《太上开明天地本真经》

The so-called Great Dao (the Way) is the true essence of Heaven, Earth, and all things. “The true” is the root of the Dao, and the scriptures (Jing) carry and transmit this true essence. Heaven and Earth follow an unchanging constant root, manifesting the ascent and descent of Yin-Yang and the transformations of brightness and darkness. Sages and worthies cultivate themselves in accordance with this root and ultimately return to the true Shen (spirit). The original face of the Great Dao is embodied in the laws by which all things operate.

Since the opening of Heaven and Earth, the movements of the sun and moon and the transformations of Yin-Yang have each had their Dao: thus cold and heat were determined, day and night became distinct, the Three Luminaries (the sun, moon, and stars) appeared, and all things were able to grow. Three great sages manifested De (Virtue/Power) and embodied the function of Heaven and Earth and of Yin-Yang in generating all things. They distinguished celestial patterns and terrestrial geography, established the order of the world, brought peace to the people, and created the images of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and institutions. People invented writing and established contracts, using signs to confirm principles; they knotted cords to record events and administered government, thereby founding states and households. They drilled wood to make fire, transforming food from raw to cooked; identified medicinal herbs to treat illness and taught sowing to nourish life; made clothing to cover and warm the body and fashioned utensils for needed use; built houses to shelter from wind and rain and made boats to cross rivers.

When the human heart is simple and unadorned, people can be humane, generous, and long-lived. When they concentrate on following the true constant Dao, the Dao becomes clear and is not obscured. Many worthies and sages thus appeared, cultivating and transforming themselves, gradually attaining spiritual wonder. Later, human intellect increased, and desires and conflict grew with it; states attacked one another. Attachment to sensual desire led to betrayal and licentiousness; society rose and fell in succession, and people lost the true essence. They went against the Dao of Heaven and Earth, departed from the clear principles of the sun and moon, and sank into chaos and turbidity. Generation after generation, stubborn foolishness and evil habits accumulated. People forgot the principles, disrupted the moral order, bodies weakened and lifespans shortened, and the times changed into disorder. Therefore prisons were established to govern society, and national laws were formulated and put into effect.

In former times, the supreme sages, in order to teach the world and save all beings, established the teaching methods of the Three Teachings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, once again clarifying the same true Dao.

Confucianism takes as its foundation the principles of the vigorous movement of Heaven and Earth and the union of Yin-Yang. It values the constant principles of the Heavenly Dao, the righteous principles of the Earthly Dao, and the norms of human conduct, with special emphasis on filial piety. On this basis Confucianism established rites and laws, requiring cautious self-cultivation and moderation in expenditure, neither losing the true essence nor departing from the Way of the Mean. One should understand the Five Constants (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness), practice the Four Virtues, and comprehend the principles of life and death and of daily peace and harmony. Be joyful without excess, mourn without harming the body. Inner fullness is beauty; when De shines forth, one may become a sage.

Daoism takes Heaven and Earth as its body and wondrously employs the Dao of water and fire assisting each other. The solar hun-soul and lunar po-soul, inner Yin and outer Yang, are all concepts used in cultivation. Practitioners must return to original destiny and go back to the source, take root and solidify the foundation, employ the creative transformation of Heaven and Earth, and cultivate according to the fire phases (the grasp of timing and degree in the process of refining and nourishing). Through warming and nurturing the Elixir is formed, and one may enter the ranks of the immortals. Those who do not lose the root live long; those whose Dao does not perish even in death are the truly long-lived. When the true essence is firmly established, one attains the Dao and long life.

Buddhism takes Heaven and Earth as its body and employs the principle of combining expedient means with ultimate truth, guiding sentient beings according to different circumstances. Upon seeing form and appearance one understands their emptiness; between existence and non-existence one realizes the Middle Way; through diligent practice one attains the wondrous appearance. Practitioners transcend discrimination and attachment and together enter the realm of the unborn. Through patience they overcome obstacles, and through the effort of cultivation they achieve attainment. Reaching the Naga Great Concentration (a profound state of samadhi), one can return to the root and source. Attaining the true realm of the Tathagata, luminous spiritual wisdom then manifests. Thereby one penetrates Heaven and Earth and realizes sagehood and authenticity.

Therefore, although the Three Teachings are each honored, their root all points to the same true essence. Human beings are born from the true essence and after death also return because of it. Those who attain the true are not constrained by male or female form; those who understand the Dao are not limited by coming and going, birth and death. Confucianism attends to the root, avoiding indulgence of desire, and accords with the De of Heaven and Earth. Daoism guards the root, taking warming and nurturing as the work of cultivation, containing the wonder of the generative transformation of Heaven and Earth. Buddhism returns to the root, understanding where true nature returns, and transcends the realm of the forms of Heaven and Earth.

Yet today, although all Three Teachings speak of returning to the one true, some who talk of attending to the root indulge deviant thoughts and desires, not knowing cautious restraint. Some boast of guarding the root yet enter side paths, lacking the correct methods of nourishing and refining and the fire phases. Some speak of returning to the root yet lose their way in delusive thoughts, not understanding the wondrous method of diligent practice. Therefore I, one who has penetrated the mystery of the Three Teachings, from many angles directly point out the essential meaning. Out of compassion for sentient beings afflicted by birth and death, I clarify the Dao of Heaven and Earth: causing heavenly nature to dwell in the Mean and the Correct, attaining “Heaven without a Heaven above”; causing the earthly heart to be settled and unmoving, becoming “Earth that does not move as Earth.” Following the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, one penetrates the root of Heaven and Earth. I pray that Heaven bestow blessings and extend life, protect the peace of the nation and the safety of the people; that all sentient beings cultivate in reliance on the original substance, universally saving those with karmic enmity or kinship (beings with whom one has enmity or familial ties). The deceased may be transformed and delivered; the living may attain spiritual communion; no demons can harm them, and myriad illnesses can hardly invade.

However, if one cannot circulate and comprehend the true scripture stored before one’s eyes, one will not obtain the true root. If one cannot return to the true source and foundation, one cannot cultivate. If one cannot nourish life and preserve destiny, one cannot manifest spiritual luminosity. If one cannot silently contemplate with a mind embracing emptiness, one cannot see the nature. If one cannot awaken to the complete, constantly abiding original nature, one cannot thoroughly penetrate. If one cannot penetrate the mystery and fully awaken, one cannot truly return. Delusively wishing to become a Buddha or an immortal, one will be unable to transcend the ordinary and enter sagehood.

Birth and death are the great matter of human life. In cultivation one should set aside the distinction of self and other, and not be bound by the boundaries of the Three Teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. One should seek out a perfected person to point out the scripture and method, understand this root, and return to the one true. How should one cultivate in daily life? How does one obtain the original source? How does one see the true nature? And ultimately, toward what does one return? These questions should all be made clear.

If one can thoroughly understand these principles, one can realize a realm that is neither immortal nor Buddha, transcending the distinctions of sagely ranks, and suddenly comprehend past and present. I respectfully advise practitioners of the Three Teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, as well as lay devotees, good people, and worthy gentlemen: if you recite, study, and put this scripture into practice, you will soon attain penetration; if you diligently cultivate and comprehend its meaning, you can realize the unborn.

The clear awakening of this scripture surpasses the scriptures of the outer paths, and also surpasses repeatedly reciting the entire Tathagata canon (the complete collection of Buddhist scriptures). There is no need to chatter through ten thousand recitations; simply gather the mind-spirit and return to the clear and bright one true. The meaning of the scripture, the method of the scripture, and the secret instructions of the scripture are not something intermediate, nor external, nor the thoughts of the mind themselves. The true scripture that one understands is not merely this scripture before one’s eyes; the true root that one obtains is not merely the root spoken of in words. Know that the true scripture of the Great Dao emphasizes oral transmission and mind-seal (transmitted by speech and confirmed by mind), secretly transmitted according to the regulations of the Dharma, and practiced with a joyful heart.

The Taishang Biming Tiandi Benzhen Jing is the title of a Daoist Jing (scripture). “Taishang” is an honorific for the Dao (the Way) or the supreme deity, and “Benzhen” refers to the original, authentic state.