《三要达道篇》

The character “black” is suspected to be an error of copying or of data entry; what follows is provisionally understood as “Dao.” The Dao (the Way) arises from harmoniously blended Qi (vital energy). Its form appears between heaven and earth; its subtle workings lie hidden where they cannot be fathomed; and the true primordial vitality is dispersed through the transformations and activities of the myriad things. Those empty, vague sayings are like seedlings that grow lushly yet never form ears of grain; those rigid, high-sounding arguments are like a withered tree that, once fallen, never sprouts again. The Great Dao seems always to be obscured by talk of this kind. People do not understand, yet suppose that they do; they are unwilling to diminish, yet suppose that they have already diminished. Thus, to others, the Great Dao often seems as remote as a thousand li.

Those who cultivate should set aside deliberation, cut off worldly entanglements and craving attachments, and hear what I have to say. I once read in the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman): “The deviant delusions of the nine orifices turn upon the three essentials.” I believe this sentence reaches the root. The five colors entice a person’s original authenticity and disturb the mind and Shen (spirit), so that one can neither observe inwardly with clarity nor discern with insight; the eyes are then forever contending with colors of every kind. The five sounds rob one of spiritual clarity and injure inner stillness, so that the inner “heavenly drum”—the Daoist name for the ringing in the ears—no longer sounds, and the subtle “rare tone” is no longer made manifest; the ears are then forever vying with sounds of every kind. Speech becomes the occasion of honor and disgrace, and also the source of good and evil; many rights and wrongs arise from it, and the mouth is forever arguing with others.

When the eyes chase the five colors, the ears contend with the five sounds, and the mouth debates every kind of discourse, then over time the eyes go blind on this account, the ears go deaf on this account, and the mouth loses the capacity to express. The true primordial vitality is then hard to preserve, and nine kinds of deviant delusion arise from this. If one wishes to nourish the Dao and remove these deviant delusions, one must first set the three essentials aright. The best method is: “Look not at what is contrary to ritual propriety; listen not to what is contrary to ritual propriety; speak not what is contrary to ritual propriety.” Yan Yuan (a disciple of Confucius), in practicing humaneness, was still careful about these three matters—how much more so one who cultivates the Great Dao?

One ought constantly to keep the eyes from chasing colors that do not accord with ritual propriety, the ears from chasing sounds that do not accord with the Dao, and the mouth from saying what is not fitting. What is called “no color in the eyes” does not mean that one sees no color at all, but that one is not drawn along by color; if one can look in accordance with ritual propriety, why cover the eyes? What is called “no sound in the ears” does not mean that one hears no sound at all, but that one is not confused by sound; if one can listen in accordance with the Dao, why stop up the ears? What is called “no words in the mouth” does not mean that one does not speak at all, but that one does not say what is unfitting; if one can speak according to established norms, why seal the mouth?

Looking in accordance with ritual propriety, the five colors do not disturb the mind and spirit, and the eyes are without fault. Listening in accordance with the Dao, the five sounds do not cause one to become enthralled, and the ears are without fault. Speaking according to established norms, the various discourses do not give rise to error, and the mouth is without fault. In this way, the Dharma-eye (the eye that contemplates in accordance with the Dao) leaves nothing unseen; Dharma-hearing (listening and discerning in accordance with the Dao) leaves nothing unheard; and Dharma-speech (speech that accords with principle) can clarify the principles of things. The Great Dao then constantly abides in one’s own person, and external things cannot erode it.

Nowadays some study the Dao yet do not restrain these three essentials, and still wish to transcend the ordinary and enter the true; it seems they have not yet truly understood the principle in this. I therefore discuss the Great Dao and offer these words, hoping that everyone will carefully savor them and apply them in cultivating the Dao, and thereby attain the wondrous fruit of transcendence beyond the dusty world.