《太平經》Vol. 68

Taiping Jing, Scroll 68: The First of the One Hundred and Four Instructions for Admonishing the Six Disciples — A Plain-Language Interpretation

I am about to depart; the time has been set. I have come especially to admonish the six of you.

The fundamental nature of the Dao

The Dao is vast and boundless, with neither above nor below, neither outside nor inside. Keep its harmonious Qi, and you are called a “child of the spirit.” Seek it nearby and you can attain the Great Dao; seek it far away and you will lose it. Thus the ancient kings skilled in governing began with the heart, within themselves. Those who can truly govern through the Dao will naturally find what they need. When actions do not violate the proper measure, all things naturally find their rightful place. What is near, in the heart and mind, spreads throughout the four seas.

The governance of the ancient sages

The ancient sages called this the “essential Dao.” The joy of governing the world lies in having nothing to do. Carefully uphold this method without losing it, and use it to set the worthy straight. I repeat my earnest instructions to make them clear to you six.

The six disciples ask about the Dao

For days, the six of you have been asking me about the Dao in my book. The Dao has different aspects and different directions, yet all should uphold one common principle. The tongue can reach the six cosmic directions; when the kingly Dao is complete, it can explain the distinct meanings of all things. Heaven and Earth then attain great peace, and the ruler has nothing to do. My book can understand the mind of the spirits and penetrate the six directions and eight quarters. They will then come of their own accord, submit, and all harbor good intentions, with no ill will.

What matters within and without

The essential point is this: keep the Dao close, within the heart, just as the heart of all things lies inside while their branches extend outward. When the inner part flourishes, the outer part flourishes; when the inner part declines, the outer part declines. Therefore, the ancient sage-kings who followed the imperial Dao, when seeking to set right the farthest reaches of the six directions and the distant eight quarters, first set their inner selves right. By making the inner right, they made the outer right, and all things responded to one another without fail. To use the outer to correct the inner is to lose everything.

Closing the doors and preserving the root

Thus the great sages of antiquity taught people to think deeply and look far ahead, to close the nine gates and rest the four agents, leaving themselves in a state of undifferentiated simplicity. They should be like a circle with no end, or like a child in the womb, with no duties to perform. Only then can they grasp the principle. My Dao takes all this as essential, so I have also urged each of you to devote yourselves to guarding your own root.

Guidance from a teacher and learning

When Heaven brings people into being, it entrusts them all with the true Dao, and they are naturally endowed with what they need. If a teacher opens the way for them, guides them, and teaches them, they can be brought to understand everything. If their gateways are not opened, then even though they receive Heaven’s true Dao, they will understand nothing. It is like placing a newborn child alone in a room: without guidance and instruction, there is nothing it can know.

Differences among people and comprehensive understanding

People differ because customs vary across the eight quarters, and so their learning and understanding differ as well. If one person can learn and travel throughout the inner and outer realms, they can come to know it all.

Closing

I am about to depart.

Note: “The six disciples” refers to the six pupils receiving these admonitions. “The six cosmic directions” means the directions of the universe, including above, below, and the four quarters. “The nine gates” and “the four agents” are Daoist metaphors for guarding the One and restraining desire. A “child of the spirit” is one who has attained the Dao by preserving harmonious Qi. The text emphasizes setting the inner self right as the key to governing and self-cultivation, in a tradition that also includes the saying “cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to all under Heaven.”

The Taiping Jing, Volume 68: Instructions to the Six Disciples (Modern Commentary)

After you depart, make sure there are people in the places you go who can pass on the Dao’s teachings. Do not simply sit back and guard what has been handed down, without attending to your disciples.

The six of you must read my book carefully from beginning to end. Whenever you encounter a difficult passage or a place where my original meaning is unclear, trace it back to its source in the ancient writings. Only then will you understand it.

How the Dao is expressed in the four directions, above and below: The Way of ascent is understood through the Mysterious True; the Way of descent, through the Compliant True. The East is understood through the Primordial True, the South through the Great True, the West through the Lesser True, and the North through the Hidden True.

The Dao is broadly the same, though its details differ; this is what makes Yin-Yang discernible. From the Non-Polar, the myriad things came into being. The whole book has 1,520 characters, intended to bring the myriad things into harmony. It is only a modestly complete account, and cannot exhaust the Yin-Yang of Heaven and Earth. In the realm of the Utterly Profound Cavern, there is no distinction between inside and outside. Therefore, this work examines the “nonbeing,” sets out the “guiding principles,” and reveals the “beginning,” so that these may be followed and recorded—preserving both ancient and present teachings. Though its central ideas are diverse, they all originate in a single path.

What the divine sages recorded is like the fitting of a compass to a square. Even after countless billions of years, it remains as if they were speaking face to face with us. Thus it can serve as an enduring classic for Heaven and Earth and establish a divine path for Yin-Yang. Do not be surprised that my book repeats itself so often. I repeat things because I fear something may be left out. The Way of Heaven is exceedingly exacting. Once I have spoken, I dare not leave anything incomplete. To be incomplete is to be shallow; to go too far is also a fault. This is something I truly lament.

These repetitions are like the words passed down among the sages of high antiquity, middle antiquity, and late antiquity. Though they were born in different ages, their words carried on from one another. By explaining things again and again, comparing their accounts, and clarifying them, the Way of Heaven can be fully understood. That is what this means.

Go now. I have urgent matters to attend to. Be careful: hold fast to the Heavenly Treasure and pass it on to the right person.