《靈寶無量度人上經大法》Vol. 8

For seven days and seven nights, the sun, moon, and stars in all the heavens, along with the Xuanji Yuheng—the ancient instrument for observing the heavens—ceased moving all at once. The divine winds fell still and silent, the mountains drew in their clouds, the sky held no drifting veils of cloud, and the four primal energies were clear and bright.

Within a single realm, the land, mountains, rivers, and trees all became level and even, with no more high or low. The entire land turned to green jade, with no other colors. The Perfected Ones stood in attendance beside the seat, while the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning sat suspended in the air, upright upon a five-colored lion.

The Mysterious Master said: This passage speaks of the wondrous workings of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, and of the state attained through the generation, transformation, and responsive resonance of spiritual powers. The scripture says that the sun, moon, and stars in all the heavens ceased moving together for seven days and seven nights. If so, how could day be distinguished from night? Nor should the stated span of seven days and seven nights be understood solely in terms of the Jade Clarity realm. When the Dao Lord speaks of “all the heavens,” he means the myriad heavens in every direction across the Three Realms; “together” means that all these celestial realms are affected in this way.

This subtle resonance with the sacred realm is a transformation that the Celestial Worthy manifests outwardly: the sun and moon do not travel, the stars do not turn, and the Xuanji Yuheng stops moving, so day and night no longer appear on the surface. Yet inwardly, the governing work of transformation has never ceased. Thus, the seven days and seven nights spoken of by the Jade Emperor are not measured against the time spent expounding the scripture in Jade Clarity or Jade Capital, nor compared with seven days and seven nights in the human world. Rather, they encompass all the heavens and lands within a single realm, hence the phrase “the land of one realm.”

“Level and even” means that the wondrous transformation reaches all things without omission; “no more high or low” means that it extends everywhere. Understood in terms of the inner body, the heavens, sun, and moon are like a person’s two eyes: when the sun and moon cease their movement, it is as though the eyes do not blink. The stars are like the movement of Qi: when the stars no longer turn, it is as though the breath of Qi does not flow. The Xuanji Yuheng is like the pulse: when it stops turning, it is as though the pulse no longer moves. The divine winds falling still and silent are like the breath no longer entering or leaving. The mountains and seas drawing in their clouds are like Yin and Yang no longer alternating. A sky without drifting clouds is like there being nothing within or without. The four primal energies shining clear are like the whole body, inside and out and above and below, being utterly lucid.

The land of one realm is like a person’s body. Its mountains, rivers, and trees are like the limbs, the hundred vessels, the hair, the pores, the nourishing and defensive Qi, the spirit chambers, and the joints. The land turning entirely to green jade signifies entry into the Dao’s state of stillness.

The Mysterious Master continued: In terms of the inner body, this is the spirit light abiding in profound stillness, clear and calm, and beholding the realm of Jade Clarity. This is the efficacy attained through seven days and seven nights of cultivation: through seven days and nights, the sun and moon cease to move, as though the eyes remain perfectly still. Yet this means neither closing the eyes, nor turning the gaze inward, nor facing…

During visualization, concentrate your gaze without interruption for seven days and seven nights, keeping your eyes unblinking, so that the light shines through the upper, middle, and lower sections—the three parts of the body associated with cultivation. Then everything within and without the body becomes clear and bright. Qi throughout the body moves through the joints and channels, while Yin-Yang Qi and the Qi of nourishment and defense are all linked to the breath and pulse of the three sections.

The breath and pulse are the body’s “Pivot and Jade Balance,” an instrument used in ancient times as a metaphor for the hub of celestial motion. The four extremities are called the “Pivot,” and the three sections correspond to the “Jade Balance.” If the Pivot does not turn, it is as though the sun and moon were suspended in the sky and the stars had ceased to move. If the pulse does not reach the four extremities, the breath in the three sections will cease, and Qi and blood throughout the body will no longer circulate.

Cultivation begins by calming and settling Shen and Qi, until the sounds of breathing in and out can no longer be heard. The mind must not be clouded by restless, deluded thoughts. When clarity and stillness are attained, it is like a sky unobscured by drifting clouds: one naturally feels warmth and freshness, undisturbed by the seasonal Qi of cold and heat. Within and without, all is bright and clear, and all things seem to share a single color. How much more, then, will the cultivator’s body, within and without, become pure and spotless as jade.

As cultivation deepens, the hundred spirits each keep their proper place, and the myriad perfected beings come to pay court within the body. The physical form can then rise lightly, as if traveling through the air. After a hundred days, Shen subtly unites with the Dao; after a thousand days, one can ascend in broad daylight. Once risen into the heavens, the Celestial Worthy dwelling aloft is in truth one’s own original spirit, residing in the Palace of Jade Clarity, also called the Palace of the Jade Emperor. If the Celestial Worthy is already within oneself, why look up toward the heavens?

The hymn says: “Though the Celestial Worthy is far away, the wondrous principle is near.” The chambers within the Muddy Pellet Palace, the site of cultivation inside the head, are made entirely of the Seven Treasures, and their windows are naturally clear and distinct. The Five Qi—the Qi of the Five Phases—gather at the Crimson Palace, the palace of the heart. Their awe-inspiring divine power and wondrous transformations coalesce into a lion, upon which the Celestial Worthy descends into the Dantian. Blue to the left, white to the right, red before, black behind, and yellow in the center: these are therefore called the five colors.

The cultivator sits upright in empty space, dwelling between being and nonbeing and responding to changes between the real and the illusory. If one can focus the mind on this response, after seven days and seven nights one will calmly see the Celestial Worthy of Jade Clarity. At that moment, the mind and Shen are fully settled, divine light rises upward, and one enters a supremely subtle state. When one’s cultivation is complete, one encounters the Dao and immediately rises, light in body.

Yet during cultivation, one may face demonic trials in meditation, with visions of water and fire, weapons and warfare, royal law, and other such scenes. If one takes these visions to be real and clings to them, even as subtly as to a strand of silk, one cannot attain the Dao. Whatever is seen after seven days and seven nights belongs to the future. If one speaks of it aloud, all one’s previous cultivation will be lost, and the hope of becoming an immortal will vanish. One must therefore be very careful in speech.

The oral formula says: align the ears with the shoulders and the nose with the navel; gather in the six senses—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—and focus on the eyes. Do not cling to what is within or what is without; contemplate the divine light within yourself. Cultivate in a sealed chamber, and after three days a point of divine light will appear. Keep your attention and Shen focused. On the fourth day…

The divine light gradually becomes brighter and more expansive. By the seventh day of practice, it fills the room; in meditative absorption, all things appear.

During meditative absorption, one can see various true spirits and ghosts, as though they are about to enter the grotto abode, and can also see clearly and thoroughly. The following are the “Diagram of the Great Samadhi’s Divine Light” and the “Diagram of the Jade Balance and Pivot” (diagrams related to celestial phenomena and the movements of heavenly bodies).

One inhalation and one exhalation comprise four movements of breath, totaling six cun: two movements in the inhalation and two in the exhalation, each three cun. One zhi (a single movement of breath) is fifteen fen. Heaven and Earth are woven through and crossed in both directions, fifteen each; therefore, the Lord on High gave the Yellow Emperor the Yellow River Chart.

Chapter on Clear Sight

Begin practicing the method of meditative absorption on the day corresponding to your birth. After seven days, once your concentration has taken root, you may begin practicing clear sight, a method for seeing over great distances. If you have not yet mastered it, do not practice this method in the open air. Visualize yourself as the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, with your gaze fixed ten thousand li away, without turning it back to what is before you. Once you can do this, practice for another seven days, and visions will gradually begin to appear. After one hundred days of practice in all, you will have completed the training. You will be able to sit in stillness and see the Three Venerables (Daoist deities), perceive the ten directions clearly, and see the calamities that are about to occur in the world. By reciting and chanting the wondrous Jing, you will thereby become a Perfected One of the Nine Palaces.

To practice the Way of Great Samadhi and Clear Sight, one must observe and uphold two kinds of precepts. After three years of practicing Great Samadhi, you will meet the Celestial Worthy of Jade Clarity (a Daoist deity), who will grant you a credential. You may then ascend in broad daylight and take your place among the Heavenly Perfected. If you practice Great Samadhi without observing the precepts, your De and wisdom will not grow; you will find it difficult to enter the wondrous Way of the Great Vehicle, unite with the utmost subtlety, or ascend to the realm of Jade Clarity.

Chapter on the Wondrous Precepts of Divine Power

First precept: Keep your mind impartial and do not deceive yourself.

Second precept: Be loyal to your ruler and teacher, and honor Heaven and Earth and your parents.

Third precept: Show benevolence and compassion toward all things; live simply and exercise restraint.

Fourth precept: Remain pure and upright; do not form factions or show partiality.

Fifth precept: Revere the higher teachings of the Dao, and believe deeply in them and persist in your practice.

Sixth precept: Respect the ghosts and spirits; do not slight or insult them.

Seventh precept: All the things you use in daily life, including clothing and food, come from the Ancestral Qi of Primordial Beginning (the vital energy that is the source of all things); do not let this give rise to distracting thoughts.

Eighth precept: Use ash water to wash away impurities, and do not adorn or beautify yourself.

Ninth precept: Recite the scriptures aloud and pay homage inwardly; do not overtax yourself.

Tenth precept: After seven days of Great Samadhi, when the divine light is clear and settled, you will be able to see the realm of Jade Clarity.

Chapter on the Wondrous Virtues of Wisdom

First virtuous deed: Do not kill living beings. Forming the intention in your heart, proposing it aloud, carrying it out yourself, or persuading or instructing others to kill any living being all count as killing.

Second, to cultivate goodness is to avoid harming others. Secretly plotting against someone while outwardly pretending to flatter them, laying traps and snares to drive them into difficulty, cruelly inflicting harm, and injuring living beings through unjust means are all called “harming.”

Third, to cultivate goodness is to avoid envy. Harboring resentment and secret schemes, taking advantage of an opportunity to speak ill of someone and hoping disaster will befall them is called “envy.”

Fourth, to cultivate goodness is to avoid jealousy. Secretly nursing selfish thoughts and hoping to surpass others, giving rise to desire and devising ways to harm someone, even trying to cut off their foundations or lineage, is called “jealousy.”

Fifth, to cultivate goodness is to avoid illicit sexual conduct. Do not lust after improper sexual pleasures or possessions, or entertain corrupt thoughts. Do not have secret relations with relatives, engage in relations that violate propriety, or covet beauty out of selfish motives and mock others. All these fall under “sexual misconduct.”

Sixth, to cultivate goodness is to avoid theft. Breaking through walls, climbing over them, opening sealed cases, picking locks, replacing seals, secretly keeping borrowed items instead of returning them, deceiving and appropriating what belongs to others, and stealing in secret are all called “theft.”

Seventh, to cultivate goodness is to avoid greed. When thoughts and desires have no limits, one sees everything and wants to possess it. Even when one already has enough, one remains unsatisfied and wants more, disregarding one’s proper bounds and demanding without restraint. All this is called “greed.”

Eighth, to cultivate goodness is to avoid indulging desire. The mind is restless like a monkey, and thoughts gallop like a horse. The six faculties—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which perceive and think—are driven to seek out objects everywhere, stirring emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. From attachment arise all kinds of desires. This is called “desire.”

Ninth, to cultivate goodness is to avoid aversion. Do not stubbornly rank fragrance above stench, or cleanliness above filth, making false distinctions and failing to regard all things equally. This is called “aversion.”

Tenth, to cultivate goodness is to avoid deceit. Excessive suspicion leads one to go too far or fall short in one’s actions, giving rise to cunning and deception. One obstructs others and seeks private gain through crooked means. This is called “deceitful and perverse conduct” (the original uses this term, associated with cunning and crookedness).

Eleventh, to cultivate goodness is to avoid flowery and ornate speech.

Twelfth, to cultivate goodness is to refrain from speaking malicious words.

The various methods of great stillness teach you, practitioners: when entering meditation, turn your awareness inward until you experience “the mind within the mindlessness”; this is the true mind. Observe the body until you experience “the form within the formlessness”; this is the true form. Once both mind and form have been forgotten, one naturally enters the Dao of formlessness. This is the method for ascending to heaven in broad daylight.

The Great Stillness and Divine Radiance Hymn of the Perfected One Taiyi says:

In the deep and murky darkness, thoughts return to nothing. Still as an abyss, the body seems to lie hidden. Dwelling amid vast, undifferentiated chaos, one still preserves the workings of creation and gathers numinous Qi. Within and without, all is quiet and utterly motionless, yet truth is held within. The turtle and the red serpent join, forming refined, vital Qi. The sun and moon grow dim; the celestial pivot no longer revolves upward. White rainbow vapors and blue mists flow back and forth, blending together. After seven days, spiritual powers manifest, and one can behold the realm of Jade Purity, the Daoist realm of subtle and exalted transcendence.

Millet grains enter the wondrous realm, a metaphor for the minute and subtle entering the mysterious.

When the ten cycles are complete, the celestial perfected beings and great spirits from the boundless worlds of the ten directions all arrive at once…

Men and women throughout the land who sincerely took refuge and came to hear the scripture gathered in numbers like fine rain and dense mist, beyond counting. Half the land was crowded so heavily that it tilted and sank, and nothing could stop it. Then the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, a revered deity in Daoism, suspended a precious pearl in the air. It was the size of a millet grain and hung five zhang above the ground. The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning led countless beings—the Great Gods of Heavenly Truth, the High Sages and Venerable Ones, and the Perfected Ones of Wondrous Practice—into the pearl together. The heavenly beings looked up and saw people continually entering through the pearl’s opening. Once inside, no one knew where they were. After the crowds dispersed, the ground returned to level and no longer tilted or sank.

The Mysterious Master said: This passage tells of what happened after the scripture had been preached ten times. The Great Gods of the boundless realms of the Ten Directions came here together with the Heavenly Truth, summoning wise and powerful spirits from the Ten Directions. The scripture’s influence reached everywhere, auspicious signs appeared, and everyone in the land received protection and deliverance, attaining long life. Thus the people came from across the land in sincere devotion, in numbers like fine rain and dense mist, beyond counting. They are therefore called the “countless multitude”—beings without end. “The Ten Thousand Heavens” is a general term for the many heavens, while “one land” refers to everyone gathered together in the Great Fuli Land, the vast region described in Daoist teachings.

The Great Fuli Land could not bear the power of the Celestial Worthy’s scripture and teaching, the depth of his De (Virtue/Power), or the countless beings gathered there. The ground was therefore pressed down until it sank. Those who came to hear the scripture had already filled the whole land, occupying even half of it, yet this could not hold back those who continued to arrive. So the Celestial Worthy exercised the wondrous power of great transformation and suspended a pearl, as small as a millet grain, high in the sky. It hung in the mysterious distance, its means of suspension unknown, five zhang above the ground and beyond the realm of dust and impurity.

The Celestial Worthy led the Great Gods of Heavenly Truth, including the True Ones of the Upper Origin and the True Ones of the Nine Grades. He also led the High Sages and Venerable Ones, including the Sagely Venerable Ones of the Middle Origin and the Sages of the Nine Grades. He further led the Perfected Ones of Wondrous Practice, including the Immortal True Ones of the Lower Origin and the Perfected Ones of the Nine Grades. They followed the Celestial Worthy into the pearl together. The other heavenly beings, however, were neither Heavenly Truth, High Sages, nor Perfected Ones. They could not follow the workings of Wuwei (non-action) and its transformations, and so could not enter this empty, mysterious, wondrous pearl the size of a millet grain. They could only look up and watch people continually pass through its opening. Once inside, no one knew where they had gone.

Even lesser immortals possess the wondrous art of “a mustard seed containing Mount Sumeru,” in which the tiny holds the immense, and the vision of “a gourd containing heaven and earth,” with another world within the gourd. How much more can the great sage Celestial Worthy proclaim the teachings of the Great Dao and reveal wondrous transformations? The scripture says the pearl was only the size of a millet grain—a marvel in itself. It also hung five zhang above the ground, and only heavenly beings of exceptional clarity and insight could see it. Moreover…

Seeing the entrance of the precious pearl is, in truth, the Celestial Worthy guiding the holy perfected beings into the realm of “wondrous existence and emptiness.” As they follow the Celestial Worthy into the pearl, the heavenly beings look up and can see only its opening. Once everyone has entered, they can no longer see the wondrous transformations within. Thus, after the land scattered apart, it became level again and no longer tilted or collapsed. This was the setting in which the scripture was expounded, and this is the wondrous mystery of the Celestial Worthy’s precious pearl.

As for the “Supreme Dao,” its divine powers are vast and boundless: there is nothing it cannot contain, and nothing so minute that it cannot enter. When gathered, it can take form and transform into countless things, even shapes as fine as a hair or a mustard seed. Such is the gathering of the Dao. When dispersed, it brings existence forth from nothingness, extending throughout the heavens and every land. It divides into countless forms, reaching everywhere and leaving nothing untouched. Such is the dispersal of the Dao.

“To be five zhang above the ground” means to leave behind the five desires, the five sense-objects, the five aggregates, the five colors, the five fragrances, the five sounds, and the five defilements, and to go beyond the bounds of the Five Phases. In this way, one can enter the wondrous realm of the void. “Millet” is one of the smaller grains among the five grains; “a whole land” is a metaphor for a person’s body. “Tilting and collapsing” means that the Dao’s workings are askew and have not yet become fully unified, so they cannot readily bear the transformations of profound mystery. The heavenly beings are the myriad spirits; the High Sages, Heavenly Perfected, and Perfected Ones of Wondrous Practice are spirits of the Three Origins; and the Celestial Worthy is the ruler of the body.

From the perspective of the wondrous Dao of the inner landscape—the method of visualizing and cultivating inner visions—this describes the secret by which the precious pearl of Jade Clarity transforms the embryo immortal. From the perspective of the Great Rite, it is a method for avoiding grain and curing illness. In cultivation and scripture recitation, it is a rite for wielding divine power and penetrating the mysteries, as well as a method for dispelling calamities and bringing blessings.

The Mysterious Master said: After nine turns and ten cycles, when the work is complete, one can pass from existence into nothingness and realize the wondrous realm of empty mystery, subtle as a millet grain. First summon Yang essence, then Yin blossoms. Like fine rain and dense mist, they enter the body and fill it with ancestral Qi, the original vital energy. After ten transformations, the ancestral Qi of the original valley returns to unity, and the myriad forms of Qi gather with it, transforming into the wondrous millet Elixir. This Elixir guards the Yellow Court, the spirit palace within the body. Once the Elixir is refined, its light pierces the sun. Take it, and one can immediately ride the clouds upward, ascend to Jade Clarity, and take one’s place among the Perfected Ones.

The Supreme Mystery Perfected One’s Hymn on the Millet Entering the Wondrous says:

The numinous, wondrous gaze is like a scene in the heavens, corresponding with Supreme Mystery. On the third day, Yang Qi joins; on the seventh, Yin Qi is complete. On the thirteenth day, it reaches the position of Kun; on the eighteenth, it joins with Qian. Between the full moon and the new moon, the tallying Qi follows; on the eighth day, the upper bow appears. At dusk on the twenty-third day, Yin and Yang return to the ancestral origin. On every Yuanxi day, the constant Dao gathers at that time in the Three Dantian, the body’s upper, middle, and lower energy centers.

When even a speck of dust settles on it, the state of continuity is damaged.

The Section on the Convergence of the Five Spirits

Talisman for Inviting the Five Spirits to Converge

Taiyi of the Upper Origin (the deity of Taiyi in the upper region) truly resides in the Muddy Pellet (the center of the head). The Director of Destiny of the Middle Origin (the deity who governs life in the middle region) sits in the Crimson Palace (the heart). Taokang of the Lower Origin (the deity of the lower region) guards the official residence, holding the register of names.

The Young Lord Wuying (the name of an inner deity), the Venerable Spirit Baiyuan (the name of an inner deity), and the five spirits summoned by the jade talisman gather in one place and act swiftly in accordance with the commandments.

Incantation for Empowering the Talisman

All things harmonize in a thousand ways and gather in ten thousand ways; their fulfillment comes of itself. Within the true Dao are spirits and the Great Lord of Long Life.

The Young Lord Wuying, the Venerable Spirit Baiyuan, Taiyi, the Director of Destiny, and Taokang converge and come, extending life.

Holding talismans and keeping the register of names, they protect nature and life and secure life’s foundation. Act swiftly in accordance with the commandment of the Origin Without Measure for Delivering People.

Incantation for Swallowing the Talisman (swallowing a talisman means consuming it as part of a Daoist ritual)

The radiant light of the Most High’s sacred elixir shines on the upper, middle, and lower Dantian (energy centers), destroying the Corpse Worms (impurities said in Daoist Neidan practice to inhabit the body) and driving out the Qi of demons and evil influences.

As the Five Spirits converge, the hundred channels and their vital points flow freely. They can turn winter warm and summer cold.

They reverse Kan and Li (Daoist terms for the movement of water and fire, Yin and Yang), making the breath flow without cease. My body is vast, empty, and clear, taking on manifold forms as it changes.

When they enter my Five Viscera, the hundred spirits cannot intrude. True Qi descends from within, and Kun and Qian (trigrams symbolizing Yin and Yang) transform into one another.

Act swiftly in accordance with the Lingbao commandment for the Convergence of the Five Spirits.

Diagram of the Convergence of the Five Spirits

Venerable Spirit Baiyuan.

Taiyi of the Muddy Pellet, the Director of Destiny of the Center, Taokang of the Gate of Life.

The Young Lord Wuying.

Yi and Geng combine to form green; Ding and Ren combine to form blue; Wu and Ji combine to form purple; Bing and Xin combine to form pale red.

The Mysterious Master said: Scholars who practice the Seven Classics and Eight Lattices of Lingbao, as well as the various methods of inner cultivation, may use the talisman for the Convergence of the Five Spirits. Each morning, face east and write one talisman in cinnabar on yellow silk. Using the Shangqing hand signs, summon the Qi of the five directions, breathe onto the talisman, and then swallow it. In this way, you will gain the protection of the Five Spirits and keep the Three Ones (the three inner deities that form a unity in Daoist belief) constantly present. Through visualization and practice, nothing will fail to respond.

“Ode to the Five Qi in Their Central Harmony” by the Perfected One of Wondrous Practice

The One Qi (the primordial Qi) gathers in the court and returns to its source, entering the remote reaches of the eight directions. The Gate of Heaven and the Door of Earth open and close; what was blocked becomes passable.

The root of life comes from Taiwei (the dwelling place of celestial deities), and the luminous beams receive the ancestral Qi (the source Qi). Heaven enters within and becomes Yang; the Gate of Heaven becomes Yin. Earth Qi flows outward, while true Qi is drawn in and evil Qi expelled.

The Qi of water and fire arrive together. The hundred spirits turn back toward the east and return to the Valley Chamber (the inner place where Qi circulates and is stored).

Great Method of the Upper Scripture of Lingbao on Deliverance from Boundless Measures, fascicle eight