Yuanshi Tianzun Shuo Taigu Jing Zhu — Spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, with Commentary

This is a short scripture-with-commentary preserved in the Daoist Canon, presented in the Chinese Wikisource transcription used here as a single continuous text: an opening preface, four short glosses on the title's own words, and then a scripture of brief paired sayings — each a spoken line attributed to the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (元始天尊), followed immediately by a prose commentary unpacking it — closing with a seven-line verse of praise. The transcription used for this translation does not name a commentator or give a date, so none is claimed here; the text's vocabulary — kalpas, the Three Realms, the sea of birth and death, sitting and forgetting — places it within the broad current of medieval Daoist scripture that speaks in a register shared with Buddhist teaching.

In form it alternates a spoken line (in this translation, bold) with the commentary explaining it (in prose beneath), a structure kept visible throughout. The teaching moves between two registers: the metaphysics of stillness and non-action, and the physiology of "true fire" and "true water," breath and essence and spirit — language that a reader of inner-alchemy texts will recognize, though nothing here specifies technique. One translation note: 太古, "Taigu," here rendered "Deep Antiquity," names not a historical period but the condition of the Way itself — prior to time, unaged by it.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, which is printed in full below the translation. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of this text.

Translation

Preface to the Scripture of Deep Antiquity

The utmost Way has no words; true emptiness has no form. Whoever thinks upon it cannot know it; whoever looks for it cannot see it. Sought to its depths, it cannot be grasped; walked toward, it cannot be reached. It casts and forges heaven and earth, following and guiding all transformation and creation. Silent, it does not stir, yet it answers and fills the six directions, bringing rest to the ten thousand things and returning the host of beings to their true fate. How towering, how utmost it is! Who but a sage could pass through to it?

How much more so the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, whose compassionate heart spreads wide, whose wisdom shines upon the ten directions, who sees living beings forgetting the way home and losing their root, turning and turning through the world, revolving without rest, suffering through long kalpas, unable to enlighten themselves. Moved by this, he lets fall the rain of the Dharma to nourish and spread; he proclaims the wondrous Way, draws in and receives all sentient beings, and brings them out of the sea of birth and death, to wander the realm of clear emptiness, the country of tranquil simplicity — transcending the dust and grime, walking the vast open reaches, free and at ease, transforming alone, subtle and mysteriously pervading, unforced and spontaneous, returning to the pure and plain, the deep ultimate, the vast and undivided.

The Scripture of Deep Antiquity Spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, with Commentary

Yuan, "Primordial," is what precedes qi. Shi, "Beginning," is the first stirring of things. Thus, empty and non-being, spontaneous, clear and still, without contrivance — it encompasses every wonder and receives every being: hence he is called Yuanshi, Primordial Beginning.

Tianzun, "Celestial Worthy": the utmost height of the mysterious heavens, lofty, bright, noble and true, lord of the Three Realms, teacher of gods and men — a name of honor bestowed by hidden praise. Shuo, "spoken": to proclaim and unfold, to bring forth and set flowing. Clouds of compassion cover and spread; the rain of the Dharma falls and nourishes; it moistens every being everywhere, and the sprouts of goodness grow.

Taigu, "Deep Antiquity": without name, without form, unchanging, unmoving, one substance with empty space, enduring through the kalpas. It precedes heaven and earth yet is not aged by them; it outlasts the six ultimates yet is not lessened by them. Silent, vast — it stands alone and does not alter; it passes through yin and yang and is not worn away. Unborn, undying; without going, without coming — towering, at peace.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, greatly setting forth the conduct of mercy and compassion, opened wide the gate of skillful means, proclaimed the wondrous purport, and composed these subtle words, to save and deliver the host of beings and remove every suffering entire. Jing, "scripture": this is not a name for vulgar talk or common speech, but another name for the true constancy of the wondrous Dharma — the essential path that gathers all good, the stairway that enters sagehood, the true road of free wandering, the level way into the mystery, the vast wilderness, the country of no-thing-at-all. Ancients and moderns who have attained never fail to wander here. If beings in the sea of suffering carry within them the seed of the immortal wind, if they have from a former life the bones of the numinous, and they meet this text of gold, at one hearing they are freed — casting off every bond of karma, departing far from vexation, wandering at ease beyond the ordinary. Is this not fortunate indeed?

The Celestial Worthy said:

When the sage hands down his teaching, it is like heaven's movement through the four seasons: trusted, it answers well of itself. His words are like the pivot and trigger — exact, as a command issued and cutting straight through, never failing to strike the mark; going forth with awesome brightness, never failing to be fitting. His speech surpasses metal and stone in reaching the ground of the heart. It moves like the spring wind, rousing and awakening the ordinary man, opening at once the ground of his heart. It flourishes and passes through the ten thousand transformations, each returning to its root. It draws in the men of the world, dissolves their grudges and releases their bonds, brings them out from birth and death, carries them beyond being and non-being, and sets them wandering in the great Way — how could this not be the utmost?

There is a motion within motion that lies in no motion.

"There is motion" means responding to circumstance. "No motion" means embracing the primordial and holding fast to the One — returning to the root and restoring one's true fate. Hence the scripture says: the clear is the source of the turbid; stillness is the foundation of motion. Hold to the essential, hold to the One; sincerely grasp the mean. The ten thousand things in their teeming multitude each return to their root. To return to the root is called stillness — utmost stillness does not move.

There is a doing within doing that lies in no doing.

Spirit is at root deep and still; it responds, and thereby it penetrates. Only when it cannot help itself does it stir, following circumstance and meeting with things, its wondrous working without limit. It sets aside cleverness and even benevolence, and so follows the pattern of Heaven, tranquil and without bound — and every wonder returns to it.

When the breath abides, the ten thousand things all live.

Concentrate the breath and bring it to softness, and one can be like an infant. Embrace and guard the pervading harmony, and the true breath gathers thick and rich — then the ten thousand things all live long. To know harmony is called constancy; to make the breath serve the mind is called forcing. The forceful — hard, strong, aged — belong to the company of death.

When the breath is extinguished, the ten thousand things all perish.

When the breath is cut off, the spirit departs; the nine apertures and the hundred bones turn to dust and change to earth. What is there left to doubt?

Thing sustains thing, each nourishing firm the root of the other.

Nourish emptiness with emptiness, nourish fullness with fullness. Why is this so? Forget the body and nourish the breath; forget the mind and let the breath nourish the spirit; forget the spirit and nourish emptiness. The empty chamber gives birth to whiteness; auspiciousness comes to rest where it rests. The breath and spirit, full and at peace, the numinous root grows deep and firm — and so the way of long life and lasting sight is achieved.

Silently awaken to it, and of yourself you plant it.

The utmost Way, the utmost mystery, is attained without borrowing from outward things. Silent, silent; dim, dim — without response, without question. The numinous light alone shines, far removed from root and dust. The body reveals its true constancy; it does not follow the ten thousand dharmas. By this one may keep life whole, may return to the root.

It goes forth from that which has no gap.

"No gap" is no-having. This is the teaching without words, the benefit of doing nothing — perfectly pervading, without obstruction; responding and transforming without limit, filling all ten directions, moving at every moment, without any interval or break.

Neither dying nor being born.

The dark pearl gleams and shines, bright now as of old. The ten thousand things are fused into one; every dharma is equal. Neither still nor stained, without beginning, without end. Hence it is said: neither dying nor being born.

And is one with heaven and earth.

The way of heaven is clear and empty, and so it can endure long. The way of earth is calm and still, and so it can last long. If a person can awaken to the principle and reach the wondrous Way, carrying emptiness to its utmost and guarding stillness with all sincerity — tranquil, plain, and silent, not burdened by the ten thousand things, clear, still, doing nothing — then one may become one with heaven and earth.

The Celestial Worthy said:

The Celestial Worthy: every single person has him within, each one complete and lacking nothing. It is only that living beings, thin in their causes and scant in their blessings, are screened by vexation, their feeling deluded and heavy and turbid, so that they do not awaken to the true source — and though they meet an enlightened teacher, they do not believe, do not understand.

Forget the eyes, and light overflows without limit.

The five colors confuse clear sight and make men blind. "Color" means to make manifest; but that which truly makes things manifest is never itself displayed. What does this mean? The Dharma eye, perfectly pervading, shines clearly upon the ten directions and the Three Realms; seeing things, it sees no thing; seeing emptiness, it finds no emptiness; it looks upon the deep obscurity. Within that dim and hidden dark, it alone sees clearly. The numinous light fills and overflows, without limit or end.

Efface the ears, and the mind's awareness is forever a deep pool.

The five tones confuse keen hearing and make men deaf. The mind is a clear deep pool, in itself calm and clear; right and wrong in speech, beauty and ugliness in sound, are all false feeling and counterfeit things — a whirlwind, a sudden rain, that stirs and disturbs the source of the mind, so that the chamber of spirit loses its numinous power. If one can efface and cut off right and wrong, and admit nothing within, then in the midst of soundlessness one alone hears harmony. Only then can one listen to the dark song of white snow, the tune not struck yet bright as spring — the melody of the immortals.

When both pivots are alike forgotten, this is called the Great Mystery.

When sound and color are both effaced, when motion and stillness are both forgotten, one hears not with the breath and sees not with the spirit — this is called the wonder of the Great Mystery, the numinous power of vast emptiness. Deep, and deeper still, it yet can give rise to things. Spirit beyond spirit, it yet can bring forth essence. The doing that is no doing; the knowing that does not know; numinous and bright, vast and pervading, broad and great, empty and still — its wonder is without shore or border.

Mingled and undifferentiated, it joins the great square.

Thing and self are both forgotten; being and non-being are not established. Dim, dim; silent, silent; obscure, obscure; dark, dark — without border, without limit; neither outside nor within. Its wandering has no starting-point; its going forth has no direction. It transforms and nurtures the ten thousand things, and cannot be made into an image — fused whole, without corner or quarter.

Vast and formless, it joins the peerless.

The utmost Way, mystery upon mystery, is vast and boundless, its principle beyond comparison. Stored, it becomes the primordial essence; used, it becomes the ten thousand numina. Held within, it becomes the Great One; released, it becomes the Great Clarity. Without form, without name, utmost in honor, utmost in worth. Deluded by it, one is an ordinary man; awakened to it, one is sage and worthy.

Great as heaven and earth are, in me they are not full.

The sages and worthies of past and present, the realized ones who attained the Way, uphold heaven and earth, grasp yin and yang, carve and shape the ten thousand things, and let their bounty reach every kind of being — is this not difficult indeed?

The multitude of the ten thousand things — I am what upholds them.

The universe lies within his hand; the ten thousand transformations are born from his single person.

How could there be an end or limit, that words should exhaust it?

The sage speaks the wondrous Way directly, manifesting everywhere, shining everywhere — fearing only that later men, ordinary and doubting, will not believe. So he greatly gives voice to modesty, as though saying his words cannot exhaust its principle, treating speech itself as a limitation — hating any account that goes astray or errs.

The Celestial Worthy said:

The Celestial Worthy is subtle, wondrous, mysteriously pervading, too deep to be known — hence it is said: his mouth holds the mystery yet has no road; his tongue speaks yet does not speak.

Nourish the true fire, and the body then endures long.

The true breath steams and rises, and in its season there is neither cold nor heat; the pure yang flows and pours, and the people know neither death nor birth. Hence it is said: the lamp of the heart shines bright, and the dharma-body endures long. If the candle of wisdom is not bright, how could the countenance of the Way be carried?

Make firm the true water, and the body then remains long.

Heaven and earth join together, and sweet dew descends, nourishing every kind of being to flourish. If a person can be at peace, still, harmonious, and at ease, the precious vessel firm and whole, the jade liquor fragrant and fine, the true water descends and nourishes the wondrous body — turning old age back to the child, is this not good indeed?

True and true assist one another; hence it is called long life.

When water and fire have completed each other, when the earthly and heavenly souls hold fast to one another, when lead and mercury congeal together, the great medicine is refined and the golden elixir is formed — brilliant and radiant, there is no darkness it does not light. Entering the pure white, one returns to plainness and simplicity. Long life without extinction, the body lost yet not perishing — this is called a Realized Person.

Heaven attains its true nature, and hence is lasting.

Heaven attains the pure and unmixed Way, and so it can cover and shelter every being, encompass the ten thousand forms, remain clear and gathered through the kalpas, mirror things without partiality; without speaking it answers, its wondrous working without limit — lofty, empty, vast and far, great, leaving nothing outside it — enduring long without change.

Earth attains its true nature, and hence is enduring.

Earth attains its true nature, and so it nourishes and raises the ten thousand things, its roots deep and its stem firm, calm and still, doing nothing — and so it is long-enduring.

A person attains their true nature, and hence has long life.

"To die and yet not perish" is called long life. When a person of the world awakens to its true purport and attains its wondrous source, joining the Way in truth, the body lost yet not perishing, becoming one with the sages and worthies, so that later generations do not cease to offer sacrifice — what could surpass this?

The reason the people of the world do not attain lasting long life is that they nourish what is outward.

The five flavors muddy the mouth; the five odors fume the nose; sound and color block the ears and eyes; taking and rejecting slip the mind about, driving the nature to fly off and letting deluded feeling follow after things. Thought upon thought grapples and entangles, so that the mind and its cleverness wander outward while ghosts and spirits enter within; right and wrong, favor and disgrace, disturb and confuse the numinous source; with things one cuts against and grinds against — the whole life spent in weary service, caught petty in the net of karma, not knowing where to return. Can this not be lamented? The body enjoys fine and rich things, brocade and silk gauze, while the mind is deluded by false views, upside-down in wild imagining — until, reaching the end of one's years, one still does not know Heaven's mandate. To lose oneself in things, to lose one's nature in vulgar custom — this is called the people of overturned order. Can this not be mourned?

And so ruin what is inward.

What is inward is by root clear, still, bright, empty and white and shining — yet how is it that, loving and being stained by the ten thousand conditions, one does not give rise to the turning light of self-reflection? Fluttering, one's single nature scatters; sinking, one is deluded through ten thousand kalpas; hard it is to examine the true body, as it shifts and sheds into another form, losing its true source — this is to ruin what is inward. Through ten thousand kalpas of transmigration, in the sea of birth and death, unable to be delivered across — this is greatly to be pitied and mourned.

The way of long life:

The body reveals true constancy and is not bound by written words. The mind and nature are unstained, complete of themselves. Only let go of false conditions, and the way of long life may be attained.

Not seeing, not hearing.

"Not seeing, not hearing" means to let the limbs and body fall away, to dismiss cleverness and keen perception; outwardly not to observe the universe, inwardly not to know that there is a Great Beginning. Not climbing the Kunlun, not wandering the great void; sitting and forgetting, letting reflections go, joining with the cavern-mystery; the same, yet without preference; transforming, yet without constancy — vague and dim, subtle and wondrous, beyond all measure.

Not flowering, not flourishing.

Not profiting from goods and wealth, not drawing near to riches and rank; not currying favor with others, not adorning oneself with things. The crowd is bright and cheerful; I alone am still and quiet. The crowd is clear and knowing; I alone am as if in dusk. Casting off fame and forgetting power, keeping the body whole and staying far from harm — this joins with the way of Heaven.

Casting off the age, departing from custom.

Not seeking honor and prominence in marketplace or court; not being trapped and confined by wife and children. Like a solitary cloud or a wild crane, soaring free at ease, rolling up or unfurling without design of mind — this is the scholar who cultivates the truth.

Accumulating essence, keeping the spirit whole.

The worthy esteems resolve; the sage prizes essence. Within, nourish the spirit with the breath of pervading harmony; without, nourish the life-thread of wisdom with every sagely and wondrous method. Inward and outward made clear and translucent, the nature of awakening perfectly bright. Mind and its objects both forgotten, one is at once transcended above every outflow. Embodying this method, one may then cultivate and hold to it.

Still and silent, doing nothing.

"Doing nothing" means there is nothing left undone. Calm, plain, doing nothing, one joins with Heaven's virtue. Hence it is said, there is nothing not forgotten, and nothing that is not present. Vast and boundless, and every beauty follows from it. Hence it is said: still, silent, calm, plain; empty, without being, doing nothing — this is the level ground of heaven and earth, the substance of the Way and its Virtue. Hence the sage is calm indeed, easy indeed. Being easy and calm, sorrow and joy cannot enter him, and deviant breath cannot invade him; his spirit is not diminished, and so his virtue is whole — still and single, he does not change. Hence among all the worthies and sages, their Way works secretly; that any should attain the achievement of sagehood without the method of doing-nothing — of this, no one has ever heard.

Then the Way is attained.

The Way has feeling and has good faith; it does nothing and has no form. It may be transmitted but cannot be grasped; it may be received but cannot be seen. It was born before heaven and earth, yet being born it has no name — indeed it has never truly been born. It endures after present and past, yet enduring it has no image — indeed it has never truly endured. Hence it is said to be beyond thought and discussion. Since it cannot be run down and questioned, what use is there in thinking to attain it? Let living beings only be able to forget both mind and its objects, let not a single thought arise; in breathing in and out, in bending and stretching, in pausing and treading — not knowing who it is that does this — then let them stop carrying a lamp to go asking for fire, wading through water to seek the ford: awaken at once to the original mind, and the Way is attained that instant.

For the sake of all living beings, he then spoke this verse:

The Celestial Worthy proclaims the secret and hidden;
with skillful means he shows forth mercy and compassion.
The rain of the Dharma nourishes every kind of being;
mysterious discourse dissolves the doubts of the many.
He shows the ordinary world as dream and illusion;
he draws all in and leads them to awaken to the rare and the faint.
Water and fire return to the furnace and stove;
clouds and mist cover Kan and Li.
Pervading emptiness, one passes through to the sagely Way;
clear and still, one forms the numinous mushroom.
Things that attain it can long endure;
those who walk it are cut off from calamity and danger.
Wandering free beyond the Three Realms,
forever and ever they realize doing-nothing.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Daoist shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The source alternates a short spoken line, attributed to the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, with a prose commentary explaining it; that alternation is kept visible above by setting each spoken line in bold and the commentary that follows it in ordinary prose. The opening preface and the four glosses on the words of the title (元, 天尊, 太古, 經) precede this alternating structure and are rendered as continuous prose; the closing seven-couplet verse of praise is set as verse, with line breaks preserved.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed: the two local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western-language translation (Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud survey) were grepped for this text's Chinese title, its pinyin, and its likely DZ number, and returned no entry for it — only an unrelated Yuanshi-Tianzun scripture (梓潼帝君應驗經) appears in Komjathy's list. Two web searches were then run, for the Chinese title and for a pinyin-title search paired with "translation." Both returned only the Chinese source text itself (Chinese Wikisource, Chinese Text Project) and general reference material on the deity Yuanshi Tianzun; neither returned any published English translation, partial or complete, of this scripture. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of this text. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty.

A note on the source: the Chinese Wikisource transcription used here does not name a commentator or give the work's compilation date, and so none is claimed in the reader introduction above; a general web search turned up an unverified secondary claim of authorship which could not be confirmed against a primary source, and it is accordingly omitted rather than repeated as fact. Two further notes on words: 希夷 ("the rare and the faint") is a direct echo of Daodejing chapter 14, kept here in periphrasis rather than as a loanword; 坎離 (Kan and Li), the two trigrams standing for water and fire in the alchemical vocabulary of the closing verse, are kept by name rather than translated, since they function here as technical terms of art.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.

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Source Text: 元始天尊說太古經註

Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

元始天尊說太古經註

太古經序

夫至道無言，真空非色，思之者，莫能知，觀之者，不可見，賾之不可得，行之不能到，陶鑄天地，率循造化，寂而不動，應滿六虛，令萬物蒙休，羣生復命。巍巍乎至矣哉，非聖人孰能通之者耶？況元始天尊，慈心廣布，慧照十方，觀見眾生忘歸失本，宛轉世間，輪迴不息，長劫受苦，不能自明。遂感法雨敷滋，宣揚妙道，引接有情，出生死海，遊清虛之境，恬淡之鄉，超乎塵垢，步乎寥廓，逍遙獨化，微妙玄通，無為自然，返於純素冥極混茫者也。

元始天尊說太古經註

〔元者，氣之先也。始者，物之初也。是以虛無自然，清淨無為，包羅眾妙，應接羣生，故曰元始者也。〕

〔天尊者，上玄至極，高明貴真，三界之主，天人之師，幽贊德號之所稱也。說者，宣述敷演也，造作遷流也。慈雲覆布，法雨垂滋，普潤羣情，善芽增長。〕

〔太古者，無名無象，不變不遷，虛空同體，歷劫長存，先天地而不為老，後六極而不為下，寂兮寥兮，獨立而不改，經陰陽而不殆，不生不死，無往無來，卓然安靜矣。〕

〔元始天尊大發慈悲之行，廣開方便之門，宣揚妙旨，述作微言，救度蒼生，悉除眾苦。經者，非俗談鄙語之稱，乃妙法真常之異號，總善之要徑，入聖之階梯，是逍遙之正路，平坦之玄途，廣莫之野，無何有之鄉。古今達士無不游玆。若苦海眾生，素蘊仙風，宿有靈骨，遇此金文，一聞解脫，捐諸業縛，遠離煩惱，優游方外，詎不幸哉。〕

天尊曰 ：

〔夫聖人垂教，若天行四時，率信而善應也。語若樞機，正如號今發而直截，無不中也，出而威明，無不當也。譬如良藥玉漿、大明之燈，能治眾生一切苦疾，能破羣迷黑暗癡業。言勝金石心地。動若春風，激悟凡夫，頓開心地。榮通萬化，各復其根。引接世人，解冤釋縛，出離生死，超脫有無，游於大道，奚不至矣哉。〕

有動之動，在乎無動。

〔有動者，應機也。無動者，抱元守一也，歸根復命也。故經云：清者濁之源，靜者動之基。唯精唯一，允執厥中。夫物芸芸，各復歸其根。歸根曰靜，至靜不動也。〕

有為之為，在乎無為。

〔神本湛寂，感而遂通，不得已而後起，，隨機接物，妙用無窮。去智與仁，故循天之理，淡然無極，而眾妙歸之。〕

氣住則萬物皆生，

〔專氣致柔，能如嬰兄。抱守沖和，真氣氤氳，萬物皆長生也。知和曰常，心使氣曰強。強者，堅強壯老，死之徒也。〕

氣泯則萬物皆滅。

〔氣絕神逝，九竅百骸變滅塵土也。更何疑之。〕

物物相資，固養其根。

〔以虛養虛，以實養實。何以故？忘形養氣，亡心氣養神，忘神養虛，虛室生白，吉祥止止，神氣沖寧，靈根深固，故成長生久視之道也。〕

默而悟之，我自植之。

〔至道至玄，不假外物而得。默默昏昏，無應無問。靈光獨耀，迥脫根塵。體露真常，不隨萬法，可以全生，可以復本也。〕

出乎無間，

〔無間者，無有也。是不言之教，無為之益，圓通無礙，應化無窮，遍滿十方，時時運動，無有間斷也。〕

不死不生，

〔玄珠燦燦，今古常明。萬物混成，法法平等。非靜非染，無始無終。故曰不死不生者也。〕

與天地為一者哉。

〔天道清虛，所以能長。地道寧靜，所以能久。人能悟理，達其妙道，致虛極，守靜篤，恬淡寂然，不為萬物之所累，清靜無為，可以與天地為一者哉。〕

天尊曰：

〔天尊者，人人本有，箇箇具足。蓋謂眾生緣薄福鮮，煩惱障蔽，迷情重濁，不悟真源，雖遇明師，不信不曉。〕

忘於目則光溢無極，

〔五色亂明，令人目盲。色者，彰也。色色者，未嘗顯。何謂也？法眼圓通，明照十方三界，觀物無物，觀空不空，視之冥冥。杳冥之中，獨見曉焉。靈光充塞，無窮極也。〕

泯於耳則心識常淵。

〔五音亂聰，令人耳聾。心是清淵，本自湛澄，是非言語，美惡聲音，皆為妄情偽物，飄風驟雨，動擾心源，神室不靈。若能泯絕是非，不受於中，無聲之中，獨聞和焉。然後可以聽玄歌白雪，不鼓陽春，仙音之曲調也。〕

兩機俱忘，是謂太玄。

〔聲色雙泯，動靜兩忘，聽之不以氣，視之不以神，是謂太玄之妙，虛曠之靈。深之又深，而能物焉。神之又神，而能精焉。無為之為，不知而知，靈明曠徹，廣大虛寂，妙無邊際也。〕

混混沌沌，合乎大方；

〔物我俱忘，有無不立，昏昏默默，杳杳冥冥，無邊無際，非外非中，其游無端，其出無方，化育萬物，不可為象，混成無方隅也。〕

溟溟涬涬，合乎無倫。

〔至道重玄，浩浩蕩蕩，理無等倫。藏之則為元精，用之則為萬靈。含之則為太一，放之則為太清。無相無名，至尊至貴，迷之則凡夫，悟之則聖賢。〕

天地之大，我之無盈；

〔古今聖賢、得道真人，提挈天地，把握陰陽，雕琢萬物，澤及羣品，不為難乎。〕

萬物之眾，我之所持。

〔宇宙在乎其手，萬化生乎一身。〕

曷有窮終，以語其弊哉。

〔聖人直說妙道，普現普光，惟恐後世凡夫不信疑惑，大發謙辭，若言不盡其理，以語為弊，惡舛訛之說也。〕

天尊曰：

〔天尊者，微妙玄通，深不可識，故曰口帶玄而無路，舌頭談而不談。〕

養其真火，身乃長存。

〔真氣薰蒸而時無寒暑，純陽流注而民無死生。故曰心燈朗照，法身長存。慧燭不明，道容豈載。〕

固其真水，體乃長在。

〔天地相合，以降甘露，滋榮羣品。人能安靜和暢，寶瓶堅固，玉漿香美，真水下降，滋養妙體，返老如童孩，不亦善乎。〕

真真相濟，故曰長生。

〔水火既濟，魂魄相守，鉛汞相凝，鍊成大藥，結就金丹。燦爛光輝，無幽不燭。純白入素，無為復朴。長生不滅，沒身不殆，號曰真人者也。〕

天得其真，故長；

〔天得純粹不雜之道，則故能覆蓋羣有，包羅萬象，歷劫清凝，鑒物無私，不言而應，妙用無窮，，高虛長遠，大無不包，久而不易也。〕

地得其真，故久；

〔地得其真，則育養萬物，深根固蒂，安靜無為，乃長久也。〕

人得其真，故壽。

〔死而不亡者壽。但世人悟其真趣，得其妙元，與道合真，沒身不殆，同其聖賢，令後代祭祀不輟，何以加此焉。〕

世人所以不得長久者，養其外，

〔五味濁口，五臭熏鼻，聲色閼塞耳目，取捨滑心，使性飛揚，迷情徇物，念念相攖，使心智遊乎外，鬼神入其內，是非寵辱，亂擾靈源，與物相刃相靡，終身疲役，區區業網，而不知其歸，可不悲乎。身適美厚，錦繡羅穀，意迷邪見，顛倒妄想，至於窮年，不知天命。喪己於物，失性於俗者，謂之倒置之民，可不哀哉。〕

壞其內也。

〔內本清靜光明，虛白晃耀，奈何愛染萬緣，不生返照，飄飄一性之散，沉沉萬劫之迷，難省真身，遷於別蛻，迷其真源，壞其內也。萬劫輪迴，生死海中，不能超度，甚可哀憐矣。〕

長生之道，

〔體露真常，不拘文字。心性無染，本自圓成。但離妄緣，長生之道，得之可矣。〕

不視不聽，

〔不視不聽者，隳其肢體，黜其聰明，外不觀乎宇宙，內不知有太初。不登崑崙，不游太虛，坐忘遺照，合乎洞玄，同而無好，化而無常，希夷微妙，不可測量耳。〕

不華不榮，

〔不利貨財，不近富貴，不苟於人，不飾於物。眾人熙熙，我獨怕兮，眾人昭昭，我獨若昏。捐名忘勢，全身遠害，乃合天道也〕

棄世離俗，

〔不尊顯於市朝，不困囚於妻子。如孤雲野鶴，飛騰自在，舒卷無心，乃修真之士也。〕

積精全神，

〔賢人尚志，聖人貴精。內以沖和之氣養神，外以諸聖妙法以滋慧命。內外瑩徹覺性圓明。心境俱忘，頓超諸漏。體此法乃可修持也。〕

寂寞無為，

〔無為者，無不為也。恬淡無為，乃合天德。故曰無不忘也，無不有也。澹然無極，而眾美從之。故曰寂寞恬淡，虛無無為，乃天地之平，道德之質也。故聖人恬淡矣，平易矣。平易恬淡，則哀樂不能入，邪氣不能襲，其神不虧，故其德全，靜一而不變也。故一切賢聖，其道密庸，不以無為法而有成聖功者，理未聞也。〕

乃得道矣。

〔夫道者，有情有信，無為無形，可傳不可得，可受不可見。先天地而生，生而無名，然未嘗生也；後今古而存，存而無象，然未嘗存也。故曰不可思議。既不可致詰，思惟何以得之。眾生但能心境兩忘，一念不生，呼吸屈伸，躇步跐蹈，不知是誰，更休得携燈問火，涉水尋津，頓悟本心，即得道矣。〕

玆為眾生即說偈曰：

天尊宣祕密，方便示慈悲。法雨滋羣品，玄談釋眾疑。觀凡如夢幻，引接悟希夷。水火歸爐竈，雲霞罩坎離。沖虛通聖道，清靜結靈芝。物得能長久，人行絕禍危。逍遙三界外，永永證無為。

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 元始天尊說太古經註, revision of 5 February 2018), inspected from a witness copy captured on 8 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.

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