《雲笈七籤》Vol. 17

The Old Lord says: When Heaven and Earth unite, Yin and Yang transform and give birth, and all things come into being. People inherit the karmic causes of their past and receive their spiritual nature, whose foundation is the Qi of the Dao. A person’s life begins when the Yin and Yang of the parents unite.

In the first month of pregnancy, Jing and blood gather and form the embryo. In the second month, the embryo begins to take shape. In the third month, the Yang spirit transforms into the Three Hun souls, which begin to stir and grow. In the fourth month, the Yin spirit transforms into the Seven Po souls, which quietly guard the body. In the fifth month, the Qi of the Five Phases spreads through the five organs, settling the spirits. In the sixth month, the Qi of the Six Tones regulates the six bowels and nourishes the spirit. In the seventh month, the seven apertures gradually open, allowing the perception of light. In the eighth month, the spirits of the Eight Luminaries are complete, and the true spirit descends. In the ninth month, every part within the body takes shape, and Jing and Qi settle. In the tenth month, the breath is full and the body has finished developing in every respect. Throughout this time, the Qi of Primordial Harmony continually nourishes the fetus.

The Great One Lord resides in the head and is called the Lord of the Mud Ball Palace. He commands all the spirits and illuminates the consciousness spirit of the living—that is, human awareness. The Director of Destiny resides in the heart and receives the source of the heart spirit. Wuying resides on the left and governs the Three Hun souls; Baiyuan resides on the right and restrains the Seven Po souls. The Peach Child resides at the navel and guards the root of Jing and Qi. The spirits watch over every part of the body, so that each of its hundred joints has its own spirit and no part of the body is without one. Primordial Qi enters through the nose and flows into the Mud Ball Palace, making the spirits clear and the body firm. All human activity and stillness are governed by the heart spirit; thus, the movements of life have their own source.

Turn your gaze inward, and you will clearly see this inner arrangement. The heart has the meaning of restraint: it is the ruler of the whole body, keeping body and spirit from straying onto crooked paths. The heart is also the Shen, whose transformations are beyond measure and which has no fixed form. Accordingly, each of the five organs stores its corresponding spirit: the Hun resides in the liver, the Po in the lungs, Jing in the kidneys, intention in the spleen, and Shen in the heart. They have different names because each has its own dwelling and its own function.

The heart belongs to Fire and corresponds to the essence of the sun in the south. It governs Fire; in Heaven, it corresponds to the planet Yinghuo, or Mars, and in the human body, to the heart organ. The heart is red and shaped like a three-leaved lotus flower, with the spirits resting within it; hence this name.

The heart spirit is neither blue, white, red, nor yellow. It is neither large nor small, long nor short, curved nor straight, soft nor hard, thick nor thin, round nor square. Its transformations cannot be measured, and it can unite Yin and Yang: it is vast enough to encompass Heaven and Earth, yet subtle enough to enter the space between the finest hairs.

When you restrain the mind and spirit, the heart becomes upright; when you let them run unchecked, the heart grows wild and disordered. Clarity and stillness allow life to flourish, while murk and confusion make it decline. When the heart is bright, it can illuminate all directions; when it is dark, it loses its way in a corner. If you can remain empty, still, and quiet, the Dao will abide naturally, and you can preserve yourself forever.

Cultivate yourself through Wuwei (non-action), and life can flourish. There is an invisible Dao in the world that cannot be expressed in words. Both calamity and good fortune, ill luck and auspiciousness, arise from it. For this reason, the sages established the relationship between ruler and minister, clarified rewards and punishments, appointed officials, and set down laws, thereby teaching and guiding the people.

The hardest thing for a person to restrain is the heart. If the heart is clear and still, calamity will not arise. People drift through life and death and sink into evil paths because of the heart. Delusions, hatred and affection, choosing and rejecting, coming and going, and attachment to external things gradually become entangled and bound together. People sink ever deeper, unable to break free, and in the end meet their destruction. It is like oxen and horses pulling a heavy load into mud: the more they struggle, the deeper they sink, until they cannot escape on their own and may even die in the mire. People are the same.

At birth, the source of a person’s awareness is clear and pure, without distracting thoughts. Later, upon receiving a body, it is tainted by the Six Sensibilities—the perceptions of the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, heart and mind, and body. The eyes crave beauty, the ears become absorbed in sounds, the mouth and tongue crave flavors, the nose craves fragrances, the heart harbors intense desires, and the body seeks softness, warmth, rich food, and delicacies. In this way, people drift into delusion and cannot awaken. The sages, moved by compassion, sought ways to teach everyone to turn inward and observe themselves, so that the heart might become clear.

Laojun said: Look closely at this body. It comes from nothingness and is formed through the gathering of many conditions. It accumulates Jing (essence), and through karmic force receives awareness at birth; only after these things come together can a person be born. The human body takes Heaven as its model and Earth as its image. It contains Yin and exhales Yang, and divides and combines the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) in correspondence with the four seasons. The eyes are like the sun and moon, the hair like the stars, the eyebrows like a canopy, and the head like Mount Kunlun. Within the body, palaces and offices are arranged in their various places to house the spirits. Among all things, human beings are called the most spiritually perceptive. Human nature and life accord with the Dao, and should be cherished and preserved.

Turn inward and observe yourself: what is more precious than your own person? Why fail to cherish yourself and instead recklessly become stained by worldly dust? If you do not quiet the heart, body and mind will be disturbed and polluted. When you observe the myriad things, which is more distant from you, yourself or external things? Only by holding to the Dao and preserving life can you do good and preserve your true nature. People of the world busily rush about, laboring in vain.

Laojun said: The portion of life received from the Dao is called “life”; the body and nature formed by receiving the One Qi are called “nature.” The ability to respond to external things is called “heart”; when the heart holds something in mind, it is called “intention”; when an intention takes form, it is called “will”; knowing all matters and principles is called “knowledge”; when wisdom extends throughout the myriad things, it is called “understanding.” Activity that sustains the body is called “hun”; stillness that settles and steadies the body is called “po”; what flows through the sinews, bones, and flesh is called “blood”; what nourishes the spirit and regulates the breath is called “essence.” When Qi is clear, it moves swiftly…

Qi that nourishes the body… When Defensive Qi is turbid and moves sluggishly, it is called “defense.” That which governs the body’s many limbs and bones is called the “body”; that in which all kinds of forms can appear is called “form”; that which gathers into a solid mass and offers resistance is called “substance”; that whose appearance and condition can be recognized is called “physical form”; and that whose size has definite bounds is called the “frame.” What cannot be grasped by any kind of thought is called “spirit”; what is still and without form, yet can respond as circumstances require, is called “numinous efficacy.” When Qi enters the body, this is called “life”; when spirit leaves the body, this is called “death.”

That which enables life to run its full course is called the Dao. The Dao exists, yet has no form; though formless, it has an inner function. Its transformations cannot be measured, and it can move through the wondrous and mysterious. The Dao present within living beings is their divine clarity—in other words, what is called the heart-mind. Thus, teaching people to cultivate the Dao means cultivating the heart-mind; teaching them to cultivate the heart-mind is likewise teaching them to cultivate the Dao.

The Dao cannot be seen directly; it is made manifest through life. Life cannot remain unchanged forever; it must be safeguarded through the Dao. When life perishes, the Dao has no means to appear; when the Dao is lost, life too will perish. When life and the Dao unite as one, a person can live forever, escape death, and ascend to immortality. People fail to preserve their lives because they do not turn inward to observe their own heart-minds. With constant inward observation, life and the Dao can endure.

The Lord Lao said: People wander through evil paths and sink into defilement because the six emotions—the six feelings and sensory desires—stir up deluded thoughts, which then give rise to the six forms of consciousness, the cognitive activities associated with the six senses. As these six forms of consciousness continually make distinctions, people become bound by aversion and attachment, coming and going, taking and rejecting. They are further stained by afflictions, and so grow ever more distant from the Dao. Therefore, turn inward and observe the six forms of consciousness: Where do they arise? They arise from the mind-consciousness; the mind arises from the “self,” and the “self” arises from desire. From this come deluded and inverted thoughts, and consciousness follows. This is also called “spontaneity,” and is known as Wuwei (non-action). In their original state of empty stillness and purity, people have no discriminating consciousness. Once distinctions arise, all manner of false views follow. With the arising of false views, afflictions appear everywhere, binding people layer upon layer. They wander through birth and death, forever losing the Dao.

The Lord Lao said: The Dao has no birth or death, but physical form is subject to birth and death. What is called birth and death belongs to physical form, not to the Dao. Physical form lives because it has received the Dao; it dies because it has lost the Dao. If people can preserve life and hold fast to the Dao, they can endure for a long time without perishing.

The Lord Lao said: If people can always keep the heart-mind clear and still, the Dao will naturally come to dwell within them. When the Dao dwells in the body, divine clarity can remain within; when divine clarity remains in the body, life will not perish. People often wish for long life but cannot make their heart-minds empty and still; they often dread death but cannot preserve their original spirit. This is like wishing for honor while refusing to follow the Dao, or wishing for wealth while refusing to seek treasure, or wishing to… (The original text ends here unfinished.)

(The opening sentence seems to be missing part of its meaning.) Movement is swift, yet the feet cannot step forward; one wants to gain weight, yet cannot eat one’s fill.

Laojun said: To cultivate the Dao, one must understand it through attentive reflection; the heart becomes clear through the Dao. When the heart is clear, the Dao descends; when the Dao descends, the heart becomes open and perceptive. Shen (spirit)—a person’s powers of perception and discernment—dwells in the body as fire dwells in a wine vessel. Light comes from fire; fire burns by means of a wick; the wick is nourished by oil; and the oil is held in the vessel. If any one of these four is missing, where could the light come from? In the same way, illumination depends on Shen’s discernment; Shen resides in the heart; and the heart depends on the body. With a body, one can preserve oneself through the Dao. If the physical body cannot be preserved, what could Shen depend on? “Shen” means that the eyes can see, the ears can hear, the heart can know, and the body can feel; it also means being able to distinguish the principles and subtleties of things. People can discern because Shen is at work, and so it is called “Shen.”

Laojun said: To empty the heart is to remove its attachments to what it takes to be real; to be without a heart is to remove its sense of possession; to settle the heart is to keep it from wavering; to set the heart right is to keep it from straying into bias; to clear the heart is to keep it from becoming muddled; and to purify the heart is to keep it free from defilement. These are all conditions already present in the heart; what one must do now is remove them. A straight heart does not change back and forth; a balanced heart has no preference for high or low; a bright heart is not darkened or confused; and an open heart is free of obstruction. These are all natural qualities the heart originally possesses. Here, only a few have been outlined; the rest can be understood through reflection.

Laojun said: Understanding the principles is easy, but following them is hard; following them is easy, but putting them into practice is hard; putting them into practice is easy, but attaining the Dao is hard; attaining the Dao is easy, but keeping to it is hard. If you keep to the Dao without losing it, you can preserve yourself and make life endure.

Laojun said: The Dao cannot be attained through spoken instruction or received by word of mouth. Make the heart empty and still, and the spirit calm; then the Dao will come of its own accord. The ignorant do not understand this, and so they exhaust the body, torment the mind, drive the will, and agitate the spirit. This takes them ever farther from the Dao and makes their spirit suffer all the more. They turn away from the right path to seek the Dao, then resent the Dao; the Dao, in turn, will not show them compassion.

Laojun said: The Dao prizes enduring existence. Nourish the spirit, strengthen the root, keep Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) from dispersing, and preserve simplicity and purity without division, so that body and spirit accord with the Dao. In this way, one may ascend to Kunlun, the Daoist realm of immortals, and be born before Heaven and Earth and endure after them. One may come and go without hindrance or the limits of gates and doorways. One can breathe out Yin energy and exhale Yang energy, guide the Po (corporeal soul) and embrace the Hun (ethereal soul), and, after countless ages, still have loved ones, with descendants continuing for a thousand years. Amid swirling yellow dust, the perfected immortal who rides an ox dwells in halls of gold and chambers of jade, welcoming and sending off the succession of the old and the new.

Laojun said: The Dao of inner observation is to quiet the spirit and settle the mind, allowing no stray thoughts to arise and no delusion or error to enter. Observe the whole body and the things around you; close your eyes and examine inward and outward with care until the mind is empty and still. The divine Dao is subtle and profound: observe the appearances of things outwardly and examine your own heart inwardly, and you will become clear and calm. Whether thoughts are still or disorderly, bring them all to rest.

Let thoughts remain continuously connected, with deep roots, so that the mind and spirit become peaceful and reach profound stillness: clear and pure, abiding without change. Deep and mysterious, beyond measure, this state makes sorrow and distress vanish forever, and brings an end to distinguishing right from wrong.

Laojun said, “I was not born a sage. I reached this state through learning. So when I sought the Dao, there was nothing I would not accept and put into practice. The key to the myriad scriptures and methods lies in the will.”

Scripture on Settling the Mind and Contemplation from the Numinous Treasure Tradition (Dongxuan Lingbao Dingguan Jing)

“Numinous” means wondrous and mysterious: in Heaven, it is called “numinous.” “Treasure” means precious: on Earth, it is called “treasure.” Heaven has a wondrous power to transform and nurture, whose workings cannot be measured; thus it can cover all things far and wide, without limit. Earth holds many treasures that nourish all things; thus it can bear them with great depth. This scripture is like Heaven and Earth: it can cover and bear, is numinous and precious, and has boundless merit and virtue. One who awakens to this mind is therefore called a “Numinous Treasure.”

“Settling” means that the mind and spirit are at rest, like the unmoving Earth. “Contemplation” means seeing with the wisdom of the mind, like the constant light of the sky. The substance of settling is free of deluded thoughts; the scope of wisdom’s contemplation is boundless. Settling and wisdom are cultivated together, hence the name “settling and contemplation.”

The Celestial Worthy instructed the Perfected Left Profound (a revered Daoist deity):

“Left” means settled; “Profound” means deep and wondrous; “Perfected” means pure and unmixed. “Person” refers to one who understands how things work and knows their original nature. “Said” is a word that introduces speech.

Anyone who wishes to cultivate the Dao must first be able to let go of worldly affairs. To direct one’s will toward the Dao is called cultivating the Dao; to remain unstained by anything is called letting go of affairs. All external matters must be cut off, so that the outer world does not stir the inner mind.

External matters are the Six Dusts: form, sound, fragrance, taste, touch, and mental objects. To distance oneself from the Six Dusts and no longer cling to them is called cutting off external affairs. When external things do not disturb the mind and the mind does not become attached, there is no distress. When both mind and surroundings are forgotten, distress disappears as well.

Then sit in stillness. To gather in and quiet distress is called “settling”; when the original mind gives rise to no deluded thoughts, this is called “sitting.”

Next, turn inward and observe your thoughts. If you notice a thought arising, remove it, and make sure the mind is settled and clear. To observe with inner wisdom is called “inward contemplation”; thoughts have not yet been cleared away, and this is called “the mind arising.” A thought from before suddenly arises; once you notice it, remove it at once. After the thought has ceased, let go even of the act of noticing and observing. This is called “eliminating and extinguishing.” When thoughts do not arise, this is called “settled”; when the faculty of awareness does not move, this is called “still.” Hence the phrase “settled and still.”

Next, even if they are not obvious attachments, also eliminate scattered thoughts that drift and wander.

When people’s minds no longer give rise to delusive thoughts and scattered ideas no longer appear, what is there left to crave or cling to?

Therefore, delusive thoughts must be eliminated.

Cultivate diligently day and night, without a moment’s pause. (“Day” refers to purity and “night” to defilement. When one clings to neither purity nor defilement, there is no interruption; this is called “unceasing,” meaning not stopping.)

Eliminate only the agitated thoughts; do not eliminate the mind’s awareness. Delusive discrimination is called the “agitated mind” and should be removed. The lucid awareness of wisdom remains bright and continuous, so it should not be eliminated.

Let the mind return to emptiness and clarity, but do not let it cling or become fixed. Not giving rise to various discriminating thoughts is called “emptying the mind”; clinging to nothing is called not being stuck in any particular thought.

Do not rely on any particular method, yet let the mind remain settled at all times. Clinging to a particular method is attachment to appearances. When the mind clings to no method, this is called “relying on nothing.” Observing while remaining constantly still is called “abiding constantly.”

Yet ordinary people’s minds are prone to agitation and contention. For beginners, calming the mind is very difficult; sometimes it grows quiet briefly, only to lose that calm again in an instant. This means that habits and afflictions are hard to eliminate completely. Before stability has taken hold, even a temporarily quiet mind can easily become scattered again.

Delusive thoughts and external circumstances pull at each other, stirring up turmoil within. When the mind is disturbed by external circumstances, and those circumstances in turn draw the mind along, the two are said to “struggle with each other.” As delusive thoughts continue without pause, all kinds of faults arise; this is called “spreading through the whole being.”

Only after practicing with sustained focus for a long time can the mind gradually be tamed and become well trained. Do not abandon the fruits of long practice just because you cannot gather the mind in at a particular moment. When thoughts settle and no longer arise, one can accord with the true, constant Dao. If even a single thought cannot be gathered in, years of practice may be wasted as a result.

Once you have initially attained purity, in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—that is, while newly purified but before true right wisdom has arisen; the “four dignified postures” are the four ordinary positions of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—make a deliberate effort to settle the mind, whether dealing with affairs or amid commotion. Seeing various scenes and facing various affairs is called “engaging with things”; the place where thoughts surge up is called “commotion.” Quieting turmoil and returning to stillness is called “deliberate attention”; calm composure and a settled mind are called “being at ease.”

Whether occupied or unoccupied, remain as though the mind clings to nothing. Whether in stillness or amid activity, keep the mind focused and undisturbed. To grasp neither being nor nonbeing, and to cling to neither stillness nor activity, while recognizing that all things are equal and nondual: this is called “oneness.”

If you rein in the mind too forcefully, this too can disturb the spirit. Breath surging upward, frenzy, and madness are signs of this kind of imbalance.

If one becomes stubbornly fixated on stillness, this is called “constraining the mind”—deliberately restricting one’s thoughts. When the mind chases outward after the myriad forms it sees, this is called “inversion.”

Once the mind has settled and become still, one should also let it unfold naturally, with a fitting balance of restraint and openness. Only then can stillness and wisdom work in harmony, and body and mind remain balanced and at ease.

When wisdom arises from stillness, this is called “indulgence.” When stillness and wisdom merge without obstruction, this is called “finding the proper measure.” Too much stillness tends toward dullness and sluggishness; too much wisdom tends toward agitation and arrogance. Using stillness and wisdom in balance is called “adjustment.”

Gather the mind without clinging; let it unfold without scattering. Be amid noise without aversion in your heart; handle affairs without letting them trouble your inner self. This is true stillness.

The saying “silent, yet always illuminating; illuminating, yet always silent; empty, yet always functioning; functioning, yet always empty” means that the mind’s essence, though still, can perceive clearly, and though it can function, it does not cling to outward traces. To understand the root of its original stillness is true stillness.

Do not deliberately seek out more affairs simply because you can be among them without becoming troubled. Nor should you force yourself toward noisy places simply because you can be among them without aversion. One must still keep one’s habits and worldly cares in check and bring them under control at all times; they must not be indulged.

When there is nothing to do, abide in the true mind. When affairs arise, respond according to circumstances and let its function appear. Seeing that one’s nature is empty and still, one knows it is the true refuge; since the workings of wisdom have no bounds, they can manifest in response to each situation.

The true mind is like clear water and a bright mirror: when things come before it, it reflects each in its own form. This is called “manifesting forms.”

Only through skillful use of expedient means can one enter stillness. The nature of all phenomena is empty and still, with no fixed place from which they arise; hence this is called “entering stillness.”

When wisdom manifests, and how quickly or slowly it does so, cannot be forced by human effort. Do not rush to seek wisdom while in stillness. Eager pursuit harms one’s nature, and once harmed, it is difficult for wisdom to arise. If you rush after interpretations and views, true stillness disappears; if you crave the various forms, there can be no wisdom.

When entering stillness, do not deliberately seek wisdom; let it arise naturally. This is true wisdom. The mind’s essence is still, yet its wondrous function is inexhaustible; hence it is called true wisdom.

One may have wisdom yet refrain from displaying or exercising it, appearing on the surface to be dull. “Not using” means making no distinctions and clinging to nothing; “as if foolish” means keeping one’s sharpness in check and making no show of it.

In this way, stillness and wisdom nourish one another. Each is fully realized, and neither is exhausted.

If, while entering stillness, one has many thoughts and imaginings, one may easily attract various evil spirits, demons, and ghosts, as though they appeared in response to those thoughts. Because the mind grasps at forms, one form after another arises, and evil spirits seize the opportunity to disturb it.

Even if what appears is a Celestial Worthy, an immortal, or a Perfected One, it is still only an auspicious vision and must not be clung to or pursued. Simply let the mind in stillness open up clearly, without obstruction; let the mindscape become spacious and empty, with no fixed ground.

When the thoughts of the past do not arise, this is called “without covering”; when thoughts no longer arise afterward, this is called “without a foundation.” The karmic force accumulated in the past diminishes day by day, and no new karma is created. When past habits have been entirely eliminated, this is called “old karma fading day by day”; when the impulse to create karma no longer arises, this is called “creating no new karma.”

When nothing is tainted by external things, this is called “being free of all obstruction.” To escape from bondage is called “breaking far away from the cage of the dust”—that is, leaving the prison of the mundane world far behind. By continuing to cultivate in this way, one can naturally attain the Dao. When the mind’s attentive awareness never ceases, this is called “practicing over a long period”; when one accords with principle and resonates with one’s true nature, this is called “attaining the Dao.”

Those who attain the Dao generally show seven signs.

First, the mind settles easily and can perceive the various dust-thoughts and vexations. “Dust leaks” refers to the thoughts that disturb the spirit and draw a person into worldly desires. When the mind is pure and dust-thoughts have been extinguished, one can perceive them.

Second, past illnesses broadly subside, and body and mind become light and clear. The commentary attributes this to the circulation of true Qi and the gradual development of embryonic breathing—a Daoist method of regulating the breath and nourishing Qi. Illnesses are healed, and the body becomes vigorous.

Third, one makes up for a life cut short and for bodily depletion, restoring one’s years and vitality. The commentary says that when the bone marrow becomes full and firm, it can repair the body’s deficiencies and keep the face from aging easily. This is called “prolonging life and restoring one’s mandate.”

Fourth, one’s lifespan extends to ten thousand years, and one is called an “Immortal.” Since one lives exceedingly long, without death, and is entered in the registers of the Immortals, one is called an Immortal.

Fifth, through refining form into Qi, one becomes a “True Person.” This refers to a practitioner obtaining original Qi, the fundamental energy of life, and transforming the body from material form into Qi. One’s nature is upright and genuine, without pretense, and so one is called a True Person.

Sixth, through refining Qi into spirit, one becomes a “Spirit Person.” True Qi reaches through to spirit, and the transformations of Yin and Yang become unfathomable; hence one is called a Spirit Person.

Seventh, through refining spirit and uniting with the Dao, one becomes a “Perfected Person.” The true spirit accords with the Great Dao, and so one is called a Perfected Person.

A practitioner’s power of discernment continually increases as these signs appear. “Power of reflection” means the capacity for sustained, uninterrupted awareness; “growing clearer” means that this discernment continues to strengthen without interruption.

Only after reaching the highest Dao and realizing wisdom is wisdom fully complete. If one can understand one’s nature, attain the Dao, and become a True Person, wisdom becomes perfectly clear, and all principles of the Way are present.

If someone practices stillness and concentration for a long time yet shows none of these signs—if their life is short, their body weak and impure, and their appearance worn, until they finally return to nothingness—and still claims to have awakened and attained the Dao, then by the principles of seeking the Dao, this is in fact not so. The commentary says that uniting with the Dao through spiritual realization should enable one to attain the Dao in this very body. Once the true mind has realized it, the body’s transformation should not be severed from life.

The Scripture on the Western Ascension (Xisheng Jing), a Daoist classic, says: “Thus, having lost the root of life, how could one know the source of the Great Dao?”

A verse follows:

Wisdom arises through external conditions, and fire is kindled by causes and circumstances; each is an expression of the activation of true nature.

To follow this flow is to lose the root of the Great Dao. If one sets the mind on stopping perception, the moment the mind stirs, perception only grows more unsettled.

Understand that perception is empty by nature, and from this one can enter the many mysterious gates.

The Scripture on the Heart of Clarity and Stillness of Lord Lao

Lord Lao said: The Great Dao has clarity and turbidity, stillness and movement. Clarity and stillness are the root; turbidity and movement are their offshoots. Thus, Yang is clear and Yin is turbid; Yang is active and Yin is still; the male is clear and the female turbid; the male is active and the female still. All things flow down from the root to the branches and arise in this way.

Clarity is the source of turbidity, and stillness is the basis of movement. If people can maintain clarity and stillness, all under Heaven will revere them. People naturally delight in clarity and stillness, yet their minds are troubled by distractions. The human heart naturally delights in tranquility, yet is pulled along by desire. If one continually lets go of desire, the heart will naturally become tranquil; if one clears the heart, the spirit will naturally become lucid. Then the six desires—the cravings of the senses—will not arise, and the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion will be dispelled.

People fail to do this because their hearts have not yet been cleared and their desires have not yet been relinquished. One who can let go of desire turns inward to observe the heart, only to find that it has no fixed substance; looks outward at the body, only to find that it too has no fixed substance; and looks farther still at the myriad things, only to find that they have no fixed substance either. None of these three can be grasped; all are seen to be empty. Observe this “emptiness” without grasping it, too. When there is nothing left to empty, do not grasp “nothingness”; do not grasp even “nothingness of nothingness.” The mind becomes clear and perpetually still, without grasping even “stillness.” In the end, all distinctions between existence and nonexistence, stillness and its absence, dissolve together.

In such a state, how could desire arise? When desire does not arise, the heart naturally becomes tranquil. When the heart is tranquil, the spirit is not disturbed; when the spirit is undisturbed, one remains perpetually clear and still. Perpetual clarity and stillness bring one into accord with the Dao; this is called attaining the Dao. Though it is called “attaining the Dao,” in truth there is nothing to attain. It is only to teach living beings that one is compelled to call it “attainment” and, by this expedient, point out a path.

Lord Lao said: The key to “attaining” the Dao lies in one’s own heart. When one’s heart accords with the Dao, the Dao has not given one anything; rather, one has naturally come to understand the Dao. So this is not truly an attainment, which is why it is said, “In truth, nothing is attained.”

Lord Lao said: The Dao cannot be attained because people cling to the belief that there is a heart. Once they believe the heart truly exists, they believe the body truly exists; believing the body truly exists, they cling to the myriad things. Clinging to things gives rise to attachment; attachment gives rise to distress; distress gives rise to delusion. Once delusion arises, the emotions are stirred and people become confused. They ultimately fall into the sea of suffering in the turbid world, drifting without end through birth and death.

If people suffer the torments of hell, they will be cut off from the Dao forever. If they can remain clear and still within, they will naturally attain the Dao.

Thus it is said:

The wondrous workings of the Celestial Venerable, the Daoist title for the supreme deity, are revealed before us at every moment.

Every movement of the body and every rise and fall of thought occurs naturally.

Still the restless mind and observe where thoughts arise and move.

Look closely, and you will find that they have no boundaries.

What is called a boundary has always been empty and still by nature.

The void does not come into being because observing the mind has revealed it.

Realize that all conditions and causes lack any fixed nature,

and you can transcend freely and enter straight into the Purple Tenuity Palace, the celestial palace of Daoist tradition.

Inside and outside the palace, all is bright and clear.

Amid the perfect harmony of the myriad phenomena, there is only one level and impartial Way.

A pure mind is clear and bright like a mirror, unobstructed.

With no attachments, and without clinging even to the mind, one is free.

The Great Dao is equal and without distinctions.

Who, then, arranged heaven and hell?

Since spiritual awareness is inwardly still, it is unchanged by fullness or loss.

If good and evil are both like emptiness, where could they arise from?

It is only ordinary people who form different views

and insist on drawing all kinds of boundaries in the world.

Even if this brings countless hardships,

examine each one carefully: there is no ruler or agent within them.

Look closely and you will see that there is neither a ruler nor a fixed source.

Understand the principles of causes and conditions, and you will accord with the Great Dao.

Though you may understand something within this, there is no understanding to cling to.

Let go of attachment to understanding, follow Wuwei (non-action), and allow all things to unfold freely of themselves.

Whoever understands the meaning of this scripture and recites it with a focused mind and deep faith, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, can dispel immeasurable obstacles and evil karma from past lives. Enemies and adversaries can be reconciled, and one will no longer suffer painful consequences; demons and heterodox forces can also be subdued.

It admonishes all beings: if you wish to pass through calamity, each of you should purify body and mind, have faith, and put the teaching into practice.

Yunji Qiqian, juan 17