a hymn, describing the descent of a celestial realm.) The Cloud Palace is a palace in the heavens; “deep and exquisite” describes its remote and lovely profundity; the cinnabar sky is the high crimson heaven. The whole line says that the deep and wondrous palace in the clouds descends from the red sky, like a floating canopy rising into the newly born morning qi of the heavenly realm.

Secretly attuned to the spiritual source, one raises the Six Qi (Liuqi);

Within the void, the True Sovereign naturally comes to summon one.

“Secretly attuned to the spiritual source” means secretly corresponding with the wondrous source of heaven and earth; the Six Qi are the six kinds of primordial qi between heaven and earth, which Daoism often takes as objects of cultivation. “Within the void, the True Sovereign” means the true divine ruler within emptiness. These two lines say: by secretly joining with the spiritual source, one can cause the Six Qi to rise; within the void, the True Sovereign will naturally come to summon one.

Dense and rich, the heavenly thoroughfare is fogged with purple mist;

Numerous and swirling, rosy clouds rise like whirlwinds on the mysterious road.

“Dense and rich” describes a lush, heavy appearance; the heavenly thoroughfare is the great road of heaven; “fog” is mist; “numerous and swirling” describes an abundant and bustling appearance; the mysterious road is the remote path leading to the immortal realm; “rosy clouds like whirlwinds” refers to colored clouds rising like whirlwinds. The whole passage depicts purple mist spreading over the heavenly road and rosy clouds swirling upward on the immortal path.

Who knows the suffering of sinking and falling in our realm?

For what reason do people hesitate and refuse to transcend?

“Our realm” refers to the mortal world in which we live; “the suffering of sinking and falling” refers to being submerged in the suffering of the dusty world. These two lines lament: Who can know the suffering of sinking and falling while in the mortal realm? Since this is so, why still hesitate and refuse to transcend?

Worldly people themselves cling fondly and enter the long night;

It is not that the demonic host forcibly invites them.

“Cling fondly” describes an unwillingness to let go; the long night is a metaphor for the deluded and darkened mortal world. These two lines say: worldly people themselves are attached to the dusty world and sink into the long night; it is not because the demonic host forcibly invites them. This also points ahead to the matter of demonic temptation below—in truth, it is the human mind that traps itself.

(The following is an interpretation of the prose section of the scripture.)

At that time, after the Five Emperors Great Demons (Wudi Damo) had finished singing this song, each emitted fragrance to permeate the crowd; they also played more than five hundred kinds of heterodox music to confuse people’s minds; and they raised demonic banners to disturb people’s sight and hearing.

They either transformed into beautiful women and tempted people in a hundred ways; or manifested strange forms that worldly people could not recognize; or emitted bodily light that illuminated a hundred li; or gave forth evil sounds that made listeners’ hair stand on end; or had fire blazing from the tops of their heads, or trod upon the void; or burrowed into the earth; or transformed into the forms of old and young, skilled at using illusions to confuse people, with their breath rushing at people; or touched others with their bodies; or transformed into human form, or disguised themselves as people’s relatives, friends, and old acquaintances, flattering them in a hundred ways; or burrowed into people’s bodies, causing them to attain concentration, so that their eyes could see everything clearly and their minds could know the karmic conditions of birth and death in past and present lives. Their majestic bearing was extraordinary, and they were skilled at expounding the essentials of the teaching, thereby confusing people’s minds.

At this time, the great assembly in the Dharma assembly, relying on the divine power of the Dao, concentrated single-mindedly without the slightest distraction, so the demonic host could not succeed. After a short while, the Five Emperors Great Demons and their retinues withdrew their awe-inspiring power, retreated to stand on the northern side, and attended upon the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun); because they wished to hear the teaching, they stood solemnly and motionless.

At this moment, the heavenly princes and others in the Eastern Heaven of Initial Azure, having heard the wondrous teaching, were joyful and elated. With the divine power of the Dao they jointly assisted later students, making them firm and unwavering. Thereupon they composed a song of praise to ease their hearts and enable them to awaken to the true Dao, and sang:

(Note: In the original text, between “with the divine power of the Dao” and “awe-inspiring power, retreated to stand on the north side,” there is a repeated passage; here it is interpreted according to the original word order, without deletion or alteration.)

On Fusang (the sacred tree of sunrise), the newly risen sunlight bursts forth; the trees are lush and verdant, putting out fresh green shoots. Divine Qi drifts in the air, swirling into a perfect net of radiance, while numinous birds gleam amid purple clouds. Those who cultivate the Dao of long life sink into the realm of Xuanming (mysterious darkness) and return to the company of the perfectly true immortals.

Then the Heavenly Lords of Cinnabar Heaven, the red heaven of the south, sang:

Scorching breath drifts across Cinnabar Heaven; true light is bright and moist, revealing divine talismans. Flying rosy clouds reflect the fine jade of the eight directions; numinous fluid condenses into crystalline frost-pearls. Nine rays of light illumine precious vessels; flowing colors reflect the Mysterious Capital, the city of immortals. Worldly calamities are like a single instant; body and soul in the end do not wither. Raising oneself into Taiwei, the celestial enclosure, nine generations of ancestors also escape the dust of the world and set out on the long path of immortality.

Then the Heavenly Lords of Haotian, the white heaven of the west, sang:

The cultivator arrests the declining shadow of the sun; the afterglow of sunset reflects back the radiance of sunrise. Numinous fluid sprinkles and fills the Golden Saliva—the oral fluid regarded in Daoist cultivation as essence—and suddenly one is draped in garments woven of flowing rosy clouds. Vastly one returns to the Supreme Lord; one after another they ascend to Ziwei, the Purple Microstar Enclosure. Riding divine light, they roam; united with the Dao, they transform into immortals and ascend.

Then the Heavenly Lords of Xuantian, the black heaven of the north, sang:

Turning the celestial net and treading wondrous steps, Hun and Po souls assist the true Jing. On the right, support the Venerable Baiyuan; on the left, guard Chang Wuying. Mysterious fluid emits numinous saliva; rosy radiance arises with the bright moon. It harmonizes your years and lifespan, so that you neither age nor decline.

At this time, the Heavenly Lords of the various heavens, in order to hear the wondrous Dharma, benefit living beings, skillfully aid the work of the Dao, open the great transformation, deliver sentient beings, and realize the fruit of the Dao, proclaimed hymns of praise and transmitted them in natural sound to those who would later study the Dao and become perfected. They recited and pondered them repeatedly, secretly seeking accord with the Dao; not readily divulging them, they will surely attain the Dao without doubt. When they had finished these praises, each returned to their original seat.

At this time, the Great Sage, Primordial Thearch Dao-Lord, Heavenly Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing in the central upper realm, together with the assembled sages, in order to verify this method, strengthen its influence, establish great faith, protect and remember those who receive life, make them upright, remove scattered thoughts, and bring their bodies into the stream of the Dao, forever escaping birth and death, thereupon came to abide in the upper space. Joined in spiritual intent with the Jade Clarity Heavenly Worthy (Yuqing Tianzun) of the Wondrous Assembly, they responded and transformed in the lower world, uprightly establishing the Heavenly Origin, and have continually manifested throughout successive kalpas—not only on this day.

At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing (Xuwu Tianzun)—one of the highest deities of Daoism and here the honored deity presiding over salvation—in order to save living beings, brought with him the great sages of the ten directions and countless multitudes of sages as numerous as fine motes of dust. Each rode a heavenly palace and descended from the void above into the subtle Dharma assembly. They sat to the left of the Celestial Worthy of Great Compassion (Dabei Tianzun), the honored deity of compassionate salvation, together on a single seat. This Dharma seat was tall, broad, and vast, reaching up to the zenith of heaven and filling the worlds of the ten directions. By the power of compassion, the Celestial Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing caused the original form of this tiny hair-tip to remain unmoved, and yet the great assembly within the hair-tip did not feel crowded, remaining no different from before.

At this time, the bodies of the two Celestial Worthies shone with a radiance surpassing the newly risen sun, and the assembled sages also emitted light. In order to save living beings, they manifested the great compassionate power of skillful means, causing light to radiate from beneath the feet of the assembled sages. The light underwent a thousand transformations and gradually spread over their whole bodies, making their bodies transparent and clear as crystal. The light gathered up heaven and earth, the sun, moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, and seas, lands and peoples, and all things with form, and raised them all to the tip of a single hair on the instep of the left foot of the Celestial Worthy of Great Compassion (the instep, also broadly referring to the seat or platform). After a short while, they rose again to the tip of a hair on the instep of the right foot of the Celestial Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing.

After another little while, these rose into the air, nine hundred million li above the earth, directly beside the golden roof-ridge finials of the Celestial Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing (ornaments at either end of a hall’s roof ridge, here used by metonymy for the hall). At this point the Celestial Worthy lightly blew a breath of fragrant Qi, and heaven and earth shattered into fine dust, filling the void. Then the Celestial Worthy gathered them together again, restoring them as before.

After another little while, the Celestial Worthy caused heaven and earth, the land, and the people to rise into the void, directly before the Celestial Worthy of Great Compassion. With the divine power of the Dao, the Celestial Worthy breathed upon this heaven and earth, causing the sun, moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, and seas, cities and peoples, birds and beasts to merge into one body, as small as a mustard seed, round and luminous, firm as diamond. Soon after, he gathered them back into the left hand of the Celestial Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing, within the lines of the palm, where they transformed into light-Qi.

Within the light-Qi were four colors of Qi—clear, turbid, white, and black—which gradually separated and grew within the palm lines of the Celestial Worthy: the clear Qi transformed into heaven, the turbid Qi into earth, the white Qi into the sun, and the black Qi into the moon. The sun is the essence of Yang and the moon the essence of Yin; the two Qi of Yin and Yang interacted and transformed to give birth to male and female, and from this all things were also generated.

When the celestial princes (tianzi) in the retinue of the assembled deities saw these wondrous transformations, they were all astonished and declared that they had never seen their like. At that time, Wuyi Tianzi (the Heavenly Prince Wuyi) in the Eastern Heaven of Initial Azure—acting for the sake of sentient beings—rose from his seat, stepped forward, paid his respects, and addressed Tianzun (the supreme deity; here referring to Xuwu Tianzun, the Heavenly Worthy of Emptiness and Nonbeing), asking: For what reason does Tianzun manifest such divine transformations? For what reason does he destroy and recreate heaven and earth? For what reason does he cause the myriad things to return to emptiness and nonbeing, and again cause the myriad things to arise from the void? Your disciple is shallow in understanding and cannot penetrate the ultimate principle. I hope to receive from Tianzun a revelation of the wondrous principle. I earnestly beg Tianzun to have compassion and teach us the doctrine we have not yet heard.

Xuwu Tianzun then replied in verse: I descend into the four quarters of the world (the human world in the four directions under heaven) because the blessings of human beings have come to an end. The essence of the Dao originally abides forever in stillness; only because it must respond to and transform the myriad things does it manifest illusory forms. I pity sentient beings who are born and perish amid transformation, and I lament that they cannot stop the cycle of rebirth. When the kalpa arrives, heaven and earth are destroyed; and their reestablishment is guided by my body (the Dao-body). I cannot bear to see sentient beings suffer, and so I descend into the world and display awe-inspiring divine power, causing the myriad things to return to their root. Practitioners should believe in karmic conditions (the causal connections created by actions in past lives). The turbid Qi of the dusty world is originally empty and nonexistent; one need only cultivate according to the Dao, and one can attain the state of a true immortal (an immortal who has attained the Dao). When the many afflictions and burdens have been completely eliminated, the clear and pure Qi will no longer be disturbed by other impurities; then one can forever cut off the cycle of birth and death and transcend into the vastness of Taixu (the Great Void).

After Tianzun finished this verse, he told the celestial princes: Good sons, you should understand that the methods for saving sentient beings must not be treated carelessly or arbitrarily. The line in the text, “With the Dao, dying to the Dao, one serenely emerges beyond the Great Void,” means that by taking the Dao as one’s refuge and cultivating until one transcends birth and death, one can freely pass beyond the Great Void.

At that time, after the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) had finished this verse, he admonished the assembled celestial beings: Good sons, you should understand the methods for saving and transforming living beings, and you must not act rashly. First, with the compassionate power of the Dao, you should display various spiritual transformations for them, subdue their minds and spirits, and observe their capacities and understanding; only then should you apply the method for them. I constantly hold compassion, guiding them with my left hand; although I manifest the image of blowing and breathing, I do not cause them to be frightened. Although I manifest all these various spiritual transformations, the original nature of all things in heaven and earth is clear and at peace, forever unmoving. Nor do I force spiritual transformations into action; I simply use the one Dao, the one method, and one measure of compassionate power to save living beings. According to their capacities and understanding, I manifest various Dharma appearances, yet Dharma-nature itself is truly not various.

Good sons, you should now understand that there are also many methods for saving living beings. The Heavenly Worthy, the Great Sage, is sovereign and free in spiritual power, saving people through gates of expedient means and causing them to be saved without their knowing it. This is what is meant by “the Great Dao hides its function in expedient means” (the Great Dao conceals its function through expedient methods). If ordinary people in the world wish to promote goodness, teach and transform others, and proclaim the Dao teachings, they must rely on written and spoken language as metaphors. Without this, people would have no way to give rise to faith.

Good sons, today in this Dharma assembly I have saved all men and women, causing them all to attain new life and registering them in the left tally. After these living beings attain the Dao, I use the life-generating Qi (vital energy) that circulates in secret to make them deathless, and I restrain and remove demonic trials from all quarters, thereby eliminating their disturbances.

At that time, Elder Huiming and the entire assembly heard what the Heavenly Worthy said; their minds opened and they awakened, and all attained the six spiritual penetrations (liutong) and the supreme fruit of the Dao. At that moment, the Five Thearch Great Demons (Wudi Damo), seeing the Dao-power of the Heavenly Worthy, turned their bodies and minds toward goodness. Together with their retinues, they came forward, paid their respects, and reported to the Heavenly Worthy: We ghosts, because of unfortunate retribution, have been born onto evil paths and are without freedom. Some of us are enslaved by heaven and earth, roaming the four quarters of the world and inflicting various poisons and harms; some are harassed by deities who investigate faults, who record ledgers of sins, test beginners, and also vouch for genuine cultivators. Such labor and hardship—we dare not say it has an end.

The demons said: “Our bodies are foul and restless, our forms ugly, yet in our hearts we delight in the great Dao. Day and night we restrain and reproach ourselves, repent our faults, and feel deep shame. We wish to beseech the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun, an honorific for the highest Daoist deities) for the chance to be transformed and reborn, so that we may enter the ranks of Dao cultivators and leave demonic form behind. Even if we die because of this, we will have no regret. We only hope that the Heavenly Worthy will unfold the grace of the Dao and save broadly without limit, so that humans and gods are no longer separated and all beings may receive deliverance and liberation.”

When the demons had said this, they leapt up into the air, rising as high as six thousand zhang, then let their bodies fall to the earth, blood streaming from them all. Thus the demons all at once stopped breathing and fell unconscious as if dead.

The Heavenly Worthy pitied them, and after a long while he ordered the Incense-Attending Golden Youth to burn Soul-Returning Incense and fumigate the demons; he ordered the High Immortal of Great Harmony to diffuse life Qi; he ordered the Directing Envoys of the Six Jia to transmit Fulu (talismans and registers) that dissolve demonic Yin Qi; he ordered the Lord of the Dao of Generating Life to summon their hun and po souls and recall their Jing (essence) and po; and he ordered the Lord of the Dao of Transforming Forms to change the demons’ forms. After another long while, the demons revived. Both their bodies and spirits were transformed: their spirits were clear and harmonious, their consciousness simple and unadorned; they possessed a heart of great compassion, attained the rank of the Dao, and could foresee events of the future ninety thousand kalpas (jie, an extremely long unit of time in Daoist scriptures). All this was brought about by the power of the divine talismans.

The attendants bowed to the Heavenly Worthy and gave thanks, grateful for the grace of rebirth, rejoicing and leaping for joy. Thereupon the Heavenly Worthy granted these five hundred million multitudes of demons positions in the ranks of the “spiritual humans,” and had them cultivate the methods of the Primordial Supreme Dao.

This passage is a set of collation notes, not the main scriptural text. It records the textual differences between the Zhengtong Daozang edition and Dunhuang manuscript P.2257 (Pelliot number, unearthed from the Dunhuang Library Cave) and explains which emendations the editor made on the basis of the Dunhuang manuscript.

For “Daojun Xuwu,” the Dunhuang manuscript has ju where the Daozang edition has jun; the jun in the Daozang edition is an erroneous character. For “huo,” the Daozang edition has er and the Dunhuang manuscript has huo; in light of the later phrase “Tianzun zhi qi yihuo,” the correct reading should be huo, and it has now been corrected accordingly. The Daozang edition omits the character ling, which has been supplied from the Dunhuang manuscript. In the phrase “yushi diqi zi Tianzun qian er zuo shi yan,” the Dunhuang manuscript reads “yushi diqi qian bai Tianzun er zuo shi yan,” with different wording. In the sentence beginning “chen yi duo xing, zhizhang shuifu…,” the Dunhuang manuscript reads “jing yi buxing, zhidang shuidi… bugan yan ji,” a fairly substantial textual difference. From “zhu Dao xinghua” onward, after “sui you wei lao” the Daozang edition adds the two characters gongde. The Dunhuang manuscript reads “didang chen tan, sui you xiao lao, xin wu shilai” and does not have these two characters; therefore gongde is judged to be an interpolation and should be deleted. The Daozang edition lacks the character zhong, which has been supplied from the Dunhuang manuscript. (The original also contains another entry numbered 7; its first half is damaged, and its content duplicates item 6.) The Daozang edition lacks the character sheng, which has been supplied from the Dunhuang manuscript. For the character du, the Dunhuang manuscript has ting. The Daozang edition lacks the character shi, which has been supplied from the Dunhuang manuscript. Where the Daozang edition writes tong for Dao and also lacks the character bing, the text has been corrected and supplied according to the Dunhuang manuscript. The Dunhuang manuscript does not have the four characters er zuo ge yue. The Daozang edition has yi for yiyi, omitting one character, which has been supplied from the Dunhuang manuscript. The Daozang edition has shi for cong, which has been corrected according to the Dunhuang manuscript. For “qinghe,” the Dunhuang manuscript has xiangzhang. For the character jie, the Daozang edition has qie, an erroneous character, which has been corrected according to the Dunhuang manuscript.

Chapter Eight: Penetrating and Relieving the Dark Realms

At this time, all the numinous people (the sentient beings in this scripture who had already received deliverance) each attained liberation and ascended to the realm of the Dao (the state of cultivating the Dao). In their hearts they felt ashamed, and secretly reflected: We never imagined that one day we would encounter the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun), have our bodies transformed anew, and be forever freed from affliction. To receive the grace of the Dao and be granted rescue is truly the utmost sincerity and great virtue. Privately they made vows: By the power and spiritual penetration of the Dao, may we bestow universally upon both the dark and the bright realms; we vow to deliver all from danger and hardship, to spread the transformation of the Dao, and to ensure it is never cut off.

The numinous people said to one another: Looking back to former times, we did not encounter excellent wholesome conditions; we sank into defilement, transmigrated repeatedly between life and death, fell onto evil paths, and never heard the true Dao. Recalling those times of suffering, we did not know whom to rely on. Even now our hearts still grieve, and the scenes remain vivid before us. Though we have already received deliverance, we have not forgotten our past sorrow. We also worry that the Heavenly Worthy, the great sage, has his Qi (vital energy) attached to the Upper Primordial (Shangyuan; among the Three Primes of Heaven, Earth, and Water in Daoism, the pure, high, and distant realm), while the lower world has scant blessings and is filled with filth and evil. The true immortals are quiescent and pure, and will not remain long in the human world. At this Dharma assembly, although everyone has received deliverance, there are still beings in the Nine Dark Realms (Jiuyou; the nine layers of dark hell beneath the earth, the deepest realm of suffering), who do not see the sun or moon, in long night and deep darkness, passing through countless kalpas without liberation.

At this time, a numinous person in the retinue of the Green Emperor of the East (Qingdi; the deity governing the east and presiding over birth and growth) came forward, paid respects, and reported to the Heavenly Worthy: May I ask the Heavenly Worthy, can today’s teaching and deliverance penetrate universally without obstruction? Can the suffering beings in the painful realms of the Nine Dark Realms also receive liberation? Your disciple is ignorant and cannot yet fully understand; I earnestly beg the Heavenly Worthy, in great compassion, to explain this for us in detail, so that we may attain enlightenment.

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) replied: “Well said, well said! You spiritual people, what you now ask accords exactly with my heart of great compassion. I go in response body—a form manifested to save sentient beings—among the suffering souls in hell to guide and transform them. Those suffering souls are not all people who have committed the Ten Evils (the ten grave offenses such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and false speech); therefore they may still obtain rebirth. But if the roots of their offenses are deep and heavy, then there is a limit, and even the Dao cannot transform them. Why is this? Those who commit the Ten Evils bring disaster and retribution upon themselves; no one else imposes it on them. They themselves leave behind calamity and guilt and fall into hell.

“Some people in life do not follow the teachings of teachers and elders, and have never seen scriptures or teachings; some are born in remote places and never encounter good spiritual friends, knowing only stealing, killing, and attacking, and doing all kinds of unlawful things, and after death they enter hell. The offenses of such people are comparatively light. But if they are people of the central land, even if foolish and ignorant, they have still heard the Dao teachings, yet knowingly commit offenses, and after death they enter hell. Such people, throughout the cycle of life and death, never believe in the Dao; they give free rein to their own nature, create all kinds of evil karma, and repeatedly endure retribution.

“For example, suppose people in the world are by nature fierce and stubborn and deliberately do evil. Even if they are not afraid of death, and one only threatens them, they remain utterly fearless—what then can be done? Again, suppose children by nature love to play and make mischief. Their parents restrain them, or offer them benefits, or teach them, yet their minds never change; even if they are beaten, they cannot awaken. Those who commit the Ten Evils are likewise. Again, flies love foul and rotten things; this comes from an innate preference and cannot be changed by themselves. Those who commit the Ten Evils are likewise. Again, moths chase lamplight and end up scorching and destroying themselves. Those who commit the Ten Evils are likewise.

“You spiritual people should know that where those who commit the Ten Evils dwell, there are many evil companions. They are skilled in using expedient methods to do evil together, and thus mistakenly enter the evil paths of downfall. They also instruct their dependents and wives to do improper things, and thereby cause themselves to be tainted again by evil karma. Because of such causes and conditions, the Yin-Yang realms are interconnected, and each bears guilt for the other. Descendants wish for peace, but the guilty souls plunge them into danger; guilty ghosts wish to escape suffering, but descendants delay them through their own faults.”

The karmic retribution of birth and death turns like a cycle, with no end in sight. Sentient beings, in the long, dark, endless night, have no way to be liberated; they are tossed about in suffering and cannot be at peace for a single moment.

A spiritual person (one who has spiritual nature and can awaken) should understand: the Great Dao cares for sentient beings with deep urgency, and for their sake it constantly cannot bear to abandon them. Yet sentient beings do not know this; instead they give rise to resentment and harmful intentions. The supreme Dao-teaching they are unwilling to practice; dignified bearing (the deportment and norms of cultivators) and the precepts they are unwilling to follow and keep; the aspiration for purity and emptiness they are unwilling to resolve to pursue. The turbid filth of the dusty world intrudes into body and mind without cause; they crave sounds and sights, clamorously chasing and competing, greedily seeking flavors like a taotie, and seeking food and stipends through crooked and heterodox ways. In trade and commerce they specialize in perilous paths; the peaceful Great Dao they never take a single step upon.

They kill living beings and harm life without any compunction in their hearts. Concerned only with eating their fill and dressing warmly, they accumulate wealth and goods without ever being satisfied; once they fall into poverty, they give rise to a thief’s heart. They scheme by a thousand means and a hundred plans to get their wishes, harming others to benefit themselves, never thinking of turning back. In a whole lifetime they have not a single good deed; later they accumulate evil karma, and after death fall into hell, where their souls are judged and suffer various pains, bringing calamities and misfortunes upon themselves. What then is to be done?

Although the Great Dao cares with deep urgency, the ignorant and foolish are unwilling to comply. A spiritual person should understand: it is like spring rain falling, and all things can receive its moisture, yet only a dead tree cannot accept the nourishment; even when watered by the rain, it merely hastens its own rotting, and in the end can no longer put forth branches, leaves, flowers, or fruit. The same is true of those who commit the ten evils: although they hear the Great Dao, in the end they cannot give rise to the supreme Dao-mind.

A Vernacular Interpretation of the Taishang Dadao Yuqing Jing

This passage discusses why people take the path of doing evil, how the roots of evil thoughts are deep and firm, whether they can still be saved, and how the Great Dao (Dao; the Way) transforms and delivers such people.

Lingren (the cultivator who comes to inquire) asks the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun): Through what path do those who commit the Ten Evils (shi’e) receive birth? When they turn away from the way of evil and turn toward the way of good, if the roots of evil are deeply stored and difficult to uproot, what should be done?

The Heavenly Worthy replies: Good and evil originally follow the same Great Dao. It is like travelers on a road: some walk toward the proper path, while others turn away from it.

Those who turn away from the proper path lose their way in dark, deep mountains; the further they go, the more astray they become, until they fall into gloomy valleys. On the road there are also many wild beasts, thorns, and poisonous spikes; food and clothing run out, they are pressed by suffering, and all kinds of afflictions come one after another. Thus they die suddenly, and their hun and po souls transmigrate through the cycle of rebirth, receiving karmic retribution according to the deeds they have created.

Those who face the proper path find the road open; most of what they seek comes as they wish, and there is no wish they cannot fulfill. Moreover, they have many good friends around them, and help comes from everywhere; if they wish to meet a king, they can go freely. Because they are oriented toward the Dao, there is no benefit they do not obtain.

These two kinds of people have different karmic habits and different directions, and this is not something the Great Dao intentionally causes. The Great Dao itself has no obstruction; it is cultivators themselves who choose to turn against the Dao or toward it, and thus favorable and adverse conditions are opposites. Those of the Ten Evils lose the Dao themselves; it is not that the Dao abandons them. Those who turn toward the Dao obtain the Dao themselves; it is not that the Dao favors them.

The Heavenly Worthy says: Lingren, you should know that I and the holy assembly descend to the lower world in generation after generation and kalpa after kalpa to teach and transform. Even for those of the Ten Evils, although they do not believe in the Dao, the Dao never leaves them.

Lingren asks again: I fear that the habitual tendencies and karmic obstructions of those of the Ten Evils have already become firm, and that throughout their lives they turn against the Dao, making them difficult to transform and deliver. It is like a shattered tile: once broken, it can no longer be joined into one piece.

The Heavenly Worthy replies: The awe-inspiring spirit-power of the Great Dao is like a great smelting furnace; whatever metal is cast into it can be melted. Among those of the Ten Evils who have not yet been transformed by me, let them first suffer a little; when they grow weary of evil, then I will go to teach them. I will display to them supreme numinous power and freely transformative power, so that they revere, submit, and return.

Lingren asks again: I do not know in what manner the Heavenly Worthy will display divine power. Will it be as described above, or is there another method? I hope the Heavenly Worthy will manifest it for us, liberating people from their nets, bringing peace to humans and spirits, and granting universal deliverance to both the hidden and the manifest. Would such a vast and mighty Great Transformation not be a cause for joy?

Notes: The Ten Evils are the ten kinds of evil listed in Daoism, usually referring to killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, falsehood, alcohol, reviling, hatred and envy, and other evil deeds; this passage does not list them specifically. Lingren is the term used in the scripture for one who seeks the Dao and asks about the teachings, that is, the cultivator who asks the question. Heavenly Worthy is a general title for honored Daoist deities; here it refers to the deity in the scripture who proclaims the Great Dao. The holy assembly refers to the various immortals and sages who accompany the Heavenly Worthy down to the lower world to transform and deliver beings. Dark mountains and gloomy valleys refer to the dim realms into which one falls after losing the proper path, as a metaphor for delusion and karmic evil.

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) replied: “Just wait a moment, and you shall see.”

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy, in accordance with the earlier ordinance, (asked,) “Is there another method? We hope you will reveal and manifest it for us, release the bonds of the net, bring peace to humans and spirits, and universally deliver both the dark and manifest realms. Would not the vast and mighty merit of the Great Transformation be a cause for joy?”

The Heavenly Worthy replied: “Just wait a moment, and you shall see.”

At this time, with unobstructed great compassion, the Heavenly Worthy manifested one hundred thousand people who had committed the sins of the Ten Evils. Their bodies were tall and large, their strength robust, their words sharp, their speech eloquent; each claimed that he had committed sins and did not fear the karmic retribution of birth-and-death and hell, standing before the Heavenly Worthy. In a moment, the Heavenly Worthy again ordered the Middle Immortals’ Direct Envoy (a Daoist immortal official charged with transmitting heavenly orders) to lead one hundred thousand people holding command banners (banners symbolizing the transmission of orders) down into the Nine Glooms (the dark, deep subterranean underworld), to lead out the sinful ghosts and the people of the Ten Evils. In the blink of an eye, they had all arrived and gathered together with the previously manifested people.

The Heavenly Worthy again manifested a million strongmen holding great iron clubs, and interrogated these manifested people about the reasons for their evil deeds. The manifested people refused to submit. Thereupon the strongmen struck them with iron clubs, and their bodies shattered into fine dust. Then he interrogated the sinful ghosts; before there was even time to find the iron clubs, the sinful ghosts had already yielded, begging to submit and willing to receive the teaching of the Great Dao.

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy again commanded a million spirit people, all holding left tallies (in ancient times a contract used as proof, the left half held by the creditor; here symbolizing possession of the basis and authority), to fly throughout the four directions and pursue and arrest the descendants of the sinful ghosts. In a moment, countless billions of descendants, bearing the majestic spirit-power of the Great Dao, all came to the assembly place. They, too, did not believe and submit; in their hearts there was no shame, and they said among themselves that they should not have been suddenly summoned to this place.

Then the sinful ghosts saw their descendants and wept and cried out in bitter anguish, gnashing their teeth and saying: “You evil bands of the Five Rebellions, where have you come from? I have long wanted to kill you, but never had the chance. When I am free, I will certainly exterminate your clan.” When the descendants heard these words, the hairs on their bodies stood on end; immediately they had headaches, alternating chills and fever, and were overcome with pain.

Plain-Language Interpretation: The Most High Great Dao Jade Purity Scripture

This passage describes the shared suffering of sinful ghosts in hell and people in the world under “karmic offenses,” as well as the scene in which the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun; here the Most High Lord of the Dao, a revered Daoist deity) reveals the method of cultivation.

1. The Miserable State of the Sinful Ghosts

At this time, the bodies of those sinful ghosts were already mutilated and broken, almost unrecognizable: some lacked hands or feet, some had been flayed, some had their bellies cut open, some were burned by fire or boiled in hot liquid, some had flesh cut from their bodies, some had eyes gouged out and tongues pulled out, some had their bones sawed apart with knives, some had their whole bodies pierced with awls, some had their intestines hooked out, and others were gnawed on by livestock. All these sufferings cannot be described in words.

Then, after the descendants of those ghosts were born in the world, they again bore the karmic offenses of their ancestors, committed the ten kinds of evil deeds, and suffered all kinds of retribution, personally undergoing evil consequences: some were blind, deaf, or mute; some had curled and paralyzed hands and feet; some were covered with malignant sores; some lost eyebrows and hair; some suffered from worm-induced leprosy, abscesses, fistulas, and edema that pierced to the marrow; some had distorted faces; some had pus and blood flowing ceaselessly; some were poor and afflicted; some were orphaned and helpless.

At this time, the offenses of humans and ghosts were similar. They looked at each other and wept face to face, unable to control themselves.

2. The Heavenly Worthy’s Revelation

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy asked softly: “You humans and ghosts, why have you fallen into a state in which neither the living nor the dead are as good as others? I pity you and cannot bear to abandon you, so I have used the power of the Dao to draw you here from afar.”

Both humans and ghosts felt ashamed within. Looking up at the Heavenly Worthy’s great holy bodily form, they saw that his body had a purple-gold luster, and the forms of these spiritual beings were pure and clear, like ice and snow.

At that time, among the multitude of the Ten Evil, one named Qiuli came forward, made obeisance, and asked the Heavenly Worthy: “I do not know what meritorious practices the great sage Heavenly Worthy cultivated to attain such a wondrous bodily form, with incomparable spiritual powers and unobstructed eloquence, utterly different from the world. I beg you to explain it to us; we wish to know from what causes and conditions all this arose.”

The Heavenly Worthy replied: “These holy multitudes of mine have no special practices; they simply constantly cultivate themselves through compassion, forbearance, diligence, upholding the precepts, giving, and not killing. It is precisely because of these causes and conditions that we have our present appearance.”

When the many people of the Ten Evil heard the Heavenly Worthy’s words, their minds turned slightly toward good thoughts; secretly repenting, they prostrated themselves on the ground and did not rise for a long time.

Notes:

• Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun): An honorific title for the highest deities in Daoism; here it refers to the revered deity who expounds the teaching in the scripture.
• Ten Evil: The ten evil actions listed in Daoism, commonly referring to killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, frivolous speech, greed, anger, and delusion, and other unwholesome actions.
• Compassion, forbearance, diligence, upholding the precepts, and generous giving: Basic virtues of Daoist cultivation, comparable to Buddhism’s “Six Perfections (Paramitas),” namely loving all beings, enduring humiliation, diligent practice, observing precepts, and practicing generosity widely.

(The cultivational practices listed earlier—including diligent cultivation, upholding the precepts, widely practicing giving, and not killing living beings—were precisely the good causes that brought me my present circumstances.)

When the many evildoers (the Ten Evils, referring to the ten kinds of evil spoken of in Daoism) heard the principles taught by the Heavenly Worthy, their hearts changed somewhat, and they began to turn toward goodness. Silently examining and repenting themselves, they prostrated on the ground and did not dare to rise.

At this time, among the sinful ghosts of the Ten Evils, there was one ghost named “Fan Zhen” (meaning “Returning to the True Nature”). Seeing his own descendants, he felt remorse in his heart. He too bowed to the Heavenly Worthy and asked: “I wonder whether, in the dark ghost realm, one can hear the wondrous Dharma of the Great Dao?” He also grieved over the sins he had committed in his life; now the ghosts and spirits interrogate and examine him according to law, and the karmic retribution has not yet been settled, so he cannot escape.

Sifei (the deity in charge of recording human transgressions) said: For these people who commit the ten kinds of evil karma, the registers of sins for the living and the dead record only evil deeds; not a single good deed can be found to record. Neither the living nor the dead know repentance. Why does the Heavenly Worthy still reveal the teaching and save these people of the ten evils, not punishing them but instead letting them ascend and be saved? In later ages, foolish people will commit offenses more day by day, without the slightest scruple, and those unable to extricate themselves will have nowhere to seek survival in the future. I only pray that the Heavenly Worthy will not save such people.

The Heavenly Worthy replied: The Supreme Great Dao regards enemies and kin alike, always using the same compassion and the same vow-power to cause all sentient beings universally to attain liberation; its heart of care is without partiality. Sifei should know: I first ordered one hundred thousand middle-grade immortals to hold banners of faith (summoning banners) and descend into the Nine Darknesses (Jiuyou, the deepest part of the underworld) to summon forth those hosts of suffering ghosts; then I ordered fifty thousand spirit people to grasp my left tally (the left half of a tally used as a credential) and fly in the four directions, searching for the descendants of the ghosts. For this reason, according to the law they ought to be opened and saved; the profound and mysterious statutes of the Great Dao permit them to repent. After they have repented, if they commit offenses again, they are left to the law-enforcers to seize, and our Dao will no longer save them.

At this time, Sifei, having received the Heavenly Worthy’s command, did not dare say anything more. Those people, because of fear, grew increasingly ill, and so they begged the Heavenly Worthy for help. The Heavenly Worthy knew their minds and told them: You have inherited the ten evil karmas of your fathers and grandfathers; the records in the underworld are exactly the same as the offenses committed by your fathers and grandfathers. Why have you done beastly deeds, sexually violated your six relations, killed your own flesh and blood, and secretly harmed the good, without a moment of shame? With sinful bodies such as yours, you are still unworthy to receive the essential Dharma; you should only cease committing the ten evil karmas and diligently cultivate day and night, and naturally you will attain salvation. The supreme secret Dao cannot yet be heard by you.

Thereupon the people each copied out the ten precepts, restrained body and mind, and did not dare offend again. Qiuli again reported to the Heavenly Worthy, and the Heavenly Worthy reiterated: They are still unworthy to receive the essential Dharma; they should only cease committing the ten evil karmas and diligently advance day and night, and they will naturally attain salvation; the supreme secret Dao cannot yet be heard for the time being.

At that time, everyone copied down the ten precepts to restrain body and mind, not daring to violate them again. Afterward, Qiuli solemnly asked the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) once more: how should these ancestral guilty souls be saved and delivered, so that they might escape suffering?

The Heavenly Worthy replied: Each of you should return home, establish a pure abode—a quiet room for Daoist cultivation—enshrine and honor the Dao and its teachings, bow and repent morning and evening, uphold the precepts, practice generosity widely, prepare incense, lamps, and candles, and give whatever your household can afford. For the Nine Dark Hells (Jiuyou, the nine layers of dark prisons beneath the earth), conduct a great Zhaijiao (purification ritual) of three days and three nights; transmit incense and perform the rites, with wholehearted sincerity, doing this three times in succession as a great ritual assembly for confessing offenses. In addition, hold the Zhongyuan Great Offering, the offering of the Middle Prime festival, to relieve hungry ghosts.

When you perform these rites, you should invite the Daoist clergy to recite this scripture and preach it to the ignorant, so that they fulfill both inner and outer reverence and wisdom; only then can the merit be accomplished. Your ancestors, receiving this ritual power, will have their souls delivered to the Southern Palace (Nangong, a Daoist celestial realm), and thus gain the opportunity to be reborn in a land that has the Dao. Without doing this, there is no way to be saved. When the people heard this, the merit was accomplished, and they each bowed to the Heavenly Worthy in gratitude and reverently put the teachings into practice.

The Heavenly Worthy then told Lingren: Out of great compassion, I cause these ghosts to escape suffering; and wishing to use expedient means to leave this teaching for later generations, I establish the Zhaijiao to restrain people’s minds. If beings of later ages wish to deliver the dead, they should rely on this method to confess offenses, dissolve past-life transgressions, and distinguish and release the punishments they have received. They should also be made to perform rites and repent, eliminate past sins, and at the same time guard their minds so that they do not become self-indulgent or lax; thus the roots of evil are cut off and good karma increases. You should now understand that the methods of teaching and salvation ought to be like this.

Thereupon, the Heavenly Worthy ordered the Lord in Charge of Birth in Nanchang Palace to gather the ghosts and quickly command them to be reborn, not allowing them to linger. The ghosts thanked the Heavenly Worthy and departed with grief and joy intermingled.

Afterward, Lingren reported to the Heavenly Worthy again: Humans and ghosts have now been saved, and there is boundless rejoicing. But there are still beings who have fallen into the animal realm, one of the six paths of rebirth; I request that they too be saved.

Those who do evil—their records of karmic offenses likewise arise from the ten kinds of evil deeds, and they receive retribution in the cycle of rebirth. Some fall into the form of animals and lose their original mind-nature. Although these beings lack human intelligence, they all possess the nature capable of attaining the Dao (Dao-nature). They too have feelings of affection and love; after giving birth they suckle and nurture their young, eat and drink and grow, gather with their own kind, and rely on mountains, forests, grasses, and marshes. Startled and uneasy, each guards its own life, mindful only of water and grass, knowing nothing else—truly inconceivable.

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun, the supreme deity of Daoism), out of compassion for these beings without wisdom, saw that they kept multiplying and increasing in number, and that they devoured one another, with nothing to rely on; he could not bear it in his heart.

The Heavenly Worthy replied: “Excellent! Excellent! Numinous beings, you should now know that my Great Dao has all along earnestly taught and transformed living beings, and has also rescued the suffering dead souls in the hells. If you wish to cut off the animal realm for these beings, you should first clarify its source; when the source is pure, the tributaries are easily made clear. Why? Because the animal realm comes from the human realm; therefore one should first teach and transform the human realm. When the human realm is taught and transformed, the various evil deeds will not arise; when evil deeds do not arise, the animal realm is naturally cut off. In the past, when I did not preach the essential Dharma to the various dragon kings and the Water Emperor, it was truly for this reason. You have now already forgotten it and do not remember it at all. Numinous beings, turn back and reflect for yourselves; only then can you become enlightened.”

At this time, there was also the Five Emperors’ Ghost King Who Spreads Disease. Hearing that the Heavenly Worthy had descended, he led a host of five hundred million followers to the Dharma assembly and said to the Heavenly Worthy: “Because of past karmic retribution, I became a ghost king, governing all the people of the Form Realm and Desire Realm (two of the Three Realms as called in Buddhism and Daoism) throughout the world; the records in the registers of life and death all fall under my charge. I govern illness, death, and life, and have never once failed to act. When people pray to me, there are leftovers of sacrificial food, so the offerings sustaining my followers have never been lacking. But for nearly several thousand years, blessed fortune has been cut off; within the Qi of the Dao that people receive, my Dharma-gate can no longer be carried out. For this reason, blessings and emoluments daily decrease, and my followers are all hungry and exhausted. This is precisely caused by the Heavenly Worthy’s Qi of the Dao. I only pray that the Heavenly Worthy will not remain in the world for long, so that the myriad things may each treasure and guard themselves and not harm one another. Yet now the Heavenly Worthy is truly harming me.”

The Heavenly Worthy knew that the ghosts’ troops and followers were all hungry and weakened, and that this was precisely caused by the Heavenly Worthy’s Dao-qi. The ghost host then said, “We only hope the Heavenly Worthy will not remain long in the world. All beings should each keep to their own lot and not harm one another. Yet now the Heavenly Worthy insists on harming us.”

The Heavenly Worthy perceived the ghosts’ minds and transformed into a Great General Who Kills Ghosts, a hundred zhang tall, with cavalry attendants before and after numbering in the hundreds of millions. At his left he carried a vajra bell that wields the spirit, and in his right hand he held a jade halberd whose radiance was as dazzling as treasures produced by Kunwu (a mythic mountain said to produce precious jade). He also held a divine sword and a golden yue (a kind of great axe); thunder crashed and lightning flashed, light blazed fiercely, and all around surged and seethed. He descended from the northwest on a chariot of dark clouds, came before the Heavenly Worthy, bowed his head in salute, and offered immeasurable respect. Before and behind, attendants led the retinue and played various drums and music.

At this time, all those manifested together gave forth a thunderous sound and chanted in unison the “Numinous Stanzas for Brushing Away Demons” (a scripture passage used to expel demons and evil). At this moment, the manifested figure declared himself to be the Great General Who Kills Ghosts, attending at the Heavenly Worthy’s side.

At that moment, the great general’s eyes shot forth flowing radiance, like streaking meteors. The ghost kings of the Five Emperors (who respectively govern the five directions—east, south, west, north, and center—

A Plain-Language Interpretation of The Supreme Great Dao Yuqing Jing (Scripture)

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) caused the suffering of the assembled ghosts to pause for a while, and then said to them: You ghosts have accumulated evil day after day; today your transgressions are full, and so you receive this retribution. Sentient beings are originally innocent, yet they meet with unexpected calamity and die prematurely. Some kill living beings in order to seek benefit for themselves, but this only adds to their own grave offenses; in the end they will not obtain blessings. All this comes about because malevolent spirits are greedy and cruel and frighten and disturb sentient beings.

Thereupon the transformed general once again glared with wide eyes, and the ghosts were once more in unbearable pain, wanting to die but unable to die; from their pores, joints, ears, eyes, mouths, and noses blood gushed forth. At this point the ghosts suffered to such a degree that their bodies and minds trembled with fright; they wanted to escape but could not get away, still because of greed, cruelty, and the frightening and disturbing of sentient beings. Thereupon the transformed general once again glared with wide eyes, and the ghosts were once more in unbearable pain, wanting to die but unable to die; from their pores, joints, ears, eyes, mouths, and noses blood gushed forth. At this point the ghosts suffered thus; their bodies and minds trembled with fright, and they wanted to leave but could not leave. Each lost the ability to move, rolling and struggling on the ground like a bird whose two wings have been broken, unable to stir in the slightest.

Next, the transformed person again asked the ghosts: Are the registers of sentient beings’ lifespans decided by you? The ghosts were very frightened and did not dare to lie. They replied: No. The transformed person asked again: Since they are not decided by you, how is it that you can cause sentient beings to suffer various illnesses and pains? The ghosts answered: We ghosts actually cannot make sentient beings ill. Why? These evil ghosts take advantage of illnesses already present in sentient beings and then intrude, making their conditions worse. The transformed person asked again: Then how do you take advantage of sentient beings’ illnesses and intrude to cause illness? The ghosts answered: When people live in the world, they do not understand the principles of accordance and opposition; in joy, anger, resentment, and disputes; in matters of food and drink and of men and women; in labor and rest they lose proper measure; and wind, cold, summerheat, and dampness invade them—naturally illness and pain arise. Or if it is not for these reasons, then when someone is unfilial to father and mother, goes against teachers and elders, treats heaven and earth with contempt, or observes the precepts incompletely, the heavenly Dao then sends down punishment and causes that person to suffer illness. Evil deities therefore take the opportunity to exercise their power and to dispense fortune and misfortune, accepting others’ sacrifices and prayers in order to sustain their own lives. In reality it is not that ghosts and evil spirits can harm good people. But if people turn their backs on the Great Dao, collude with evil, and have no precepts or cultivation of their own, then benevolent deities no longer protect them.

Notes: The Heavenly Worthy is one of the highest deities in Daoism; the transformed general and transformed person refer to divine envoys manifested by the Heavenly Worthy; malevolent spirits refers to sinister entities that haunt and harm people; precepts and conduct refers to the moral discipline and virtue that cultivators should observe.

If cultivators can practice forbearance, be diligent without slackening, broadly practice great compassion and great pity, and unite body and mind with the great Dao, then ghosts and spirits cannot harm them. At that time many spiritual beings heard these words of the ghosts and considered them false and cryptic. They therefore reported to the Heavenly Worthy: “We do not know why these ghosts answered in this way, or what principle underlies it.”

The Heavenly Worthy replied: “What these ghosts said can be considered to have fully stated the principle. When these ghosts saw the majestic power and divine strength of this incarnation as a Great General, they marveled that they had never seen such a thing, and so turned to revere the Heavenly Worthy. You should know that the divine power of the great Dao is incomparable; it can subdue all demons and destroy all heterodox teachings and evil doctrines. All Dharma gates ultimately return to the great Dao. We little ghosts lack the strength to sustain ourselves; we have all lost our original mind-nature and have no majesty or virtue left. We only hope the Heavenly Worthy will revive our lives, let us long serve as attendants of the Heavenly Worthy, supply what the assembly needs, and protect those who cultivate and study, not daring to be lax.”

After these ghosts made this vow, the suffering in their bodies ceased. At that time the Heavenly Worthy, perceiving the minds of the ghosts, asked again: “For what reason did you suddenly suffer such illness and pain? And for what reason were you cured and relieved?” The ghosts answered: “Our earlier illness and pain came from seeing the severe majesty and radiance of the Ghost-Slaying Great General; we suddenly contracted illness, with no way even to seek death, and all lost our original minds, not knowing why we suffered to this degree. Now we have been relieved because we could not endure this suffering, had no way forward or back, and could not seek life; therefore in our minds we made a vow: we only hope the Heavenly Worthy will revive our lives, let us long serve as attendants of the Heavenly Worthy, supply the assembly, and protect those who cultivate and study, not daring to be lax. After we made this vow, the illness and pain gradually subsided.”

The Heavenly Worthy told them: “The reason you ghosts fell ill is that you harmed all people and felt no shame at all in your hearts. What you are now receiving is evil retribution; it was not caused by the Ghost-Slaying Great General. Although this Great General is named ‘Ghost-Slaying,’ he has already ascended to the stage of Right Forbearance, entered the land of compassion, and is endowed with the six penetrations (the six supernatural powers). His mind is vast as the sea, and he always uses the power of wisdom to slay the thieves of affliction; he never uses hand or foot to harm the lives of sentient beings. For this reason he is called the ‘Ghost-Slaying Great General.’ He commands the troops of the Six Paramitas (the six practices of giving, precepts, forbearance, diligence, meditation, and wisdom), breaks all demonic foes, brings peace to sentient beings, and guides them to reach the stage of forbearance; that is why he is called a ‘Great General.’ You ghosts should not give rise to wrong views and doubt that this Great General is truly a ghost who kills people. If wrong views arise, you will fall for a long time into evil paths, evil karma will increase, and your illness will not be cured.”

At this time the Heavenly Worthy then spoke a gatha.

The heterodox and the upright are originally not two roads; purity and turbidity emerge from a single source. If you cling to heterodox views, you specters will forever sink into the heterodox path, evil karma will proliferate, and illness will be hard to remove.

The stirring of primordial Qi originally emerges from the void, and from this are differentiated awe (the force of austere destruction) and grace (the force of generation and nurture). The Great Dao (the Way), the fundamental principle of the universe’s operation, is the foremost of all blessings, while heterodox thoughts draw down the grievances of birth and death. When heterodox thoughts reach their extreme, the upright path naturally appears; when delusion reaches its end, one can instead return to the source. All is spontaneous and natural; the Great Dao itself requires no speech.

After the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) finished this verse, he again admonished the assembled ghosts: “You ghosts should yourselves detest and depart from this condition; you should examine yourselves; you should feel shame; you should reproach yourselves; you should carefully consider: what karmic causes did you plant that caused you to fall into this ghost realm? You are foul, restless, turbid, and filthy. You constantly wait for people to weaken, then seize the opportunity to seek their sacrifices and prayers, harm living beings’ lives, and feel no shame at all in your hearts. You form factions and cliques, with your minds set only on doing evil; you envy those who have virtue and undermine good people. You create all kinds of calamities and strange phenomena to alarm and terrify living beings. You evil ghosts—how could you serve as a field of positive blessings (zheng futian) for the people of the world, that is, a foundation for receiving offerings and bringing forth blessings? You do not understand great compassion and great mercy; you only know how to destroy the lives of living beings. You ghosts constantly do evil and are covered in karmic offenses; you are destined to fall into the hells and undergo all kinds of suffering—burning by fire, boiling in cauldrons, wind-blades, sawing apart—thereby to atone to living beings for your offenses.”

At that time, the Heavenly Worthy perceived that the hearts of the assembled ghosts were still not sufficiently pure and sincere, so he made them ponder deeply for a long while. Afterward, by his sovereign spiritual power, the Heavenly Worthy drew the assembled ghosts into the Hell of Flaming Furnaces; then into the Hell of Cauldrons of Boiling Liquid; through the Hell of Sawing Apart; through the Hell of Knife Mountains and Sword Trees; through the Cold Ice Hell; and then through the Long Night Hell. The Heavenly Worthy ordered the hell wardens to drive the assembled ghosts with clubs and rods, allowing them no moment of peace. When the hell guards were angry, flames spurted from their seven orifices and scorched the assembled ghosts. The ghosts screamed and fled, but all the gates of hell were shut, and there was nowhere to escape.

At that moment, the assembled ghosts silently prayed in their hearts: “May the Heavenly Worthy save our lives.” After a short while, the Heavenly Worthy transformed into a good person and, with attendants, opened the great gates of hell, led the assembled ghosts out, ordered the hell wardens not to detain them any longer, and then departed with this group of ghosts. (The original text repeats here; this should be a scribal duplication.)

Note: In the text, “field of positive blessings” (zheng futian) refers, in Buddhist and Daoist cultivation, to an object capable of producing karmic blessings; here it means that ghosts and spirits cannot be objects that receive offerings and bring forth blessings. “Heavenly Worthy” (Tianzun) refers to one of the highest ranks of Daoist deities; here it is the deity presiding over salvation.

Vernacular Interpretation: Selections from the Taishang Dadao Yuqing Jing (Most High Great Dao Jade Purity Scripture)

The ghosts were brought back to their original dwelling. From afar they saw the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun), wept bitterly, and in detail recounted the sufferings they had endured. It was indeed as the Heavenly Worthy had said before: they had suffered unbearable retaliation from enemies and foes. In the midst of this pain they remembered the Great Dao; sometimes they saw good people open the gates of hell and lead them out, so that they could return to this place and see the Heavenly Worthy again, both joyful and fearful. They also worried that they might suddenly again suffer the vengeance of enemies, fall into hell to undergo suffering, and have no strength to endure it. Therefore they were willing to follow the Heavenly Worthy and beg to receive salvation, to be spared from falling into the ghost realm and liberated from the various sufferings of hell.

The Heavenly Worthy again said to the ghosts: The afflictions you ghosts suffer are because in the past you ran amok, maiming and killing living beings, wronging and harming good people, stirring up all kinds of strange disasters and hauntings, and disturbing and terrifying sentient beings. Now you have received such retribution; it is not imposed on you by others. You said earlier that you wished to become attendants of the Great Dao, but your offenses are grave and heavy, your sinister and vicious hearts have not yet been removed, your bodies are foul, stinking, and impure, and you have disturbed and offended many cultivators.

The evil ghosts replied: We are willing to seek Dharma water (fashui) from the Great Dao to wash away the dust and grime on our bodies and purify body and mind. If this were not so, how would we dare, without cause, bring these sinful bodies to offend the Great Sage? We only hope that the Heavenly Worthy, in great compassion and great pity, will not take account of our filth, but bestow a stream of Dharma to wash away the dust, filth, and stench, so that we may receive upright Qi. That would be our good fortune through thousands of lives and myriad generations.

At this time, after the ghosts had spoken these words, the sound of their wailing shook the earth. They knocked their heads and struck their bodies, blood flowed from both eyes, and they nearly lost consciousness before reviving again.

At this time the Numinous Person (lingren—referring to an attained cultivator or an immortal official serving the Heavenly Worthy; here a self-designation adopted by the author), pitying these ghosts for their misery to such a degree, wept from the north side and said to the Heavenly Worthy: Your disciple is fortunate to have received the Heavenly Worthy’s salvation, to have entered the stream of the Great Dao and to serve the Heavenly Worthy. This kindness would be difficult to repay through billions of generations; though I have not spoken or acted, there has already been a response. Having received this great grace, my gratitude is endless. I do not measure my own strength and trouble the Heavenly Worthy to expend divine thought. I have received the Heavenly Worthy’s condescending compassion and forgiveness and your special regard; having offended your sacred heart, I have nonetheless been able to rescue the ghosts of the lower realm, and I earnestly and repeatedly entreat the Heavenly Worthy.

Notes: The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) is a high Daoist deity; here it refers to the supreme deity who performs rites to save the ghosts. The ghost realm is understood in Daoism as a lower path within reincarnation, into which beings fall because of karmic offenses. Dharma water is sacred water used in Daoism to purify body and mind and wash away karmic defilement. The Great Sage is an honorific for deities or attained persons.

The ghosts gave their own account: Like disciples seeking the Dao, before they knew the Great Dao, they saw only the obstructions of the outer world; their hearts were full of doubts, and they often wandered in the gloom, unable to find the gateway to awakening. Once they saw the light of day, they were again beset by afflictions. Later they encountered the Compassionate Honored One (Cizun, referring to the Celestial Worthy), and all their doubts were instantly resolved. They received the shelter of the Tree of Dao (a divine tree in Daoist texts; the scripture calls it the “Qian Tree”), were washed by a wondrous nectar, and all worldly entanglements were removed; the Dao-nature then appeared within them. This was like the sun melting accumulated snow, or like a torch in the night illuminating deep darkness; the haze dispersed and layer upon layer of ice melted. The Dao-teaching descended like sweet rain, moistening their hearts; the sprout of the Supreme Dao grew at once, clouds of compassion spread everywhere, withered and decayed things flourished anew, and even white bones could become human again. The ghosts said that today they had personally verified this. They implored the Celestial Worthy to save them in his compassion, unwilling, as in the past, to deviate from the true path midway; now with one heart they returned to oneness and came back under the Great Dao. The ghosts also lamented that they lacked wisdom, that their experience and learning were narrow, and that they were dull and ignorant—truly pitiable.

The Celestial Worthy replied: I wish to use this to display rare divine power, and I intend to hand these ghost souls over to the Lord of Nanchang Palace (a deity who governs a certain immortal palace), so that they may be reborn in the human world. Since they harbor this wish, let them become my attendants. I cannot bear to go against the ghosts’ wish. Thereupon the Celestial Worthy immediately ordered the Left True Immortal Youth (the immortal youth at the Celestial Worthy’s left) to burn Return-Soul Incense (incense that can restore the dead to life), ordered the Right Attendant High Perfection (the high perfected one at the Celestial Worthy’s right) to hold the Talisman of Lingyi (Spiritual Oneness), and ordered the Lord of the Spring Dao in the Heaven of Initial Green (the deity in the Heaven of Initial Green who governs the life-giving Qi of spring) to secretly circulate the Qi of life and revive the ghosts.

The final sentence repeats the preceding text, emphasizing that three actions—the Left True Immortal Youth burning incense, the Right Attendant High Perfection holding the talisman, and the Lord of the Spring Dao circulating Qi—take place simultaneously.

By this time, the ghosts had all been liberated, and their hearts were filled with joy; they rejoiced without end. Surrounding the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun), the supreme deity of Daoism, they bowed in worship and praised him, and made a vow: wherever the Heavenly Worthy might be, and in great Dharma assemblies, even if there were only a single speck of dust, they would lick it clean, so that no one would need to sprinkle and sweep. If in the assembly there were newly studying Daoist priests who had just entered the Daoist gate and whose conduct was improper, they would correct them. All men and women under heaven who received the Dao teachings they would protect, causing their cultivation to be accomplished. If anything were needed, they would come to supply it and be at their service, so that such people would lack nothing.

At this time, the ghosts’ bodies and minds turned toward goodness, and they no longer went against their original vows; they cultivated merit and made amends for their faults in order to repay the grace of the Great Dao. The Heavenly Worthy asked the ghosts: Now that you have escaped all manner of suffering, do you wish to be reborn in the human world, or do you wish to enter the Great Dao and ascend to the proper rank?

The Ghost King of the Green Emperor answered the Heavenly Worthy, saying: Before we ghosts knew the Great Dao, we circulated through birth and death; reborn as human beings, before we had lived a full hundred years, the time of death had already come. Our souls and spirits drifted unsettled, turning about through the five paths (referring to the various destinations in the six paths of reincarnation), and according to karmic retribution we received the fruits we deserved, without cease. Now that we have met the Heavenly Worthy, we wish to abandon all kinds of suffering, like spitting something out of the mouth and never swallowing it back. So too are we: we do not wish to be born again in a mortal body. To be reborn in the mortal world again would be like eating back what one has spit out; few such people would be willing. To be born in the mortal world is like treading on hot coals; it is hard not to be burned. Now we are fortunate to have seen the compassionate venerable deity and to have left the dark and deluded wrong paths. We only wish the Heavenly Worthy to take pity on us and permit us to be your attendants.

The Heavenly Worthy told them: The Great Dao is broad and empty; the principles of the Dharma have no enclosing limits or constraints. One need only cut off the ten evils, and all good actions will be able to accord with it.

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy, taking pity on the ghosts and knowing that their minds had already turned toward goodness, conferred on them offices over five divisions, five hundred million hosts in all, causing them to enter a realm of goodness, beauty, purity, and clarity: to guard the Daoist ritual site, assist newly studying Daoist priests, oversee the purification censers, constantly carry fragrant wood, and supply ash and fire.

At this time, the spiritual people (immortal spirits who had attained the Dao), seeing that the ghosts had been liberated, rejoiced in their hearts as well, and thereupon uttered a praise, saying:

The wondrous wind stirs the mysterious ford, suddenly raising waves of great compassion. It washes away people’s ignorance (their foolish confusion regarding the Great Dao (the Way)) and enables them to escape the river of love (a metaphor for the sea of suffering in which one drowns in passions and cannot pull oneself free). Pitying you in the time before you had attained deliverance made me sigh deeply. The clouds of compassion spread far and wide, and withered, decayed plants bloom again.

The gist of the hymn is this: I never expected that ghosts in the gloomy Nine Dark Hells (the netherworld of nine underground layers) could actually join my immortal family.

At that time, the spiritual being (a deity or numinous person who has attained the Dao) sang another song:

The roads of the world are endlessly tangled and restless; people rise and sink in birth and death, following the stream of affection and love. Why not single-mindedly walk the Great Dao of Wuwei (non-action), instead of forcing yourself to treat birth and death as enemies? You refuse to dwell peacefully in pure, quiet, and free places; instead you pursue pungent vegetables (onions, garlic, and other stimulating foods, which Daoism regards as things to abstain from) and the filth of the dusty world, suffering in vain. Why not admire those heroic ones who ride the clouds, hold their tallies, and roam freely?

After the spiritual being finished singing, it said to the multitude of ghosts: You are fortunate to have been able to see the Great Dao and to have yourselves attained deliverance. You should diligently cultivate day and night, assist the Great Dao in its teaching, protect and care for good people, always practice compassion, and become one with the Great Dao. You and I will long be attendants of the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun), and wherever we may be, we will never be apart.

Then Qingdi Shanshuang, one of the ghosts who had received deliverance, replied to the spiritual being: The Supreme Great Dao—I have heard it only at the very last. Though the sun and moon are bright, the blind cannot see them. Today I have been able to receive deliverance, and grief and joy mingle. I never expected the Dao’s numinous power to be so incomparable, that it can nourish all goodness, ferry all beings across, and become the supreme field of blessing for both the hidden and manifest realms—inconceivable and immeasurable. Shanshuang, again overcome with grief and joy, bowed to the spiritual being in thanks and said: Good meeting good—it is precisely today. May you pity our wishes, come often to teach and guide us, reveal the good path, and enable us to attain understanding.

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) saw that the good deities of the various quarters were moved with gratitude and reverent submission, and he knew that they deeply believed in the Great Dao. He therefore guided those two immortals to realize the fruit of the Dao and advance by one rank.

At this time, there were also the deities of clouds and mist, the heavenly deity-kings of the four directions, and eighty deities from the four quarters of Kunlun. From afar they heard that the Heavenly Worthy had opened wide the mysterious garden enclosure (referring to the Daoist sacred site, a metaphor for the wondrous realm of the Great Dao), so they led a following of 140,000 and came riding the wind to the place of assembly. They all saw the Heavenly Worthy manifest the thirty-two marks (the thirty-two extraordinary outward marks of a sage), the eighty minor marks (the eighty subtle excellent marks accompanying the thirty-two marks), and eighteen kinds of divine power: the Heavenly Worthy pressed his toe to the ground and the earth quaked; water and fire arose from his body; light shone from between his eyebrows. The deities bared their bodies, went barefoot, touched their heads and faces to the ground, bent their knees, joined their palms, and bowed from afar toward Yunmen (Cloud Gate).

At this time, the Heavenly Worthy knew that these were adherents of outer paths (practitioners not belonging to the orthodox Daoist gate), so he ordered a lesser immortal holding an ornate canopy to go display divine power to the deities. The lesser immortal sat in empty space, facing directly toward Yunmen.

At this time, when the heterodox host had finished its reverent salutations, doubt arose in their minds. They looked up and down and lingered for a long while, and then chanted a gatha (jie, a rhymed verse in Buddhist and Daoist scriptures):

I dwell in the remote and deep Ren Mountain,

revered by the Three Realms.

Long have I heard of the unsurpassed Dao;

riding clouds and mist, I entered Yunmen.

You say this is the heaven of heavens—

why do I not see the formless immortals?

My five emotions are no different from the mundane world;

my spiritual consciousness has not yet transcended.

Though I dwell above the cloud palaces,

how could I be without the bonds of birth and death?

At this time, the immortal, bearing the awe-inspiring power of the Great Dao, responded to the gatha of the heavenly demons (tianmo) by manifesting all the marks in full. His divine powers underwent a thousand transformations and ten thousand changes, and light shone from every pore of his body. Heaven and earth shook violently, so that the demons could not remain in their positions.

At this time, the demons knocked their heads and worshipped, looked up at the immortal, their five limbs trembling and their whole bodies sweating. Shaken with fear, they forgot their own bodies and could not compose themselves; the light around them vanished, and their forms were like lumps of ink.

Then the immortal again admonished the demons, saying in substance: Where will you settle yourselves?

At this time, the demons knocked their heads and worshipped, looked up at the immortal, their five limbs trembling and their whole bodies sweating. Shaken with fear, they forgot their own bodies and could not compose themselves; the light around them vanished, and their forms were like lumps of ink.

The immortal again questioned the assembled demons: “What have you come here to do?” He asked three times, and none of the demons could raise their heads to answer. After quite a while, they performed obeisance once more and replied to the immortal: “We have heard that the Supreme Great Dao endures in the upper realm, where spiritual powers are free and unimpeded, where awe-inspiring virtue is without equal, beyond the reach of ears and eyes, beyond where footsteps can go. We admire it morning and evening, yet cannot go there ourselves. Therefore today we agreed to come together, wishing to express our reverence and earnestly begging your forgiveness.” Having spoken, they prostrated themselves on the ground.

The immortal said: “Below, you are revered by people of the world, give yourselves various exalted titles, and use them to seek worldly profit. You have long since exhausted the karmic rewards due to you—so what are you doing here? This is the realm of the Dao, the pure realm where the Great Dao abides; it is not somewhere demons may ascend. Your karmic offenses are deep and heavy; you are unworthy to see the Dao. In the Desire Realm you delude ordinary people and call yourselves ‘the Tamer’; some call themselves Brahma, some style themselves ‘Capable and Benevolent,’ seeking offerings from the world; others call themselves ‘teachers of gods and humans,’ leading many good people astray. Thus they fall into the river of birth and death, accept your teachings, do not believe in the Great Dao, are bound by various attachments, and cut off right mindfulness.

“You also declare that all methods of cultivation are impermanent, and also say that the body cannot be destroyed. Some advocate that death and extinction are the highest bliss, luring people to suicide or to mutilate their bodies, thinking that in this way they can quickly cast off the mortal body and become a vajra body that cannot be destroyed; some say that in other worlds one can be born by transformation into bliss, seated upon a lotus, with food and clothing arising naturally, and that leaving the physical body means forever escaping birth and death. You demon multitudes, with your defiled bodies of ashen extinction, secretly liken yourselves to vajra; with the heterodox dharmas of ignorance, you speak vainly of the six spiritual powers and delude people of the world, causing them to abandon filial support and fail to respect father and mother.

“When such heterodox dharmas prevail, disciples and junior brethren disturb one another, cling to all sorts of external appearances, claim to have no discriminating views, speak emptily of non-obstruction, and yet cannot penetrate the ultimate Dao. They drift with the current, forget the root, and lose the true Dharma.”

This passage of scripture criticizes a kind of “heterodox teaching” and those who transmit it. When heterodox teachings arise, disciples and fellow disciples engage in sexual license with one another, cling to all sorts of outward appearances, and yet claim that they hold no biased views. They speak emptily of “non-obstruction” but cannot penetrate the supreme Great Dao. They drift about in all directions, forget the root, lose the true path, and their minds are benighted. They do not understand the Middle Way and remain constantly in the realm of conditioned action. Thus they suffer the affliction of birth-and-death cyclic existence, cannot attain the eternally abiding, indestructible true nature, and cannot free themselves from the bonds of names, appearances, and numerical categories.

The scripture then enumerates their specific abuses. They exalt the Buddhist thirty-two marks (the thirty-two excellent outward marks of a Buddha’s body), the eighty secondary characteristics (the eighty subtle and wonderful characteristics of a Buddha’s body), and the eighteen spiritual powers (the eighteen supernormal powers obtained through cultivation), yet because they cling to these conditioned marks they are bound by them. They make their toes press into the ground and use intimidation to shake people’s minds as their practice; they make offerings to water and fire and greedily seek food and drink—all from wrong views and craving. They also proclaim that cultivation yields ten kinds of benefits, while in reality they crave meat and fish and casually fabricate merits.

The scripture denounces them as “true outer-path heretics”: they cover up evil deeds and quiet public ridicule; they propound petty doctrines such as “ash annihilation” (the view that both body and consciousness are extinguished), falsely claim that heavenly immortals come to hear the teaching, and call themselves “I am an immortal,” when in truth no immortal has ever come to hear a demon teach. They shave and pluck out their hair, go naked and barefoot, commit the ten evils and five heinous sins, delight in slander, hate the loyal and good, and in turn defame the Great Dao. When performing rituals, male and female teachers and disciples mix together and shut themselves away in secret places, not letting others see, concealing their flaws and fearing that people will find out. Their words and deeds are coarse; their talk is empty and baseless.

For these reasons they are unworthy to see the Dao, yet they disturb the mundane world, delude the foolish, falsely establish heterodox teachings, and teach people to practice heterodox concentration, vainly imagining bizarre and garish visions. Their speech is uncanny; they lure the young and ignorant, plot rebellion, gather evil factions, and shave and disfigure the ignorant. They ruin people’s physical appearance, cause heterodox doctrines to spread throughout the desire realm (one of the three realms in Buddhism, the realm of desire), set up empty graves, and burn ordinary people’s bodies. Crowds of believers gather and praise them, but in the end they fall into hell. Ignorance increases day by day; they pluck out hair but do not remove the root of evil. To seek liberation through such heterodox arts is like carrying dry grass to put out a fire, like a sick person embracing illness while fleeing disease, or like a child running to escape their own shadow. The world is foul and chaotic, filling all four directions. The scripture concludes: with these sinful bodies of yours, you are unworthy to see the Dao.

When the demon multitudes heard the Immortal’s words, they were stirred in their hearts. For a time they wept and wailed in grief, repenting and blaming themselves, so flustered that they were like a foolish person suffering from illness who tries to flee the pain, or like a young child running to escape its own shadow. Defiled and chaotic thoughts filled the world. The Immortal told them: You bodies burdened with karmic offenses are not yet worthy to see the Great Dao.

Hearing the Immortal’s words, the demon multitudes grieved even more bitterly. Some beat their chests and struck their bodies until they were covered in blood, and tore out their temple hair; some mutilated their bodies as one burns away weeds; some wept, trembling all over, bared their shoulders and backs in supplication, and kowtowed at the divine feet, their appearance haggard and their suffering beyond words. The Heavenly Worthy of the Cloud Palace (Yungong Tianzun, a Daoist deity dwelling in the Cloud Palace) took pity on them and exhorted them to reform. He then emitted purple light from his numinous eyes and shone it afar upon the Immortal. The Immortal understood the Heavenly Worthy’s compassion and told the non-Daoist practitioners (practitioners outside the orthodox path): Those who seek the teachings should not grieve bitterly. If one truly repents, one need only change one’s heart; there is no need to shave off hair, mutilate the body, or extinguish one’s original nature in order to seek repentance. Only after the demon multitudes heard these words did they all stop.

Among the demon multitudes was a non-Daoist practitioner who called himself the Brahma King (a leader-like figure among the non-Daoists). He was precisely one of those non-Daoists who advocated shaving or cutting off hair, mutilating the body, and extinguishing one’s original nature in order to seek repentance. Only after the demon multitudes heard the Immortal’s words did they all stop.

At this time, among the assembled heterodox followers there was one who called himself the Brahma King and was the leader of heterodox groups of every kind. Naked, he knelt on one knee (hugui, a posture of worship with one knee on the ground), joined his palms, and said: “I do not know whether the Heavenly Worthy (the supreme deity) can universally save both the obscure and manifest realms and cause withered and decayed things to receive moisture again. All that has life should receive salvation. We implore the Heavenly Worthy to take pity and transform us insignificant beings, so that we may become human anew, abandon heterodox ways, and return to the right path. May we cling to the Heavenly Worthy as a shadow is sheltered by the shade of a tree, wash body and mind clean in the stream of Dharma, enter a pure realm wherever we set foot, and let our spirits and souls dwell on the mysterious immortal path. We are willing to sweep and clean the altar grounds, maintain purity and stillness, serve as attendants at your coming and going, hold your canopy and drive your carriage and horses, and wait on your orders from morning to night. We hope the Heavenly Worthy in compassion will grant this.” After speaking, he choked and sobbed, bowing his head with tears.

The immortal said: “I am not the Heavenly Worthy. I am only one who has just ascended to immortality and am here now serving the Great Compassion Heavenly Worthy.”

When the heterodox followers heard the immortal’s words, they broke into sweat all over and thought to themselves: “We are in the Realm of Desire (the realm inhabited by beings with desires), and we believed we had cultivated to the four fruits (in Buddhism, the four stages of practice; here they are attainments the heterodox followers claimed for themselves). Yet today we are so frightened and lose composure, involuntarily losing our normal state; it seems what we have attained is not the true Dharma. The immortals of the upper realms possess incomparable divine power; how much greater, then, must the Heavenly Worthy’s awe-inspiring virtue be? I fear that we, deeply stained by impurity and evil, are unworthy to behold the supreme Heavenly Worthy.” The crowd was caught between advancing and retreating, frightened and uneasy, not knowing how to conduct themselves.

At this time, six hundred thousand heterodox followers simultaneously removed the precious beads and necklaces (neck ornaments) from their necks and piled them before the Cloud Gate (the gateway to the immortal realm). The rest was the same as above: they stood in awe of the Heavenly Worthy’s majestic virtue, felt themselves deeply defiled, were caught in a dilemma, and were at a loss as to what to do.

At that time, six hundred thousand outer-path followers all unfastened the precious pearls and beaded necklaces from their necks, piled them before the Cloud Gate, and offered them from afar with reverent hearts as offerings to the Heavenly Worthy (the supreme honored deity). The immortal said to them: The treasures of your lower realm are merely gold, silver, lapis lazuli, tridacna shell, agate, coral, amber, and pearls. In the heavens above, however, there are ten thousand kinds of rare treasures, such as the luminous essence of the sun and moon, star pearls, the myriad transformations of golden essence, and the radiance of lightning and flowing rosy clouds. The Great Compassion Heavenly Worthy does not even glance at these; what need is there to send dust-stained necklaces into the Cloud Palace?

The outer-path followers replied: Sentient beings of the Desire Realm (the world of desire) cherish only necklaces and do not know the wondrous treasures of the upper heavens. We wish to present them with true hearts, to express our sincere intent. The immortal said: The Great Compassion Heavenly Worthy values the treasure of the human heart, not necklaces. The outer-path followers replied: In the mortal flesh of beings in the Desire Realm, there is no treasure in the heart. The immortal said again: Since there is no treasure on you, why not give away your hearts? These outer-path followers immediately went to find knives, intending to cut open their own hearts. The immortal, knowing that their minds had turned, handed the knives to them.

At this point, the Brahma King (the king of Brahma Heaven in Buddhism) personally cut open his own belly and let everyone see his five viscera. The remaining outer-path followers all wanted to look at the heart, but the immortal stopped them and said: What is meant by giving the heart is to remove your outer-path false views, along with those shallow and one-sided perceptions and experiences, and to devote the mind single-mindedly to the Great Dao. This is what is meant by giving the heart—not giving away the five viscera, flesh, blood, and marrow. When the outer-path followers heard these words, they began to awaken in their hearts.

At that time, the immortal pressed his great compassionate hand upon the heterodox practitioners’ (waidao) stomachs, intestines, and five viscera—heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—restoring them as before. The heterodox practitioners looked at one another, their hearts and Qi calm and at ease, and all exclaimed in praise, “There has never been anything like this!” Having heard the wondrous Dharma and seen with their own eyes the power of spiritual penetration, they approached and reported to the immortal, “The Teacher of Heaven and Humanity is truly the king of physicians, curing grave chronic illnesses, resolving all doubts, and fully restoring the body with nothing left over. We wish to follow the Celestial Master (Tianshi) and seek prolongation of life; we hope to be graciously granted the Way of long life and deathlessness.”

The immortal asked, “What methods do you practice in the lower realms that can prolong your lifespan by one kalpa or half a kalpa?” The heterodox practitioners replied, “Sentient beings in the lower realms cannot hear the true Dharma and practice only the ‘Four Ruyi’ (Siyi, a type of cultivation aimed at fulfilling wishes as one desires). Although these methods can prolong life, it is no more than eighty thousand great kalpas; afterward one still regresses and falls and is reborn in the Desire Realm (the world where beings have not cut off desire and dwell). We have now lived more than seventy thousand kalpas, yet we constantly worry about impermanence and fear birth, aging, sickness, and death. These methods are limited; they cannot go beyond the Three Realms (Desire Realm, Form Realm, and Formless Realm) or surpass the Five Supernatural Powers (five kinds of spiritual penetration), and in the end they cannot escape birth and death.”

The immortal said, “The Way of long life is not something ordinary people can hear. You heterodox practitioners seeking long life—I fear your habitual tendencies are deep and heavy, your karmic roots firm, and you are advanced in years, with marrow and brain already depleted, body and spirit turbid and heavy, and fluids foul and stagnant. In addition, you have deceived and deluded people; your offenses are already recorded in the registers. The Three Bureaus (divine officials responsible for overseeing and recording faults) probe treachery and wickedness, and the Five Thearchs (Heavenly Thearchs of the Five Directions) investigate transgressions. For you to seek deliverance is truly very difficult. Moreover, I uphold the method of salvation orally conferred by the Great Compassion Heavenly Worthy (Dabei Tianzun). Even if the Heavenly Worthy permits you to attain deliverance, you must first observe fasting and purification for a thousand days and reflect on your faults; only then can you attain deliverance.”

When the heterodox practitioners heard the immortal’s words, all of them, outside the Cloud Gate (outside the gate of the ritual ground), paid reverence from afar to the Heavenly Worthy, burned incense, and made vows. For seven days and seven nights they kowtowed and prostrated, seeking a response. Just then, they suddenly felt the divine incense deeply permeate the faculty of smell and flow into their hearts; their hearts rejoiced, afflictions dissolved, their bodies no longer felt hunger or thirst, and their ears and eyes became keener and clearer than when they first arrived. The heterodox practitioners snapped their fingers and looked at one another, telling each other that their skin had become moist, smooth, and radiant.

At this point, the immortal understood in his heart that the Heavenly Worthy intended to use these heterodox practitioners to enlighten them. The heterodox practitioners themselves sensed this as well. They rejoiced inwardly, but did not dare to come forward on their own; they could only express their thanks with propriety and, from afar, silently invoke the Great Compassionate True Emperor. Another seven days and nights passed, and they were still kneeling in reverence before the Cloud Gate.

The immortal told them: The Great Compassionate True Emperor constantly transforms and saves all kinds of beings with a heart of compassion, and never speaks much in preaching. This is what is meant by “the great Dao carries out its teaching without words.” It is like a loving mother who can distinguish her infant’s cries, knowing whether the child is hungry or thirsty, in pain or itching, and accordingly gives food, drink, or medicine. You have now already obtained Dao power.

The heterodox practitioners replied, “It is indeed as you have clearly perceived.” The immortal asked again: What sensations do you have? The heterodox practitioners answered: We feel a fragrance pass through the root of the nose and flow into the heart; suddenly everything opens up, and the joy and ease in our hearts surpass what we felt before several times over. Our ears and eyes have also become especially keen.

The immortal said: You have obtained Dao power and have already prolonged your lives—what is there to worry about? It is only that the dust and defilement on you have accumulated for a long time, so you cannot yet see the Great Compassionate Heavenly Worthy in person, nor receive the supreme essentials of the Dao. For now, you followers should return to the Desire Realm, observe fasting and precepts for three kalpas (meaning an extremely long time), purify and refine body and mind, and then come back to draw near the Heavenly Worthy.

The heterodox practitioners said: Our bodies are already old, and we fear our lives cannot last long. If we go away for three kalpas and remain stuck in the lower realm, and the time of impermanence suddenly arrives, we will lose our connection with the Dao; our soul-consciousness will drift, and we can only receive retribution according to karma. How could we come again to see the Heavenly Worthy? Master, you should know that among the deviant immortals in the Desire Realm, the longest-lived do not exceed eighty thousand great kalpas; those in the middle live one kalpa or half a kalpa; the lowest are no different from ordinary people—none can preserve their lives. Why does the Master not bestow some minor method, so that we may temporarily lengthen our lifespan?

The immortal replied: The supreme great Dao is penetrating and unobstructed; fundamentally there are no minor methods. One need only cultivate a single method to completion, and all can attain true realization. The heterodox practitioners earnestly pleaded without ceasing, and each took the precious pearls from their topknots and offered them to the immortal. The immortal, knowing their sincerity, accepted the offerings and returned into the Cloud Gate. In an instant, from the cloud palace came subtle, wondrous, clear, and soaring spiritual sounds, as if plucking metal and stone, and as if harmonizing with a zither of emptiness.