《太上洞玄灵宝法身制论》

In cultivating the methods of the Dao (the Way), one should take patient endurance of humiliation as the first priority, take propriety as the standard of conduct, and prize a harmonious spirit. After entering the Dao, one must avoid anger and contention. If one’s voice and expression are severe, startling and disturbing others; if one clings stubbornly to one’s own views and remains foolishly unyielding; or if one rashly waves the hands in a show of force—all of these injure Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and hinder cultivation and study. Those who violate these precepts may never take part in the ritual seat (the assembly at which Daoist rites are performed and the teaching is expounded). If one does not act according to the codes and precepts, one will be removed from office and struck from the name-register (the roll of names and ritual offices that Daoism confers upon Daoist priests).

Drinking wine corrupts De (Virtue/Power) and is a cause of contention and arrogance. The codes and precepts already set this out in clear terms, yet some still offend. Every Daoist priest who has received the registers ought to be restrained and cautious; how much more should those who cultivate and study the methods of the Dao refrain from indulgence. One should observe the restrictions on wine laid down in the scriptures (Jing). If wine is needed to harmonize Shen (spirit) and Qi, or to compound medicines, it should still be used only in fitting measure. When a purification ritual (Zhaijiao) is held, a ritual seat is established, or a petition is submitted to seek a response from the deities, one must not, out of craving for women, slip in among the assembly, nor secretly commit acts of violence or conceal one’s faults, supposing that others will not know. An offender is confined for a hundred days; if the offense is repeated, the person is removed from office and struck from the name-register.

Evil words and slanderous speech are forbidden by the wise and worthy, and are matters of which the sages repeatedly warn. Sharp speech is enough to throw a state into disorder. If someone turns black into white, comments on the gains and losses of others, freely broadcasts right and wrong, and fabricates false charges out of nothing, becoming a calamity to the community, such a person should be guarded against and stopped. Offenders are, according to the codes and precepts, confined for one year; on a third offense, they are removed from office and struck from the name-register.

Life is the foundation cherished by great De (Virtue/Power). Benevolence is a standard jointly upheld by Confucianism and Daoism. A compassionate heart is the beginning of blessed recompense, while the killing of living beings is the foremost of offenses. In establishing merit, nothing is better than removing harm; the relief of the sufferings of all living beings should in every case arise from compassion toward the myriad things.

Recently, some men and women who study the Dao (the Way) have often announced in advance, before the summer festival of the fifth month, that they will release living beings. Before the day arrives, they have already gone out to catch birds, beasts, fish, and insects; by the time these are brought to the water’s edge, the creatures have often already died. What was originally intended as a means of seeking blessings instead results in a still greater offense. From now on, do not publicize a life-release beforehand. If one suddenly encounters a life in need of rescue, a person of good intention may purchase it and release it in a suitable place, and a zhai rite (purification ritual) may also be held at a household of blessed goodness that is sponsoring the zhai. The master and those who preside over the rite must likewise observe the prohibitions; if they treat this rule lightly and conduct matters as they please, the fault lies with those in charge. Offenders shall be confined for two hundred days.

As for the regulations governing rites of zhai abstinence, and the ordinances of blessed goodness concerning the setting up of a kitchen to provide the zhai, Master Lu has already explained them in detail, and matters may be carried out completely in accordance with them. Since people both far and near have heard these teachings, they should observe them in common. If anyone arbitrarily alters the statutory codes, drinks and makes merry under the name of sponsoring a zhai, and, while kneeling and crouching to perform the rites, treats bells, bowls, and other vessels as utensils for feasting, then this is no different from a pleasure banquet, and onlookers will also find it laughable. All such practices ought to be corrected. Do not, out of fear of talk among the common people, abandon adherence to the complete codes of Keyi (liturgy). Offenders shall be confined for one year; those who offend three times shall be punished according to the statutes and have their names removed from the registers.

The five pungent vegetables and the flesh of the six domestic animals are all foods forbidden by the precepts; those who study the Dao should not taste them. These foods may injure the Shen (spirit) and damage one’s nature, and may also render prayers and submitted memorials ineffectual. If a zhai is sponsored in order to pray for the removal of illness or deliverance from calamity, one should observe the precepts of one’s own accord all the more strictly. If one shows no regard for the comments of others, one will be ridiculed by people of discernment, and will also implicate fellow cultivators so that they are mocked as well. Offenders shall be confined for one hundred days.

A person of De cannot dwell in isolation, but also needs neighbors and friends to come and go with one another; therefore social relations need not be cut off entirely. Yet in associating with others there should be fitting standards of conduct. If a household of the faithful and good sponsors a zhai and prepares an offering kitchen, those who study the Dao should take part with a reverent heart. Such sincerity and reverence will be recorded throughout the Three Realms (the worlds, at different levels, of divinities and living beings as spoken of in Daoism); how much more, then, should those who study the Dao not fail to observe these matters with care?

The practice of De (Virtue/Power) cannot exist in isolation; it also needs the companionship of friends. Association with fellow followers of the Dao (the Way) cannot be cut off entirely. Once a person possesses De, there ought to be action; and in acting, one should also follow proper norms.

If a household of the good and faithful—a family that believes in Daoism and delights in doing good—sets up a zhai, a purification feast, and prepares the ritual kitchen, making offerings with a reverent heart, the Three Realms (the realms of heaven, earth, and water as spoken of in Daoism) will all record this goodwill. How much more, then, would those who cultivate the Dao fail to respond? If someone, in the scramble for profit, delays the zhai banquet, so that the host who provides the feast and the whole family are worried and distressed, waiting long for the guests until body and mind are exhausted and resentment arises in the heart, then everyone already feels deep displeasure. If one looks carefully into the principles of cause and effect in the unseen realm, how could such conduct be without offense?

From now on, anyone who has already agreed to attend must, should some urgent matter arise, inform the host of the zhai in advance. The host may then make other arrangements. One must not keep delaying, or think only of ease and comfort, until the host, on seeing the guest, still wears a face full of resentment. Such behavior ought to be carefully guarded against and stopped. One violation brings confinement for two hundred days; three violations bring an eternal fall, and one may never again take part in the fazuo (the seat at which Daoists perform rituals, expound the teaching, or cultivate).

The music of Shao and of Wu, together with the sounds of the Ya and the Song, has been handed down for a long time and is now hard to recover. Later there also appeared the music of the regions of Zheng and Wei, seductive and gorgeous verses, the acrobatics of the Western Qiang, and the drum-dances of the Northern Hu. Such sounds and sights can neither nourish mind and nature nor delight the divine spirits; on the contrary, they are enough to disturb the will. If, in a quji assembly (a ritual gathering at which followers of the Dao come together), one arranges too much of this entertainment for fellow practitioners, and drinking goes beyond due measure, one will sink into worldly amusement and indulge without restraint. All such conduct disturbs the spirit, harms the body, and goes against the Dao and De. Offenders are confined for one hundred days.

The above are eight items.

The wondrous method of Lingbao (the wondrous dharma of Lingbao Daoism) arose before the Primordial Beginning. Its true substance is empty and quiescent, without form, clear and constantly still; those who do good are able to behold this De. Offenders are confined for one hundred days.

The above are eight items.

The wondrous method of Lingbao—the mysterious Dao (the Way) set forth in the Lingbao scriptures (Jing)—arose before the Primordial Beginning. Its true substance is empty and still, without form, limpid and profound, eternally quiescent. Those who have good roots can see it; when the corresponding conditions are lacking, it remains hidden and does not appear. Its true meaning is deep and subtle, perfectly interfused and penetrating, with no fixed boundary.

Those with wisdom can realize it between being and non-being; the foolish, seized by doubt, suppose that it has perished forever. Therefore, seeing the scripture scrolls, one cannot on that account call it “being”; and experiencing its eternal stillness, one cannot on that account call it “non-being.” Thus being may be born from non-being, and being may also return to non-being. It is luminously clear yet without substantial form, and so cannot be exhausted; it is an undifferentiated whole and undertakes nothing.

The benevolent find benevolence in it, and the wise find wisdom in it. If the foolish can open their understanding by means of it, they too may attain a spirit-like insight and from this give rise to wisdom. From this one knows that scripture is born of principle—who could say otherwise? Seek it with diligence, and spirit and wisdom become clear through it; cast it aside, and the spirit grows dark. Therefore scripture is the root of awakening to the great Dao, and its principles are the dwelling in which thought is settled. The realm of eternal stillness is lofty and far-reaching, so that ordinary people and the worthy alike look up to it yet cannot reach it.