《無上祕要》Vol. 25

The Essential Secrets of the Unexcelled Way: A Plain-Language Reading

Fascicle Thirty-Three (in the same fascicle as Fascicle Thirty-Four)

The Offense of Transmitting Too Freely

The Great Emperor of Fusang planned to transmit the scriptures to the Four Perfected Ones of the Supreme Ultimate, so he went to seek the Queen Mother of the West’s advice. She told him: “In the age of the August Sovereigns, those who completed their study of the Dao, saw the treasured texts, and ascended to the rank of Jade Purity did so because they secretly cultivated the treasured Dao. They did not speak the numinous instructions casually or reveal them to others. By silently attuning themselves in utter stillness, they summoned the Perfected Ones above. Thus the Dao prizes concealment and stillness: it transforms without form and emerges without sound.

“Since receiving the true scriptures from the Nine Heavens, I have passed through countless eons and have never transmitted them to more than three people. Only at the end of the first year of the Middle Sovereign did the scriptures reach the Northern Origin Heaven. They passed through the land of Xina and took shape as written characters from the coalesced Qi of the Nine Mysteries and Orthodox Unity, in the numinous palace on Mount Lingjing Ren’niao, in the heights of Qilai. Later, the Sage, the Emperor Lord of the Golden Palace of the Nine Mysteries, came to view the numinous writing. He ordered the Immortal Capital to wield the brush and make a copy, then swore an oath before Heaven to practice. When he completed the Dao, he ascended to a position in the Golden Palace.

“The Most High demoted me from my title as True Origin because I had carelessly divulged the heavenly treasure. I was reduced to the rank of a Dispersed Numinous Official for five hundred years before I was able to return to my original nature. The reason the Primordial Beginning established the offices of the Four Bureaus and Five Emperors, along with their divine troops, was precisely to investigate and suppress disclosures and to punish offenders with blades of wind. How, then, could one fail to be cautious?

“Later students are as numerous as a forest, yet not one becomes an immortal. This is all because they carelessly divulge Daoist writings and cast the heavenly Perfected into exile. When the Dao does not descend, Heaven’s punishment takes effect in secret. They lose their will, whether advancing or retreating, and die alone in empty mountains, laboring in vain and gaining nothing. Their regret is beyond words. The Dao is not withheld from those who are diligent, nor does it fail to be practiced by those who are diligent. When you encounter the true scriptures, practice them in secret and seek the numinous. The spirits and Perfected Ones are easily moved, and in time you will become an immortal.”

(From the Dongzhen Eightfold Purity True Scripture)

The great characters of the Celestial Emperor, Terrestrial Emperor, and Human Emperor of Shangqing all belong to the Vast Clear Void Wondrous Method, the Treasured Writings of the Cavern Mystery. Those without a Golden Register and a place in the Green Palace of Fangzhu are not permitted to know of or hear them. Whoever possesses these writings but transmits them to the wrong person, profanes them through impure conduct, or treats them without reverence will violate their numinous prohibitions. Their seven generations of ancestors will be subjected to judgment, and the offender will be condemned to serve the Right Office, passing through mountains and eating fire. After one ordeal, they will be reborn into the path of a nonhuman being.

The Jade Instructions on the Great and Lesser Kalpa Talismans of the Upper Scripture of the Cavern Mystery, the treasured writings of Shangqing, and the way of the Mysterious Cavern may not be seen by those who lack a jade-bone chart of mystery, purple characters, and a green name.

Notes for clarity:

The Great Emperor of Fusang, the Queen Mother of the West, the Four Perfected Ones of the Supreme Ultimate, and the Emperor Lord of the Golden Palace of the Nine Mysteries are titles in the Daoist divine hierarchy. Jade Purity, the Golden Palace, the Nine Heavens, and the Northern Origin Heaven refer to celestial ranks or places.

“Blades of wind” is a metaphor for the severity of heavenly punishment. “The seven generations of ancestors will be subjected to judgment” means that the offender’s ancestors across seven generations will also face examination in the underworld. “Serving the Right Office, passing through mountains and eating fire” describes a form of penal labor in the underworld.

A “Golden Register and a place in the Green Palace of Fangzhu,” a “jade-bone chart of mystery,” “purple characters,” and a “green name” refer to different registers, credentials, and levels of qualification. Those who have not attained the required status may neither read nor transmit these texts.

Related passages from the Wushang Miyao (Supreme Secret Essentials) (modern interpretation)

First passage (general account of the offense of revealing secrets)

Those who hear these scriptures but fail to revere and believe in them, defile or slight the authentic texts, or casually proclaim and reveal them to outsiders are not true recipients of the Dao. If they violate the prohibitions, their ancestors for seven generations will also be held accountable. Officials of the Right in the underworld will examine and punish them. They must endure calamities and suffering such as the Mountain of Blades, the Land of Fire, the Three Paths, and the Five Sufferings. Only after three cycles of tribulation—passing through calamities again and again—may they be released from rebirth. They will not be permitted to be born human again and may instead fall into a nonhuman realm.

Second passage (source: “Clear Rules of the Four Extremes” in the Dongzhen Cavern)

The Thirty-Nine Chapters of the High and Supreme Great Cavern True Scripture, the Wondrous Scripture of Great Presence and Pure Spirit, the Jade Register of the Female One, the Precious Scripture of the Five Elders, the Upper Text of the Purple Writ in the Golden Flower Cavern Chamber, the Primordial Register of Guishan, the Golden Root of the White Tablets, the Imperial Chapters of the Fine Writings on Jade in the Upper Clarity Great Empyrean, the Precious Chapters of the Upper Palace, and other works amount to thirty-one scrolls. These are independent, secret methods, originally belonging to the Dao of High and Supreme Mysterious Radiance and the precious writings of the Jade Clarity Cavern-Heavens. Only those who have fully attained the state of perfected beings may have their names entered in the Golden Court’s jade archives and receive imperial slips and registers in the Purple Court. If recipients of these scriptures fail to observe the rules and prohibitions, grow negligent and cease to believe in the Heavenly Perfected, or carelessly divulge the sacred writings for people of the world to see and hear, the Jade Youths—celestial officials who record merit—will report them, and their ancestors of seven generations will all be interrogated.

Third passage (source: the Scripture of Yellow Qi and Yang Jing in the Dongzhen Cavern)

The purple writings in cinnabar characters and the hidden texts of the moon’s soul must not be spoken of recklessly. If one tells three people, one’s body will die and be consigned to the offices of the ghosts, and one will be unable to become an immortal.

Fourth passage (source: the True Scripture of the Eight Primes of the Most High in the Dongzhen Cavern)

The Most High—the Lord Lao—said: “Those who reveal the hidden writings of Heaven have already been reported to the Celestial Emperor. Their three generations of ancestors will be executed, and the Three Offices—the institutions of the underworld that administer punishment—will also cut short their lives. While alive, they will suffer water and fire; after death, they will become lowly ghosts.”

Fifth passage (source: the Scripture of the Primordial Record of the Seven Sages in the Dongzhen Cavern)

The High Sage Lord said: “When receiving the mysterious records of the Seven Sages and the writings of the white tablets and blue registers of the Nine Heavens that Turn Back the Heavens, the transmission from master to disciple must be accompanied by an oath. If one carelessly reveals the precious writings, or if a disciple receives them but does not believe in them and secretly reads the jade texts, both will undergo the punishment of wind-blades. Their seven generations of ancestors will be held accountable; they will suffer the Three Paths, the Five Sufferings, and ten thousand kalpas, without pardon. The divine armies of the Five Emperors will constantly investigate the offense of disclosure. Be vigilant and carry out these teachings with care.”

Sixth passage (source: the Scripture of the Instructions and Verses of Qu Su in the Dongzhen Cavern)

Those who receive the method of Qu Su’s instructions and verses must avoid worldly affairs and seek a response from the unseen. The method may be transmitted only to someone truly fit to receive it. If one transmits it to an unsuitable person or recklessly divulges the precious scripture, one’s parents and ancestors of seven generations will undergo interrogation in the underworld.

Seventh passage (source: related material in the Dongzhen Cavern, on foreordained destiny and reckless speech)

Those whose foreordained destiny brings them to encounter this text must already have their names entered in the register of immortals appointed by the gods. The Jade Emperor’s precious secrets are not to be transmitted to the world. Those who speak of them recklessly will be reported to the sovereign by the Nine Heavens’ investigators of wrongdoing, who will declare their offense. The Most High will then send the divine armies of the Five Emperors to punish them.

Note: The text as a whole belongs to the Daoist Canon’s rules and prohibitions against disclosing secrets. It draws heavily on scriptures from the Dongzhen section and stresses that secret scriptures must not be transmitted casually or revealed to those who do not believe. Violators bring calamity upon their ancestors of seven generations and fall into the Three Paths. Each phrase beginning “source:” identifies the passage’s origin; these excerpts do not form one continuous narrative.

A Plain-Language Interpretation of the Wushang Miyao (Supreme Secret Essentials)

One’s seven generations of ancestors and parents are subjected to the Water Officials’ judgment

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Qingyao Zishu Jing)

Unless one already has a mysterious name inscribed at the Cinnabar Terrace—the place where immortals’ names are recorded—and a green inscription in the Jade Clarity Heaven, one must not transmit this casually.

Unless someone has an extraordinary spiritual nature and bones suited to immortality, climbs the Dark Peak to make a covenant, and swears before the spirits with a text written in gold and blue, this text must not be transmitted, nor may its recitation be heard. If it is carelessly disclosed, one’s ancestors for seven generations will share the blame, one’s own life will be cut short, and one will face judgment in the Three Paths of Suffering, places akin to hell.

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Yupei Yinyuan Dongfei Neiwen Jing)

The Supreme Lord of the Dao said: Those who are destined to encounter this text through their past-life fate all possess an extraordinary, mysterious nature and have met with an immortal affinity. They are surely destined for the ranks of the immortals. Such a divine scripture must not be circulated casually in the world. Anyone who speaks of it recklessly will be reported to the Lord Emperor by the Three Heavens’ Office for Exposing Wrongdoing, and charged with the offense of publicly disclosing what should remain secret.

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Huangsu Sishi Sifang Jing)

If one transmits it in violation of the rules and breaks the covenant, one’s three generations of ancestors will share the blame and be judged by the Water Officials. One will have no hope of becoming an immortal and, after death, will become a lowly ghost.

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Cangjing Luxing Shen Jing)

Only those who are united with the Real and worthy of this text may receive it. Whoever receives it must treasure and guard it in secret, and must not pass it on carelessly. If the sacred text is disclosed, one’s ancestors for nine generations will be judged and made to bear the blame before the ghost officials.

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Taixiao Langshu Jing)

Transmission must take place between master and disciple according to the proper rites, so that the mystery of the Dao is honored. To give it to an unworthy person or disregard the prescribed rules is to disclose Heaven’s treasure, slight the covenant, and break one’s oath. One will become a lowly ghost after death, while one’s ancestors for seven generations will suffer punishments of wind and fire. Unless the other person shares one’s spiritual commitment, it is better to keep silent.

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Jiuzhen Zhong Jing)

If a master transmits the teachings to a disciple without observing the prescribed period of years, the master will personally suffer judgment by the wind knives, a form of harsh punishment in the underworld.

(Source: the Dongzhen scripture Bianhua Baozhen Shang Jing)

The Nine Reds are jade inscriptions formed from the Qi of the Nine Heavens and the flying, mysterious feathered script. If they are carelessly disclosed or transmitted to an unworthy person, one’s ancestors for seven generations will be judged, and one’s own life will sink into the River Source, the water realm of the underworld.

It is also said: If the recipient fails to report the matter to the heavenly spirits as required, the jade boys and girls who attend the scripture will submit a report to the Most High, and the recipient will be punished with the divine weapons of the Five Emperors. Those who disclose it carelessly will bring punishment upon their ancestors for nine generations and face judgment that destroys their own life. If someone receives the scripture without making a covenant, calamity will reach their ancestors for seven generations, and they will suffer the wind knives. These are the natural rules of the heavenly scriptures. Thus the Primordial Lord told the Five Emperors: A scripture must not be transmitted without a covenant, and receiving it without the proper report makes it lose its authenticity. Master and disciple alike bear responsibility for life and death; those who study the Dao should follow and honor the scripture’s instructions.

Throughout these passages, the scriptures insist that transmission may take place only after a covenant has been made, the required period has passed, and the matter has been reported to the heavenly spirits. Careless disclosure, reckless teaching, or violating the rules brings judgment upon the person and their ancestors for seven or nine generations, through the Water Officials, ghost officials, and punishments of wind, fire, or knives. These warnings belong to the same system of transmission rules and precepts found in the Daoist Canon.

Source: Scripture of the Five Emperors’ Inner Truth and Nine Red-Spotted Talismans of the Cavern of Truth

If one carelessly divulges precious texts or breaks an oath, one’s body will be ravaged, and the ancestors of seven generations will be interrogated by ghost officials.

Source: Scripture of the Nine Patterns of Dragon Radiance and Red Writings of the Cavern of Truth

If one transmits the texts to someone unworthy to receive them, one’s body will fall into wind and fire, while one’s parents and ancestors of seven generations will be interrogated by water officials for a long time.

Source: True Talisman of the Golden Tiger of the Cavern of Truth

If one transmits the texts to someone unworthy to receive them, the Northern Emperor, ruler of the underworld, will report the offense. Calamity will extend to one’s ancestors of seven generations, who will serve as ghost laborers for a long time; the offender will die, and the body will be mutilated.

Source: Inner Text of the Cavern of Truth, Inscribed with Names in the Jade Clarity of the Most High