《洞真太上太素玉箓》

The Taisu Jade Register (the jade register of Taisu, a secretly transmitted Daoist fulu, or talismanic register) is the method cultivated by Lord Yuchen. The divine envoys of the Five Emperors concealed it in the Chamber of Great Existence within the Upper Palace of Suling. Those who obtain it can fly through the Great Void and conceal their form; they will also have two jade youths and two jade maidens at their command. Practiced in secret, it brings results; if it is leaked, disaster will follow. One must therefore be especially cautious and keep the master’s teachings firmly in mind.

Lord Taisu, Yuancheng Laozi, is the hun-soul of Heaven. He dwells within Gouchen in the midst of Taiqing (Great Clarity), constantly accompanying the Imperial Lord and governing the Qi (vital energy) of True Origin. He is titled Lord Taisu and, together with Lord Taihe, serves the Imperial Lord. Lord Taihe, Huangcheng Laozi, is the po-soul of Heaven and governs the qi of Fetal Origin. Lord Taisu constantly stands guard at the Imperial Lord’s side, while Lord Taihe constantly follows the Imperial Lord in his comings and goings.

When the Celestial Thearch enters Ziwei (Purple Tenuity), the place he occupies is the Yellow Gateway Purple Chamber of Kunlun, which is also where Lord Taiyi dwells. The three qi represented by the three Lord-spirits originally issued together from Chaos; they are the root from which the transformations and manifestations of all things arise. Together with Heaven and Earth they make four, and with the addition of the human body they become five. One who can visualize and hold fast to these five will unite with the Dao (the Way) and attain authenticity.

One should regularly practice at the zi hour (midnight) on the second and third days of each lunar month. At this time Lord Taiyi is in the Yellow Gateway Purple Chamber of Kunlun. The three Lord-spirits and the three qi originally issued together from Chaos; they are the root from which the transformations and manifestations of all things arise. Together with Heaven and Earth they make four, and with the addition of the human body they become five. One who can visualize and hold fast to these five will unite with the Dao and attain authenticity.

On the second and third days of each month, at the zi hour (midnight), lie down peacefully on your back, close your eyes, and visualize that within the head of your body there is a Taiqing Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) Palace in which dwells an Emperor Lord. Next visualize Lord Taisu in the left eye: he wears green robes, a Nine Flowers crown, holds a green ganoderma in his left hand and a green pennant in his right. Then visualize Lord Taihe in the right eye: he wears white robes, a Five Flowers crown, holds golden liquid jade nectar in his left hand and a white banner in his right, standing in attendance on both sides of the Emperor Lord.

The Taiji Palace also has nine names: Taiqing, Taiji, Taiwei, Purple Chamber, Mysterious Chamber, Imperial Hall, Heavenly Mansion, Imperial Official, and Mysterious Capital of the Heavenly Metropolis. In brief, about one cun downward from the crown of the head there is a Taiji Palace one cun square, located above the Six Harmonies Palace. The Taiyi Divine Emperor constantly resides in the Six Harmonies Palace.

After visualizing these three true Shen (spirits), next visualize your hun and po transforming into a person identical in form to yourself who enters the Taiji Palace. The two venerable deities then give him the green ganoderma and the golden liquid to bring back for you to consume. The green ganoderma is shaped like a lotus flower, and the golden liquid resembles fine wine. After consumption, visualize yourself bowing twice before the Emperor Lord and saying: “Today I come to pray and request. The Emperor Lord is present; grant me the divine ganoderma and the golden liquid jade nectar. The two venerable deities confer the salvation registers upon me (name registers enabling deliverance), Taiyi submits a petition on my behalf. May I attain long life and lasting vision, with endless lifespan.” The Emperor Lord replies: “Excellent! Follow the seasons, and come again on the third day of the second month.” When the ceremony is complete, continue to lie at rest. The scripture says that by practicing in this way one can achieve immortality without dying, and over a long time become an immortal.

Taiyi is the Jing (essence) Qi (vital energy) of the fetal womb, and also the Shen (spirit) that governs change; the hun and po arise from the fetal Shen and thereby attain long-lasting existence.

Taiyi (Taiyi), the primordial deity who governs transformation, is the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) that gestates life, and is also the sovereign who presides over change. A person’s hun and po souls are born of the fetal deity; if one merely summons the yang spirit (Yangshen), whatever is sought will appear at once. Should the related contents be leaked or the ritual precepts (the precepts practitioners must observe) not be followed, disaster will afflict seven generations of descendants. Can one fail to be cautious? Can one fail to be cautious?

Ingesting the Dongyue talisman (the Fulu associated with the Eastern Peak) causes the divine writings to appear, allowing one to enter Shangqing (Highest Clarity, the Daoist celestial realm of Qingwei); cloud chariots come to welcome you and you can know all things in advance. The talisman methods of the Five Sacred Mountains are identical; one should first ingest the Dongyue talisman and then the others in sequence. The seal inscriptions of the eighteen petition talismans must be copied in their entirety onto purple silk, the originals kept in a tube. In the first month they are presented in memorial to the famous mountains; after the memorial, they are customarily placed among great rocks and others must not be allowed to know of them.

Mix seven sheng of yellow earth into mud, seal it, and pray as follows: “I wear the Taiwei Shijing Huangwen (name of the talisman). Now I carefully transcribe a copy and return it to the immortal lord so that I may ascend the void and travel upon the clouds. May the immortal spirits protect me and let me keep company with the Perfected Ones (Zhenren).” When the prayer is finished. All of the Five Sacred Mountains are treated in this way; the writings left by the immortals in the stone chambers of famous mountains will then appear to you, and lingzhi mushrooms together with extraordinary plants will arise of themselves.

If you wish to practice the Golden Yang Seal method, burn the relevant talisman texts; once the talisman and seal have been incinerated together and ingested, you will suddenly communicate with the spirits. When ingesting the seal, write the seal inscription in ink and swallow one each time as the established practice; then seal the Fulu with the seal so that the two work together. When ingesting a talisman it is usual to eat first and then ingest it. After the talisman has entered the body one may feel fluctuations of cold and heat and vision will also be strengthened. Before long jade youths (Yutong) in white robes, or persons resembling scholars, may stand respectfully before you; do not be alarmed, for after a short time they will vanish of their own accord.

These scenes should be visualized for thirty days, after which the body will naturally become light and vigorous. Superior cultivators can fly up into the clear void and roam Shangqing; middling cultivators can rise a hundred zhang; lesser cultivators can rise ten zhang.

After ingesting the eighteen talismans one will see people in white robes. This demonstrates that the mind is sincere and that the jade youths and jade maidens who guard the talismans have manifested their true forms. Before ingesting the talismans one must first abstain from the five pungents, blood food and sexual activity; for a hundred days one must not come into contact with anything unclean. Thereafter one lives alone in an unoccupied room, not sharing the noise and bustle of ordinary people, and the Dao of cultivation can be accomplished.

Those who cultivate the Shijing Jinyang Talisman (Shijing Jinyang Fu) must above all abstain from filth, disrespect, and base conduct. They should nurture body and mind and keep their thoughts on the Great Dao (Way), giving first priority to fasting and precepts, stillness, and single-minded sincerity. It is best to live alone in a quiet chamber where no one comes, and not to mingle with ordinary people amid worldly noise; only then can the work of the Dao be accomplished.

A practitioner (called a "zhao" in the scripture), if able to cultivate in this way, may ascend to the realm of the immortals, become a friend of the Perfected Ones (Zhenren) in heaven, and keep company with the many immortals. Such a person can also rebuke and dispatch spirits, and summon the Golden Elixir and the divine lingzhi herb. Seated, one can call forth the banquets of the immortals ("walking kitchens," or xingchu, meaning food and drink that the immortals conjure at will); when traveling, dragon carriages and feathered canopies attend one. Immortal youths and jade maidens, together with all the spirits of the world, come to be at one's command. Whatever one asks, one knows; whatever one seeks, one obtains.

The Separate Talisman of Heaven and Earth can also ward off the calamity of weapons and keep a person safe on a journey of ten thousand li. If wicked people in the world plot to harm the bearer of the talisman, they bring misfortune upon themselves; if anyone raises weapons of any kind against the bearer, the weapons turn and wound the one who wields them. If one further cultivates the "Jade Horse Pact" with diligence and wears the numinous script on one's person, one can fly through the air and roam without hindrance, coming and going freely. No malign influences dare to encroach, and the many gods revere and protect one. These methods already follow established rules, but the true essential instructions are transmitted orally; the master must examine the recipient carefully and then transmit them as appropriate.

The "Xuandu Jiaodai Dongzhen Hidden Writ: Stone Essence Jade Pact" was received by the Latter Sage Lord (Housheng Jun), a Taiji Perfected Person (a high-ranking immortal). It is the method of pacing the celestial net and treading the flying cords, from the Supreme Hidden Writ (Taishang Yinshu), a form of gang-pacing (bugang; a practice of walking in the patterns of the stars and Dipper). This method was handed to the Lord of the Green Lad (Qingtong Jun) of Mount Fangzhu, who passed it to Lord Wang, instructing him to transmit it in turn to those of firm purpose and integrity whose bone-structure corresponds with the registers of the immortals. On the ninth day of the seventh month of the yimao year (355 CE), the eleventh year of the Yonghe era under Emperor Mu of Jin, in the land of Chiwang in Linhai, Lord Wang transmitted this method to Xu Yuanyou.

The practitioner must first observe fasting and precepts, prepare the golden dragon and jade fish (ancient tokens cast to announce one's vow to Heaven and Earth), ascend the altar and swear an oath, and divide the tally-contract so that each party holds half. By practicing in this way for seven years, one can ride the void and enter formlessness, with transformations so wondrous as to be boundless, acting freely as the heart desires. This is the effect of cultivating this Dao.

The above is the Supreme Hidden Writ's "Pact of the Flying Pace of the Nine Stars," written in cinnabar on a silk ground. The opening of the pact must state the reign-era name, the cyclical stem-and-branch of the Grand Year (Taisui), the month, and the first day of the month, followed by the name and age of the male or female Daoist, along with their province, commandery, county, township, and village.

The serial number is written on the right side, in the same format as before. On the right is written “Xuandu Jiaodai Taiwei Secret Covenant” (Xuandu and Taiwei are sacred names in Daoism; “secret covenant” refers to the credential for transmitting or concluding Daoist methods).

In a certain numbered year, corresponding to the Tai Sui of a certain year, on the first day of a certain month, a male or female Daoist from a certain prefecture, commandery, county, township, and village, named so-and-so, relying on the Taishang Sanjing Dadong Zhenjing, named so-and-so, aged so many years.

The serial number is written on the right side, following the same format as previously. On the right is written “Xuandu Jiaodai Taiwei Secret Covenant.”

In a certain numbered year, the Tai Sui of a certain year, on the first day of a certain month, a male or female Daoist of a certain prefecture, commandery, county, township, and village, named so-and-so, by virtue of the Taishang Sanjing Dadong Zhenjing, is conferred by the teaching scholar, a male or female Daoist of a certain prefecture, commandery, county, township, and village named so-and-so. Forty chi of white raw silk must be used, and one must not privately inform others of this.

The serial number is written on the right, in the same format as before. On the right is written “Taishang Hidden Scripture Flying Steps Ingesting Five Stars Covenant” (the secretly transmitted texts of the Most High, serving as the credential involving the methods of flying steps and ingesting the Five Stars); silk is laid as the writing surface and written upon with cinnabar.

In a certain numbered year, the Tai Sui of a certain year, on the first day of a certain month, the disciple affiliated with the Celestial Master (Tianshi) of a certain diocese as Qi (vital energy) libationer, a male or female from a certain prefecture, commandery, county, township, and village.

The serial number is written on the right side, same format as before. On the right is written “Great Cavern Three Scenes Covenant.”

Pearl light is perfectly blended, radiance gathers; the blue-green color is collected and stored, seemingly reflecting the sun; rosy clouds revolve, shining brightly; the Red Child grasps the numinous Qi, mysterious firelight scatters in four directions; the scenery in the wind is quiet, secluded, and flourishing. This is the imposing force of the sun, and also the scene in which the divine spirits are generated.

This True Writ consists of sixteen characters in total. It was gathered and ingested as the flying root of the superior Dao by the Sage Lord of the Golden Portal (Jinque Shengjun). The Perfected One of Great Prime (Taiyuan Zhenren) received this scripture from the Heavenly Emperor of Grand Tenuity (Taiwei Tiandi). It is also known as the Scripture of Golden Essence, Stone Radiance, and Water Mother (Jinjing Shijing Shuimu zhi Jing), which is the hidden writing of the Five Emperors of the Sun—the True Writ of the Eight Purities Interlacing Sash, totaling two hundred characters.

These are the names of the kings and ministers of the Nine Heavens and the true spirits of the Five Directions within the True Writ. One who wears it can obtain the spirit graphs of the Five Emperors of the Sun. After these graphs have been sealed and worn upon the left elbow, one naturally becomes intelligent and perspicacious, comprehends the affairs of the five directions, roams the Five Sacred Peaks (Wuyue), seals and binds the mountains, summons and moves the waters of the sea, commands the assembled troops, subdues ghosts and spirits, and causes the numinous spirits of heaven, the deities of earth, the spirit youths, and the jade maidens to attend in service. All manner of calamities and trials are unable to encroach, and the meritorious achievement of seeking the immortals and cultivating the Dao is thereby completed. This scripture may not be transmitted to the people of the world.

A Daoist who aspires to keep the Dao, if he encounters a true master, must upon receiving the transmission ascend the altar and swear an oath, taking a golden dragon and a jade fish as tokens of faith and pledging not to disclose it. When the ritual is finished, the master hands the golden dragon and the jade fish over to the recipient of the scripture; then, using azure as the background color for writing, the True Writ is inscribed in yellow.