《玉清无上内景真经》

This scripture was transmitted by the “Purple Radiance Heavenly Mother, Great Saint Empress of the Primordial Heaven of the True Heaven of Daluo.”

At that time, the Great Saint of Utmost Truth in the Primordial Beginning manifested and opened heaven and earth. Relying on vast spiritual powers and wisdom, he brought the world into being, harmonized Yin-Yang, and presided over the generation and transformation of all things. Within the mysterious void of the Great Brahma True Heaven, he first manifested all manner of external forms, using them to represent the inner scenes of the human body.

He divided Qi (vital energy) into nine portions and correlated them with the color of the Jing (essence) of eastern Wood, thereby generating the Elder of the Nine Qi, who governs the Qi of the east; in the human body this corresponds to the liver and the hun (ethereal soul). He again divided Qi into seven portions and correlated them with the color of the Jing of western Metal, generating the Elder of the Seven Qi; in the human body this corresponds to the lungs and the po (corporeal soul). He next separated out three Qi and correlated them with the color of the Jing of southern Fire, generating the Elder of the Three Qi; in the human body this corresponds to the heart and Shen (spirit). He then separated out five Qi and correlated them with the color of the Jing of northern Kan water—Kan being the Water trigram of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams)—generating the Elder of the Five Qi; in the human body this corresponds to the kidneys and Jing.

The remaining portions of the Qi of Water, Fire, Metal, and Wood from the four directions converged at the center, forming the color of the Yellow Court (Huangting, what Daoism calls the inner landscape of the middle of the human body), and generated the Elder of the One Qi; in the human body this corresponds to the spleen and thought. Each of the five viscera possesses its own spiritual awareness, and together they comprise the “Ten True Ones.” The quintessence of the Ten True Ones can undergo nine transformations: when gathered, it becomes an elixir; when dispersed, it becomes sweet dew. Circulating up and down through the body, they refine and nourish the bones of the whole body, wash away turbid Qi and retain clear Qi, dispel Yin stagnation and condense Yang Qi, so that a person returns to the original authenticity of the Great Beginning and preserves life in its wholeness.

This Jing and Qi enter the Great Abyss (Taiyuan) from Kunlun, draw forth the transformations of the dragon, and pass through Tiger City; the dragon and the tiger are images commonly used in Daoist cultivation to symbolize the two forces of Yin-Yang. When the Qi of the four directions are harmonized and united, the body of utmost truth is achieved. The scripture says that this cultivation can turn weakness into vigor, restore youth to the aged, make a withered countenance moist and lustrous again and turn white hair black, render the body light as a feather, and at last shed mundane bones and ascend to Shangqing (the higher heavens spoken of in Daoism).

Those in the world who cultivate the Dao (the Way) should establish precepts and maintain stability (observing the precepts and settling the mind and spirit); from this, wisdom and clear discernment arise. By these powers one may preserve life for a long time, move within light and clear Qi, employ the capacity for both stability and transformation, and ultimately transcend the ordinary and become an immortal. The two Mysterious Limitless True Rulers of the left and the right (two supreme deities in the scripture) intend to spread this method of the Dao widely through heaven and the human world, so that living beings may leave the impermanent life of the secular world and enter the profound realm of the “True One,” thereby transcending aging and death and abiding in a state of luminous clarity, stillness, and eternal permanence.

The True Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Zhenzun), a revered deity of Daoism, released an intense radiance from his seven orifices—his two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and mouth—illuminating countless worlds, including the twelve thousand heavens and ten billion human realms. Living beings everywhere did all they could, spreading fragrance and sending down rains of flowers as offerings to him. All rejoiced without exception, and each realized their own original mind. The scripture says that they were thereby no longer bound by aging and death, and abided in a realm of pure quiet, utter stillness, and eternal changelessness.

At that moment the Manifested Palace of Jade Clarity—the palace appearing within the realm of Jade Clarity—suddenly revealed a bright precious moon amid the empty mystery, its light shining through the ten directions within and without. Within the precious moon, and within the purple Qi (vital energy), the purple primordial breath, an infant sat upon a terrace of precious blossoms. From his mouth he sent forth a golden light and spoke in a resounding jade-toned voice: When the one mind gives rise to right concentration, the myriad things and myriad forms naturally appear. The movements of Qi, divided by direction into five Qi, conceive a single numinous nature. This one numinous nature penetrates transformation; coagulated and cultivated, it manifests the original true nature. Original truth has no fixed form or appearance: one can say neither that it exists nor that it does not exist. Only one who fully understands these principles may be said to have grasped the “Dust-Gathering Pearl.”

The Dust-Gathering Pearl is a specialized term in the scripture; here it refers to the key to comprehending the principles of inner cultivation and of mind and nature.

Amid the empty mystery, within the light of the precious moon, the Jade Infant proclaimed the teaching, and heaven above and earth below heard it at the same time. The sea of wisdom of living beings thereby became clear and calm, and karmic obstructions collapsed like mountains. Turning back to contemplate themselves and examine inwardly, they forever accorded with the true realm of the Dao (the Way). The beings gazed up at the sacred light, paid their respects, and departed, reverently believing and continuing their practice.