《無上祕要》Vol. 5

The Laozi says: Heaven and Earth gather essence and Qi, while Yin-Yang gives rise to transformations of its own accord. When calamity is about to emerge, people are often first overcome by the five colors (all kinds of vivid hues): their eyes are dazzled, and they can no longer see the signs of good fortune or misfortune. They are overcome by the five tones (all kinds of music): their ears are dulled, and they can no longer hear the sounds of good or ill fortune. They are overcome by the five flavors (all kinds of tastes): their mouths and tongues are corrupted, and they can no longer tell right from wrong in speech. They covet the shifting forms of wealth and goods: their thoughts are stirred, and they can no longer distinguish the crooked from the upright.

When the five colors become excessive, people throughout the world go blind; when the five tones become too elaborate, they go deaf; when the five flavors become too rich, their sense of taste fails. When pearls and jade are valued too highly, people throughout the world are made to toil; when coins and cloth circulate too freely, people throughout the world are brought to ruin. Thus the five colors are awls that pierce the eyes, the five tones are mallets that block the ears, the five flavors are axes that sever the tongue, and wealth and goods are arrows that pierce the body. These things transform into and engender one another without end. They are hard to understand but easy to lose; hard to acquire but easy to forfeit. They are the nest of calamity, the dwelling place of harm.

Therefore, the sage wears clothes without showy colors, listens to sounds that do not disturb the spirit, and eats food that is not excessively seasoned. Fame is a burden that harms oneself; profit is filth that stains De (Virtue/Power). So one who makes “action” a tax on the body and “doing” a source of honor gains very little. One regards “goodness” as small and is content with “little.” Pursuing “the fame of being famous” empties one’s purse; holding to “the fame of being nameless” preserves one’s home.

When looking exceeds what the eyes can bear, the gaze does not remain clear for long. When listening exceeds what the ears can bear, essence and Qi leak away. When love exceeds what the mind and spirit can sustain, the spirit scatters outward. To be dragged along by desires, to rush about in pursuit of profit, to live in fearful apprehension, and to form factions and alliances in search of support—this is not the true Dao. Though such conduct goes against the Dao, even if it succeeds for a time, Heaven will not protect it.

If someone unsuited to a task is made responsible for it, the work will be ruined; if someone forces themselves to do what ought not to be done, that too will end in ruin. Thus, acting in place of the one who administers executions (carrying out punishments on behalf of the person in charge) brings disaster; carving in place of the master carpenter (cutting and shaping wood on the master carpenter’s behalf) is sure to injure one’s hands. Those who act willfully indulge their desires and satisfy their ambitions to the full. The lowly force their way toward status, and the poor force their way toward wealth. Turning away from the root to pursue the branches, they cannot be saved when disaster arrives.

No offense is greater than sexual excess, no calamity greater than greed, and no fault greater than overstepping one’s proper bounds. These three are the wheels of disaster: in small measure they destroy the person; in great measure they ruin the family.

(From the Wondrous Truth Scripture.)

The five colors make people blind; the five tones make them deaf; the five flavors ruin their sense of taste. Racing about and hunting make their hearts wild; rare goods make their behavior erratic.

Note: This passage closely echoes chapter twelve of the Dao De Jing and its warnings against the five colors, five tones, and five flavors, and also quotes the Wondrous Truth Scripture. Technical terms have been briefly glossed at first mention. In the context of cultivation, phrases such as “wearing clothes without color” and “preserving my home” are best understood as reducing external desires and guarding the inner truth, rather than as simple ascetic prohibitions.

A Plain Language Reading of The Supreme Secret Essentials

This is why the sage gives priority to the belly and does not make a concern of the eyes: the sage sets aside the latter and chooses the former.

(From the Dao De Jing)

Which is closer to you: fame or your body? Which matters more: your body or your possessions? Which does greater harm: gaining or losing? Excessive attachment is sure to bring great depletion; hoarding too much is sure to bring heavy loss. Know contentment, and you will not be disgraced; know when to stop, and you will not be endangered. In this way, you can last a long time.

(From the Dao De Jing)

A person’s physical form is a temporary union of elements; the original spirit and awareness are already present. This spirit and awareness have Qi (vital energy): they have no beginning or end, but exist naturally. There are states of refinement and coarseness, and experiences of life and death, suffering and joy. When one cultivates good deeds, joy arises and remains; when one lets evil thoughts turn within, the sufferings of death repeatedly come to an end. When suffering is extinguished and reaches its limit, it arises again. If, once born, one does not cultivate good, that brief joy will not last. Therefore, the superior practitioner applies diligent and vigorous effort, accumulating good and abandoning evil.

(From the Dongzhen Scripture: Hidden Writings on Inner Contemplation, Purple Reflections of Jade Rosy Clouds)

When active, one accords with Heaven’s heart; when still, one attains the intent of Earth. Without speaking, one is followed of oneself: this is called goodness. Goodness is what the noble person takes as a foundation, what gives rise to the many kinds of conduct, where good fortune gathers and every blessing flows. It comes and moves freely without stagnation; when put to use, it never runs out. It is unchanged by the kings of every age and cannot be altered by ordinary people. Above, it accords with Heaven; below, it accords with people. It brings all things to completion and shelters and sustains all living beings. This is goodness.

Failing to recognize the source and leader, and failing to see the roots; deceiving Heaven and slighting Earth, misleading ghosts and cheating spirits; twisting one’s words and changing one’s intentions, holding on to resentment and acting amid doubt: this is called evil. The evil person acts against Heaven and, in stillness, opposes Earth. Their words harm people and things; their silence harms ghosts and spirits.

Those who deceive Heaven and Earth, slight and insult ghosts and spirits, and insist on their own views, act in ways unlike the sage. Even if their actions seem good at the time, their evil Qi still flows back to them. An act may be crooked and false yet appear true, like smoke resembling clouds, though lightning is not moved by the resemblance. Thus, the Way of Heaven is impartial; people go against Heaven and bring error upon themselves.

(From the Wondrous Truth Scripture)

When everyone under Heaven recognizes beauty as beauty, ugliness already exists. When everyone recognizes goodness as goodness, evil already exists. Thus being and nonbeing give rise to each other; difficult and easy complete each other; long and short define each other; high and low depend on each other; notes and sounds harmonize with each other; before and after follow one another. Therefore, the sage attends to affairs through Wuwei (non-action) and carries out the teaching without words. The myriad things arise, and the sage does not turn away from them; gives them life, but does not claim them; acts, but does not rely on the results; guides them as they grow, but does not rule over them. When the work is done, the sage does not claim the credit. Precisely because the sage does not claim it, the achievement is never lost.

(From the Dao De Jing)

Note: Phrases such as “attends to affairs through non-action” and “carries out the teaching without words” mean acting in accord with nature, without forcing matters; they do not mean doing nothing at all. “Spirit and awareness” refers to the mind, spirit, and capacity for awareness. “Superior practitioner” refers to someone of advanced standing who is committed to cultivating the Dao. The note “from the scripture named to the right” indicates the source of each passage.

Plain-Language Interpretation

Source: The Dao Jing

The Dao Jing says: Good fortune and misfortune, calamity and blessing all arise from the unseen workings of fate. Calamity cannot be avoided simply because the wealthy and powerful pray to escape it, nor can it be cast off simply because the poor and lowly do not want it. Good deeds bring blessings in their wake; evil deeds bring calamity of their own accord.

Source: The Shengyuan Jing

Laozi said: When the people do good, I need not know of each deed one by one; when they do evil, I need not know of each deed one by one; and when they act with loyalty and trustworthiness, I need not know of each deed one by one either. Thus, as good accumulates, good Qi gathers; as evil accumulates, evil Qi gathers. The sage therefore says: I hold fast to the root of Heaven and Earth and return to the source that is their mother. Then all things come to me, and through this I nourish myself. I cannot even fully know myself—how could I distinguish the good and evil deeds of others? When good deeds accumulate, the spirits lend their aid, and the Way of Heaven continues to protect the good.

Source: The Xisheng Jing

Lady Ziwei, relaying the words of the Queen Mother, said: Hearing the Dao is difficult, but the difficulty is not in hearing the Great Dao. Practicing the Dao is difficult, but the difficulty is not in putting the Great Dao into practice. What is truly difficult is to persevere to the end and never depart from the Dao throughout one’s life.

Source: The Dongzhen Taidan Yishu

To be born as a human being is already rare; to be born male is rarer still. Being born in the central lands of China is rarer; being born into the family of a ruler, a state preceptor, a Daoist, or a Confucian scholar is rarer still. Handsome features and clear intelligence are rarer yet. To believe in the Dao is difficult, to practice the Dao is difficult, and to attain the Dao is more difficult still.

Source: The Daoji Jing

The Dao Jing says: For a ruler, a Daoist, or an ordinary person, to be born human and to be reborn from a female body into a male one is already no easy matter.

Once born male, to possess clear intelligence, all six faculties—sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind—fully intact, a dignified appearance, a voice like the sound of jade, an aura like precious incense, and eyes bright as the sun, so that all who see you feel joy, while you yourself still often feel inadequate—this too is difficult.

To have all virtues in place and be born in a country where the Dao is followed, with a wise ruler and worthy parents who cherish virtue—this too is difficult.

To be poor yet love the Dao, to keep the thought of giving to others and to strive diligently without slackening—this too is difficult.

To be wealthy and honored yet believe in and revere the Great Dao, honoring the scriptures without ever growing lax—this too is difficult.

To endure the wrongs of others without holding them against them, to govern one’s own nature and life so that body and spirit do not die or decay, and to transcend the world and become an immortal—this too is difficult.

To encounter the Three Caverns of the Supreme One—the precious scriptures of Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen—and to honor them as one’s tradition, recite and read them, make offerings, and burn incense—this too is difficult.

To meet an immortal sage or Perfected One who teaches and transforms you as if face to face—this too is difficult.

These are the Eight Difficulties. If one had not diligently cultivated the Dao and De in previous lives, accumulating good deeds and merit until they were complete, what could bring one free from ignorance and the three evil paths, and grant this rare opportunity to encounter the numinous?

Plain-Language Interpretation of the Supreme Secret Essentials

The Perfected Zhou said: “The Dao can be learned, but it is difficult to keep one’s thoughts focused on what is subtle and real. Immortality can be sought, but it is difficult to refine Jing and Qi to their utmost. The Perfected can be encountered, but it is difficult to cultivate one’s aspirations and nature. Jade Maidens can be commanded, but it is difficult to cultivate purity and virtuous conduct.”

(From the Dongzhen: Inner Scripture of the Cavern Chamber)

The Grandee Ziyuan said: “There are five difficulties in the world: being willing to give when poor; being willing to learn the Dao when wealthy; mastering one’s nature and life so as not to die; gaining access to the Cavern Scriptures—the Daoist esoteric texts of the caverns; and being born in a time when a sage rules.”

(From the Scripture of True Traces)

The Perfected also said: “Given all this, those who study the Dao face nine pitfalls, each a grave affliction. If they can truly recognize these afflictions, immortality will not be far off. The nine pitfalls are: having aspirations but no opportunity; having opportunity but no good companions; having companions but no steadfast purpose; having purpose but never meeting a clear-sighted master; meeting a master but failing to awaken; awakening but failing to practice diligently; practicing diligently but failing to keep to the Dao; having confused and unsettled aspirations; and becoming steadfast but failing to persevere. These are the nine pitfalls people face. If someone loves the Dao from a young age and holds firmly to a single purpose, neither water nor fire can frighten their heart, and neither glory nor riches can sway their resolve. If they cultivate the true and embrace simplicity for long enough, they will surely meet a master and need not worry about lacking opportunity. In this way, they can succeed without relying on companions and set themselves in motion without relying on outside circumstances. This is the essential point of learning to become an immortal.”

(From the Dongzhen: Upper Scripture of the Treasured Register of Taiji)

The Perfected also said: “There are ten afflictions of the body: receiving a human body but failing to cultivate De and nurture one’s nature so as to complete one’s nature and life; hearing a scripture but not believing it; believing a scripture but coveting wealth and refusing to receive and uphold it; receiving a scripture but failing to explain and recite it; explaining and reciting it but failing to practice according to it; carrying out practices but failing to keep to the Dao consistently; serving a master but failing to do so for a lifetime; taking medicine but dying before its effects are confirmed, as the elixir has not yet proven effective; lacking the full practice of the Dao yet boastfully seeking ascension; and reading scriptures in quiet retreat in a remote mountain while unable to bear the loneliness. These ten afflictions all belong to the human body. If they are not banished, the body will gain nothing. Hence the saying, ‘A great affliction lies within me.’ Is this not worth deep reflection?”

(From the Dongxuan: Scripture for Dispelling Demons)

Cherish firmness and strength; be restrained in joy and anger. Blessings and good fortune enter through the door, while calamities and malevolent influences enter the household. Thus the tongue and ears can bring affliction, and the teeth and horns are uncertain. The mouth and tongue are the palace of calamity and the abode of danger and ruin. Speech is bound up with one’s very life and is also tied to punishment and disaster.

Essentials of the Supreme Mystery: A Plain-Language Interpretation

1. Guarding One’s Speech (from the Wondrous Truth Scripture)

As soon as words leave your mouth, trouble can enter from outside. Speaking wrongly or letting slip an ill-considered remark can harm your body and ruin your life. That is why the sages feared the moment they were about to speak and worried whenever they spoke. In their hearts, they were always as careful as if facing danger or walking on thin ice.

2. Three Things to Fear in the Age of Decline (attributed to Zhang Daoling, from the Scripture of Ascending to the Origin)

Daoling—usually identified as Zhang Daoling, the founding Celestial Master (Tianshi) of the Celestial Masters tradition—said that people in the age of decline should be wary of three things:

First, envying others for practicing righteousness and upholding the Dao;

second, slandering ritual masters, those who expound and transmit the teachings;

third, greed for wealth and lust.

Envy of the Dao’s righteousness prevents the scriptures and teachings from being passed on. Slandering ritual masters makes others lose faith in the Dao and its teachings. Greed and lust make people look down on you. Of these three faults, two are outward and one is inward. Only those free of all three can transmit the Dao. One should diligently cultivate and learn the teachings.

3. Favor, Disgrace, and the Self (from the Dao De Jing)

Receiving favor and suffering disgrace are both like being startled; regard great calamity as you regard your own body. What does it mean that favor and disgrace are both like being startled? Receiving favor is like being in a low position, and losing favor is like being in a high one; both gain and loss bring alarm. This is what it means for favor and disgrace to be like being startled. What does it mean to regard great calamity as one’s own body? The reason I can suffer great calamity is that I have this body. If I had no body, what calamity could befall me?

4. The Courses of Heaven and Calamities (numerological methods involving colors and the cycles of “Yang Nine” and “Bai Liu”)

The Nine Qi of the East and the Blue Heaven: Heaven has nine origins. As these origins revolve through their cycles, one circuit takes thirty-three days, with thirty days of day and night. Heavenly Qi passes through twelve exchanges to make one measure, for a total of 330 measures. At this point, heavenly Qi is governed by Wood, and the Azure Emperor holds sway. At 3,300 measures, blue Qi flourishes and yellow Qi declines. The Yang number reaches nine, the utmost limit of Heaven. This is called the Minor Yang Nine and Minor Bai Liu. Heavenly Qi rises, and the officials assemble.

At 9,900 measures, blue Qi surges and yellow Qi is consumed. The Yang number is nine times nine. This is called the Major Yang Nine and Major Bai Liu. Heavenly Qi reverses, and the officials gather in their Qi.

The Three Qi of the South and the Vermilion Heaven: The cycle turns through 330 measures, and heavenly Qi is governed by Fire, with the Red Emperor holding sway. At 3,300 measures, red Qi flourishes and white Qi declines. This is the Red Emperor’s Minor Yang Nine and Minor Bai Liu; Qi surges in the Earth Palace. In the years of Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei, the four Qi drive out what is there, and calamities of war spread. Fire arises from the earth, gold and jade appear of their own accord, and the world is scorched and barren.

At 9,900 measures, red Qi surges and white Qi is consumed. This is the Red Emperor’s Major Yang Nine and Major Bai Liu; Qi is stirred in the Water Palace. In the years of Hai and Zi, fires are extinguished, and no smoke rises for ten thousand li. Floodwaters engulf the land, and fewer than one in ten people and animals survive.

The Single Qi of the Center and the Yellow Heaven: The cycle turns through 330 measures, and heavenly Qi is governed by Earth…

(The following sections, if present, on the Yellow Emperor’s rule, the West, and the North follow the same pattern: 330 measures make one cycle; 3,300 and 9,900 measures correspond to the Minor and Major Yang Nine and Bai Liu; each is associated with a Phase, one of the Five Emperors, a direction, and the calamities that follow.)

Reading Notes

• “Right: from the … Scripture” indicates that the passage is quoted from a scripture, a common citation format in the Daoist Canon.
• Yang Nine and Bai Liu are terms from Daoist calendrical numerology and calamity lore, linking the cycles of Heaven to periods of disorder and disaster.
• The Azure Emperor and the Red Emperor belong to the Five Emperors of the Five Directions. Each governs a Phase, such as Wood or Fire, and is associated with a direction, season, and course of Qi.
• The passage centers on correspondences between heavenly cycles, directional colors, and calamities. This cosmology was often used in early Daoist writings on purification rituals (Zhaijiao), averting misfortune, and predicting calamities; it is not an account of modern astronomy.

Plain-Language Interpretation of the Supreme Secret Essentials

When the Yellow Emperor governs the Earth Palace (the central virtue of Earth): The celestial cycle passes through 330 degrees, when the virtue of Earth is at its height. The Yellow Emperor rules for a total of 3,300 degrees. Yellow Qi flourishes and black Qi is suppressed; this is called the Yellow Emperor’s Minor Yang Nine and Minor Hundred Six (a relatively mild cycle of calamity). If the cycle reaches 9,900 degrees, yellow Qi surges and black Qi is eroded: this is the Yellow Emperor’s Major Yang Nine and Major Hundred Six (a major calamity cycle). When celestial Qi surges against the Wood Palace in the east, in the Yin and Mao years, the nine Earth regions collapse. The people can no longer farm, epidemics spread everywhere, and almost no one escapes.

The seven Qi of the west and the 330 degrees of the Su Heaven cycle: This is when the virtue of Metal is at its height. The White Emperor, ruler of the western virtue of Metal, governs. In the Shen and You years, the Perfected One of the White Emperor descends to teach and transform the world. During the 3,300 degrees, white Qi flourishes and green Qi declines; this is the White Emperor’s Minor Yang Nine and Minor Hundred Six. When celestial Qi surges against the Water Palace in the north, in the Hai and Zi years, gold and jade melt away. Corpses fill the rivers and seas, people devour one another, and the sea becomes a river of blood. At 9,900 degrees, white Qi surges against the Fire Palace in the south, in the Si and Wu years. Metal and stone melt of themselves, warfare and calamity sweep through, and humans and animals alike are wiped out.

The five Qi of the north and the 330 degrees of the Xuan Heaven cycle: This is when the virtue of Water is at its height. The Black Emperor, ruler of the northern virtue of Water, governs for 3,300 degrees. Black Qi flourishes and red Qi declines; this is the Black Emperor’s Minor Yang Nine and Minor Hundred Six. When celestial Qi surges against the Water Palace in the Yin and Mao years, crops wither and die, forests are devastated, waters rise and rivers burst their banks. Floods spread to the sky; the people are swept away, their bones and flesh torn apart. At 9,900 degrees, black Qi surges and red Qi is eroded; this is the Black Emperor’s Major Yang Nine and Major Hundred Six. When celestial Qi surges against the Earth Palace in the Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei years, rivers and seas run dry, dust forms on the sea floor, and people, birds, and beasts are burned to death, with none left.

The cycles of the five directions: After thirty-two cycles of overturning and 9,900 degrees, the Qi of the five directions all rise and circulate as the primordial beginning’s blue Yang Qi, the Daoist pure blue Yang energy at the source of the cosmos. It turns through the passes in the mountains of Lingbao’s Mysterious Capital, the Jade Capital, the celestial city of Daoism described in the Daoist scriptures. It circles through the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars, and beyond the ten directions, covering 999,999,999 degrees. At the turning point of a kalpa, the Qi returns; all the myriad things between Heaven and Earth, mountains and rivers, seas, gold and stone, and humankind are transformed and vanish at once.

Also: Yang Qi turns through the Heavenly Pass, while Yin Qi turns through the Earth’s Mechanism. The rise and fall of the waters of the nine rivers all respond to the degrees and conjunctions of Heaven. Thus the number nine, the Yang number, is called Yang Nine, while the number eight, the Yin number, is called the Eight Calamities. These names for calamity cycles, together with “Hundred Six,” refer to inauspicious conjunctions in the cycles of Heaven and Earth. The cycles of Heaven and Earth and the calamities of the human world resonate with and respond to one another in this way.

[Source: Scripture of the Jade Instructions of the Cavern Mystery]

The same applies here.

[Source: Scripture on the Cycles of the Cavern Mystery]

The Dao (Laozi) said: Within the cyclical patterns by which the Lingbao (Great Dao) operates naturally, there are great Yang Nine and great Hundred Six, and lesser Yang Nine and lesser Hundred Six. Every 3,300 years marks a lesser Yang Nine and Hundred Six; every 9,900 years marks a great Yang Nine and Hundred Six. A calamity afflicting Heaven is called Yang Nine; a depletion of Earth’s qi is called Hundred Six.

[Source: Scripture of the Traces of the Dao]

Master Anqi said to Lady Wang of Taizhen: “Some days ago I went to the mouth of the Nine Rivers and met Lord in Charge of Yang and the Lady of the Western Han, who were traveling together. They asked me about the periods of Yang Nine and Hundred Six. I replied that I am still young and do not yet understand the cycles of calamity. Now that you have graciously granted me a seat, I would like to ask about these numbers.”

The Lady said: “The cycles are vast and far-reaching; you cannot grasp them all at once. Heaven and Earth have great Yang Nine and great Hundred Six, and lesser Yang Nine and lesser Hundred Six. A calamity in Heaven is called Yang Nine; a depletion of Earth is called Hundred Six. These two kinds of tribulation arise when Heaven and Earth become obstructed and Yin-Yang collapse and erode. The great cycle lasts 9,900 years; the lesser cycle lasts 3,300 years. Whenever a period of tribulation falls within one of these cycles, even a sage ruler cannot dispel it entirely. One can only put an end to the misfortune and preserve what is auspicious; peace and stability come only after the tribulation has passed. During Yang Nine, drought strikes, the seas surge and the land is scorched. During Hundred Six, the seas dry up, and the depths are laid bare atop the hills.”