《上清太渊神龙琼胎乘景上玄玉章》

The Perfected of the Wen River said to Danyuan: “I once accompanied the Grand Perfected Prime Minister and Lord Wang of the Western City to pay homage to the Heavenly King of Qingxu Xiaoyou, the Lesser Existence of Clear Vacuity. At that time I came from the Wen River to receive and attend him. The Perfected of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) all arrived as well, with the Dragon Master and Hebo, the River Earl, in attendance. Everyone gathered at the Lower Prime and together considered how to deliver the virtuous and talented people of the world and appoint them as officials of Danyuan of the August Ultimate, of Fangzhu, and of the Cavern of Clear Mystery. At the assembly the numinous and wondrous repository of the Great Cavern of Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) was opened, and supreme precious scriptures were brought out and transmitted to those who sought the Dao (the Way) with deep earnestness. I should present you with the dragon pearl, divine medicine, and the Upper Mystery Jade Stanzas.”

Danyuan asked the Perfected to explain in detail. The Perfected said: “At first I transmitted the essential Way of the Grand Perfected of Shangqing. Later I was further favored when the Jade Maiden of the Upper Mystery of Shangqing bestowed on me the pearl of the divine dragon and the wondrous Qi (vital energy) talisman of the Divine Mother of Shangqing. Worn on the body, the pearl makes the jade embryo especially beautiful, and the dragon’s De (Virtue/Power) manifests of itself. When the Fulu (talismans and registers) are worn, the Water Officials bow in submission, and the gods of the rivers obey one’s commands. This is the mystery of the Dao, and it enables a person to ascend in broad daylight.

“When I attained the Dao and became a Perfected, the jade-substance embryonic sac split open and was revealed, and the divine dragon bore my form upon its back. Now I can come and go in Shangqing and preside over the watery mansions of the deep abyss. The divine dragon’s body winds and coils, its silver light bright and pure; when it transforms, it resembles a long serpent. I once kept it in a gold-washed jasper bowl carried by a maidservant. Each year, at the full moon of Mid-Autumn, I concentrated my spirit and gazed upon it. As our radiances shone upon one another, it spat from its mouth a pearl the size of a pellet. I refined the pearl to powder with fire, then formed it into separate pearls and distributed them to the people of pure bones who do not age (those who, through cultivation, have gained a clear and numinous body and live long without aging).

“This year I obtained one pearl and divided it into forty-nine. I myself took one, and I entrust the remaining forty-eight to you.” As he spoke, the Perfected took the pearls from a jasper flask. They looked as if gilded, and they were of unequal size. The Perfected said: “If you use these pearls, you need not use the pearls in the Jade Stanzas. Should people of the world obtain this scripture yet never meet me, they are to use the pearls in the Jade Stanzas.” Danyuan bowed in thanks once more and accepted the pearls.

It is further said that Junjian, the title of the one who receives and transmits this scripture, originally possesses a predestined lot from former lives, and that the scripture ought to be transmitted with blue-patterned gauze and a pair of golden fish as tokens of faith; you may carry these things with you.

Danyuan made from yellow gold a pair of numinous-bellied fish, each five and a half cun in length, threaded green silk through the head and tail of each fish, then applied gold leaf and tied on ribbons; in addition, forty-nine chi of blue water-patterned gauze were prepared. A written petition was presented, invoking the Perfected whose name is written in the original as “朊私泿焜胨真人,” and requesting the bestowal of the Jade Stanzas of the Upper Mystery on Riding the Radiance of the Jade Embryo of the Divine Dragon of the Great Abyss and the Naturally Wondrous Qi (vital energy) of the Mysterious Treasure Text of the Ascending Dragon of Shangqing (Highest Clarity). The scripture further mentions the paired writings of the Blue Valley, five and a half cun long, with green silk passed through the fish’s head and tail, gold leaf applied and ribbons tied, together with another forty-nine chi of blue water-patterned gauze; a petition was presented once more, beseeching this Perfected to confer the scriptural stanzas and treasure texts named above. The talismanic script is to be written in cinnabar, and one stamen-talisman is tied in an empty place; when the Dragon Lord comes to request it, do not hand it over to him. Thereafter one conveyance of the divine gold of Shangqing is bestowed, and the right tally is given to him in exchange.

One further invokes the Purple Numen Jade-Origin Supreme Lord of the Dao (the Way), an exalted deity of Shangqing, asking that blue precious jade be taken from the secluded cavern-palaces of the Jade Capital and suspended before the abdomen, so that jade liquor flows out of itself and congeals into pearls; that the Seven Luminaries—the sun, the moon, and the five planets—move in mutual succession, and that the hundred treasures become superior ritual implements. Then, with luminous pearls of the ninefold refinement of Cavern Yang, golden liquor is refined and amber is made, and these are divided into thirty-six pearls.

A covenant is sworn to the Nine Perfected of Shangqing, the Twenty-Four Sovereigns, and the Grand Supreme Elder, asking them to open the way of deliverance for the sixteen Left Perfected and the twenty Female Perfected of Shangqing. The first of the Left Perfected is the Dragon-Virtue Sea-Void Precious-Wisdom Perfected of Shangqing; the first of the Female Perfected is the Primal Lady of Great Simplicity of the Clear Abyss, the Jade-Immortal Holy Mother. The scripture states that they are ranked as holy teachers and carry on the orthodox transmission.

If the true adept who obtains this scripture cultivates in accordance with the Dao, the Dragon Lord will present treasures; the divine dragon bears the moon upon its back and treads the Court of the Unfading Great Empyrean, the dwelling of the immortals, and a pair of golden fish together with forty-nine chi of blue-patterned gauze are conferred. If one violates the jade prohibitions and shows the scripture in a defiled place, one will suffer the punishment of dismemberment by wind-blades, the blocking of the river sources, and penal servitude under the water officials.

When practicing this Dao, superior jade is to be worked into lustrous pearls the size of a sparrow’s egg, placed in a golden jar, and immersed in the yellow water of lunar florescence. The specific method is transmitted separately in the world. They are taken out on the night of the ninth day; when dawn is about to break and the bright star appears in the east, one faces east, burns incense, and performs the double bow.

The invocation says: “O Divine Treasure of the Great Abyss, you shine as bright as the bright moon. Guard my Primordial Palace (here referring to sites of internal refinement within the body, such as the Dantian (energy center)) and transform into a divine dragon. The Jade Embryo (a jade-like, numinous embryonic form) transforms within the body, soaring and drifting as the mind wills. The divine dragon bears my True Form (the practitioner’s authentic body) upon its back and ascends to the Long Tower (the celestial towers and pavilions spoken of in the scripture).” When the invocation is finished, hold the breath and swallow the Qi (vital energy); at the same time, use intention to visualize the divine dragon entering the Guanyuan (the Dantian region below the navel) until the visualization is complete.

Open the eyes wide and gaze intently at this pearl. If it does not descend, stop; if it does descend, change to another pearl and continue the visualization. It is better if the pearl does not descend. Afterward, keep watch and visualize at midnight, persisting for nine times nine—eighty-one—days. An image of some kind ought to appear and ascend to the Long Tower. When the invocation is finished, hold the breath and swallow the Qi, and at the same time use intention to visualize it entering the Guanyuan.

Open the eyes wide and gaze intently at this pearl. If it does not descend, stop; if it does descend, change to another pearl and continue the visualization; it is better if it does not descend. Thereafter, keep watch and visualize every night at midnight. After nine times nine—eighty-one—days, one ought to see an image of some kind moving in the Sea of Qi (the place where Qi gathers in the internal refinement of the body). If the heart is suddenly startled or afraid, and one feels as though the hun and po souls have left the body and scattered, there is no need to fear. Such cultivation takes nine times nine as one cycle.

This pearl is a treasure able to gestate and transform into a dragon. It ought to fly into the Crimson-Jade Abyss of the Central Palace of Celestial Essence (an inner-landscape realm in the scripture), and then ascend into the Purple-Jade Abyss of the Qianyuan of the Shangqing (Upper Clarity); this is what is called the Palace of the Upper-Origin Jade Embryo of the Primordial Pool. At midnight the divine dragon regularly bears your bodily form upon its back and roams above the Nine Heavens; it also draws on the dragon’s Qi to refine and transform your body, making the body transparent and unobstructed, able to pass in and out through the divine dragon’s mouth and nose. One should also constantly remember the Great Dao (the Way) and maintain lucid, correct mindfulness; otherwise one may be seized by demons and changed into some other form. Great caution is required.

When the image that appears in the Guanyuan has already become transparent and unobstructed, able to pass in and out through the divine dragon’s mouth and nose, one should still hold firmly to the Great Dao and maintain correct mindfulness; otherwise one may be seized by demons and changed into some other form. Great caution is required.

When the image that appears in the Guanyuan can be clearly distinguished, one may go to a riverbank or the seashore, take a large carp three chi in length, and place the Ascending-Dragon Talisman inside it. The talisman is to be written in yellow on blue-green silk and then placed in the fish’s mouth.

The Shangqing Talisman of the Crimson Carp Ascending as a Dragon

When the talisman is set in place, the invocation says:

“O crimson carp of the dragon embryo, swallow my mysterious talisman. Thunder and lightning arise together; race to the Jade Void (a Daoist immortal realm) and bear my body aloft.”

Next, place it in water and keep watch on the day when the new year begins and thunder is set in motion. If swift lightning suddenly appears where it has been set, the red carp transforms into a divine dragon and flies up the slopes of Dragon Hill. On the day the practitioner of the Dao (the Way) brings the work to completion, the divine dragon descends and bears the practitioner up into the Chamber of the Stamen Pearl (an immortal dwelling in Daoist legend).

This arcane precious text on the theme of the dragon should be written in azure characters on yellow silk and worn on the person. In this way one may call forth the spirit of the divine dragon, so that the Jade Embryo (the spiritual embryo spoken of in Daoist cultivation) condenses and takes form. Once the practice is complete, one can ascend in flight. This method of the Dao is fitting to be transmitted to the Perfected (those who have attained the Dao).

The Shangqing (Highest Clarity) Divine Mother Flying Mystery Precious Text is formed of the wondrous Qi (vital energy) of spontaneous nature.

The Shangqing Great Abyss Divine Dragon Jade Embryo Coming Radiance Upper Mystery Jade Stanza.