《雲笈七籤》Vol. 39

Long ago, near the end of the Zhou dynasty, during the reign of King Nan, the Way of Great Peace and the teachings of Great Clarity began to circulate in the world. The Lord Lao came to Langya and transmitted the Dao to Lord Gan. After receiving the methods of the Dao, Lord Gan attained the Dao and was honored as a Perfected One. He later transmitted the 170 scrolls of the Scripture of Great Peace, divided into ten sections by the sixty-year cycle.

When Lord Bo became seriously ill, he followed Lord Gan in learning the methods of the Dao and regulating his health. He recovered and later, too, attained the Dao and was honored as a Perfected One. A magnolia tree still stands in Langya today; it is said to mark the place where Lords Gan and Bo practiced.

During the reign of King You, the Lord Lao taught the Hu people to return. Later, as the Lord Lao passed through Langya, Lord Gan had the chance to pay him a visit. The Lord Lao said to Lord Gan: “In the past, I taught you the methods of the Dao so that you would help others, save lives, and care for the people. I appointed male and female libationers—people in the Way of Great Peace responsible for transmitting the teachings and organizing followers—to spread instruction widely among the ignorant, and assigned disciples so that they could move the will of Heaven above, communicate with the earth deities below, and thereby win the favor of rulers.

“Recently, however, from billions of miles away, I have seen that some male and female libationers use the name of the Lord Lao to pursue wealth and sexual pleasure and act recklessly. They argue with one another over right and wrong, each claiming to be sincere while saying that the others are not truly cultivating the Dao. Outwardly they say their actions are for making offerings; in truth, they want others to serve them. They despise fellow practitioners, envy the worthy, exalt themselves, and even forbid the people from coming to follow me, claiming that their own Dao is the most correct and that others’ Dao is wrong. None of this is acceptable, so I have come in person to tell you.”

Gan Ji bowed twice, prostrated himself, and knocked his head against the ground a hundred times. He answered repeatedly: “Most High—an honorific for a revered Daoist deity—from this day onward, what should I do to lessen the grave offenses of these male and female libationers? The libationers have lived in vain. Since they have already received the Dao’s protection, they could have attained the Dao and become immortals; after death, they need not suffer in the prisons of the Nine Earths. This is not the libationers’ responsibility alone. The people’s ignorance of the laws and regulations is also the libationers’ fault; the blame for my own offense truly rests with me. I beg the Most High to forgive past wrongs and appoint me only to cultivate good deeds in the future.”

The Lord Lao said: “Sit calmly and do not worry. I fear that the Great Dao will gradually decline and the people will lose their lives; after death, one or two libationers will fall into the Nine Earths…” The original text ends here, unfinished.

The suffering in the darkness is nothing compared with my grief for the many people who are suffering. Listen carefully and keep these words in your hearts, so that they may serve as a rule for generations to come. I command all the male and female libationers, the Daoist officers who lead rituals and teach the faith, to abandon their former conduct and do good from this day forward.

The Old Lord said, “Even if a person lives for ten thousand years, what difference is there between them and a rotten old tree or a stone if they do not keep the precepts? Better to keep the precepts for just one day and live as a virtuous person. After death, one may still take one’s place among the celestial officials and ascend to immortality through corpse liberation, a Daoist means of leaving the mortal body behind and attaining the Dao. If people commit grave offenses in this world, their souls and spirits gain nothing after death; they only suffer.”

The libationer understood and carried out the command. He said, “All you libationers, listen carefully: no one among the people of the world can endure forever. Every human life ends in death, and all things rise and fall. The sun that rises must eventually set; the moon that is full must eventually wane. From ancient times to the present, who has escaped death forever? Only Dao and De endure.

“This month is auspicious and good; this day is auspicious and good; this moment is auspicious and good. All you worthy ones are auspicious and good; Master Jia is auspicious and good; the disciples are auspicious and good. All the gods are assembled, and the officials and troops are here as well. For the sake of you worthy ones and the lives of all the people, I now transmit the prohibitions and severe precepts to Wang Jia. They should be read three times, and then the precepts proclaimed:

“First precept: Do not keep an excessive number of servants or concubines.

“Second precept: Do not commit adultery with another person’s wife.

“Third precept: Do not steal another person’s property.

“Fourth precept: Do not kill or harm any living creature.

“Fifth precept: Do not take another person’s property without cause, even if it is worth no more than one coin.

“Sixth precept: Do not burn or damage another person’s property without cause, if it is worth more than one coin.

“Seventh precept: Do not throw food into a fire.

“Eighth precept: Do not raise pigs or sheep.

“Ninth precept: Do not obtain anyone’s property by improper means.

“Tenth precept: Do not eat garlic or the five pungent foods prohibited by Daoist precepts.

“Eleventh precept: Do not write in cursive script for others.

“Twelfth precept: Do not exchange letters too frequently.

“Thirteenth precept: Do not use drugs to induce an abortion.

“Fourteenth precept: Do not burn fields or forests.

“Fifteenth precept: Do not use vessels of gold or silver for eating and drinking.

“Sixteenth precept: Do not pry into military or state affairs, or divine good and bad fortune.

“Seventeenth precept: Do not associate without cause with soldiers or bandits.

“Eighteenth precept: Do not cut down trees without cause.

“Nineteenth precept: Do not pick grasses, plants, or flowers without cause.”

The twentieth precept: Do not repeatedly seek audiences with the emperor or officials, or enter into marriages indiscriminately to attach yourself to powerful families.

The twenty-first precept: Do not neglect your disciples, or favor and trust unrighteous people to the point of disrupting the Dao.

The twenty-second precept: Do not covet or hoard possessions.

The twenty-third precept: Do not speak falsely or use empty, showy words. Do not fall out with others or envy one another.

The twenty-fourth precept: Do not drink alcohol or eat meat.

The twenty-fifth precept: Do not amass great wealth while looking down on and mistreating the lonely, suffering, and poor.

The twenty-sixth precept: Do not eat alone.

The twenty-seventh precept: Do not buy or sell enslaved people.

The twenty-eighth precept: Do not break up another person’s marriage.

The twenty-ninth precept: Do not dwell on other people’s strengths and flaws, or harbor suspicion and resentment toward one another.

The thirtieth precept: Do not personally study or perform music for singing and dancing.

The thirty-first precept: Do not speak of other people’s misdeeds, or indulge in baseless suspicions and groundless fears.

The thirty-second precept: Do not discuss other people’s private affairs.

The thirty-third precept: Do not comment on the family background, life experiences, or good and bad conduct of other people’s parents.

The thirty-fourth precept: Do not praise someone to their face, then speak ill of them behind their back.

The thirty-fifth precept: Do not use filthy things to taunt or torment others.

The thirty-sixth precept: Do not pour poison into deep pools, ponds, rivers, or the sea.

The thirty-seventh precept: Do not show closeness only to members of your own clan. Here, “clan” means relatives who share your surname.

The thirty-eighth precept: Do not look down on or distance yourself from other people’s elders and those worthy of respect.

The thirty-ninth precept: Do not take your own life.

The fortieth precept: Do not urge others to kill.

The forty-first precept: Do not break up another person’s household and separate family members from one another.

The forty-second precept: Do not kill anyone out of hatred.

The forty-third precept: Do not write letters falsely accusing or slandering others.

The forty-fourth precept: Do not insist on doing everything your own way.

The forty-fifth precept: Do not consider yourself superior.

The forty-sixth precept: Do not be arrogant and conceited.

The forty-seventh precept: Do not dig up the earth or damage mountains and rivers without due cause.

The forty-eighth precept: Do not insult others with vicious words.

The forty-ninth precept: Do not step on cattle, horses, or other domestic animals.

The fiftieth precept: Do not cover another person’s eyes.

The fifty-first precept: Do not use methods of magical suppression to treat illness. “Magical suppression” refers to practices using talismans, spells, and other techniques to subdue harmful spirits or bring about a desired effect.

The fifty-second precept: Do not covet or crave other people’s possessions.

The fifty-third precept: Do not drain the water from wetlands.

The fifty-fourth precept: Do not casually discuss or judge your teachers and elders.

Precept 55: Do not bathe outdoors naked.

Precept 56: Do not look down on the scriptures and teachings.

Precept 57: Do not neglect the elderly.

Precept 58: Do not watch livestock mating.

Precept 59: Do not tease or mock others.

Precept 60: Do not use your power to oppress others.

Precept 61: Do not favor those close to you.

Precept 62: Do not carry a knife or staff with you. This precept does not apply when you are in the army.

Precept 63: Do not establish too many separate households or live apart from one another.

Precept 64: Do not give in to anger and hatred.

Precept 65: Do not insult others by calling them slaves or servants.

Precept 66: Do not urinate standing up.

Precept 67: Do not tattoo the faces of slaves or servants.

Precept 68: Do not curse others, saying they will die, fall into ruin, or suffer misfortune.

Precept 69: Do not rejoice at another’s death or failure.

Precept 70: Do not indulge yourself recklessly or wander about aimlessly.

Precept 71: Do not stare at others with wide-open eyes.

Precept 72: Do not stick out your tongue toward the sky.

Precept 73: Do not make unreasonable demands for other people’s property.

Precept 74: Do not beg or demand things by force and disturb the people.

Precept 75: Do not collect taxes on behalf of people in the secular world.

Precept 76: Do not bow to people in the secular world or honor them as your masters.

Precept 77: Do not assess the terrain or choose sites for other people’s graves or homes, and do not build houses for them.

Precept 78: Do not use knowledge of the stars to practice divination, read people’s fortunes, or calculate the timing of celestial events.

Precept 79: Do not fish or hunt, harming or killing living beings.

Precept 80: Do not have illicit relations with another person’s wife or disrupt another couple’s marriage.

Precept 81: Do not show favoritism among your disciples. Treat them as you would your own children.

Precept 82: Do not take away the lamp someone uses while sleeping.

Precept 83: Do not go about attending funerals in the homes of people in the secular world. Instead, express your grief and sympathy in private.

Precept 84: Do not form cliques with people in the secular world to mock and disparage one another.

Precept 85: Do not sabotage another person’s success and then claim the credit as your own.

Precept 86: Do not choose especially fine rooms or beds for your rest.

Precept 87: Do not disparage others or portray them as bad people.

Precept 88: Do not boast about your possessions or proclaim how good they are.

Precept 89: Do not deliberately frighten others and make them afraid or cause their hearts to race.

Precept 90: Do not criticize other people’s food or casually pass judgment on whether it is good or bad.

Precept 91: Do not pass along malicious words when carrying a message for someone.

Precept 92: Do not use the power of the authorities to harm ordinary people.

Precept 93: Do not involve yourself in worldly disputes or pronounce who is right and who is wrong.

Precept 94: Do not forcibly take another person’s property and claim that doing so is a favor to them.

Precept 95: In winter, do not dig up the earth and harm insects and other creatures sheltering in it.

Precept 96: Do not wander about and go on outings carelessly.

Precept 97: Do not climb trees to pick things indiscriminately, or destroy birds’ nests and eggs.

Precept 98: Do not capture birds or animals in cages or nets.

Precept 99: Do not bore through another person’s wall to spy on the women inside.

Precept 100: Do not throw filth into wells.

Precept 101: Do not block up ponds or wells.

Precept 102: Do not deceive or falsely accuse the elderly.

Precept 103: Do not open or read another person’s books without permission.

Precept 104: Do not deceive or persecute law-abiding people and reduce them to slavery.

Precept 105: Do not greedily amass wealth and valuables, lest you bring calamity upon yourself.

Precept 106: Do not become attached to your home and worldly life.

Precept 107: Do not secretly keep or bury objects.

Precept 108: Do not destroy money or valuables you have found.

Precept 109: Do not light fires on level ground.

Precept 110: Do not leave dangerous objects, such as pointed spears or thorns, on the road.

Precept 111: Do not chatter incessantly or stir up discord.

Precept 112: Do not throw writing implements into the latrine or bury them nearby.

Precept 113: Do not bow to or make offerings to other deities or spirits.

Precept 114: Do not amass worldly divination books or study the “Eight Spirits Diagram,” a chart used for divination and calculation.

Precept 115: Do not associate with soldiers.

Precept 116: Do not relieve yourself on grass or in water intended for drinking or cooking.

The 117th precept: Do not become intimate or romantically involved with a widow.

The 118th precept: Do not sacrifice to ghosts and spirits in the hope of gaining good fortune.

The 119th precept: Do not impose numerous taboos on others.

The 120th precept: Do not burden yourself with excessive taboos.

The 121st precept: Do not bathe carelessly in rivers.

The 122nd precept: Do not borrow or ask for another person’s belongings without permission and give them away as gifts.

The 123rd precept: Do not guarantee another person’s obligations or take part in contracts involving the sale of fields, houses, or enslaved people.

The 124th precept: Do not associate with households given to sexual misconduct and excess.

The 125th precept: Do not prepare poison and conceal it in a vessel.

The 126th precept: Do not speak harshly or angrily; remain cheerful at all times.

The 127th precept: Do not write legal documents for others or inquire into other people’s dealings with government offices.

The 128th precept: Do not seek out or read books about secret plots.

The 129th precept: Do not beat domestic animals or other creatures without cause.

The 130th precept: Do not gallop on horseback or drive a carriage at high speed without cause.

The 131st precept: Do not eat by grabbing food with your hands, or mix food you have bitten into with shared dishes.

The 132nd precept: Do not startle birds and beasts.

The 133rd precept: Do not discuss the quality of other households’ food in front of your disciples.

The 134th precept: Do not casually dig into or breach dikes, lakes, or ponds.

The 135th precept: Do not boast that you can cure illness. The sick household should come forward and ask for help; only then may you go to treat the patient.

The 136th precept: Do not travel alone; take a companion when you go.

The 137th precept: Do not scheme to secure private gain for others.

The 138th precept: Do not seek precious treasures in great abundance.

The 139th precept: Do not bring women into the mountains; provide separate paths and living quarters for them.

The 140th precept: Do not abandon the root to pursue the branches.

The 141st precept: Make offerings regularly, without neglecting them because of how easy or difficult the circumstances may be.

The 142nd precept: Keep in mind the standards of purity and simplicity, and admire people of noble character and virtue. Eat simply, like a deer, and drink water, like an ox.

Precept 143: Be careful when lodging somewhere. First inspect the place, and avoid disturbing or offending others.

Precept 144: Return often to the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) tradition, a branch of Daoism, and do not become entangled in worldly affairs.

Precept 145: Always uphold lofty aspirations and remain steadfast in your resolve; do not let your thoughts become scattered. To violate these principles is to betray the teachings of the Three Venerable Ones, the sacred figures revered in Daoism.

Precept 146: Carefully avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing. Do not deceive your parents, or mislead your ruler or teachers.

Precept 147: Diligently pursue longevity, without slackening day or night.

Precept 148: Keep away from corrupt surroundings. Do not covet stipends, empty fame, or profit.

Precept 149: Diligently cultivate the practice of absorbing Qi through regulated breathing, and practice grain abstention, a form of cultivation that involves not eating the five grains, in pursuit of longevity. Do not become attached to food and drink.

Precept 150: Keep away from wicked people, but do not abandon or turn against your friends.

Precept 151: At meals, do not always begin eating from one side. Do not sigh or complain about the quality of the food.

Precept 152: Whenever you burn incense, pray for the people of the world and for peace throughout the realm. Do not pray only for yourself.

Precept 153: If someone calls you a libationer, a Daoist officeholder responsible for sacrifices and religious affairs, do not become overly apprehensive, nor act rashly and risk being held in contempt by the people.

Precept 154: When accepting food from someone, wish the host good fortune and that all may have enough to eat.

Precept 155: In ordinary circumstances, do not casually gather a large crowd and lay out an extravagant meal that leaves a mess.

Precept 156: When there is no particular occasion, do not casually accept another person’s honors or offerings.

Precept 157: When you arrive somewhere new, first ask about the local people of wisdom and virtue. Associate with them and follow their guidance; do not assume that you alone are right.

Precept 158: When you arrive somewhere new, first learn the local prohibitions and taboos.

Precept 159: When visiting someone’s home, first ask the names of the elders in the household, including names that should not be spoken aloud out of respect.

Precept 160: When visiting someone’s home, do not expect the host to provide food and drink.

Precept 161: Do not travel in the company of women.

Precept 162: Do not speak alone with men or women in a dimly lit room.

Precept 163: Do not accumulate too many clothes and belongings; keep no more than three sets.

Precept 164: Men and women must not sit together or share food and drink. They should also avoid passing things directly from hand to hand.

Precept 165: When calamities or anomalies arise in the heavens, or floods and droughts upset the balance, do not become troubled or resentful, and do not discuss or judge the matter carelessly.

Precept 166: People in the world often do more evil than good. Dao cultivators should not grieve over this, but should safeguard the Daoist teachings.

Precept 167: If someone curses you, simply listen and bear it; do not answer back.

Precept 168: If someone harms or slanders you, report the matter only to the Great Dao. Do not worry or be afraid, lest you damage your spirit.

Precept 169: If others treat you with malice, repay them with even greater kindness. Do not resent or blame them.

Precept 170: If someone gives something to A but not to B, B should not resent that person for receiving nothing.

Precept 171: When others praise you, do not rejoice or become conceited; when they disparage you, do not grow angry.

Precept 172: If someone kills birds, beasts, fish, or other animals for your sake, do not eat them.

Precept 173: If you see someone kill birds or livestock, do not eat those animals.

Precept 174: Do not eat food that has become rank or spoiled.

Precept 175: Do not eat things of unknown origin.

Precept 176: Do not take the lives of living beings or domestic animals.

Precept 177: It is best to eat vegetarian food, but do not take food as an offering to the ruler.

Precept 178: Do not boast that you honor the worthy and revere the sages, that you can save others, or that you can meet the perfected immortals.

Precept 179: If you are traveling and have no household where you can lodge, spend the night among trees and rocks, and recite the 180 precepts. The spirits will protect you, and weapons, thieves, ghosts, and tigers will not dare approach. Do not neglect this practice in the slightest.

Precept 180: In your cultivation, observe the precepts and do not violate them. If you err, repent and continue cultivating, and encourage others to follow and uphold the precepts. Keep the precepts in mind, not evil deeds. Guide living beings far and wide, bow five times to the divine perfected ones, keep your mind pure and still, and do not turn back.

Laojun said to his disciples, “The sages, immortals, and holy ones of old attained the Dao by upholding the one hundred and eighty precepts. The Dao has no form; one must study with a teacher to realize it. The Dao can be learned from a teacher, but one must never show disrespect to one’s teacher.” The disciples bowed twice, accepted his teaching, and withdrew.

Laojun Teaches the Five Precepts

Laojun said, “These Five Precepts are the foundation for cultivating oneself and observing the law. If virtuous men and women wish to do good, accept and uphold the Five Precepts throughout their lives, and do not violate them, they can become pure and faithful practitioners, receive the scriptures and Daoist teachings, and attain the Dao in time.”

After hearing this teaching, Yin Xi bowed twice and asked, “Why are there five precepts?”

Laojun said, “The Five Precepts restrain every kind of wrongdoing. Heaven has five essences that govern the myriad spirits; Earth has the Five Phases that govern all living things; and human beings have five organs that govern the spirits within them. ‘Precepts’ means guarding against transgression. If people commit transgressions without taking precautions against them, the Three Paths—the evil destinies described in Daoism—will be filled, and the order of Heaven, humanity, and the void will also be harmed. That is why the Five Precepts were established.”

Yin Xi asked, “If the precepts are so important, why do people break them?”

Laojun said, “When people first attained the Dao, they were free from transgression. Even if they later fall short, that failure need not be permanent.”

An explanatory note within the scripture explains this passage as follows: “Originally attained without transgression” means that people received the Five Precepts in a previous life and so were free from transgression in this life. Transgression in this life occurs because they did not receive the precepts in a previous life, or received them but violated them. Even if they have transgressed in the past, they can accept and uphold the precepts again in this life, live without transgression now, and turn back toward goodness in a future life. Thus, although they once fell short, renewing their commitment to the precepts can keep them from doing so again. This is the meaning of the earlier phrase “receive great blessings life after life.” Yin Xi asked about “falling short,” while Laojun’s reply addresses past, present, and future lives to explain that people inherit the nature of the Dao and are originally free from transgression.

Laojun continued, “In Heaven, the Five Precepts correspond to the five planetary bodies. If Heaven’s Dao violates the precepts, disasters and strange omens appear. On Earth, they correspond to the Five Sacred Peaks; if Earth’s Dao violates the precepts, the grains cannot ripen. In the arts of calculation, they correspond to the Five Phases; if the Five Phases violate the precepts, water and fire clash, and Metal and Wood injure one another. In the governance of the realm, they correspond to the Five Emperors; if the Five Emperors violate the precepts, the state’s fortunes decline and its ruler loses his life. In the human body, they correspond to the five organs; if the five organs violate the precepts, a person’s temperament becomes deranged.”

Laojun said, “The Five Precepts accord with human affairs here and correspond to Heaven and Earth there. The precept against killing corresponds to the East and the Wood phase. Wood receives the energy of life and is devoted to nurturing growth. When people violate the precept against killing, the liver is affected…”

The precept against stealing corresponds to the water of the north. Northern water is the essence of Great Yin and governs concealment and storage. When people steal, their kidneys are harmed. The precept against sexual misconduct corresponds to the metal of the west. Western metal is the substance of Lesser Yin; men and women should preserve their chastity. When people give free rein to sexual desire, their lungs are harmed. The precept against drinking alcohol corresponds to the fire of the south. The Qi of Great Yin allows all things to take shape. When people crave alcohol, their hearts are poisoned. The precept against false speech corresponds to the virtue of central Earth. When people speak falsely, their spleens are damaged. The five virtues support one another; none can be dispensed with.

Laojun said, “If even one of the Five Precepts is broken, life cannot be brought to completion. Therefore, not killing means having no thought of killing in one’s heart; not stealing means having no thought of taking what is not rightfully one’s own; not engaging in sexual misconduct means having no impure thoughts; not drinking means not letting alcohol master you; and not speaking falsely means speaking without betraying trust or breaking one’s word. Only by doing this can one be called complete.”

Laojun also said, “Sexual desire and drinking can give rise to five kinds of wrongdoing; the precepts are meant to put an end to them. When men and women in the world indulge in sexual desire, harmony between relatives is disrupted, those in higher positions become arrogant and those below them become violent, and human nature and De are ruined. Drunkenness leads to quarrels and lawsuits, invites disaster, damages life, and brings shame upon one’s name. False and deceitful speech, used to deceive others, also causes harm. Stealing from one’s own relatives is not limited to taking the property of strangers. Killing living beings to satisfy one’s appetite is also among these wrongs. People who act this way must bear the consequences of their harmful deeds in this life and fall into many kinds of suffering for a long time. The five kinds of wrongdoing follow one after another without end.

“Even if such people are reborn, they may be born in remote borderlands, live briefly, or suffer disability. Their spouses may be unattractive and unfaithful; they may be poor, exposed to cold, and without a settled home. Even if they possess property and livestock, others will take them away. No one will believe what they say or draw close to them. Their minds will be clouded, and they will often be despised by others.”

The Twelve Precepts of the Scripture on Converting the Barbarians

Laojun said:

The precept against drinking: Always be vigilant, and do not entertain thoughts of getting drunk. The confusion of the five flavors with sights and sounds disrupts the pure, upright Qi.

The precept against eating meat: Do not harbor thoughts of killing. Every living being with blood and form is nourished and kept alive by primordial Qi.

The precept against cursing: Be careful with your words and do not curse others. To curse someone is like cursing yourself; to call down harm on another is like harming yourself.

The precept against deception: Let your words be trustworthy and put them into practice. Deceiving others is deceiving yourself; speaking extravagantly is breaking your oath.

The precept against theft: Even when you see something valuable, do not take it wrongfully. Coveting wealth can make one guilty of receiving stolen goods and can also set people against one another.

The precept against sexual misconduct: Keep away from sexual desire. When Yin and Yang, through their bodily forms, respond to one another in sexual union, the lives of their offspring may be cut short.

Warn yourself against stinginess. If you possess wealth, do not think only of preserving your own prosperity; you should extend its benefits to others. The miserly and greedy will face hardship in the future.

Warn yourself against relying on force and self-confidence. You should know how to yield and step back. Those who are overbearing will be the first to suffer setbacks; those who are rigid and unyielding will be the first to be harmed.

Warn yourself against indulging your eyes and ears. You should keep them restrained. Looking too far afield scatters the spirit; hearing too much disorders the mind.

Warn yourself against speaking too much. You should hold your words in check. Excessive talk drains your vital energy, and the more you say, the more likely you are to say something inappropriate.

Warn yourself against anger and resentment; do not let indignation well up in your heart. The Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water), the five basic forces that form and move through all things in Heaven and Earth, overcome one another. If people let their anger run unchecked, it too will throw their inner being out of balance.

Warn yourself against sacrificing to wicked gods and evil spirits, lest they disturb your true nature. Keep your thoughts upright, and the Dao’s vital energy will naturally protect you.

When observing purification rites and seeking the Dao, you should uphold the Ten Precepts, the ten rules that practitioners are to follow:

The first precept: Do not harbor ill will or jealousy, or secretly harm others. Keep your speech in check and take care to avoid wrongdoing; keep your thoughts focused on the true teachings.

The second precept: Uphold benevolence. Do not kill; have compassion for living beings and come to their aid. Extend loving-kindness widely and nourish all things.

The third precept: Uphold truthfulness and value righteousness. Do not engage in illicit sex or theft. Keep the intention to do good, curb your own interests, and help others.

The fourth precept: Do not be consumed by beauty and desire, and do not let your mind become lax and unrestrained. Remain pure and vigilant, and keep your conduct free of stain.

The fifth precept: Do not speak maliciously or use flowery, exaggerated language. Be honest and upright within and without, and do not commit offenses through speech.

The sixth precept: Abstain from alcohol and restrain your conduct. Keep your temperament balanced, do not harm your spirit, and commit no kind of evil.

The seventh precept: Do not resent others for surpassing you, and do not compete with them for fame. Be yielding in all things; step back and give way to others.

The eighth precept: Do not casually pass judgment on the scriptures and teachings or disparage the sacred texts. Receive the teachings with reverence, as though always in the presence of the divine.

The ninth precept: Do not provoke disputes or spread gossip, and do not make reckless judgments about celestial beings, humans, or the four assemblies—a Buddhist term for four groups of monastic and lay practitioners, used here broadly for related communities of practice. Such conduct may bring resentment and blame, and damage your spirit and vital energy.

The tenth precept: In all your actions and conduct, treat people equally and with single-minded sincerity. Bring harmony among people and peace to the spirits, and carry this attitude through your daily life.

“An Exhortation on the Precepts”:

The Scripture of the Treasury of Wisdom in the Empty Sea says: “Suppose a person is carrying a lacquer tray and wants to cross the ocean. A demon-thief in the sea demands the tray from him. The person hears this and thinks, ‘If I give him the tray, I will surely sink into the sea and die.’ So he replies, ‘Demon-thief, even if you kill me, you will never get the tray.’ The demon-thief then says, ‘If you cannot give me the whole tray, give me half as alms.’ The person still…”

(The original text ends here.)

He kept his resolve firm and paid no attention to the demon’s words. The demon said again, “If you cannot give me half your possessions, then give me a third.” The man replied, “I would rather die than give you the lacquered bowl.”

The demon said again, “Please show great compassion and pity me. Give me the treasure in your hand.” The man thought, “This is my treasure. I absolutely cannot give it to you.”

The demon said again, “If you still refuse to give me your treasure, then, as I am hungry and destitute and have suffered every hardship, I beg you to give me just a tiny amount—no more than a speck of dust—to help me.” The man replied, “Today I am about to cross the sea. I do not know how far ahead the journey goes or what the way will be like. If I give myself over to you, how will I cross this great sea? Besides, I fear I may sink and drown along the way. By then, it will be too late for regret.”

Good man, the True Person and the youth who cultivates the Way guard the precepts just as that man cherished the lacquered bowl and refused to hand it over to the demon. The way the True Person and the youth guard the subtle, pure precepts follows the same principle.

The demon said again, “Trust me. I will never deceive you. Just give up the lacquered bowl and keep the other bowls, and I can bring you safely to the other shore.” The man thought, “I would rather sink into the sea than damage the lacquered bowl.” The demon said again, “If you refuse to damage the lacquered bowl, you could destroy the precious object in your hand instead. Then I can bring you safely to the other shore.” The man still refused to destroy it. The demon said again, “If you refuse to give up the treasure in your hand, you could give up your luminous pearl instead. Then I can bring you safely to the other shore.” The man still refused to part with it.

After thinking for a long time, the demon turned and withdrew. The man traveled onward aboard the lacquered bowl and finally reached the other shore. He thought, “The demon obstructed me throughout the journey, but I held firmly to the lacquered bowl and refused to give it up. In the end, I reached the other shore. This must be because my resolve was firm and I would not abandon it.”

Good man, the Sea-Void Treasury of Wisdom, a cultivator of the Way or model practitioner in the scripture, should guard the subtle, pure precepts of the Sea-Void just as that man guarded his precious bowl: holding to them with unwavering resolve.