《太上洞玄灵宝十号功德因缘妙经》

The Supreme Lord of the Great Dao (the Way), together with the Five Elder Emperors, the Limitless Flying-Heaven Great Saints, the Unsurpassed Exalted Perfected, the Perfected of the Ten Extremes, as well as the Left Mysterious Perfected, the Right Mysterious Perfected, the Perfected of Wondrous Practice, the Perfected of Universal Salvation, the Perfected Who Bestows Life, the Perfected Who Relieves Adversity, the Perfected Who Saves from Suffering, the Greatly Compassionate and Merciful Perfected, the Greatly Compassionate and Wise Perfected, the Imperial Lord of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity), the various great Celestial Masters (Tianshi), the Vajra Divine Kings, the strongmen, the celestial dragons, ghosts and spirits, and others, in the World of Abandoned Worthies (the world described in the scripture), displayed their numinous powers and suddenly manifested countless seats of red jade. These seats were crystalline and luminous, and the assembled perfected sages took their places upon them in due order.

At this time, the Dao Lord ascended the lion throne of the seven treasures. The throne was adorned with all manner of precious gems, lapis lazuli, pearls, fire-pearls, and the like, shining with brilliant radiance.

At this time the Lord of the Dao (Daojun) ascended the lion throne of the seven treasures. The throne was magnificently adorned with every kind of precious jewel, including lapis lazuli, pearls, fire-pearls, bright-moon pearls, agate, coral, amber, red jade, white jade, blue-green jade, green jade, yellow jade, crystal, gold, purple gold, blue-fire gold, and fragrant sandalwood.

Seated upon the throne, the Lord of the Dao brought forth from within the seat a lotus of precious jewels, which arose of itself. Its petals were layered fold upon fold, numbering in the hundreds and thousands. On every lotus leaf appeared the pure lands of the ten directions—the pure Buddha-and-Dao worlds of every quarter—and every scene of majestic splendor was fully present.

Within the dharma assembly stood a broad and towering seven-treasure qian grove, a forest magnificently adorned with precious jewels. Its branches and leaves were fine and densely interlaced, its fragrance rich and heavy, and its size and height impossible to measure. When the wind blew through the leaves of the grove, they gave forth soft and elegant sounds; among the trees, moreover, every kind of celestial music arose of itself, pleasing to the ear though no one played.

The Lord of the Dao sat upright upon the lotus dais, and from his body there radiated light of the five colors, illuminating the boundless heavenly realms. The holy multitude in the sky trod the void, circling in flight and singing hymns of praise. Heaven then sent down every kind of fragrant and rare flower, including the great wondrous true-flowers, the lesser wondrous true-flowers, the red-gold flame-flowers, the purple-gold flame-flowers, the phoenix-head spark-flowers, and the richly fragrant spark-flowers.

Precious garments of every kind and strange fruits also descended from heaven. White cranes, phoenixes, auspicious parrots, blue luan birds, and peacocks, together with the fine-gold birds, the radiant-gold birds, the gold-birds mindful of the Dao, the gold-birds that speak in human tongue, and the gold-birds of musical sound, all carried rare flowers in their beaks and flew into the midst of the assembly.

The immortals of the ten directions also came to the assembly, including flying immortals, celestial immortals, earthly immortals, water immortals, fire immortals, and the immortals of the Five Marchmounts (Wuyue), as well as the great immortals of the greater and lesser grotto-heavens (dongtian). Bearing ceremonial tallies, banner-canopies, and jeweled standards, they chanted numinous verses and played wondrous music, presenting offerings in homage to the Lord of the Dao.

At this the great earth quaked. The assembly looked at one another, finding the spectacle strange and marvelous and beyond all reckoning. A Perfected (Zhenren) named Puji stepped forth from the crowd, set his robes and cap in order, and walked with calm composure to stand before the Lord of the Dao. After bowing with his head to the ground, he said:

“My talent is slight and my understanding shallow. I do not comprehend what fruition of the Dao the Lord of the Dao has cultivated, that he should have realized spiritual powers of such freedom, scarcely different from the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun). I earnestly beg the Lord of the Dao, in his compassion, to be mindful of me and of the beings of future ages, and also to take pity on the Daoist priests who will study the Dao in later times, and to expound the principle of this matter, so that we may understand the profound essentials of the teaching, ascend the unsurpassed Great Dao, and obtain a reward beyond all conception. Should this come to pass, it would be my good fortune.”

The Dao Lord (Daojun), having heard Puji’s words, praised him, saying: “Excellent, excellent! You possess profound roots from former lives and great wisdom, and you are able to expound and extol the wondrous Dharma for beings who in ages to come will dwell amid the calamities of a turbid world. Listen with a quiet mind; I shall explain for you this chain of causes and effects.

“Through countless kalpas I have constantly held in mind the ten honored titles and the merits of my original teacher, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun). I have praised and chanted these titles, cast, inscribed, and adorned the related images, and continually kept the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning in remembrance. I have worshiped, made offerings to, and revered the Celestial Worthy, giving away vast stores of jewels and wealth without ever stinting. Down to this very day I have not slackened for a single thought, and thus I have accomplished this merit.”

Puji again addressed the Dao Lord: “I still do not know the ten honored titles of the Great Sage and Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning. May one so lowly as I, a humble subject, together with all those seated here, be permitted to hear them? I wish to join the perfected immortals (zhenxian) in praising and chanting them.”

When he had finished speaking, he bowed his head to the ground, wept in sorrow, and raised his gaze toward the Dao Lord. The entire assembly likewise prayed in silence, looking up at the Dao Lord’s true countenance and longing for him to proclaim the teaching.

The Dao Lord (Daojun, a revered deity of Daoism) said with a smile, “You must concentrate your thoughts and listen carefully to my explanation; only then can you realize the supreme fruit of the Dao (the Way).”

The Dao Lord then told Puji (the one who requests the teaching in the scripture), “My original master is the Great Sage, the Celestial Venerable of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun, a revered Daoist deity regarded as the source of the myriad ways). He is empty and still, without form, in accord with what is natural, and is the body manifested by the wondrous Dao. From a time beyond the reach of words, through measureless kalpas, he has continually saved living beings and brought them into the supreme Dao. He is fully endowed with seventy-two majestic marks of appearance and eighty-one excellent characteristics, and the ten honored titles are likewise perfectly complete.

“At times he manifests a thousand rays of light, or an unbounded body, or a vast body, or a minute body; he can also transform his form and enter within a grain of millet. At times he opens his pores to contain boundless worlds; at times he upholds in the palm of his hand the three-thousand great-thousand worlds (a phrase used in Buddhist and Daoist scriptures to describe the vast universe); at times he sends down sweet dew to sprinkle and refresh beings tormented by afflictions; at times he transforms into an emperor and quells violent disorder; at times he becomes a worthy and capable minister who upholds the true Dao; and at times he descends into the world as the teacher of a sagely and enlightened sovereign.

“His merit, spiritual powers, and wondrous forms are endless and impossible to praise exhaustively; therefore ten honored titles are used to sum them up in praise. These ten titles are: Supreme Dao, Primordial Beginning, Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), Exalted Sovereign, Radiant Light, Jade Emperor, King of the True Law, Great Compassionate Father, Teacher of Immortals and the Perfected, and Celestial Venerable.”

Puji then said to the Dao Lord, “Although I have heard of the merit of the ten titles, I still do not understand what each of them means. I earnestly beg you, in your compassion, to consent, and for me, for the assembly present, and for living beings in the turbid world of the future, to expound one by one the subtle merits of the ten titles and how they are embodied in cultivation, so that we may all awaken to the essential teaching of ultimate truth. This would be my great honor.”

The Lord of the Dao (the Way) further said to Puji: “What are called the ‘Ten Titles’ are the correct sounds into which the various perfected saints, celestial beings, and the Heavenly Perfected August Person translated the hidden words of the Great Brahma Heaven, when, in the White Jade Hall of the Chiming Heyang Heaven, they opened the casket that stored a hundred treasures and took out the Wind-Brocade volume.

“What is called the ‘Unsurpassed Dao’ means that when the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning attained the fruit of the Dao, among all the various dharmas there was no ancestor, no origin, and nothing on which to depend; yet suddenly a single form appeared, becoming the root on which the myriad dharmas rely, presiding over the myriad dharmas, the ancestral source of every kind of form, and also the beginning of the one Qi (vital energy). It is empty and unfathomably profound; within chaos no one can know it; it abides prior to the myriad things, and so it is called the ‘Unsurpassed Dao.’

“What is called ‘Primordial Beginning’ means that he abides at the source of the supreme Dao and is the root of what is profound and mysterious, and is therefore called ‘Primordial Beginning.’

“What is called ‘Taiji’ (Supreme Ultimate) means that, across countless kalpas (immensely long periods of time), at the moment when heaven and earth were divided out of chaos, he manifested a reward-body (a bodily form manifested in order to teach and transform living beings), and afterward also manifested a transformation-body in the Beginning Azure Heaven, and is therefore called ‘Taiji.’

“The honorific ‘Lofty August’ is given because he resides in honor within the Heaven Without Summit, roaming freely above the Daluo Heaven, occupying a realm that is supreme and unsurpassed and transcending all things that have form, and so he is called the ‘Lofty August.’

“What is called ‘Radiant Light’ means that the true substance of his dharma-nature (his true and unchanging original nature) is as clear and pure as lapis lazuli; the light of his merit illuminates places of darkness, removes the obstacles of living beings, and breaks down the mountain of afflictions, and so he is called ‘Radiant Light.’

“What is called the ‘Jade Emperor’ means that he dwells within the jade gate-towers and is the supreme imperial honored one among the myriad heavens. His true nature is settled and unmoving; his wondrous form is perfectly complete; he is vast and lofty, surpassing the host of the perfected. The host of the perfected encircle him as the stars attend the bright moon, and he is therefore called the ‘Jade Emperor.’

“What is called the ‘King of the Orthodox Dharma’ means that he proclaims the orthodox dharma, overthrows heterodox doctrines and deviant views, opens the Dao of Wuwei (non-action), eliminates all suffering, and sets forth the boundless dharma-gates. He affirms the Jing (scriptures) and Fulu (talismans and registers) of the Three Heavens, subdues demons and deviance, dispels narrow prejudice, and brings people into the Dao of the Great Vehicle. Like a skilled king of physicians, he treats suffering with the medicine of the dharma; like the stirring of spring thunder, he urges sprouts to emerge and nourishes living beings; and like the falling of sweet dew, he moistens the root-natures of living beings, and so he is called the ‘King of the Orthodox Dharma.’

“What is called the ‘Great Compassionate Father’ means that he has passed through kalpa-ages that are measureless and boundless, beyond reckoning, and as long as fine dust and grains of sand. He manifests the body of a great sage and saves living beings, enabling them to escape the net of birth and death and enter the Dao of true correctness. He also rescues from the evil paths those living beings who suffer and undergo punishment, loving them more than parents love their own infants, and so he is called the ‘Great Compassionate Father.’”

“The Teacher of Immortals and Perfected Ones” refers to the mentor of immortals and Realized Persons. The Lord of the Dao (the Way) told Puji:

Since beginningless, immeasurable kalpas—an extremely long span of time—I and you, together with all the Celestial Worthies, great sages, Realized Persons, and great immortals who have already realized the supreme fruit of the Dao, as well as the various Celestial Worthies, holy assemblies, celestial kings and celestial emperors, the Jade Emperor and the Great Emperor, the Three Flower Emperors, and the Great Demons of the Five Emperors, and all sentient beings in the famous mountains and grotto residences and throughout the void, the waters, and the lands—whether they have already attained the Dao, are in the course of attaining it, or have not yet attained it—all take the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning as their fundamental teacher.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning manifests the Dharma-body of Vacuous Primordiality, the Reward-body of Spontaneity, and the Transformation-body of Primordial Beginning. By methods that accord with true principle, he guides sentient beings in many ways and expounds the thirty-six venerable Jing (scriptures/classics).

He may preach among groves and springs, on famous mountains and great peaks, and in the Greater and Lesser Grotto-Heavens; he may also preach in the Thirty-Six Heavens, the palaces of the Thirty-Two Emperors, the Daluo Heaven of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), and throughout boundless worlds. He may further go to different regions and to places where all kinds of beings dwell, observe them according to their innate capacities, use languages they can understand, and transform his appearance in order to teach and guide them.

He vows to open the gate of deliverance for those not yet delivered, to enable those who have not yet attained the Dao to attain it, to bring ease to those not yet at ease, to bring liberation to those not yet liberated, and to lead those who have not yet ascended into the mysterious realm to ascend into it. With these vast vows he instructs all sentient beings, expounding the essential arts of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen), the wondrous texts of the Daoist Canon, celestial writings in jade characters, and the secret chapters of golden treasure, with nothing left incomplete.

Although the teachings he transmits are boundless, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning still gathers and arranges them into twelve categories. Because the innate capacities of beings differ, he enables every being to find a path of cultivation suited to itself and to awaken to the true teaching. These twelve categories are original texts, divine talismans, precious instructions, numinous diagrams, genealogical registers, precepts, ritual decorum, methods, numerical and mantic arts, records and biographies, hymns and recitations, and memorials and petitions.

Possessing such wisdom, he reveals these teachings, instructing, guiding, and receiving the beings of the turbid world and regarding them as his own children. Yet beings are like children who do not understand how things stand and cannot awaken on their own. Even though the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning widely extends compassion and casts a net of salvation that pities all beings, they still crave sights and sounds, remain bound by every kind of desire and attachment, cycle back and forth within the Three Realms, do not return to the true Dao, and cling only to deviant views. Even so, when they encounter the Celestial Worthy guiding them through transformation and instruction, and hear the teaching of ultimate truth, they can all awaken in the end. Since the beginning of the kalpa, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning has relieved suffering and delivered beings without ever growing weary; therefore he is called the “Teacher of Immortals and Perfected Ones.”

Puji asked the Daojun (Lord of the Dao): “I still do not understand the principles and the essentials of cultivation set forth in the Twelve Divisions of the Jing (scriptures), nor how, after all, teaching is to be carried out according to the capacities of living beings. They are like a great rain of the Dharma falling upon all, able to nourish each person according to the measure that person can bear and to transform the root nature of living beings. My understanding is shallow, and I do not yet grasp the subtle and profound principles within this. I earnestly beg you to explain them for me so that I may comprehend them; this would be my honor.”

The Daojun told Puji: “The first is the Benwen (basic text)…”

The second paragraph of the scripture breaks off after the words “as for the first, the basic text,” and what follows repeats sentences from the preceding passage. The meaning is incomplete, so the translation can only go this far. The “Twelve Divisions” refers to the classification of Daoist scriptures; “capacity” refers to living beings’ ability and innate disposition for receiving the teaching.

The Lord of the Dao (Daojun) told Puji:

The first is the Fundamental Texts (Benwen), that is, the “Eight Assemblies” writing of the celestial scriptures, including the phoenix seal script and the dragon chapters. These are the root of heaven, earth, and the myriad things. They can instruct and transform both human beings and spirits and establish the various norms; they summon the divine immortals and exalted thearchs of the Nine Heavens, collate the charts and registers (documents recording the names, titles, and duties of the deities), regulate celestial phenomena and the affairs of governance, exercise authority over Fengdu (the underworld realm spoken of in Daoism), and subdue demons and vanquish ghosts. They can also command the Water Emperor and summon dragons so as to halt the clouds. Matters concerning the kalpa periods of heaven and earth, the taboo names of the sages and the perfected, the terrace-cities under their jurisdiction, and the realms of the host of sages are all set forth at length and distinguished in fine detail. As for the methods of ingesting and employing primordial essence (Jing), and of transforming the bodily form, these too are explained with subtlety and completeness.

The second is the Divine Talismans (Shenfu), meaning talismanic writings composed in cloud seal script. They are the tokens of authority by which the divine perfected transmit their commands. They can summon and subdue the host of demons, overawe spirits and ghosts, govern primordial Qi (vital energy) and regulate the workings of Qi, and they serve to preserve one’s nature and life and to prolong one’s lifespan.

The third is the Precious Instructions (Baojue), the secret essentials by which the celestial perfected and supreme sages explain the “Eight Assemblies” writing of the celestial scriptures and indicate its correct pronunciation, used to open the great Dao (the Way) so that people may come to understand it.

The fourth is the Numinous Charts (Lingtu), which record and depict the deeds of the host of sages in their manifestations and transformations, and the ways in which they appear in response to things and change without fixed form, so that from the images people may grasp the principles within them.

The fifth is the Genealogical Registers (Pulu), which record the taboo names of the host of sages and of the immortal perfected (immortals and perfected persons who have attained the Dao), the origins of their clans and lineages, the succession of their descendants, and the system of divine offices and ranks.

The sixth is the Precepts and Rules (Jielü), the articles that restrain conduct, used to prevent faults, examine offenses, weigh transgression and blessing, and distinguish the grave from the slight.

The seventh is Dignified Deportment (Weiyi), which specifies the rules for advancing and withdrawing during purification and abstinence, the etiquette of bowing and raising one’s gaze, and the norms of bearing and countenance to be observed in ritual.

The eighth is Methods (Fangfa), which record the secret essentials of elixir medicines set down by the host of sages, divine herbs and numinous mushrooms, together with the methods of refining metals, processing rock crystal, and cultivating body and mind.

The ninth is Weishu (the arts of safeguarding), which sets forth the methods of discerning and visually meditating upon spirits and deities, of keeping one’s thoughts fixed on the true Dao, of fasting the mind in emptiness and stillness, of forgetting distracting thoughts, of striding through the void, of absorbing the six Qi, of drawing in the essential radiance of the sun, moon, and stars, and of refining and nourishing the bodily form, transforming one’s physical substance, and cultivating the way of immortality.

The tenth is Biographical Records (Zhuanji), which recount the course of cultivation and study followed by the host of sages, including how they cultivated the Dao and became perfected, penetrated the mysterious principles, and entered wondrous realms, together with the causes and conditions of their practice and the occasions on which they realized its fruit.

The eleventh is Hymns and Praises (Zansong). In refined and beautiful language, the many perfected and great sages extol the orthodox Dao, so that people gladly place their faith in it, and so that a mind turning toward the orthodox Dao, together with a sense of reverence, is aroused.

The twelfth is Petitions and Memorials (Zhangbiao), the precious documents used when master and disciple transmit and receive the teaching. It also includes the wordings employed, on days such as the Three Primes and the Eight Nodes, when one ascends the altar to swear a covenant, transmits the ritual norms, repents and confesses faults, prays for blessing and protection, and makes report to the deities.

These twelve kinds of content together illuminate the orthodox Dao. They embrace every sort of principle and purport, omitting nothing, and they can teach and guide people of differing capacities so that they realize the unsurpassed great Dao.

This great sage, my original master, bears the honorific title of Tianzun (Celestial Worthy). He ever dwells above the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), beyond the realms in which the host of sages abide. When he manifests in the world he occupies a station of honor, and in the celestial realm he is the most revered of all; therefore he is called the Celestial Worthy. These are the meritorious qualities, and the wondrous significance of the methods, belonging to the “Ten Titles” of the Primordial Celestial Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun).

The Lord of the Dao (the Way) further told the True Person of Universal Salvation: “If living beings of the final age yet to come hear of the origins and merits of the ten honored titles of my original teacher, the Great Sage, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, and if they paint or cast sacred images of him, sing hymns in his praise, worship him with reverence, and expound this scripture (Jing) and its teaching, then that person’s ancestors of nine generations will all ascend to heaven, the karmic obstructions of past lives will be removed, and the person will personally attain the Dao of long life without death. The household will be at peace, descendants will flourish, and generation after generation they will encounter the correct Dao, free from disaster and sudden calamity.

If anyone copies or cultivates this scripture, the merit will be immeasurable.”

When the merits of the ten titles had been fully set forth, all those present were raised in immortal rank and ascended to sacred stations, awakening to the unsurpassed, correct, and true fruit of the Dao. The True Person of Universal Salvation received the honored title of Celestial Worthy and was called the “Celestial Worthy Who Seeks the Sound and Relieves Suffering” (the Celestial Worthy who relieves suffering in response to the cries of living beings). He possessed eighty-one excellent features of appearance and seventy-two marks of solemn majesty; the merits of the ten titles were complete, and his radiance was clear, pure, and bright. From the air came words of praise: “That the True Person of Universal Salvation should have such merit in requesting the teaching is truly inconceivable; his wisdom is profound and hard to fathom. In the future he will become the foremost teacher of the Dao for all living beings, a clear-sighted guide who spreads the Great Dao. How could his spiritual powers differ from those of the Lord of the Dao?”

When all the living beings present heard this important scriptural teaching, they all escaped the suffering of birth and death and awakened to the correct and true Great Dao. Thereupon the True Person of Universal Salvation, upheld by the spiritual power of the Lord of the Dao, prepared to ascend into the Three Heavens (the threefold heavenly realms of which Daoism speaks), and composed a hymn, saying:

The Lord of the Dao, of great kindness and great compassion, proclaims with a golden mouth the true Daoist Canon. I have now heard the causes and conditions of the ten titles, and thereby have been able to realize the true Dao. I bow to the teacher of Wuwei (non-action), who is fully endowed with a thousand rays of light and with perfect, complete marks of excellence.