《洞玄灵宝本相运度劫期经》

The Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure once asked the Daoist priest Yanming on Mount Dongfu, “How long have you lived on this mountain?”

Yanming replied, “This disciple has lived here through three million kalpas.”

The Celestial Worthy asked again, “You have lived here for so long—have you ever seen anything extraordinary?”

Yanming answered, “I have lived in this land for three million kalpas. The orchid groves have remained ever flourishing and have never declined, and the phoenixes have never died. On the leaves there are naturally formed characters of the Celestial Vista of the Great Chaos, and nine-colored phoenixes often feed upon the leaves. The phoenix calls six times a day, each time giving forth a strange sound; when it calls, the men and women of the realm all bow toward the direction from which the sound comes. The faces of all the men and women throughout the realm are golden, their lifespans reach three hundred and sixty thousand years, and no one dies before their time.

“Within the realm there is also a Fire-Refining Pool, whose waters steam and surge. When people stir the pool while wearing ceremonial robes, the forms that appear on the surface resemble the characters of the Celestial Vista of the Great Chaos. Every three years the men and women of the realm bathe in the fire pool, yet they do not know the origin of this custom. The people here do not know that they ought to revere the Three Treasures—the Dao (the Way), the Jing (scripture), and the masters honored in Daoism—nor do they know what it is to do evil. They simply live in accord with natural transformation, like birds and beasts. I earnestly beg the Celestial Worthy to tell us how these sights and customs came into being, so that all the people of the realm may know.”

The Celestial Worthy said: “The men and women of this land were originally without transgression. Their lives were long, and they did not die before their time. Long ago, in the first year of Chiming, I composed in this place the Tianjing Dahun Ziran Wenzi, the Natural Script of the Great Chaos of the Celestial Prospect. I refined the forms of the characters in fire and then let them flow into a pool of Jing (essence) water, and so the shapes of the characters remained. The local men and women came once every three years to the fire pool, bathed their bodies, and drank the water of the pool. After three years of nurturing and regulation, their lifespans were extended. All of this was the working of the Tianjing Dahun Ziran Wenzi.

“At that time, fragrant herbs were brushed and swept; the Qi (vital energy) of the celestial script transformed into groves of orchids, and characters appeared of themselves upon the leaves. Phoenixes ate these leaves and were therefore able to live long, and their cries were clear, bright, and refined. Do you know of this matter?

“From now on, the cycle of Heaven will gradually decline and grow urgent. The true writs will be withdrawn and sent back to the Palace of Purple Tenuity in the Upper Capital of Taimang. Thereafter, human life will grow short. In the age of the five turbidities—which, in Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, refers to a defiled and disordered world—strife will be fierce. Heterodox ways and strange doctrines will appear one after another and disturb the people. Rulers will be greedy and tyrannical; warfare will arise without cause; epidemics will spread and further encourage that tyranny. The common people will be burdened with disease, and the dead will cover the land. For men and women alike, life and death will hardly have any fixed measure and will no longer follow the ordinary course. I pity them, and so I have composed the Tianjing Dahun zhi Ke, the Code of the Great Chaos of the Celestial Prospect. I will travel through the various lands, proclaiming the teaching, and use its norms to save and deliver the people. If good men and good women cultivate the Dao (the Way) and De (Virtue/Power), they will be able to pass for a long time through this evil age and, in the future, attain the blessed realm of Wuwei (non-action).”

Yanming said: “This matter took place in the distant past. It is not something that people of shallow experience and dull understanding can discern. To hear it recounted today, and thus to come to know its origin, is a rare good fortune in a lifetime, and nothing can compare with it.”

The Celestial Worthy said: “The cycle of Heaven will gradually decline and grow urgent. The true writs will be withdrawn and conveyed to the Palace of Purple Tenuity at the Mysterious Terrace of Yumang, beyond Daluo. In the age of the five turbidities, strife will be fierce; human life will grow shorter day by day; heterodox ways and strange doctrines will arise in rivalry, disturbing and harming the people. The common people will be burdened with disease, and the dead will cover the land…”

The Celestial Worthy said: The cycles of heavenly time have now grown urgent and compressed, and the True Writs (the sacred characters in Daoist scriptures that bear the Great Dao [Dao, the Way]) will be withdrawn into the sacred celestial realms beyond Daluo Heaven, including the Jade-Radiance Mysterious Terrace and the Purple Tenuity Palace. In the world, the Five Turbidities (a general term in Buddhist and Daoist texts for a defiled age) are in disorder and contention, and people’s lifespans grow shorter day by day. All manner of evil ways arise one after another, vying to harass and harm humankind; the common people are beset by illness, and death is everywhere. Faced with such suffering, one must not merely blame Heaven and resent others. The only course is to worship and burn incense, praying to pass through this harsh age and seeking boundless blessings in the life to come. If one can accumulate such merit, can it offset a portion of one’s sinful karma? And if offenses remain that have not yet been offset, can one still be spared calamity and later obtain great fortune?

The reply: The Three Treasures—Dao (the Way), Jing (scripture), and the Master—are the root of the Dao and the basis for saving and delivering the people of the world. The Three Activities, the conduct of body, speech, and mind, are the road leading to the realm of divine perfection and the path that all the sages have traveled. Long-continued observance of the fast is an important meritorious work in attaining true immortality and the starting point for cutting off afflictions. Almsgiving can accomplish infinite merit, and the Seven Treasures will naturally be complete. By observing the Five Precepts, one may peacefully enjoy lasting blessings and joy, avoid misfortune, and keep the wholesome conditions of the human path unbroken.

The “Forty-five Contemplations” can manifest the meritorious work of great compassion, so that a person remains forever far from the Three Evil Paths—hell, hungry ghosts, and animals. Building houses and dwellings brings peace and boundless happiness, as if palaces were always at one’s side. In making offerings to others, one will not lack clothing or food while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, and the fare of the celestial kitchen will naturally be complete. In relieving those who are hungry, thirsty, or exhausted, one is secure wherever one arrives and is always spared disaster and suffering. In building bridges and helping people across dangerous obstacles, peril can be turned to safety when crisis arises, and celestial spirits will constantly come to assist. In giving alms and relinquishing wealth, celestial spirits rejoice in the sky, and those who cultivate the Dao thereby reveal the sincerity of their hearts. In proclaiming the great Dao, one’s movements and pauses are often as one wishes, and between life and death one gains the support of others. All such good deeds allow what one wishes to be fulfilled smoothly.

If a person can cultivate in this way, few wishes of the heart fail to be attained. When the mind is concentrated, speech and action alike leave their imprint, and wherever one goes, one proceeds according to one’s resolve. When mind, speech, and conduct work together, the light of spiritual illumination manifests all around. If feeling and will go against the correct Dao, help is hard to obtain anywhere; even if a little grace is gained for a time, Heaven will take it back.

If study and cultivation are indulged at will and run directly counter to the correct Dao, one will surely fall into a deep pit. One should collect the inner mind, restrain the activities of body and mind bound up with the five viscera, and dispel desires, as if casting them into the sea. When the dust of outer affairs crowds in, thoughts grow fierce and disordered, and only right mindfulness remains, keeping watch alone. One must not be restless, nor allow outer disturbances to intrude; not even a thread of worldly defilement may be added to the mind. Even the slightest thought may seize a person’s original mind and cloud the resolve once held. If the hundred afflictions are allowed to enter through the tiniest opening, they must all be gathered in by the supreme method.

Employ what ought to be employed, and do not employ what ought not; let arise what ought to arise, and do not bring forth what ought not to arise. If the student of cultivation does not consider carefully, demonic obstructions and desires will be mistaken for things free of doubt and harm. One should choose with care the Dao one follows, and only then will the road ahead be level. In this way one will not fall into decline from first to last; the spirit rests in ease, and this also assists the cultivation of the Dao. When meritorious work is established, affairs can be accomplished, and the sovereign of the Dao rejoices in them. In the end one will receive a prediction of attainment in the unsurpassed immortal homeland—the highest realm of immortals and perfected beings—enter the profound and boundless realm of wisdom, forever take leave of every affliction and suffering, and, together with the myriad perfected, be fully endowed with wondrous wisdom.

Yanming asked, “If in the future there should arise an evil age of the five turbidities—an age filled with every kind of defilement and suffering—numerous heterodox ways and all manner of sudden calamities will throw good people into disorder, and illness and death will no longer follow their ordinary course. By the grace of the Celestial Worthy’s instruction, living beings may widely practice merit and cultivate the methods of the Dao (the Way); once that merit has been universally brought to completion, the beings of the evil age can thereby be delivered.

“Yet official authority presses with harsh severity, turmoil spreads from above to below, and the common people are in extreme distress. If they press forward, there is no time to accumulate merit; if they step back, death cannot be avoided. Lawsuits and disease strike one after another, cruelly oppressing living beings. Faced with calamities such as these, how can living beings be spared from disaster? The sage harbors great compassion and ought to relieve the sufferings of the world. Should he not do his utmost to save them? Should he not do his utmost to save them?”

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: “You have asked well, and you have reached what is crucial and subtle. Listen carefully, and I will tell you the method for relieving suffering and removing misfortune.

“Long ago, on the upper yin day of the first month in the first year of the Chiming era, the sky was bright and clear, the sun and moon gave forth light, a numinous wind swept away the dust, and clouds of qi (vital energy) appeared and vanished among the mountains. This scripture (jing) was transmitted then because it was foreknown that, in an age when the cycles of destiny would be exhausted and calamity would arrive, war and pestilence would spread and human life would be short. Therefore the method of the Upper Palace of Ziwei (a palace of the heavens) for prolonging life, delivering the people of the world, and sparing them from death was opened, and the teaching for saving from suffering and resolving misfortune was handed down. Thus the ten scrolls of the Divine Incantation Scripture were spoken, to relieve the sufferings of all beings.

“If anyone meets with illness, lawsuits and imprisonment, or all kinds of unexpected disaster, and is able to recite, sincerely uphold, copy, and make offerings to these ten scrolls, in a future life they may be reborn in Doushu (the Tusita Heaven) and descend into the world together with Maitreya (the future Buddha), and may also be reborn in the world to enjoy lasting health and good fortune.

“If someone suffers hardship yet lacks the means to cultivate all ten scrolls of the Divine Incantation Scripture, then the two scrolls Oath against Demons and Incantation against the Deviant must not be omitted. If even these two cannot be cultivated, cultivating only one scroll may still dissolve misfortune and bring peace in the present life. Why is this so? These two scrolls can summon the thirty-five great demon kings and the thirty-six great deviant ghosts of the world, and by their power overawe the ghosts and spirits of the Six Heavens so that none fails to submit. The scripture says that if any demon king does not obey the statutes of the divine incantations, it can be sunk into the abyss and cast into the fire, even cut into ten thousand pieces and beaten until its head is shattered into ten thousand fragments, leaving it no way to plead.

“There are also two perfected persons, the Medicine King and Medicine Flourishing, who year after year go to the snowy mountains to gather medicinal herbs and to compound, pound, and sift medicines, in order to treat every kind of illness and suffering. If someone falls ill and suffers and has no decoction at hand, they need only think single-mindedly of these two perfected persons; they will prepare good medicine to heal the people and bring recovery. But the mind must be set right and the prayer concentrated; only then may the illness be removed. If the thoughts are scattered and not attentive, recovery cannot come.

“There are also the names of the seven immortal perfected ones and the six divine immortals of the upper section of Yuanyang, together with the names of thirteen perfected persons of the past who attained the Dao (the Way). When one meets danger and cannot escape, if one sincerely calls their names, the thirteen perfected persons will come to the rescue and bring safety. Without sincerity, even calling ten thousand times cannot move the divine perfected to descend. This is the method of the supreme grade of Yuanyang for relieving misfortune and protecting the suffering beings of the world.

“If someone has no children, so long as they sincerely uphold, copy, recite, and keep this scripture in mind, the wish they seek will be fulfilled. There is also the Supreme Grade of the Numinous Treasure for the Limitless Salvation of Humankind. If one can copy it, recite it, observe the purification fast, and chant it, every wish sought will be granted as desired. This scripture contains the hidden tones of the various heavens; it is exalted and subtle, measureless and hard to fathom. If someone is gravely ill and near death, or meets the disaster of lawsuits and imprisonment, and is able to establish a fast and recite it ten times, the deceased may leave the sufferings of the dark underworld, ascend to the heavens, and naturally enjoy blessings.

“If one encounters misfortune, sincerely calling the names of the Thirty-two Heavens and offering a prayer can free one from disaster. There are also the names of the twenty-five perfected persons of Taiqing, which can likewise relieve human peril, their efficacy beyond conception. The taboo names of the demon kings of the Six Heavens in the Great Cavern True Scripture can also relieve misfortune. The names of the twelve true lords in the Scripture of Limitless Spirits, if sincerely invoked, can likewise resolve misfortune. The names of the Nine Heavens in the Scripture of Samadhi Truth can also relieve misfortune.

“There are also the names of the true spirits of the five viscera in the Sectional Exegesis of the Dao and De (Virtue/Power). Sincerely calling upon them can protect the body, settle the hun and po souls, keep the spirit at ease, spare one from unexpected disaster, and make all affairs turn out as wished. So long as one can continually contemplate and invoke these names—even if the number of invocations reaches boundless hundreds of millions—when affairs arise, thinking of them and calling upon them will always bring a response, and whatever is sought may be fulfilled as desired.”

Those called “Liantuo people” do not believe in recitation of this kind: that if living beings call upon the names of the sages, they can pass through calamity and receive protection. Nor do they believe that the sages have names at all. Yet suppose someone, only after meeting with all manner of sudden misfortune and distress, begins to long for the profound work of the Dao (the Way), enters the Daoist path, and with utmost sincerity calls upon the names of the sages. Can this move the sages to respond, and can merit be gained?

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) answered: Yes. Why? Because one values the mind that first arises in that person, and also values the result later obtained. If body and mind together give rise to this resolve, that is already most precious—how could there be no response and no merit whatsoever?

The Celestial Worthy went on: Liantuo people do not believe in merit. They resign themselves to life and death, do not understand the turning of causes and conditions or the principle of blessed recompense, and do not read the various scriptures (Jing). They therefore dismiss all of this as empty, false talk.

There was a man starving and worn out, so wasted that he was near death. Someone saw him on the road, felt pity, and truly could not bear to leave him. He supported him to a place where there was grain and gave him syrup and thick gruel. After the first portion, the man’s expression eased; after the second, the strength to walk returned; after the third, he could speak fluently; after the fourth, wisdom and vigor were restored of themselves. The starving, exhausted man was thus saved, and his life preserved. The kindness brought by this food, the good deed of offering nourishment five times over three days, and the five virtues thereby shown all illustrate the efficacy of giving food with a compassionate heart. The name of such a person is entered in the register of Donghua (the immortal realm of the East) and struck from the Northern Register (the record of the dead). He receives benefit through sincere faith, and accumulates virtue through a compassionate heart.

If the fruit of good deeds can be like this, how much more so when someone meets with hardship and therefore thinks of the sages and prays to be delivered? The sages are always present in danger to receive and guide people; they do not abandon the foolish and the ignorant. They repay resentment with virtue, and teach those whose hearts turn toward the good. Even if this person had no close tie with the sages in the past, so long as he turns to them from the heart and with sincerity, how could the sages fail to respond? It is like the Valley Spirit (Gushen)—the Dao, which Daoists describe as empty and still, yet able to respond to all things. When someone puts a question, there is none that goes unanswered. Would it choose only certain voices before replying? The response of the sages is the same.

Someone asked: If a good man cultivates the three karmas of body, speech, and mind—bodily action, words, and thought—is equipped with the various methods of practice, widely performs good deeds, and has already spent his mind to the full, then how should his path of cultivation proceed?

The scripture says that the Ten Immortals are attained because every aspect of cultivation is already complete, De (Virtue/Power) has fully manifested, accumulated afflictions have been eliminated, and merit is perfected, so that one’s achievements are recorded.

If a woman cultivates the three karmas of body, speech, and mind, every method of practice is already in place, her good deeds are complete, and discursive thought has been entirely cut off, what becomes of her work in the Dao (the Way)?

She receives the dispensation of rebirth in another bodily form. The scripture holds that a woman’s merit in the past was comparatively slight, and so in this life she was born in a female body. Now that her practice and conduct are complete and her merit has been entered in the register, where it cannot be erased, she must still transform the female body into a male body before she can realize this fruition.

Can the ten immortal ranks be brought to completion at the same time? Must one still pass through transformation from one to another?

From the first immortal to the tenth there is in every case an order of succession. They cannot be regarded as attained simultaneously, or as turning into one another without distinction. Why is this? Some ordinary people are able to cultivate the Dao of the Ten Immortals, while some śrāvakas—those who practice the Buddha’s teaching and seek liberation—have not yet awakened and cannot cultivate even the Dao of the first immortal. Cultivation therefore differs as refined or coarse, insight as far-reaching or limited, and the methods employed are not the same. In every case the decisive point lies in each person’s mind.

One who cultivates the Dao should reckon the body, the use of the mind, practice, merit, and the number of years. If emphasis is placed on cultivating the body, one may not necessarily practice with arduous diligence; if one merely follows the inner mind, one may not examine one’s own person; if one reckons what has been practiced, one may not closely observe the inner mind; if one reckons merit, one may not be willing to cultivate arduously; and if one reckons the years, one may not exert oneself diligently either. How, then, should advance and retreat in cultivation be grasped? I truly do not understand. I earnestly ask the Celestial Worthy to point out what has not yet been clearly realized, so that all beings may understand.

In cultivating the Dao one need not calculate how many bodily forms one has passed through, nor look only at how many years one has practiced. One should look to merit and examine it in thought and conduct. Why? Some pass through many bodily forms and still fail to realize a single fruition; others merely raise a single room, cultivate the Dao there, and thereby become one immortal. Merit therefore arises from the mind. One should measure merit by one’s thoughts and, through the conduct of practice, reach the realm of the zhenren (Perfected Person).

All things under heaven are born and transformed from the Qi (vital energy) of the Dao. Once there is life, there ought also to be a life-nature. Do soil, water, stone, and iron alone, then, lack life?

Note: The “three karmas” refer to actions of body, speech, and mind; “śrāvaka” is a Buddhist term. The final sentence of the original reads “all ought to have [ming],” and the character ming in brackets appears to be an editorial supplement; following the sense, it is rendered as “life-nature.”

Someone asked: Earth, water, stone, and iron—these four things—possess “nature” yet lack “life.” Why is this so?

The reply was: They have their own inherent qualities, yet they have no life. What is meant by having no life is that they have neither blood vessels nor sap and vital complexion; therefore they possess nature but lack life.

Someone asked further: Do earth, water, stone, and iron really all lack life?

The reply was: They have inherent qualities, yet they have no life.

Someone asked: Why do human beings have ten subtle attributes, while grasses and trees have eight?

The reply was: Because they cannot act with conscious intention as human beings do.

Someone asked: Why may only the Dao (the Way) be called pure?

The reply was: “Pure” means that every function is already complete, yet there is neither filth nor the stain of dust; therefore it is called pure. All things below the Dao have not yet attained this purity. Outwardly the Dao displays no manifest traces; inwardly it harbors no dust or defilement. Its nature is bland and tranquil, neither diminished by decrease nor filled by increase. Slander cannot make it vanish, and praise cannot make it flourish; agitation cannot make it turbid, and clarification cannot make it any purer. It is plain, detached, and empty, and nothing can be compared with it. It circulates and transforms without obstruction; therefore it is called “pure.”

Someone asked: Why is the Dao also called “the One”?

The reply was: What is called the Dao is Wuwei (non-action), and yet nothing is left undone. It is so high that nothing can cover it, and so deep that it has no bottom. Above it there is nothing more exalted that could stand over it; below it there is nothing more lowly that could support it. It has no counterpart, nor can it be explained by analogy. Its character is plain, detached, and empty; therefore it is called “the One.”

Someone asked once more: Why is the Dao called “the One”?

The reply was: The Dao is Wuwei and yet nothing is left undone; it is too high to be covered and too deep to be fathomed. There is nothing more exalted than it, and nothing more lowly than it. It has no match, nor can it be explained by analogy; it is plain, detached, and empty. The myriad sages take it as their ancestor, and even the honored deities of the worlds, as countless as the sands of the Ganges, revere and follow it so as to attain the utmost truth. Thus the Dao stands apart from what sages can comprehend; it cannot be conceived or discussed, and no other thing can be classed with it. Therefore it is called “the One.”

Someone asked: Why is it called the “fundamental appearance” (the fundamental true form)?

The reply states: “Benxiang” is the title of this scripture. Why is it so named? “Ben” refers to the rise and propagation of Daoism, the opening of a luminous, sacred, and wondrous Dharma-gate, and the establishment of the ritual field; it is the starting point from which the teaching is transmitted, and so it is called “Ben.” “Xiang” refers to the opening forth of the methods of the Dao, teaching living beings through forms and images, its efficacy extending throughout the Three Realms (the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm), its light shining so that beings of the ten directions thereby receive its awesome virtue and instruction—hence it is called “Xiang.” The two names “Ben” and “Xiang” were thereby established, marking the beginning of the teaching’s unfolding. All the myriad perfected ones (the numerous true deities venerated in Daoism) receive the teaching from this source without exception; it is the root of attaining the Dao and the starting point of accomplishment in cultivating the Dao, and is therefore called “Benxiang.”

The question asks: How were Heaven and Earth generated? How were the sun and moon arranged and established? And how were the multitude of stars arrayed into constellations?

When Heaven and Earth had just come into being, people lived very long lives and harbored no evil thoughts. The Qi (vital energy) of the Dao (the Way)—the Dao’s primordial Qi—was pure, upright, clear, and harmonious, and the world was governed by Wuwei (non-action). Later, rulers of successive ages exhausted the people’s strength. The common people gradually gave rise to evil thoughts, the Dao’s Qi grew thin and insubstantial, and Heaven’s allotted cycle shortened in turn. Heavenly demons descended, and heterodox paths ran rampant. Rulers grew tyrannical; war harmed the people; epidemics spread and further fed that tyranny, injuring the unborn, causing infants to die young, and poisoning the innocent as well.

The people of the world had nothing to rely on, and all suffered the misery of war. Men could not establish households; women nursed resentment and sorrow; and every face wore a look of grief. Even wealthy families were stripped bare by taxes and levies. Men could not take wives, and women could not marry. Men and women alike missed the proper time for marriage. The Qi of their resentment rose to the heavenly realm and caused Yin-Yang to lose its normal measure. Floods and droughts followed one upon another; frost, violent rains, and hail damaged the crops. The people fell into famine, fled their homes in great numbers, oppressed and plundered one another, and even devoured one another.

Some dissolute men, and women who had missed their season and lost their chastity, privately issued commands and swore curses upon one another. Some did so beneath the sun, moon, and stars; others beside mountains and rivers or beside sheci, the places where the god of the soil is worshipped. They swore mutual oaths, cast their family gates aside, and took these vows as proof. True spirits and evil ghosts then seized upon the oaths to capture them and enter them in the registers, so that the boys born to them were injured and died young, and the girls perished as soon as they were born. Ghost soldiers throughout the world abetted cruelty, and the people died without cause. Bandits rose up everywhere; officials swallowed the people’s property. The destitute cried out and sighed, and in their resentment they called Heaven to account.

People gradually died before their time. Lifespans could not be extended, and anyone who lived past thirty died. Yang Qi appeared in boys at the age of eight, and Yin Qi appeared in girls at the age of seven. In an age like this, Heaven’s cycle collapsed with terrible speed, and the world was so turbid that its ills could not be counted one by one. Blazing Yang Qi and surging Yin Qi stirred and pressed upon each other. Yang Qi was poisoned and Yin Qi grew furious, so that great fires arose in the rivers and seas. The kalpa fire burned Heaven and Earth, and the myriad things turned to flying ash. Above, the color of Heaven could not be seen; below, the abyss of Earth could not be seen either. Between Heaven and Earth all was empty and chaotic. Wild winds raged, and a crimson Qi spread and swelled.

At this time the heavenly realm dispatched a worthy one who had received the mandate. Holding the light of the furnace fire—the original text is damaged at this point and reads “炉光a”—he opened and set in order Heaven and Earth. He carved and constructed Qian and Kun: clear Qi rose to become Heaven, and turbid Qi sank to become Earth. Clear Qi was distributed to form the way of Yang, and turbid Qi was distributed to form the way of Yin. He also measured Heaven and Earth and established the four directions of east, west, south, and north, the four intermediate directions, that is, the four diagonal orientations, together with above, below, and the center.

Thereupon the Great Spirit Huhai received the mandate to build the mountains and rivers, the Five Sacred Mountains, and the sidu, the Four Waterways, that is, the four principal rivers, so that the rivers would flow toward the sources of the sea. Within the mysterious and subtle, the worthy lord who had received the mandate nourished the sun, moon, and stars with the true Jing (essence) of Lingbao, the Numinous Treasure, and caused them to congeal and take form. The sun governs the way of Yang and travels one degree each day; the moon governs the way of Yin and travels thirteen degrees each day; three hundred and sixty-five degrees make one full circuit of Heaven. The sun measures one thousand li around, the moon one thousand two hundred li around, and Heaven and Earth stand 100,050,000 li apart.

Mount Kunlun stands at the center of the earth. It has eighty-one tiers and is also called the “Eighty-one Heavens.” Its four sides are called the “Four Under-Heavens.” They are governed by Heavenly Kings and receive Diyi, the name of a Daoist deity. Kunlun is the source of the four seas: the great seas of the four directions rise from beneath the mountain, flow around toward all four sides, and empty into the abyss. The abyss is 3,360,000 zhang deep and 36,500 li in both length and breadth, matching the measures of Heaven, and it must be presided over and governed by a human sovereign.

In the sea are thirty-two great dragon kings. They attend upon the Dragon King Anou, a dragon king’s name, upon the divine dragons of the various heavens, numbering in the millions, and upon dragon offspring beyond all counting. Mount Kunlun rises 15,000 li above its surroundings, and terrestrial immortals dwell there. The carriage road of the immortals climbs the mountain from the jia ground in the northeast and leaves it by the geng ground in the southwest. Along the way it coils through twelve turns before reaching the summit. The mountain road is 3,360,000 li in all, and the carriages and oxen ridden by the divine immortals remain there to this day.

Heaven and Earth created the myriad things and gave them form. The myriad things circle and return, just as the twelve months follow their course. Thus, among all mountainous lands, Kunlun is the highest. Three hundred thousand trillion li south of Kunlun there is yet another Mount Kunlun. To the east, west, south, and north there are further Mount Kunluns, countless and beyond numbering. Each Kunlun illumined by one round of the sun and moon is called one “Four Under-Heavens”; other places are not included in this reckoning. From one Kunlun to the next, a full count of one thousand is reckoned as one unit; another full thousand is reckoned as a second unit; and another full thousand as a third unit. When that third unit has accumulated a full thousand, it is called a “Small Thousand.”

Continuing the count from the Small Thousand, a full thousand counts as one unit, another thousand as a second, and another thousand as a third. These three units taken together are called a “Medium Thousand.” Continuing the count from the Medium Thousand, a full thousand counts as one unit, another thousand as a second, and another thousand as a third. These three units taken together are called a “Great Thousand.” These three thousandfold worlds are governed by ten immortals, and the reach of their manifestations, spiritual intelligence, and powers differs in each case.

Thus the world has no boundary, and the wisdom of the sages has no end. The living beings it bears are infinite and inexhaustible, and the power of the Dao cannot be fathomed or measured. Every living being that has form is thereby enabled to live. De (Virtue/Power) attaches itself to no sovereign master. It exists independently and is beyond compare.

Someone asked: The Celestial Worthy said that when the course of heaven and earth reaches its end and the kalpas are exhausted, the myriad things undergo transformation, and heaven and earth begin anew. The conditions of Mount Kunlun and the great seas—their vastness and narrowness, their height and depth—have already been explained. How many years, then, pass between the calamities in which the cycles of destiny are obstructed? And how many years between the hardships in which disasters gather? Please explain these to us separately.

The reply was: From the formation of heaven and earth until their final end, there are within them the “Three Epochs and Nine Calamities” (sanyuan jiu’e: the cycles of heaven and earth are divided into upper, middle, and lower epochs, and each epoch contains three kalpic calamities), and there are also great disasters and lesser disasters. These cycles cannot be changed. Because the kalpas have already arrived, they cannot be shifted. The number of the Nine Calamities is already fixed: heaven cannot alter it, and earth cannot change it.

The Upper Epoch has three calamities. The upper calamity lasts 810,000 years—nine times nine—and then ends; the middle calamity lasts 640,000 years—eight times eight—and then ends; the lower calamity lasts 490,000 years—seven times seven—and then ends. The Middle Epoch likewise has three calamities. The upper calamity lasts 360,000 years—six times six—and then ends; the middle calamity lasts 250,000 years—five times five—and then ends; the lower calamity lasts 160,000 years—four times four—and then ends. The Lower Epoch has three calamities. The upper calamity lasts 90,000 years—three times three—and then ends; the middle calamity lasts 40,000 years—two times two—and then ends; the lower calamity lasts 10,000 years and then ends. All these are the fixed measures by which the Three Epochs and Nine Calamities succeed one another, and they cannot be defied.

Within the Nine Calamities, each calamity further contains the “Three Disasters and Six Harms,” which likewise cannot be removed. Every three thousand years there is a great disaster: the common people die in great numbers, and no one remains to gather and bury their remains. Every thousand years there is a calamity: more than half the people die, and their remains likewise go unburied. Every hundred years there is a calamity: warfare spreads across the land, and people die as well. Once these three kinds of disaster arrive, they cannot be altered by rites of prayer and aversion.

The intervals of the Six Harms are, in order, 360 years, 300 years, 240 years, 180 years, 120 years, and 60 years—six kinds in all—and they too cannot be eliminated by prayer and aversion. Within each of the Six Harms there are also three lesser disasters. Every thirty years there is a calamity: cattle readily fall ill, and the price of grain rises. Every twelve years there is a lesser disaster: people sell their oxen and horses and buy grain to store. Every six years there is a lesser disaster: cloth and silk are cheap, while rice and wheat are dear. These cycles cannot be changed either.

Neither the Three Epochs and Nine Calamities nor the Three Disasters and Six Harms can be removed by prayer and aversion. A person of discernment should observe with care and seek ways to avoid disaster. When famine or a failed harvest comes, one stores grain. Thus the worthy take refuge with those who possess De (Virtue/Power), leave lands that lack the Dao (the Way), go to blessed lands, and avoid perils as fierce as boiling water and fire, and so they meet with few misfortunes. When the world is in turmoil, the worthy can still remain at peace; when the world is in famine, the worthy still have food. The worthy observe the tendency of the times, distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, examine the fortune of the years, and keep clear of calamity, and therefore they are able to escape misfortune. A gentleman who dwells by following the worthy gains real benefit; a petty person who thinks only of choosing land on which to settle may meet with the calamity of destruction. Therefore one ought to follow the worthy.

Yanming said, “I am grateful for your instruction. I would like to ask something more: all sentient beings in the great chiliocosm possess the nature of the Dao (the Way). Yet although they have this Dao-nature, they have not yet realized the truth of the Dao. When the kalpa runs its course and the world is destroyed, what becomes of their Dao-nature?”

The reply was: “When the kalpa comes to an end, all sentient beings will give rise to compassion and resolve to cultivate the Dao. Within this final kalpa, after one full cycle of time, they will be able to attain the Dao. Only those beings who drift with the water like seeds and foam will not in the end perish. Why? Because the seeds on which they depend remain deep and heavy. Thus the myriad things all retain their own seeds and cannot all ascend into the realm of the Dao.”

Yanming asked, “If sentient beings all realize the truth of the Dao and become immortals, can they become one with the Great Dao?”

The reply was: “When all sentient beings attain the Dao and become immortals, they are called ‘World-Honored Ones,’ and the state they can reach goes no further than this. What sentient beings are able to obtain is only the Qi (vital energy) of the Great Dao. To say that one can become completely one with the Great Dao and reach the very measure of the Dao itself is impossible. Why? It is like a hungry person who longs to be full: once he has eaten his fill, he forgets his hunger. A perfected being likewise begins cultivation from a state of lack; later, upon reaching complete sufficiency, that being forgets the former insufficiency.”

Yanming asked, “Can Dao-nature be seen?”

The reply was: “It is inherently invisible, yet it can be made manifest once cultivation is brought to completion. Before it has been cultivated to completion, one cannot see it even if it is right before one’s eyes. Why? When immortals and perfected beings contemplate Dao-nature, they must begin from one part in ten thousand before they can perceive even a single part of it. Practitioners such as the Hearers and those of perfect enlightenment know that they ought to exert themselves, yet they have not truly seen Dao-nature. What is meant by ‘knowing that one ought to exert oneself’ is that every kind of affliction and fault has already been cut off, so that no afflictions remain, and the spiritual powers and transformations that then appear far surpass anything ordinary practitioners can attain. Thus they know that they ought to advance, yet they forget that they may still fall away. Even practitioners of the four fruits of the path know only how to press forward and do not know regression—how much more is this true of the other two kinds of practitioners?”

Yanming asked further, “Practitioners of the three fruits of the path all have practices corresponding to the fruits they have realized. Why, then, have their afflictions and karmic outflows not yet been eliminated?”

The reply says: Those who have attained the “three fruits of the Dao (the Way)” (three ranks of cultivation attainment) may still at times have omissions, yet they do not forget them in their hearts. Those who have attained the “one fruit of the Dao” have not yet parted from their wives and dependents; they remain attached to them and cannot thoroughly cut off this anxious concern, and so they harbor misgivings and waver, uncertain whether to advance or retreat.

Those who have attained “four Dao and above” are like the sun when it has risen to the chen hour (seven to nine in the morning): it will certainly continue rising until noon. Why is this so? Because they have neither omissions nor misgivings; when the sun has risen to the chen hour, it likewise continues ascending toward noon. Those who still cling to their dependents, and whose anxious thoughts never cease, have omissions and misgivings in their hearts, and therefore waver between advance and retreat. Precisely because the thoughts still retained in the cultivator’s mind have not yet been forgotten, the rising course of the sun is used as a metaphor.

The Scripture (Jing) of the Original Form and the Cycles of Kalpa Periods of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern of Mystery (Dongxuan Lingbao Benxiang Yundu Jieqi Jing) ends.

Note: In the base text, the character “崄” is suspected to be “敛”; the character “命” has been supplied according to the sense of the passage.