《玉清胎元内养真经》

At that time, the Supreme Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) went to pay homage to the Primordial Supreme Emperor (Yuanshi Shangdi), and then said to him:

“When Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) are weak, Yang Qi floats upward; when the breath is weak, Qi streams downward and disperses. Yin and Yang (Yin-Yang) each go their own way, like water and fire that cannot be harmonized; Metal and Wood likewise cannot unite, just as husband and wife cannot be matched. Thus the upper and lower parts of the body fall out of balance, true Qi grows weaker day by day, while malign Yin Qi grows ever stronger. This injures one’s innate span of life, so that Jing and Shen (spirit) cannot remain whole, and in the end one sinks to the rank of a lowly ghost.

“I now transmit to you the wondrous Dao (the Way) of the embryonic origin (the method of nurturing innate primordial Qi and consolidating the root of life): unite the outer Mysterious Female (Xuanpin—the gateway, in Daoist teaching, through which Yin and Yang conjoin and the myriad things are generated) with the inner Mysterious Female, and use the outer true Shen to nourish the inner true Qi. Gather the quintessence of Heaven and Earth to nourish the primordial Jing within the embryonic origin, so that Shen grows within the embryonic origin and Qi clings to Shen. Let the mind-spirit, as master, latently govern body and mind, and make the breathing even and harmonious. In this way the myriad spirits will submit in reverence, and the host of demons will also be brought under control.

“You must teach this method to the people. First learn to settle the mind and Shen: when the mind is settled, Qi can come to rest; when Qi rests, Shen becomes whole; when Shen is whole, the body becomes stable. The breath continues unbroken, seeming at once present and absent; put to use without end, it brings visible results. This is what is meant by ‘the valley spirit does not die’ (the vital impulse of the Dao is never exhausted), and it accords with my true Dao.

“I pity the people of the world. Outwardly they are worn down by wine and sensual indulgence; inwardly they are entangled in anxious thoughts. They covet only fame and profit and dissipate their Jing and Shen; they are infatuated with sensual beauty and chase after charming looks, racing outward while forgetting the root, and so destroy the foundation of their own spiritual nature. Thereupon Kan and Li (the symbols of water and fire, and of Yin-Yang) fall out of balance, the hun and po souls scatter, children multiply while one’s own body gradually declines, and at last only a corpse remains to be buried in the earth. They have lost the true mechanism of Heaven and Earth’s creative transformation—truly a cause for lament!

“You should exhort people first to observe the more approachable precepts, and then gradually attain the stricter ones; first to learn to still stray thoughts, and then gradually to enter Wuwei (non-action—the state of not acting willfully, but according with what is natural). From settledness arises clear insight, and from clear insight one realizes the great Dao.

“Those of superior capacity can cultivate from the coarse and shallow to the fine and subtle, achieve a body of light, dwell in the pure heavens, and enjoy a lifespan without measure. Those of middling capacity can lengthen their years and remain in the human world, replenishing the embryonic origin and avoiding an early death. Those of lesser capacity can still distance themselves from passion and desire, treat fame and profit lightly, turn toward the pure and quiescent orthodox Dao, and follow the teachings of the sages.

“You should employ the wondrous words I have transmitted, manifest yourself in tens of thousands of forms, and broadly teach the people, guiding them step by step to abandon deviant ways and return to the orthodox Dao, to cast off the turbid and retain the pure, and at last to realize the supreme Dao.”

At this time, the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) respectfully received the sacred teaching and acted upon it: he regarded fame and profit lightly, turned toward the pure and tranquil orthodox Dao (the Way), and followed the teaching of the Sage. “You should apply the profound method I have transmitted, manifest innumerable forms, travel from place to place to teach living beings, and guide them step by step, so that they abandon deviant paths and return to the orthodox Dao, cast off defilement and retain purity, and at last realize the unsurpassed great Dao.”

At this time, the Most High Lord Lao respectfully obeyed the sacred teaching. Together with the Heavenly Mother of Purple Radiance (Ziguang Tianmu, a venerated deity of Daoism), each manifested bodies as numerous as dust and sand, sending forth emanations into every world to save sentient beings everywhere. Before long, among the twelve thousand heavens of the upper realms, many celestial beings appeared. Born by transformation within lotus blossoms, they each rose into the air and proceeded to the Realm of Jade Clarity (Yuqing, one of the realms of the Three Pure Ones, Sanqing). Coming before the True Worthy, they sang in praise:

“The supreme and unsurpassed Divine Father has set forth a vast teaching of expedient means, and has further charged the Most High Lord Lao and the Heavenly Mother of Purple Radiance to manifest bodies, come down to the lower realms, and save us widely. Because of this we observed the precepts and cultivated meditative concentration, and all were able to be reborn in the upper realms.

We have obtained mind-born bodies (yisheng shen—bodies produced by thought and able to change freely at will) and realized the unsurpassed great Dao. Each of us can manifest hundreds of thousands of millions of bodies, and each body has ten thousand tongues, yet even so we can scarcely finish extolling the grace of the mysterious Dao. Even after hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas, we still could not exhaust our praise of this lofty, vast, and immeasurable merit.

Now that we have received the teaching in faith, with what shall we repay it? We make this great vow: through generation after generation in the ages to come, we will continue to save sentient beings. Only by cherishing this aspiration and putting it into practice can we be said to repay such grace.”

When the innumerable celestial beings had finished singing this wondrous hymn, they scattered heavenly flowers and precious incense into the air as an offering. Gazing from afar upon the True Worthy, they bowed a hundred times and then withdrew.