《正一论》

A guest raised a question:

I have heard that the Great Dao (Dao, the Way), the fundamental law of the universe, generates the myriad things from the Three and is without partiality. A person’s lifespan and destiny are bestowed by Heaven; the azure Heaven does not deceive the people of the world. The Earth bears all things, and people likewise say that the Earth is deep, thick, and reliable. Birth does not arrive because one welcomes it, nor does death depart because one bids it farewell. The Dao models itself on Nature, and people too should accord with Nature. Auspicious and inauspicious outcomes, together with one’s allotted fate, each have their fixed numbers; each person receives what is theirs. Can praying for blessings really keep calamity at a distance?

Moreover, when sages transmitted teachings there ought originally to have been a definite era and term. Why then is the world so chaotic, with teachings both new and old, and ninety-six kinds of methods each claiming mysterious transformation? By what does the Daoist tradition indicate the true teaching? The Lingbao (Lingbao) method—one of the Daoist scriptural teaching systems—has two applications, and so one ought to follow it with concentrated devotion. Yet there is also fear of violating the statutes of the former kings: even an error of a hair’s breadth may produce a deviation of a thousand li. Recalling the ancients, my heart fills with sorrow, and my doubts remain hard to resolve. Therefore I look up to the Immortal Dao, await the descent of the immortal carriage, sit respectfully in the lower seat, and hope to hear the teachings of the enlightened.

The reply says: Discourses that probe the obscure and fathom the mysterious... (the following restates the earlier content from “yet there is also fear of violating the statutes of the former kings” through “hope to hear the teachings of the enlightened.”)

Someone asked: Exploring the subtle and distinguishing the mysterious means researching profound and obscure principles. Therefore one should seek the evident truths within them and take visible signs as evidence. The deepest principles originally transcend language, yet without relying on language they cannot be fully expressed; the highest De (Virtue/Power) originally has no fixed traces, yet without going through traces one cannot verify that it truly exists.

All matters that take shape in words, actions, and traces—how can they be without a distinction of good and evil? Calamity often accompanies fortune, so from signs one can see that fortune and misfortune indeed have verifications; fortune also often conceals calamity, so one can see that fortune and misfortune each have their origins. With both verifications and origins present, who could still fail to believe? An upright form does not attract a crooked shadow, yet a crooked shadow will naturally appear; a harmonious sound need not pursue its echo, yet the echo that accords with it will surely come. Fortune and misfortune depend on each other and cycle through change—how can one say they have long been fixed and unchanging?

Therefore the sage establishes teachings to guide people toward good, restrain them from evil, cause evil thoughts to recede and good deeds to increase. The methods of teaching are not of a single kind, because human feelings differ in honesty and shallowness, and customs differ in flourishing and vulgarity. When the people are honest and simple, there is no need to apply dense regulations; when customs are shallow, laws increase in succession. Teaching should accord with the people, and transformation should also respond to customs.

Thus Taibo (an elder of King Wen of Zhou) once tattooed himself among the Eastern Yi, and Confucius also wore the local clothing among western ethnic minorities. These practices are certainly not the grand transformation that the highest De can achieve, yet they are appropriate methods adopted in response to change. The principles of advancing and withdrawing, acting and remaining still, also depend on the times. Widely conferring benefits on the people and being able to rescue the multitude—can this be without merit? This too is achieving one’s work by according with worldly conditions.

If one can hold fast to single-minded concentration and not deviate from the orthodox Dao (the Way), then Heaven can be made clear and Earth tranquil. This is the lofty realm pursued by those of thorough understanding, not something ordinary people can all attain. The “One” spoken of here is Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity), the orthodox path and teachings upheld by the Zhengyi school of Daoism. Master Zhang used the Zhengyi teachings to govern the world, causing the eight directions to return to unity and the customs of all under Heaven to tend toward uniformity. The Dao of Zhengyi is like raising high the mysterious guidelines, covering Heaven and Earth, teaching and nurturing living beings, and causing people to cultivate the Dao. If one does not rely on Zhengyi, how can one discuss its superiority or inferiority?

I have been fortunate to encounter a prosperous and enlightened age, to receive flourishing teachings, and to revere this prevailing custom. The former sages realized the Great Dao, while I, born later, look up to the models they left behind. My heart is directed toward the cloud ladder, longing to ascend the heavenly road; yet the years pass in leisure, days go by one after another, and I am already hardly equal to the task. I wish to be like the autumn pine drinking dew, the spring grass receiving moisture; fish love deep waters, birds look toward lush trees. Though I take only one branch from the forest and with only a belly’s capacity peer into the great river, I know myself that my talent is shallow and my aspirations limited, lacking the wisdom to thoroughly understand mysterious principles and without the insight of penetrating comprehension. Even if I diligently take up the brush and use writing to reflect the principles, how could I repay this clear instruction and teaching?

Question: The sages established the teachings without partiality, so why exclude Lingbao, Qingzhai, Zhijiao, and the Tutan Xieyi?

Answer: Both the Zhijiao zhai methods and the Tutan xieyi come from the same Jing (scripture). How could the sage require only the practice of the Celestial Master’s (Tianshi) xieyi while omitting the Celestial Master’s zhai methods? If the zhai methods may be set aside and the xieyi used in their place to make up for what is lacking in the Lingbao zhai methods, then not only would the Celestial Master withhold approval, but Lord Ge’s original intention would also be violated. This is merely later scholars trying to cut the long to fill the short and piece different methods together. Even if they sincerely hope the two will complete each other, they still cannot take each other’s place.

Question: The Tutan ritual text says “everything is to be conducted according to Lingbao methods.” May we therefore conclude that the two methods can be used together?

Answer: The Tutan method exists because the sins and obstacles of living beings are deep and heavy; only the accumulation of great merit can dissolve them. Karmic enmities and entanglements from former lives are deeply rooted and can be released from disaster and entanglement only through the Tutan rite. If they are not released, the study of immortality can scarcely succeed and worldly calamities cannot be crossed. The scripture’s words “everything is to be conducted according to Lingbao methods” do not allow us to infer that the two methods may be practiced concurrently.

The Celestial Master promulgated the Zhijiao on the fifteenth day of the tenth month in the first year of Han’an at Mount Yangping, instructing the various officials so that they might enter the immortal registers. After Wang and Zhao cultivated it they finally ascended the immortal path. At that time the Tutan xieyi was already in use, yet the Lingbao zhai rituals had not yet been transmitted; only the Five Talismans existed, so how could the Lingbao zhai methods have been practiced together with it? An examination of chronology and historical fact is enough to show that the claim is mistaken. This is a later fabrication, a side theory forcibly attached to the genuine scriptures, relying on these few words in an attempt to bring the teachings of the Zhang and Ge families under a single usage. If even this is not enough to convince, then there is truly nothing more to be said.

Question: I have heard commentators say that the Zhijiao zhai is the method the Celestial Master used to instruct the governing officials, that it is merely a Lesser Vehicle teaching, and that it is not suitable for Lingbao Daoists to cultivate.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: “I use this method to instruct the parish officials and the Daoist populace, so that they may avoid calamities and become those who transmit the Daoist teachings to later generations. How can those who receive the teaching forget the Dao (the Way)? Among Daoist priests, who is not a parish official? If a parish official does not cultivate and nurture those who transmit the teachings, he fails in his duty. To pass through the ten sufferings and eight difficulties (the various hardships encountered by cultivators of the Dao), it cannot be done without merit and De (Virtue/Power); if the merit and De one cultivates go against Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity), it is difficult to speak of virtuous conduct. Those in positions of authority should seek the correct Dao, and this is also the principle commonly followed by gentlemen. Among Daoist priests, who is not a parish official? If a parish official does not cultivate and nurture those who transmit the teachings, he fails in his duty. To pass through the ten sufferings and eight difficulties, it cannot be done without merit and De; if the merit and De one cultivates go against Zhengyi, it is difficult to speak of virtuous conduct. Those in positions of authority should seek the correct Dao, and this is also the principle commonly followed by gentlemen. To possess the precious teachings of the Dao yet allow the nation to fall into confusion is indeed a grave error committed by fools.”

Someone objected, saying: “If a method can lead people toward goodness, then it should be able to educate the world; the application of methods must also accord with the times. Although the fasting rites of the teaching’s purport (Zhai precept ceremonies held in accordance with the doctrinal aims) are authentic, they appear old-fashioned and rustic. All ordinary simple dwellings and traces of plain rituals are unsuitable for displaying grand ceremonial spectacles.”

Trustworthy words are often unadorned, and this has been so since ancient times; ornate words are often untrustworthy, as is still commonly seen today. The ancients and people of the present cannot meet, and what you say is indeed true. If the meaning of the grand image has not yet been clarified, how in the end is one to judge what is fitting? If so-called fitness is decided only according to one’s own ideas, it would contradict the sincere and generous intent of a true gentleman toward others; how then could it accord with the principle of impartial love for all?

One must contemplate the mysterious with a mind free of desire, and then the feelings will return to the profound Dao (the Way). Upon further careful examination of the meaning of the grand image, could it possibly be the leftover dregs of the sages? “The greatest sound is scarcely heard” does not mean there is no sound at all. When thunder rumbles in the warm spring, hibernating insects awaken because of it. The so-called “greatest image has no form” does not mean there is no form whatsoever. Heaven and earth cover and support the myriad things, giving living beings a place to dwell and stand. The Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) circulate and transform, and from this the four seasons take on their regular order. Are all these merely the dregs of the myriad things?

The myriad things turn their backs to Yin and face Yang, growing and being nurtured between heaven and earth; in the obscure and subtle, Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) become manifest, and in the dim and indistinct, forms appear. Before the myriad things yet had a “sovereign,” the maternal body already existed in the nameless initial state. The teacher transmits the work of the Dao that cannot be put into words; the learner relies on the unnamed teaching, and only then can one embrace and hold to the “One” (the fundamental principle of the Dao) as the standard. If one arrays words and images and then concludes they contain no fundamental principle, that view itself is mistaken. How can one equate them with insentient utensils or wood and stone, and place them on the same level as those who observe the transformations of the myriad things?

The questioner says: According to what was stated earlier, the Lingbao zhai ceremonies (the fasting rituals of the Lingbao school) originated with the Ge family, while the zhijiao zhai methods (the fasting ritual methods of the Celestial Master tradition) issued from the Celestial Master (Tianshi). Nearly a hundred years separated the Celestial Master from the Ge family; the tutan zhai (a fasting ritual characterized by charcoal-smearing self-mortification) already existed before the Ge family was born, and it is now unsuitable to introduce it into Lingbao. I respectfully receive your lofty instruction, yet I still do not understand: can the methods set forth by the Ge family be adopted, or is it simply that they ought not to be practiced?

He answered: Governing by letting one’s robes hang and folding one’s hands, accomplishing little by way of action yet bringing the world into great order—this is the model of sagely rule set by kings such as Yao and Shun. The ancient canons are rich in substance and brilliant in literary style, reflecting the prevailing spirit of the Zhou dynasty at its height. Why must one insist on praising the rustic purity of recording events by knotting cords, while casually dismissing the unadorned simplicity of written records? If one has only the ancient methods and none of the modern, one will prize rustic simplicity alone and neglect refinement; if one has only the modern methods and none of the ancient, one will lose that simplicity and lapse into mere ornament. I suspect you hold yourself aloof from me because I follow the old ways, yet you also reject me because I accept newer insights. You are perhaps questioning whether I fail to combine elegance with rustic simplicity.

The questioner said: If the old and new teachings ought to be practiced together, then what you now cultivate is only the old methods, without the new; your words and actions do not match. Why then do you still praise it?

He answered: Fish and birds each possess different abilities and each can give full play to its own strengths. Birds fly in the heavens, fish plunge into the waters; their inborn natures are not the same. Human beings equally receive the nature of the Five Constants—benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—yet they may display differing dispositions of firmness or flexibility. My body is like tumbleweed, my substance like the outer husk of a bamboo shoot, bending as the wind directs; my thoughts are like water, flowing along the path of the good. I do not calculate gain and loss, nor am I agitated by favor or disgrace; my aspiration is toward the Heavenly Dao, making no distinction between the near and the distant. Yet I fear I cannot equal those who follow the new methods, and so I still attend carefully to the old teachings. Cannot this be regarded as one mark of those who transmit the ancient methods in the present age?

The questioner said: The Celestial Master (Tianshi), the great sage honored in Daoism as Zhang Daoling, established teachings in order to save and deliver all living beings. Why do some people nowadays abandon them and fail to cultivate them? Does the teaching of the Three Heavens (the celestial dharma spoken of in Daoism) regard the instruction of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) as inefficacious and lacking in spiritual power?

Answer: When superior persons hear of the Dao (the Way)—the fundamental principle and path of cultivation of which Daoists speak—they will surely put it into practice. Chisongzi and Wangzi Qiao, legendary immortals, were just such people. Inferior persons, upon hearing of the Dao, merely burst into laughter; they are probably no more than those who dwell in seclusion in the mountains and forests, concerned only with their own contentment. Is it not because people like Chisongzi and Wangzi Qiao are too few, while those who merely hide away in the mountains are too many, that the supreme Dao cannot be put into practice?

Phoenixes and qilin, those auspicious creatures, appear only rarely; even when they do appear, no one knows how to cherish them. Chickens and teams of four horses, however, are constantly put to work pulling carriages. The principle of cultivating the Dao is difficult to put into practice, perhaps for the same reason. The tendency of things is like a fierce wind that strikes; the inclination of human hearts is like a torrential rain that falls. Yet a fierce wind does not blow without cease the whole day long, and torrential rain can hardly become a daily occurrence. The Dao lies deeply hidden and unrevealed, without a fixed name; who can give it a name? One who is truly skilled in argument appears instead as if inarticulate—who then can debate with him? Those who understand me are few, and therefore those who truly accord with me are especially precious.

A tree trunk that still stands after frost need not wait for spring to show its color; once thunder has already sounded, there is no need to ring a bell to prove it has a voice. Many nets may be used to catch birds, yet in the end only one net succeeds; when one drills wood to start a fire and smoke arises, at first there is no obvious sign. Why then cling to ordinary people, or to illustrious glory?

The Laozi says: “Abandon sageliness, discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold; abandon humaneness, discard righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and compassion; abandon cleverness, discard profit, and there will be no more thieves.” (This means that by discarding affected sageliness, humaneness, righteousness, cleverness and profit, the people can instead return to simplicity.) Yet the Dao of Heaven nurtures the myriad things and shelters all living beings, and the teaching of humaneness and love also bestows its benefits widely. The great sage has a broad and encompassing heart, preserving life and rescuing the myriad creatures. How can one exalt cleverness and ingenuity while discarding the sagely Dao, thereby losing the De (Virtue/Power) of compassion and love? Such a course is not endorsed by the supreme Dao.

What the supreme Dao pursues is to raise the mind and will high into the clouds, to take office in the Clear Capital (the palaces of the heavenly realm) and there settle body and mind; to hide one’s traces in the Gate of All Wonders (the profound source of the transformations of the myriad things), and to let the heart’s Shen (spirit) return to the mysterious and boundless realm. One rests at ease in the morning sun, taking the shadow as one’s support; uses emptiness as a mat and shelters in the Great Void; pays homage to the Void Sovereign (a heavenly deity revered in Daoism), fully enjoys one’s heavenly nature, and studies the secret traces transmitted by the Mysterious Elders (the sages of the Daoist tradition). One wears orchids and thoroughwort, keeping company with fragrance and purity; honors pine and cassia, transforming one’s character through their steadfastness; relies on blue smoke to convey sincerity, and lets the white sun shine upon one’s loyalty. When the inner heart remains unaltered by the world, De of itself can transform customs and improve manners. One summons worthy companions in Donghua (the eastern immortal realm) and drives back ghosts and sprites in Beifeng (the northern netherworld).

What is there in the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Dao that deserves to be despised? I think you have simply not yet understood it. I hope you may awaken suddenly of yourself, as if seeing the sun appear all at once in the depths of night!