《雲笈七籤》Vol. 89

An Feigao said: However fierce the wind may be, it cannot cut down your upright nature; how can turbulent storms change your pure, sincere heart? You should make your mind empty, bright, and tranquil, quietly awaiting the movement of Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy); gather in your scattered thoughts, clarify your inner mind, and draw near to purity. In this way, sorrow and disturbance cannot invade your spirit-mind, and grief and anxious thought cannot disorder your inner heart.

Taishang said: Some people of outstanding talent nonetheless indulge in drinking. The influence of wine clouds the spirit-mind and turns the disposition upside down; good deeds decline and evil deeds arise. The mind loses its clarity, and the spiritual nature becomes obstructed.

The Heavenly Worthy said: Sentient beings are long accustomed to inversion and confusion. Their thoughts are tangled, they chase after external things, letting go of one and grasping another, unable to stop even for a moment. This is like monkeys leaping and running among forests and marshes, impossible to restrain. The mind-nature of ordinary people is likewise: they wander in the jungle of the five desires (wealth, sex, fame, food, sleep, and so on), and leap unrestrainedly among the objects contacted by the six sense faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind), hard to control.

The Heavenly Worthy also said: Human desires are very difficult to control, like a banner in the wind, fluttering without cease. Some people scheme and practice deception in order to seek fame. The scripture says that once a person has a physical form, that form is affected by the six emotions (the feelings and desires stirred by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind). Once moved by them, one’s conduct becomes polluted; clinging to what one already possesses, one cannot clearly see what one does not yet possess. Worldly affairs and causes and conditions arise from this, bringing guilt and defilement, accumulating continuously over many lifetimes. People thus revolve through the Three Realms (the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm), wandering without return, and again flow through the five destinies (the different realms of rebirth), sunk for long ages without awakening. They endure the suffering of illness yet cannot harmonize themselves; their spirit-mind is fearful and unsettled, and the things they do continually incline toward guilt.

Taishang said: The Dao of Heaven benefits all things and does not harm them; the sage acts and yet does not contend with others. Therefore, one who strives with the times prospers; one who contends with others perishes. Although weapons exist, they need not be displayed or used, because of non-contention. People all dislike contending for inauspicious things and do not wish to endure humiliation; if one can endure what others will not endure, that is enough.

The Miaozhen Jing says: When the eyes greedily look at what should not be seen, the eyes’ clear discernment cannot remain settled; when the ears greedily listen to what should not be heard, Jing (essence) and Qi dissipate. When the heart is excessive in craving and love, Shen (spirit) and Qi scatter. To be constantly urgent in pursuing desires, calculating how to profit from them, restless and anxious in action, and forming cliques and alliances to help oneself—none of this accords with the true Dao.

Again it is said: there is no transgression greater than sexual immorality, no calamity greater than greed, and no fault greater than overstepping one’s proper station. These three are like a carriage that summons disaster: in small matters they cause loss of life; in great matters they ruin the family estate.

The Daoist scriptures say that good and ill fortune, calamity and blessing, come from a hidden and unfathomable place. Calamity is not something the rich and noble can avoid simply by wishing it away, nor are glory and prosperity something the poor and lowly can obtain simply by wishing for them. Cultivate blessings and do good, and there will be a good response; do evil, and calamity will be summoned.

The Heavenly Worthy says: the transformations of Qi have no end, and the measure of destiny is difficult to exhaust. After death there is birth again; after darkness there is light. Heaven and Earth revolve like a wheel that never stops turning; human life is not utterly cut off either, just as a shadow always follows the body. Therefore, it is difficult to say that life has an end.

The Miaolin Jing says: sentient beings who cling to fabrication, to receiving birth, and to death are like clouds floating in empty space, colors appearing in the sky, echoes in a valley, the moon’s reflection in water, images in a mirror, phantom flames in heat haze, and sparks in lightning; they are also like a deaf person hearing sounds, a blind person seeing objects, a mute person speaking, a two-headed crane, a three-legged chicken, hair on a turtle’s back, or horns on a rabbit’s head—none of these can truly exist. Ignorance, craving, and clinging to love and views are the root of birth and death, and they are likewise so. Ultimately speaking, all is empty and cannot be discussed in words. Just as after a lamp is extinguished one cannot go looking for its light, the root of birth and death is originally empty as well; the case is exactly like this. The dharmas of birth and death are like a raging great fire, and also like four poisonous snakes; one must not go near them.

The Heavenly Worthy told the True Adept of Sage Practice: If someone, among all things, clings to “real existence,” abandons the defiled world and seeks the joy of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing)—the high deities and their pure realms—abandons the bodies of sentient beings and seeks the form of the true Dao, wishes to cut off afflictions and enter Wuwei, and also wishes to be free of all views in order to seek extinction—I call such a person one of “great wrong views.” This is like a foolish person who, fearing the earth, wishes to flee elsewhere to escape it, yet wherever he goes he is still on the earth. Sentient beings fear birth and death, anxiously abandon existence in the Three Realms, and loathe the body they have obtained, yet they never leave birth and death. Such a person, before truly seeing the Dao and its dharmas, seeks the form of the true Dao—how pitiful.

What is called the form of the true Dao is uncreated, neither arising nor perishing, neither existing nor nonexisting, neither permanent nor annihilated, neither great nor small, neither material form nor mental thought. To grasp such a nature is what is called the correct practice of cultivating the true Dao.

The Heavenly Worthy again told the True Adept of Sage Practice: Sentient beings in the world are covered by the heavy darkness of ignorance; the true Dao is in their own bodies, yet they cannot see it. This is like a foolish person running about in all directions searching for empty space…

If one cannot perceive the inherent nature of external forms and appearances, one should understand: form (that is, tangible things) is emptiness. All worldly things are likewise.

The human mind-nature races about in all directions, seeking the true Dao, yet does not know that body and mind themselves are the true Dao. If one can accumulate good deeds, one will receive corresponding auspicious responses: with one thousand good deeds, one may become a divine true one for later generations; with two thousand, a general or officer among the holy true immortals; with three thousand, an administrative aide among the holy true immortals; with four thousand, a teacher-leader who commands the world and assists the holy true ones; with five thousand, a chief master among the holy true immortals; with six thousand, a minister or grand officer among the holy true immortals; with seven thousand, a duke or king among the holy true immortals; with eight thousand, an emperor among the holy true immortals; with nine thousand, one of the Five Thearch Lords of Yuanshi; and with the full ten thousand good deeds, the Supreme Jade Emperor.

Yuanjun (the Primordial Lady) said: “The foundation of ten thousand good deeds also lies in the three karmas and the ten wholesome deeds. The various good deeds generate one another, and when accumulated they can reach ten thousand good deeds. Doing good can increase one’s lifespan, while doing evil diminishes it. There are presiding divine offices for rewarding good and punishing evil, and the principle of karmic retribution never errs in the slightest. The root of longevity is founded on doing good.”

Focusing the mind to nourish the Shen and not allowing external things to disturb the heart and spirit—this is called clarity. Withdrawing and gathering the spirit, regulating the breath, and ingesting Qi so that the mind becomes settled and unmoving—this is called stillness. Forget distracting thoughts and settle the will; cultivate the body and calm the spirit; cherish original Qi in order to preserve Jing and Qi. Set aside all sorts of concerns, quietly visualize and inwardly observe oneself, and body and spirit can become one. When body and Shen unite, one draws near the true Dao.

The Dao says: “If ordinary people meet with misfortune on my account, I should repay them with blessings. Therefore blessings will often come. If someone harms others, the heavy Qi of harm will shift and return upon the one who harms. This is how the Dao operates.”

Xu Laile asked: “What is meant by ‘jianwang’ (simultaneous forgetting)?” Zhenren Gao Xuan replied: “From the time heaven and earth first separated out of primordial chaos, ordinary people have been stained by ignorance and clinging. Even when they accumulate merit and practice diligently, they cannot avoid certain obstructions. Therefore they must use meditative concentration (chanding) to remove these obstructions. Even when the obstructions are cleared, they may still remain fixed on the idea of ‘emptiness.’ Letting go of both sides—‘existence’ and ‘emptiness’—is called ‘jianwang.’ This is the mark of first entering correct contemplation.”

The Mengwei Jing says: “The Dao is everywhere. Where there is a teacher, take the teacher as teacher; within scriptures, take the scriptures as teacher; but neither departs from the Middle Way.” The Baoxuan Jing says: “Trim away and correct deviations, bringing all back to centered correctness; from the peripheral currents return to the root, return to the source. The source is the Dao. The Dao has no fixed form, so it relies on words and images as a ford to guide people. Although the Dao is said to be empty and still yet capable of functioning, its functioning is not actually a concrete object.”

The Sanhuang Jing says: “Nothing among the myriad things under heaven is permanent; where is there anything solid and indestructible? Therefore one should quickly become weary of and detached from it all…”.

To seek the Dao (the Way) of nature far outward is merely to use it as a means of escaping the bonds of the dusty world. It further says: Nothing in the world is eternally unchanging; whatever has attained completion cannot be preserved for long. Only the three luminaries—sun, moon, and stars—remain forever bright, while heaven and earth shine forth clearly and enduringly.

The Huang-Lao Xuanshi Jing says: The Dao cannot be transmitted directly through words, but so that those who study the Dao may have something to rely on, it is set down in writing and transmitted from one to another; in this way the Dao can perhaps be heard. One who is good at recording the principles of things must understand the words therein; one who is good at using words must grasp the meaning therein. Once the meaning is grasped, the Dao can be obtained. At the beginning of heaven and earth, people knew that it was without trace; those who enter the realm of emptiness and nothingness, however, know that within it there is something real. Therefore, by means of established norms and measures, one can infer the beginning and end of the myriad things. Thus when the sage sees writing, he knows that its root was originally without writing; when he hears words, he knows that they come from the wordless. Seeing writing, he knows words; hearing words, he knows meaning; knowing meaning, he knows the Dao; knowing the Dao, he understands that the Dao can be transmitted through writing. Therefore the Zhenren (Perfected Person) listens with Shen (spirit), and such listening is worthy of respect; the sage teaches through his own person, and such teaching is worthy of being valued.

Taishang (Lord Lao) told the Queen Mother (Xiwangmu): Humans are born by receiving the Qi (vital energy) of heaven and earth. When Qi arrives, it is called Jing (essence); when Jing combines, it is called ling (numinousness); the transformation of the numinous is called Shen (spirit); the transformation of Shen is called Hun; that which comes and goes with Hun is called consciousness; that which enters and exits with Hun is called Po; that which governs Jing and Po is called heart-mind; when the heart-mind has a direction, it is called emotion; when emotion has an object of attachment, it is called intention; when intention has a dwelling place, it is called will; when the will has recollection, it is called thought; when thought yearns afar, it is called deliberation; when deliberation is put into action, it is called wisdom. Wisdom is the summation of all these kinds of knowing. Nature is originally still; Qi is originally moving. When movement and stillness are united and inner and outer are harmonious, if one is not a Zhiren (utmost person, of the highest cultivation), how can one settle the heart-mind here? Technique is stored within and responds to affairs as they arise; law is established without and governs the people according to the times. The common people use its principles but do not know its workings—this is technique; to hang up instructions and promulgate laws to show the people—this is law. It transforms the myriad things and manifests their forms; technique nurtures the myriad people, yet its traces are not seen. Therefore Heaven takes Qi as its ling (numinous power), and the ruler takes technique as his Shen (spirit).

The Sideng Zhihui Guanshen Jing says: The essential purport of the Dao lies in conduct conforming to the hidden statutes and precepts, accumulating good deeds, and making the inner full; only then does one begin to step into the realm of the Great Dao. If one cannot do this oneself, all is merely wasted effort amid the wind and dust, and of no benefit to the length of one’s lifespan.

As long as one is not dragged about by external things and can personally practice the four qualities of loving-kindness, benevolence, tolerance, and forbearance, one may be said to be close to the Dao (the Way).

The Laojun Jiejing (Precepts Scripture of Lord Lao) says: Evil people are conceived from turbid, shallow Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), and their bodies are like straw dogs (dogs made of straw for ancient sacrifices and discarded afterward). Their hun-souls are weak and their po-souls are strong, and their bellies are full of corpse-spirit poisons; outwardly they look human, but inwardly they are like worms, and their nature is fierce as a wolf. They envy others and constantly harbor sinister intentions to harm them; they ruin undertakings already accomplished and cause matters to go to ruin. They chatter and clamor without cease, treasuring themselves like jade but regarding others as dust. Outwardly they make a show of declining, while secretly they are as cunning as ghosts, and they pay no heed to the disasters they invite.

Once there was a man who neglected his household estate and devoted himself only to theft. At night he transformed into dog form and slipped into the house of a high minister. At that time the minister was engaged on a large scale in doing good and accumulating De (Virtue/Power). I saw at that time this thief transformed into dog form, and I rebuked him, making him remain in dog form for a long time and ordering him constantly to carry huge stones back to the minister’s house, piling them into a mountain.

The Mengwei Jing says: To privately overstep ritual propriety and violate prohibitions, to coerce and plunder; to act capriciously and invert Yin-Yang; to make no distinction between public and private and to violate one’s relatives; to commit adultery, engage in lewd and wicked conduct, and even copulate with anomalous demonic beings—these are all actions that should be abstained from.

The Benxing Jing says: Formerly there was a king named Yuanqing who gave free rein to indulgence in sexual desire. When the kalpa came to its end, he was reborn and conceived in the womb of the Hong family. Because he had been lustful in a former life, Heaven caused him to be reborn as a woman, so that he would undergo retribution corresponding to his former predilections.

The Taiping Jing says: What is meant by “much speech”? To bring on a great calamity with a single word—this is the highest kind of much speech; to bring on humiliation with a single word—this is the middle kind; to fall into difficulty with a single word—this is the lowest kind. The sages and worthies from antiquity to the present have ceaselessly written books and established teachings, their words filling the space between heaven and earth, and still they worried that they had not said enough and that something had been omitted, so that calamities had still not ceased. Later sages and worthies continued to expound them, and people throughout the world took these words as standards, not daring to reject them. Therefore, words that can eliminate harm through speech are always felt to be too few. One never tires of many good words, and one never minds evil words being few. When the sages of antiquity were about to open their mouths, they would first reflect carefully; the sage’s intention became words, which were written down as Jing (scriptures/classics) and left as standards for the world. Fools speak offhandedly and thereby invite disaster, injuring themselves instead.

The Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected) says: All kinds of thoughts entangle the chest, cold and heat contend, and the spirit is damaged; one is busy with official affairs and also rushes about amid worldly distractions. Words are bound up with good and ill fortune; actions are bound up with gain and loss. With manifold worries and countless deliberations weighing upon one like this, even if one has thoughts of seeking the Real in one’s mind, it is hard to make them firm and undivided. To embrace the great Dao but not practice it, to hold a precious treasure in one’s hand but not use it, and yet naturally to hope that one’s hair will not turn white and that one will long remain unaging—such a thing is rarely heard of.

When serving in office, even when government affairs are complex and numerous, one should maintain one’s original authenticity and cultivate inwardly. Confusing and chaotic matters should not disturb one’s clarity, and contending for fame and chasing profit should not be taken to heart. This is the Dao (the Way) to be followed while in an official position.

The Taiqing Zhongjing says: “By no means should you sell my Dao for the sake of seeking wealth and treasures; by no means should you transmit my Dao to unsuitable people; and by no means should you close off my Dao and cut off its transmission. Transmit my teaching, and it will flourish; block my teaching, and even if one practices alone, one will surely encounter disasters sent down from Heaven. In transmitting my Dao, one should model oneself on Heaven and Earth, the rivers, the Huai River, and the sea. Modeling oneself on Heaven and Earth, what among the ten thousand things cannot grow, and what cannot be accomplished? Modeling oneself on the rivers, the Huai, and the sea, where will the water not flow, and which stream will not pass through?”

The Xisheng Jing says: “Desire is the root that invites ominous harm; Qi (vital energy) is the fundamental origin of Heaven and Earth. People do not know the root of desire, nor do they recognize the fundamental origin of Qi; therefore the sage wishes to let Qi enter the body and use it to support himself.”

The Dongshen Chapter on Admonishing the Body and Preserving Life says: “The Yellow Emperor said: For the sage to preserve life, nothing is more important than preserving body and mind. Can the benefit and harm of body and mind really go beyond good and evil? Good and evil both arise in the mind. The mind constantly clings to external things; that to which it clings is called a ‘realm,’ while that which is able to cling to external things is called ‘mind.’ Therefore, the arising of all things does not exceed the scope of mind. Thoughts that sprout in the mind are called ‘actions as karmic causes’; the orientation formed by actions as karmic causes is called good or evil.

“Indulging emotions and giving free rein to desires creates evil; stopping greedy thoughts is good. Good can help worldly people and bring the benefit of leaving the dust of the world; evil will certainly become the root of corrupting De (Virtue/Power) and contracting defilement. Therefore, the sage knows: what is formless yet able to act is mind; what has form but cannot operate by itself is body. However, if mind does not rely on the body, it cannot manifest; if the body does not rely on the multitude, it cannot arise and accomplish anything. Although the forms of body and mind are different, their principles accord: when they exert their functions, the many good actions all converge in the same direction. Therefore, inner and outer interact, and action and stillness sustain each other.

“The body cannot act on its own; it is always directed by the mind. If the mind’s thoughts are not pure, it will only greedily seek and cling; the capacity of the body has no limit, so it will ceaselessly contain all kinds of actions. Therefore, mind is the root of ordinary people and sages, and the body is where suffering and joy converge. The sage knows that disaster arises from within the mind and that faults are necessarily self-caused, so he purifies the mind to eliminate disaster and rectifies the will to eliminate faults.

“Worldly people are not like this: they indulge desires but do not know that desire comes from the mind; they are arrogant, self-praising, extravagant, and wasteful, but do not know that arrogance originates from themselves; they give free rein to willfulness, stubbornness, ignorance, and violence, and do not cherish their own bodies. They do not know that these are precisely the stairs that invite disaster, and thus cannot perceive that danger and ruin are approaching day by day from here…”

Because people in the world do not understand these principles, the sage, who penetrates their profound mysteries and takes pity on the ignorant, therefore left behind teachings.

Yunji Qiqian (Seven Slips from the Cloudy Satchel), Volume 89