《太乙元真保命长生经》

Taiyi Yuanzhen said: Yang Qi (vital energy) accumulates to form Shen (spirit), while Yin Qi accumulates to form the physical body. Yin-Yang each occupy one half, combining together to constitute the human person. Just as the sun and moon hang in the sky, ceaseless through day and night, each operating according to its own regularities. Worry, sorrow, joy, and anger mutually influence and contend for dominance, and thus the birth, aging, illness, and death of humans arise from this.

The innate spiritual awareness is the child of the Dao (the Way); the transformative generation of the physical form is the mother of the Dao. Since one knows the child, one ought to recognize the mother. The mother is the physical form differentiated from the Most High (an honorific title in Daoism for the supreme deity); the child is the spiritual awareness in the original mind. The two combine, jointly gestating the physical form and the hunpo souls. If a person can recognize them, they can exist long.

Those who are skilled at concentrated contemplation look inward without dividing the spirit, and listen inward without becoming darkened. In cultivation, one should cause the originally desirous heart to return to desirelessness, and also let the originally desireless heart recover its due vitality; use Yang Qi to transform Yin Qi, and use harmony to regulate the inner heart. When the mind-state is harmonious and still, Yin Qi declines, and the spiritual awareness becomes upright. When spiritual awareness is upright, the spirit can concentrate; when the spirit concentrates, inner illusions disappear. When illusions disappear, attachment to the physical form also fades; when attachment to the form fades, the spiritual awareness can communicate; when the spiritual awareness communicates, it can unite and combine with the Dao.

After uniting with the Dao, the subtle luminous Qi of heaven can enter the body. After the luminous Qi enters, Yang Qi transforms and generates alone, and the entire body seems to rise into the void, unobstructed wherever it arrives. This is also like the Returned Elixir (Huandan, which in Daoist cultivation symbolizes the completed spiritual elixir) entering the mouth, able to expel various Yin stagnations. By exclusively refining Yin Qi to attain the realm of divine brightness, one can proceed toward immortality.

Then the immortal multitude recites the divine incantation in unison:

“The upper realm of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the Three Pure Heavens of Daoism), Taiyi Yuanzhen, bestows harmonious Qi, implements the transformation of the dharma, opens brightness, and delivers the worldly people. Refine and transform the hun and po like the solar official; correct the po spirits like the lunar disk. The Heavenly Emperor unifies the primordial Qi, the Earth Official raises the dust. One thousand two hundred spirits and twelve thousand deities combine to form the immortal dwelling, establish the true body.

Within the true body, the Seven Regulators and Nine Palaces (Daoist terms concerning celestial bodies and palaces in the body), the heart-light is bright, illuminating the Palace of Mysterious Brightness. The Great God of Bright Emptiness causes the harmonious Qi in the heart to return to truth; internally able to purify the five viscera, externally able to summon the five spirits. Concentrated contemplation without stopping, open brightness, deliver the worldly people. The heart-light is bright, illuminating the Palace of Mysterious Brightness; the Great God of Bright Emptiness causes the harmonious Qi in the heart to return to truth; internally able to purify the five viscera, externally able to summon the five spirits. Concentrated contemplation without stopping, open brightness, deliver the worldly people.

The aged return from old age to vigor, the stale restore as new; drink the Qi of the Six Jia, and share the Qi of spring generation together with the three luminaries of sun, moon, and stars (the “three luminaries” being the sun, moon, and stars). Twelve official soldiers guard your body. Recite a thousand times each day, and you can go up to court the Primordial Lord.

Yuanzhen Laojun, uniquely existing in the ultimate Dao, preserves your primordial life-mandate, guards your spiritual root. Diligently knock the heavenly drum (a health-preserving method in Daoist cultivation of tapping the head and beside the ears with the hands), harmonize the physical form, refine and nourish the hun and po. Fast, observe precepts and recite, do not forget, and you can see the divine honored ones. Ride the empty and mount the floating, ascend to heaven treading the clouds.”

After reciting the preceding incantation, concentrate the gaze, visualize the spirits, guide the spirits together with the primordial Qi, causing the various illnesses in the body to be rapidly eliminated. If one wishes to cultivate the method of longevity and attaining the Dao, recite this incantation. After reciting it to one hundred thousand times, sit upright and contemplate inwardly, do not place the mind-thoughts on external affairs. Persist in the practice, and within ten years one can naturally attain the Dao.

If one wishes to protect the country...

The Imperial Time-Protecting Dao Lord should recite this Jing (scripture) in order to concentrate Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy), preserve life, accumulate merit through good deeds, and come to the aid of others. In this way the operations of Yin-Yang will not fall into disorder, and wind and rain will be harmonious and favorable.

If one encounters war, flood, or drought, one should follow the methods of the Taiyi Shengzhen Jing, casting sixteen images of the Zhenren together with the true image of Taiyi. By observing fasting and precepts, registering according to the Jing, and performing prayers of aversion, all actions will proceed to advantage. The specific methods are all recorded in the Taiyi Shengzhen Jing. When one meets a Daoist practitioner of the cultivation of perfection, the teaching may be transmitted after an oath has been sworn and an altar established; if one meets ordinary people, it must not be revealed at will. Otherwise nine generations of ancestors will suffer calamity, and the six relations will likewise be punished. Therefore one must keep the secret with the utmost caution, as if protecting one’s own eyes.

After the various immortals heard this, they should offer salutations and cultivate according to the Jing; each should return to his original office and concentrate on realizing the wondrous Dao. The Jing should be treasured in a golden cabinet and jade casket, recited in unison day and night, and not frequently shown to others. Only the masters of the immortal lineage should act in accordance with this teaching.