《太上虚皇天尊四十九章经》

Chapter One: Establishing Merit

The Celestial Worthy said: All who wish to cultivate the Dao (the Way) should first establish merit. Thus the thearchs of the various heavens, the exalted worthies, the perfected, and the immortals have all risen to the station of sages and perfected beings only through the diligent cultivation of merit; the various heavens also record merit and assign rank on that basis. When accumulated merit reaches a full thousand, both body and spirit can become immortal; if merit falls short of a thousand, the body may perish, yet the spirit can still become immortal; when merit benefits the multitudes, one can become a guest of Yuqing (the pure celestial realm in which the revered deities of Daoism dwell).

When an ordinary person casts off the bodily form and becomes an immortal, and the immortal is in turn transformed into a perfected being, the perfected person is then free of obstruction and merges as one with the natural Great Dao. Drawn inward, one transforms into Qi (vital energy); extended outward, one becomes a human being. Spiritual powers are unconstrained, transformations take no fixed form, and one can fly through the Three Realms (the celestial realm, the human world, and the underworld) and pass in and out of realms of darkness and light. In the past I established merit in the human world; later, when I roamed the heavens, the various heavens also reported my achievements. All living beings should vow to rescue and deliver others; with a resolve that is firm and does not turn back, they will naturally be able to realize the true Dao.

Chapter Two: Fasting and the Precepts

The Celestial Worthy said: Fasting and the observance of precepts are the foundation of cultivating the Dao and the bridge that leads to the methods of the Dao. If you wish to study the Dao, you should purify the mind, keep the fast, and reverently uphold the precepts, so that every thought is upright and true, and deviant notions and delusive thoughts naturally disappear.

Living beings leave the realm of purity and indulge in meat, fish, and desire, and therefore violate the precepts. This is like a hungry ghost devouring corpses, its starving belly as if scorched by fire and never able to be satisfied; and like flies scrambling over rotten, foul things yet mistaking them for fragrance, and thus violating the precepts. In this way the Three Palaces within the body (the inner palaces of the body spoken of in Daoist cultivation) become turbid and the six viscera unclean, so that the corpse-souls (the souls that Daoism associates with the fleshly body and yin life) are able to flourish and take pleasure in sinking into the land of death.

You should cut off the root of craving and enter the realm of purity: do not create the various causes of suffering, do not do evil, do not give rise to one-sided views, and do not stir up deviant thoughts. You should regard the texts of the precepts as you would the laws of the world; when you are tempted to violate them, be as wary as one who fears punishment. Observe the precept texts with single-minded devotion, and at every moment place them solemnly upon your heart, as if facing a person you hold in awe. Hold your thoughts upright and grave, dispel every delusion, and listen and receive with undivided attention; only then can you comprehend the correct Dao. Such a person alone is my disciple.

Chapter Three: Recognizing the Original Nature

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: Emptiness and spontaneity are the source of the Dao (the Way). The True One—the pure, non-dual fundamental reality—admits of no distinctions. Its essential nature is clear and serene, perfect and luminous, complete from the outset, and it does not fall into partial views of any kind. Far removed from the afflictions and defilements of the worldly dust, it clings neither to there being something to learn nor to there being something to cultivate, and within this one naturally comes to understand. It neither departs nor abides; it neither grasps nor abandons; there is no joy and no affliction; there is no birth and no death; there is no past and no present. Only this is true awakening.

Observe all forms and appearances: they are all like empty space. When the illusory distinctions of the world are eliminated, body and mind can accord with the spontaneous Dao.

Chapter Four: The Response to Goodness

The Celestial Worthy said: When a person performs one good deed, the hundred spirits are all at peace. When one performs ten good deeds, Siming—the deity who governs human lifespan and the registers of destiny—will store up blessings and longevity for that person. When one performs a hundred good deeds, Donghua—a revered deity in the Daoist pantheon—will record that person’s name in the register. When one performs a thousand good deeds, the blessings extend to seven generations of ancestors, so that the souls of the dead may become immortals. When good deeds have been accumulated to completion, a jade talisman descends to receive one; a thousand spirits come to pay court, and one ascends in broad daylight into the celestial palace.

Chapter Five: The Power of the Dharma Can Protect

The Celestial Worthy said: You know how to pity others, yet you do not know how to cherish yourself. Earth, water, fire, and wind—the four great elements that constitute the body—gather only for a time. It is like clay shaped into a vessel and then fired, so that only then does it become firm. Your body is like the vessel, and the Dharma—the method of cultivation—is like the fire. The Dharma can uphold and protect your body, enabling it to attain an indestructible quality.

Chapter Six: Accumulating Goodness as Treasure

The Celestial Worthy said to the Perfected Miaoxing: You climb a mountain of treasures and walk about looking on every side. All around are precious things of every kind, and not one of them fails to delight. When the time comes to descend the mountain, can you leave empty-handed?

The Perfected Miaoxing replied: Not to take some treasures back with one is to abandon them oneself.

The Celestial Worthy said: Well spoken. To live one’s life in this world is like standing upon a mountain of treasures. Every kind of opportunity to do good is a treasure. If you do not do good, then when you leave the world in time to come it will be just like climbing a treasure mountain and returning empty-handed, having carried nothing away. Will you not regret it?

Chapter Seven: Removing Defilement

The Celestial Worthy said: Your body is not pure and stainless. It is constantly soiled by all kinds of external things, and filth accumulates upon it, so you must think of washing it clean. The mind, too, has its filth. The six faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are stained by things of the outer world; if you do not think of cleansing your thoughts, you will fall into confusion. Thus, when the body is dirty, wash it with the water of the world; when the mind is covered with dust, wash it with the words of the teaching of the Dao (the Way). Only when the six faculties are pure, when inside and outside are thoroughly clear and luminous, and not the slightest stain remains, can one reach Wuwei (non-action), the state of not being bound by deluded thoughts and contrived activity.

Chapter Eight: Savoring the Flavor

The Celestial Worthy said: When you eat honey, sweetness fills your mouth, and a lingering taste remains upon the tongue. If you savor the words I have spoken, the meaning you gain is deeper still than this.

Chapter Nine: Severing Causes and Conditions

The Celestial Worthy said: All sentient beings are born from causes and arise in dependence on conditions. Because they are entangled by causes and conditions, they knot together every kind of affliction, perform measureless karmic deeds, and fall into the changes of arising and ceasing, revolving without end, like foam upon the waves—forming for a moment, then breaking apart. You should realize that all things are originally empty. People themselves give rise to all manner of views, and they cling to every thing and to all ties of kinship. These are precisely the roots of affliction, causing them to cycle without rest, as though shut in a prison. If the mind cannot awaken, it is like a great offender who, from beginningless time, has been tightly bound and has never been able to gain release.

I now, for your sake, remove the causes of the past and the future and cut off every entanglement, so that you may discern what is truly a cause and what is not a cause, what is truly a condition and what is not a condition. When you are no longer pulled by causes and conditions, when the mind is clear and settled, with neither coming nor going, neither holding aloof nor clinging, you can be fully liberated and pass beyond the Three Realms (the Three Realms are the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm—that is, the sphere within which sentient beings revolve in the cycle of rebirth).

Chapter Ten: Self-Renewal

The Celestial Worthy said: All men and women who, before the Three Treasures—the Dao, the Jing (scripture/classic), and the Master, which Daoism venerates—bow their heads and take refuge, wash away the defilement in their hearts, make the mind pure, repent and begin anew, and vow never to offend again, may become my disciples. If someone, ever since living in the world, examines himself before the Three Treasures and finds nothing in his heart that calls for repentance, he too is a true disciple.

Chapter Eleven: Giving

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: When one has more than enough, it is not hard to give some of it away; what is hard is still being willing to give when one is not well off. It is not hard to give away things one dislikes; what is hard is to give away things one deeply treasures. Every kind of merit and virtue arises from a joyful mind, and all giving ought likewise to spring from joy. Although wealth and goods lie outside the body, they bear upon the livelihood and very lives of living beings. Some use wealth to make offerings to the Three Treasures (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; Daoist scriptures also commonly borrow this designation), while others use the methods of the Dao (the Way) to teach and transform people and bring them to awakening. All such good deeds ripen into good fruits and bring boundless blessings in return.

Chapter Twelve: Diligent Practice

The Celestial Worthy said: One who understands my Dao may not be able to practice it, and one who practices my Dao may not be able to persist in it. The difficulty of cultivating the Dao lies in diligent perseverance: once the Dao is understood, one must practice it diligently and never slacken over the long course. It is like crossing a vast sea and hoping each day to reach the shore; if one remains constant from beginning to end, the Dao can then be attained.

Chapter Thirteen: Refining Impurity to Attain the True

The Celestial Worthy said to the Perfected of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing Zhenren): Before you were born, you were in a state of undivided chaos. There was nothing at all—nothing to be seen or heard, and no names or appearances—in accord with the true permanence of which you speak. At that time, how could there have been any “wondrous practice” to speak of? I will now explain to you the principle of the time before birth. All bodily forms and outward appearances are illusory; clinging to this illusory body only makes it a burden upon yourself.

It is like the forging of a sword: only after tempering, when the impurities have been removed, does fine steel appear. A person, too, should advance with courageous vigor, free of obstruction, and only then become a vessel of subtle excellence.

Chapter Fourteen: Transformation

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said to the Perfected One of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing Zhenren): “To follow my Dao (the Way) is called good karma; to turn away from my Dao is called evil karma. The Most High puts the establishing of De (Virtue/Power) first, the establishing of merit and achievement second, and the writing of books to set forth a teaching third. Although these accomplishments differ in degree, in the end they all return to the Dao. Sentient beings are often upside down and deluded, their false thoughts flying in every direction. They do things that lead to hell, yet they themselves are wholly unaware, and they even delight in drawing ever nearer, casting themselves into the river of craving and desire. You must expound the teaching for sentient beings and guide them with flexible, skillful means of instruction. In this way you will obtain blessed reward and, together with sentient beings, realize the realm of Wuwei (non-action).”

Chapter 15: The Accomplishment of the Perfected

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice asked the Celestial Worthy: “What kind of person is called a Zhenren (Perfected Person)? And what Dao must one cultivate in order to realize this state?”

The Celestial Worthy said: “Cultivate with single-minded devotion and practice the Dao with austere diligence; cut off worldly desires, give rise to no delusive thoughts, and remain unstained and unattached by external things. Refine the bodily form and transform it into Qi (vital energy); then refine Qi and transform it into Shen (spirit); refine Shen until it unites with the Dao, and so bring oneself into the realm of ziran (natural spontaneity). Gather the myriad principles into one’s own person, and from that one person manifest the myriad realms. Cling neither to being nor to non-being, and forever transcend birth and cessation. Such a person is called a Zhenren.”

Chapter 16: The Gradations of the Three Vehicles

The Celestial Worthy said: “Beginners do not let the eyes look about at random, do not let the ears listen at random, and do not let the mind recklessly seek knowledge. They restrain all of this, so that every tangled state of feeling returns to stillness, and by this means they reach the Dao.

“Those more advanced in cultivation seem, when they look, to see nothing, when they listen, to hear nothing, and in the mind to know nothing. In their actions they do not chase external things, and by this they contemplate the profound and subtle principles of the myriad things.

“Those of the Great Vehicle see nothing, yet there is nothing they do not see; hear nothing, yet there is nothing they do not hear; know nothing, yet there is nothing they cannot understand. Within and without they are bright, clear, and fully penetrating, and among the myriad things there is no barrier. Therefore they can stand as peers of the cosmos and roam through realms without end.”

Chapter 17: Exhorting Goodness through Words

The original text does not provide the scripture of this chapter.

The Celestial Worthy said: To give others wealth and goods is not as good as to give them beneficial words. Gold, though precious, is used up and gone; good words kept in the heart remain a treasure for a whole lifetime. All immortals and Perfected Persons attain the fruit of the Dao (the Way) by means of the supreme essential teachings. If you can hold these words firmly in mind and tell them widely to all living beings, so that they practice accordingly, the blessings you receive will be endless.

Chapter Eighteen: The Order of Suffering and Joy

The Celestial Worthy said: Those who cultivate the methods of the Dao cut off every kind of craving and desire, abstain from rich and savory flavors, long keep the fast, quiet their thoughts, and carefully come to understand the Great Dao. This is seeking joy first through hardship. Once one truly knows the joy within it, one no longer feels it to be suffering.

Living beings cling to glory, wealth, and rank, lose themselves in sights and sounds, and give free rein to passion, supposing that they are pursuing joy, when in fact they are bringing suffering upon themselves. My Dao is first bitter and afterward joyful; living beings are first joyful and afterward bitter. I tell you this now. You should understand it and treat it with care.

Chapter Nineteen: The Gate of Non-Duality

The Celestial Worthy said: My Dao makes no distinction between near and far, and in my eyes there is no noble or base. I regard all living beings as equal. Where living beings have a good nature, I help them bring good deeds to completion; where they have the capacity to cultivate the Dao, I help them realize the Great Dao. To choose among them and treat them differently is to fall into the two paths of discrimination.

Chapter Twenty: Not Killing

The Celestial Worthy said: If you wish to cultivate my Dao, you must be careful not to give rise to the thought of killing living beings. All living beings cling to life and fear death. My life is their life, so do not regard them lightly. To kill living beings in order to satisfy the appetite and enjoy rich food is not right. If one can hold a heart of pity and think of their terror as death draws near, one should not bear to eat them. Only by doing so can the practice of compassion be shown.

In the original text, a passage repeating what came before appears before both “The Gate of Non-Duality” and “Not Killing”; here those passages have been combined according to the content of the chapters.

Those who cultivate the Great Dao (the Way) should take clarity and stillness as their foundation, observe a prolonged fast and abstinence, concentrate their thoughts, and intone the Great Nothingness (Taiwu, the realm of emptiness of which Daoism speaks). They should look upon every deviant path as they would an enemy, and keep far from every craving and desire as they would avoid a foul odor. When the root of pain and affliction is removed and attachment to family and loved ones is cut off, one can pass from the dark, turbid sea of suffering into a realm of purity.

This is like the white lotus that grows in the mud yet stands upright as it rises from the water, unstained by defilement. When the five viscera are pure, peaceful, and harmonious, and the three fields—the upper, middle, and lower Dantian (energy center), the bodily sites spoken of in Daoist internal cultivation—are bright, clean, and plain, the Perfected of Great Mystery (Taixuan Zhenren, an immortal perfected being of which Daoism speaks) will naturally come to your side.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Not Being False

The Celestial Worthy told the Perfected of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing Zhenren, an honorific title in Daoism): The teaching of the Great Vehicle can enable a person to transcend the Three Realms (the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm). If one does not cultivate my methods of the Dao, one is treating what I have said as empty and false. It is because I am not false that I have been able to realize the Great Dao. Therefore faith is the treasure within the mind, and all perfected beings attain the fruit of the Dao by relying on faith.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Compassion

The Celestial Worthy said: You living beings should take compassion as your foundation. On seeing all things, always harbor a heart that cannot bear their suffering; regard the pain of people in the world as your own pain, and be willing to offer rescue, aid, and support, so that all may be secure and at ease. Living beings, through foolish ignorance, fall into every kind of sinful karma and hardship. If one does not go to save them, one is no different from the foolish and ignorant. By constantly practicing the heart of great compassion, one can naturally accomplish the unsurpassed Dao.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Myriad Methods Return to One

The Celestial Worthy said: The countless branching streams ultimately all flow into the great sea, and the many diverse methods ultimately all return to the Dao. Living beings, because of attachment, give rise to every kind of distinction. One should reach a state of perfect interfusion and thorough understanding, free of obstruction, and thread the various doctrines through with a single fundamental principle.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Cutting Off Filth and Turbidity

The Celestial Worthy said: All living beings come from filth and turbidity, and in the end they depart still bearing filth and turbidity. If there is one who can, in purity, firmly trust the precepts I have taught, remain unstained by external things, and cut off scattered thoughts, that person can leave the surging waves of filth and turbidity, enter my teaching, attain the realm of neither going nor coming, and forever transcend the calamities of the dusty world.

If the six faculties—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—are not pure, one should wash clean one’s own heart-mind. When the heart-mind takes on no defilement, every kind of impurity naturally ceases to arise. The heart-mind is thus like an official charged with affairs, presiding over all things. To subdue one’s own heart-mind is like reining a fierce tiger; if one indulges it and grows negligent, the tiger will instead do harm to oneself.

Chapter 27: Attesting the True

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) says: Those who cultivate and study the Dao (the Way) should keep the mind clear and still, and treat others with humility and gentleness. When they meet with danger, hardship, or distress, they should give aid and support. They should regard all things with a compassionate heart and rid themselves of malicious thoughts. They should look upon all living beings as they would their own kin: if someone is hungry or cold, they think of giving clothing and food; if someone is ill, they think of providing medicine; if someone is bound by enmity, they think of mediating on that person’s behalf. A compassionate heart such as this is without end, and the practitioner will be able, both in the time to come and in later lives, to fulfill the conduct of a Perfected Person (Zhenren).

Chapter 28: Wealth as the Root of Calamity

The Celestial Worthy says: Wealth is the root of calamity, and to amass wealth is also to accumulate karmic offense. Wealth is likewise the root of craving and desire, and can give rise to every kind of wrongdoing. Only by regarding wealth as something external to oneself is it possible to enter the realm of the Dao.

Chapter 29: Supreme Words That Moisten All

The Celestial Worthy says: Living beings are entangled by passion and attachment, as though they had stepped into a raging fire and could not pause. From youth to old age they remain wholly unaware. My words of teaching are like sweet dew: they can moisten living beings so that their minds naturally grow cool and settled.

Chapter 30: Enduring Humiliation

The Celestial Worthy says: Patience is a precious treasure for establishing oneself; one must never contend with others. When all manner of demonic obstacles arrive, I meet them calmly through patience and do not compete with them. The other party will of itself turn its weapons back: to harm another is in the end to harm oneself as well, while I remain at peace. All Perfected Persons attain realization through the practice of enduring humiliation.

Chapter 31: Creating the Field of Blessings

This passage of the scripture lists only the title of this chapter and does not include the main text.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: Human life in this world is as brief as a flash of lightning. In the turn of an eye an infant becomes an old person, and a whole lifetime seems nothing more than a short spring dream. One ought to press forward with courageous diligence and do much good. If one is forever lamenting that it is already too late, and in ordinary days neither accumulates De (Virtue/Power) nor practices goodness, then when one closes the eyes and departs this life, what will there be to rely upon?

Chapter 32: Right Mindfulness

The Celestial Worthy said: If your mind is free of deviant thoughts, a single thought can penetrate the void. Everywhere throughout the void there are sages and worthies. One should constantly regard the myriad things with a mind of equality and diligently cultivate the supreme Dao (the Way). In this way one can personally realize the “Xuwulao” (an honorific title for the Dao); and with long cultivation, one can enter the realm of the Great Vehicle (vast methods of cultivation and the realm of awakening).

Chapter 33: Transcending Being and Non-being

The Celestial Worthy said: Sentient beings are deluded and falsely take the myriad things to be truly existent. My Dao is originally without form or appearance; yet sentient beings, inverted in their views, falsely take the myriad things to be entirely nonexistent. In truth, the Dao can neither be simply called “being” nor simply called “non-being”; it manifests within being, yet is not confined by being or non-being. Those who can comprehend it in this way are able to transcend all things.

Chapter 34: Bestowing the Teaching and Being Without Transgression

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing Zhenren, a Daoist honorific title) asked the Celestial Worthy, “What kind of giving yields the greatest merit?” The Celestial Worthy said, “Bestowing my teachings upon others yields the greatest merit.” The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice asked again, “While living in the world, what is most precious?” The Celestial Worthy said, “That one oneself be without transgression—this is most precious.”

Chapter 35: Receiving Recompense According to Conditions

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice asked the Celestial Worthy, “Can the causes and conditions and the allotted destiny of former lives be known?” The Celestial Worthy said, “If you can observe the causes and conditions of this life, you can know the causes and conditions of the past; if you cultivate the method of observing the causes and conditions of this life, you can know the causes and conditions of lives to come. The primordial Qi (vital energy)—the fundamental force by which the myriad things are generated—that moves between Heaven and Earth operates with impartial justice and without favoritism. Whatever one plants, one will in the end harvest oneself. If one plants the roots of thorns, how can one hope that they will grow into the fine trees of the immortal realms?”

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice asked the Celestial Worthy, “What power in the world is greatest?” The Celestial Worthy answered, “The power of compassion is the greatest and the most vast. A compassionate heart can transform all things, and compassionate action can subdue all things. Faced with evil, one does not contend with it; faced with violence, one does not resist it by violence. Therefore one is invincible wherever one turns. This is why the power of compassion is boundless.”

Chapter 37: According with the Dao

The Celestial Worthy said to the Perfected One of Wondrous Practice, “If you wish to learn my Dao (the Way), you must do this: let your mouth speak no words that dispute right and wrong, let your mind cling to no distinction between self and others, and let your body be neither stained nor entangled by external things. Only then can you be said to accord with the Dao of Wuwei (non-action). All beings dwell amid illusory change, drawn along by outward forms and by causes and conditions. Even when one knows that joy will in the end become suffering, a single thought of thorough awakening is enough to return to Wuwei.”

Chapter 38: The Mind Gives Rise to Sorrow and Joy

The Celestial Worthy said, “Do not harbor a mind that seeks to harm, and do not injure any living being. Living beings may not yet have noticed, but the deities already know. If you place another in danger, you yourself will face danger; if you wrong another, you yourself will suffer wrong. Heaven and hell are both produced by the contriving of the mind.”

Chapter 39: The Methods of the Dao

The Celestial Worthy said, “My Dao is like a torch, inexhaustible in its use. No matter with whom it is shared, it can, like fire, cook food and sustain all things. The methods of my Dao are like the source of a spring: they can water what has withered and moisten everything. If you yourself are obstructed by afflictions, then it is you who have turned against the Dao.”

Chapter 40: Entering the Marvelous

The Celestial Worthy said, “To enter the gate of my teaching, one must study until there is nothing left to study, practice until there is nothing left to practice, and awaken until there is no state of awakening left to cling to. This is to enter the gateway of all marvels, able to penetrate and discern without obstruction. Beings cling and will not let go. They vainly pursue the beginning and the end of things, and still suppose they have reached the highest realm. This is like looking in delusion upon all manner of outward forms.”

Chapter 41: Discarding Ornament

The source text lists only the chapter title and does not provide the content of the scripture.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: Purity and stillness are the root of the Dao (the Way). Chasing after glory, wealth, and rank brings misfortune. Do not disdain plainness and quiet calm, for within them lies the deepest savor. Foolish people greedily cling to worldly desires, like moths flying into a flame. They do not know that this brings harm, and in the end they go to destruction.

Chapter 42: Equating Likes and Dislikes

The Celestial Worthy said: Be careful. Do not recklessly deceive or delude living beings, and do not harbor a malicious heart, secretly scheming against others. Imagine yourself as another person, and you will understand: with regard to good and evil, liking and disliking, people are originally without distinction. One who can put oneself in another’s place and think on their behalf in this way may realize the supreme Dao.

Chapter 43: First the Real, Then the Bestowal

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing Zhenren) asked the Celestial Worthy: I have often heard that the sage-king is able to benefit all and rescue living beings, and never grows weary. Such thoughts arise one after another without cease, and so in the end he is able to attain perfection. If another person also establishes this resolve, is the recompense received necessarily the same?

The Celestial Worthy said: Do not assume this lightly. One must cultivate diligently, so that the mind truly possesses the foundation for realizing the great Dao. In this way, the good deeds of rescuing living beings will naturally flow forth without end.

Chapter 44: Transcending Form and Appearance

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice said: The sage-king has seventy-two wondrous marks, and his body bears a radiance of nine colors. When the immortals of the various heavens see the Celestial Worthy, they all praise him and call it good, bowing in reverence, and regard this as a supreme and rare sight.

The Celestial Worthy said: I am not, originally, a visible form, yet you take me as having form. I am not, originally, a fixed appearance, yet you take me as having marks. Those whose practice is still shallow, and who look with the eyes of the flesh, cannot see into the great Dao. If you look at me only by the nine-colored radiance and the seventy-two marks, you abandon the principle of non-attachment and instead cling to what has form, and so you cannot hear the supreme meaning.

Chapter 45: All Things Depend on the Dao

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice asked: All who have eyes can see the various forms and colors; yet the subtle methods of the Dao cannot be seen directly.

The Celestial Worthy said: My Dao is like the sun. Its light shines everywhere, enabling people to distinguish every kind of form and color. Without the light of the sun, even those who have eyes cannot see. You must be careful in cultivating the Dao, and not give up halfway.

Chapter 46: Resolutely Studying the Dao

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: “The path of learning the Dao (the Way) is like the sun, shining with light upon all. The sun illuminates the myriad things, and only then can people clearly distinguish their different colors and forms. If the sun’s light is blocked, even those who have eyes can see nothing at all. You should cultivate the Dao with care, and not abandon it halfway.”

Chapter 46: Resolute Determination in Learning the Dao

The Celestial Worthy said: “Those who learn the Dao must be single-minded and steadfast, and must not be of two minds. They must cut off contamination by the dusty world, let go of attachment to such bonds as kinship and affection, make the mind as still as cooled ashes, and extinguish the intense desires within the heart. Even if one must endure hardship and restrain oneself, one should still strive in cultivation, and not draw back because of misfortune or difficulty. One should be like an arrow that has been shot: pressing straight ahead, never turning back. I guarantee that in the end you will be able to realize the true meaning of the Great Dao.”

Chapter 47: Admonitions Concerning Demons

The Celestial Worthy said: “Learning the Dao is far from easy. Ghosts, spirits, and demon kings will disrupt a person’s cultivation. They wish only that people die, and they take no pleasure in seeing anyone attain the way of the immortals. When you are on the verge of success, immortals of the various heavens will also come to test you. These immortals may test you with what you desire, or with what you do not desire; they may test you in what is hard to accomplish, or in what you fear. They will test you from places in the mind you have not yet perceived and from thoughts you have not yet formed. Those who pass the tests will receive the recommendation of the various heavens and the welcome of the demon kings. This is called attaining the Dao.”

Chapter 48: Changing the Mind and Turning Toward the Dao

The Celestial Worthy said: “Superior people take the doing of good as their pursuit; inferior people take wealth as their pursuit. People in the world find no rest by day and cannot sleep at night, worrying only that their wealth is not enough. If you can change this frame of mind and turn instead to learning the Dao, how could you fail to succeed in cultivation?”

Chapter 4: Exhortation to Practice

The Celestial Worthy said: “Superior people take the doing of good as their pursuit; inferior people take wealth as their pursuit. People in the world find no rest by day and cannot sleep at night, worrying only that their wealth is not enough. If you can change this frame of mind and turn instead to learning the Dao, how could you fail to succeed in cultivation?”

Chapter 49: Exhortation to Practice

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice (Miaoxing Zhenren) asked: “Learning the Dao is too arduous. It is like climbing a mountain while carrying a heavy load. May one grow weary and then stop?”

The Celestial Worthy replied: “You need only press forward with effort. Once you have reached the summit, the hardship will come to an end. Then, when you look down upon the myriad things of the world, they will all appear minute and insignificant.”