Lü Zu Cantong Jing Xuanlu — Spoken by the Celestial Worthy, Patriarch Lü

This is a morality scripture (善書) attributed to Lü Dongbin, the immortal patriarch of the Eight Immortals venerated in Daoist tradition as "Patriarch Lü" (呂祖) and addressed in the text itself as a Celestial Worthy. Texts of this kind were typically produced through spirit-writing (扶鸞) in late-imperial China and circulated as popular moral instruction; no earlier date or Daozang number could be confirmed for this particular scripture, and the present translation follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription without further attribution beyond what the text itself states. Its title, "Scripture of Convergence," points to its content: it draws in a single breath on the Daodejing, the Analects, Mencius, the Book of Rites, the Book of Odes, the Spring and Autumn Annals and its commentaries, and the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, teaching that reverence for Heaven, the purification of one's own conduct, and belief in moral retribution are one and the same discipline under different names.

These are three of the scripture's chapters (章): on reverent awe of Heaven and Earth, on purifying the karma of the body, and on the retribution of sin and blessing. The text is prose discourse throughout, delivered in the voice of the Celestial Worthy to an assembly of disciples, and it moves easily between citing the Confucian classics, retelling anecdotes from the Zuo Commentary and early Chinese history, and quoting Buddhist and Daoist scripture as equally authoritative witnesses to the same moral order.

A note on one term: the text speaks throughout of the "three karmas" (三業) of body, speech, and intention, and further of killing, stealing, and lust as the three karmas specifically of the body — this is Buddhist ethical vocabulary absorbed wholesale into a Daoist-voiced text, and the translation keeps it as the text has it rather than smoothing the two traditions apart.

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

Translation

Chapter on Reverent Awe of Heaven and Earth

The Celestial Worthy proclaimed:

Students of the Way who wish to understand mind and nature must first know the source from which mind and nature arise. For when a person or thing first comes to life, Heaven bestows its nature and Earth bears its form; thus Heaven and Earth are called the great father and the great mother. From ancient times, buddhas, immortals, sages, and worthies have without exception first revered Heaven and Earth. Though people differ in wealth and poverty, honor and lowliness, male and female, worthy and unworthy, in bearing the high above them and treading the deep beneath them they are all one.

The vulgar of a degenerate age do not know whence their nature comes, nor that their fate is fixed by Heaven; they indulge their whims and follow their own minds, defying Heaven and turning their backs on principle, until Heaven takes note of their evil and they fall into poverty or lowliness, sickness or early death. The foolish of the world do not examine themselves: their misfortune is of their own making, yet they say Heaven does not protect them, and pour out reckless resentment and slander — this is called "resenting Heaven." Feigning goodness in themselves and recklessly seeking what is not their due — this is called "deceiving Heaven." Doing wrong in a hidden room and concealing it when others come — this is called "obscuring Heaven." Speaking of benevolence and righteousness with the mouth while the heart is full of thorns, saying that Heaven does not know and that people are unaware — this is called "deluding Heaven." Facing the three lights [sun, moon, and stars] without sincerity or reverence, without checking one's bearing, without keeping any awe — this is called "profaning Heaven." When one's own fate happens to go awry, envying others' wealth and raging that Heaven is unfair — this is called "slandering Heaven." Reading books without understanding, chanting scriptures without comprehending, and recklessly criticizing the ancients, mocking those who have the Way — this is called "scorning Heaven." Even should there be one or two who cultivate self-examination and know a little of turning toward good, if their good intentions are not yet pure, their roots of goodness not yet firm, their fruits of goodness not yet deep, and they nevertheless hope for blessed recompense, recklessly summoning monks and priests and repeatedly submitting petitions — this is called "defiling Heaven."

I now tell you cultivators: you must above all revere Heaven and Earth. But what is called reverence is not currying favor with Heaven in hope of blessings. Even an upright man will not accept flattery — how much less Heaven and Earth? What is called reverence is this: from within one's own heaven-given nature, examining oneself at every moment; upon the ground of one's own heart, checking oneself at every instant. If a single word does not accord with Heaven and Earth, do not speak it; if a single act does not accord with Heaven and Earth, do not do it. With the numinous heaven of my own nature, look up and embody the profound and solemn Heaven above; with the still and settled ground of my own heart, look down and examine the tranquil Earth below. As Master Zi Yu [Mencius] said: "Preserve the heart and nourish the nature, in order to serve Heaven"; as the Rites say: "On hearing thunder, be afraid, and rise at midnight" — this is what is called reverent awe. But if the vulgar and common people of a degenerate age, having no genuine practice, put on a show of sacrifice, this is merely deceiving Heaven, not reverent awe.

Yet mind and nature are hard to understand; enter through reverent awe, and even in a hidden room or the leaking corner of a house, always act as though Heaven, Earth, and the spirits and gods were watching brightly from above. Preserving the heart in this way, wrongness and deviance have no way to arise. When wrongness and deviance do not arise, the lord of the heart is at peace, and the heaven of one's nature is clear and bright. The karmas of body, mouth, and intention naturally become pure. When the three karmas are pure, the six roots and six dusts can likewise be purified, and the foundation for entering sagehood already has its form. Yet one must not relax for even a moment; add to this the constant work of cleansing, until the yin talisman [the dark, turbid influences] is entirely dissolved and the yang spirit breaks free and appears — whole and silent, the heaven-given truth shining forth, sitting upright in the celestial court, its hiding and manifesting beyond fathoming. This is named Buddha — though "Buddha" too is a forced name; it is named Immortal — though "Immortal" too is a forced title. Immortal? Buddha? Sage? Worthy? Though the names are many, in reality all come from one mind. As for mind and nature — are they two, or one? Mind, nature, and Heaven are one body, not different: this is called the Three Powers, united with the Way.

Reverent awe of Heaven and Earth is the most numinous of practices in its effect. One who does not know reverent awe and idly speaks of studying the Way is merely a demon-spirit. When his life ends, he must fall into an evil destiny and lose the true Way forever.

Chapter on Purifying the Karma of the Body

Once one knows to preserve reverent awe in the heart, the three karmas can be purified. But these three karmas likewise require examining oneself matter by matter, checking oneself at every turn, before they can gradually be purified. As for the karma of the body, it is called killing, stealing, and lust; no matter rich or poor, honored or lowly, all people are subject to it.

What is meant by "all"? Take the karma of killing: at its greatest, rulers exhaust their armies in reckless war, generals slaughter those who surrender and put cities to the sword, and officials treat the people's lives as weeds, casually killing the innocent. Next, the rich and powerful cook and butcher without reason, and slaughterers and go-betweens in the meat trade cruelly harm living creatures. At its smallest, at the time when hibernating creatures first stir, people injure insects, and at the start of growth, they cut down grass and trees. These are all the easily seen forms of the karma of killing. Again, when the foolish common people of the world bear grudges against others, they wish at once to destroy the body of their enemy; the moment resentment sprouts, the impulse to kill stirs, Heaven takes note of the offense and enters the name in the register of killing, so that the offender must suffer the retribution of killing, with no release at all. There is also a kind of clerk or underling skilled in twisting the law, whose pen harms lives; disregarding the principle of Heaven, bending the law and distorting punishment, they cruelly abuse the innocent. From these causes of killing, fruits of killing brew, and grievance repays grievance without end. The Most High said: "The Way of Heaven does not contend, yet it excels in overcoming; it does not speak, yet it excels in responding... Heaven's net is vast; its meshes are wide, yet nothing slips through." Can there fail to be retribution? The sages of old warned against killing, speaking only in general terms; I now explain it to you in detail. If you students can purify the karma of killing, this is to look up and embody Heaven's love of life. For all crawling and stirring creatures that harbor spirit share one body with me. From ancient times sages and worthies have all made loving creatures their heart's aim. If one can love creatures, the karma of killing is purified; when the karma of killing is purified, the primal energy of great harmony resides in one's own body, and this heart of mine communicates with Heaven and Earth — what calamity will not be dissolved? What blessing will not increase?

The second is called stealing. As for the single word "theft," even the common man and common woman, if they have any sense of shame, will not commit it — it seems very rare. But they do not know that what is called theft need not be broad-daylight robbery or breaking through walls at night to be called theft. Whenever an official plunders the state treasury, or takes something belonging to another without asking, even a single blade of grass or tree, a single flower or fruit, a single drink or morsel of food, all of this is called theft. For the thing is not one's own, and to take it secretly is to deceive another while he does not know it. This is why the sages and worthies of old, if a thing were not in accord with the Way or righteousness, would not take so much as a single straw; they were careful in small matters and cautious in trifles precisely for this reason. As for scholars and men of letters who plagiarize the writings of others and seize empty fame to deceive the world — this is theft in its most extreme form. When examined, Heaven hates such a heart, and the spirits take note of it; in time the deception is exposed and brings ridicule upon the scholarly world. This kind of theft is one that many in the world commit; it is the hardest to detect, and truly the most treacherous.

The third is called lust. As for the single word "lust," the whole world easily falls into it, and among the rich, the powerful, and men of letters, this evil is greatest. From ancient times the classics of the sages and the biographies of the worthies have earnestly warned against lust, with great and pressing urgency. For lust as an evil destroys a person's reputation and integrity, and injures one's own virtuous conduct, bringing harm without limit. Its poison spreads further than any other — one need not have visibly committed the act for it to be called lust. Whoever composes lewd words, fashions lewd objects, raises a single lustful thought, or relates a single lustful matter — in every case the mechanism of lust has not been removed, the root of lust has not been cut off. If seductive beauty stands before one, how many in the world can keep the mind wholly unmoved and remain untouched by a single speck of dust? Of old the Buddha instructed his disciples: on seeing an older woman, regard her as an elder sister; a younger one, as a daughter. In this way one reverently guards the heart and does not let it run loose; then even though the eye touches the realm of form, the heart remains apart from the dust of form. Mastering this, the root of lust is removed of itself, and one is not stained or attached.

Yet for all three of these karmas, the heart is the root. Among the rich, the powerful, and scholars and men of letters, offenders are extremely many. You students, if you wish to purify the karma of the body, must above all purify the heart. Once the root of karma is removed, its sprouts will never grow again.

Chapter on the Retribution of Sin and Blessing

In the age of high antiquity, the pure energy had not yet thinned, sages and the wise stood above, and their transformation perfected all under Heaven. All people had good and no evil. In the middle ages, the pure energy had already thinned; those who did evil were many, those who did good were few. Therefore the sages established teaching by the way of the spirits, making clear the tendency of retribution for good and evil and the principle of the cycle of life and death and rebirth, so as to make people move toward goodness and correct their faults.

Yet the Confucians of the world, not knowing that the Way of Heaven loves to turn back upon itself — that to follow it brings good fortune and to go against it brings misfortune, without the slightest deviation — hearing of the numinously verified matters of retribution spoken of by buddhas and immortals, generally take them to be wild, remote, and without foundation. They even say: "Before the Buddhist teaching entered China, there was no such thing as the pounding-mortar or the grinding-mill [hells]." They do not know that the sufferings of hell's retribution, as recorded in the scriptures of the immortals, can be verified one by one — how could this be found only in Buddhist scriptures? Moreover, that those who cultivate goodness are born in heaven, and those who accumulate evil enter the suffering destinies of the three paths, is a matter of clear instruction by the sages — it is only that the matter belongs to the hidden and the remote, and people have simply not yet seen it.

The Most High said: "The Way of Heaven does not contend, yet it excels in overcoming; it does not speak, yet it excels in responding." How could this be entirely without foundation? Even the various transformation-images of hell in the Buddhist scriptures — the pounding-mortar, the grinding-mill — exist only because people of lesser capacity are hard to instruct by reason, and it becomes necessary to show plainly the sufferings of the three paths, in order to warn and caution them. This is truly the compassion of the Buddha, done only out of necessity. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: "The people of this land are hard and stubborn, difficult to transform; therefore the Buddha spoke hard and stubborn words to subdue them" — it does not mean that those who cultivate goodness will also suffer the pounding-mortar and the grinding-mill. Therefore, for those of superior and middling capacity, only the work of illuminating the mind and seeing the nature is proclaimed; as for the retribution of sin and blessing, they are simply warned not to transgress.

Yet the principle of retribution is not something only earnestly taught by buddhas and immortals — instances recorded even in the Confucian classics can hardly be enumerated. Take the Spring and Autumn Annals, for instance: a great classic and great law bequeathed as instruction by the sages of old. The events of the Spring and Autumn are recorded in front, and their retributions are verified afterward, over its two hundred and forty-two years. How many are the cases where retribution is manifestly clear? Let me cite a few to illustrate.

Duke Xiang of Qi in truth caused the death of the ruler of Lu, and when others called him to account, he pushed the blame onto Prince Peng Sheng. At the time of Cui Zhu's rebellion, the duke saw a boar standing upright like a man and wept, saying: "It is Prince Peng Sheng!" He fled in terror and thereupon met his death. The ghostly calamity in the state of Zheng was foretold in words "before the killing of Duan in the coming year," and the matter was verified at the time of Duan's killing the following year. Is this not a case of grievance and enmity repaid after death?

Duke Huan of Qi, at his covenant at Kuiqiu, made his very first command: "Do not remove the established heir; do not make a concubine into a wife." Yet within his own household he favored six women as though they were wives, so that after his death his five sons fought over the succession, and his corpse could not be laid out for burial — the maggots from his body burst forth beyond the door of his chamber. Is this not the terrible retribution for breaking one's own oath?

Duke Xian of Jin borrowed passage through Yu to destroy the state of Guo — a scheme of extreme cunning and treachery — and Heaven repaid him with cunning and treachery in turn: Duke Xian took Lady Li Ji as consort and fathered Xiqi and Zhuozi; having destroyed another's state, he took in that state's daughter, keeping his enemy at his very side, deluded and unaware, until it led to the killing of Shensheng, the flight of Chong'er, and the exile of Huai and Hui, so that his state was nearly lost. How could one say that Heaven does not know cunning schemes and treacherous plots?

As for Wei Ke, who tied grass into knots to trip up the enemy's horses — moved by gratitude, because he had followed his father's rational last instruction and married off his father's concubine rather than burying her alive with him, her spirit repaid this kindness in the world below. Who could say that ghosts and spirits are entirely vague and unreal?

Yet Han Yu of Changli, a great Confucian, nevertheless said: "The Zuo Commentary is given to exaggeration"; and Liu Zihou [Liu Zongyuan], a man of great talent, disbelieved much of this kind of thing — how much more so those of lesser standing than these two?

From ancient times to the present, the retributions of good and evil are not limited to these. Thus Lü Buwei presented his pregnant concubine to the King of Qin, wishing his own son to become the Son of Heaven; the son later became the First Emperor, so that the Qin throne passed in substance from the Ying line to the line of Lü. Yet Lü Buwei in the end died at his own son's hand. Lü Buwei might be called clever indeed — yet Heaven's requital was cleverer still! Lord Chunshen presented his pregnant concubine to the King of Chu, likewise wishing his own son to become king, and in the end he himself was killed on account of that very concubine. So it is: he who schemes against others is in the end schemed against; he who harms others is in the end harmed. Calamity does not delay even the turning of a heel.

Yet these are still cases of retribution occurring among human beings. As for the Qin general Lord Wu'an [Bai Qi], who buried alive four hundred thousand surrendered soldiers at Changping, to this day his person has fallen into the path of beasts, with no end yet in sight. Given the violent cruelty of Qin, and Bai Qi's assisting it with violent cruelty, regarding several hundred thousand common people as no more than dogs and pigs — the Way of Heaven loves life, and it is fitting that he suffer this bitter retribution, unable to recover through ten thousand kalpas.

As for what is recorded in unofficial histories, and in the various books of merit and demerit that exhort to goodness — whether obtained through hearsay or through eyewitness account — even where the events are extremely strange, they are all worthy of belief, and are not all empty, absurd, wild, or without foundation. For in the vastness of the universe, what principle says cannot be so often turns out actually to be so — how can one falsely deny it?

The Odes say: "The coming of the spirits cannot be fathomed — how much less can they be treated with contempt." They also say: "Heaven is bright and manifest; it ascends and descends among its servants, its scrutiny present here day by day." They also say: "The High Sovereign looks down upon you; let not your heart be divided."

All you disciples gathered here — if you hear that someone has received a good retribution, you should be startled into fear and say: "Might I too have done as this person has?" Being startled leads to caution; caution leads to awe; and by treading this path the mind of unwholesomeness comes to rest. Therefore the Analects say: "On seeing goodness, think of matching it; on seeing what is not good, examine oneself within." But if, on seeing goodness, one does not know to strive toward it, and on seeing what is not good, one does not know to guard against it; or if, on hearing of a good retribution, one gives rise to a jealous heart, and on hearing of an evil retribution, one feels glad — with this kind of attitude, it is to be feared that the causes of evil accumulate day by day, and the evil retribution will fall on oneself instead. Take care not to follow the one-sided view of pedantic Confucians, who say that the words of buddhas and immortals on retribution are not worth believing, and who hold that the "cycle of life and death and rebirth" and the "suffering destinies of hell" spoken of in the scriptures are entirely fictitious — willingly falling into degradation, and dying without regret.

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 text is continuous prose discourse organized into named chapters (章); those chapter headings are kept as headings, and the quotations it embeds from the Daodejing, the Analects, Mencius, the Book of Rites, the Book of Odes, the Zuo Commentary, and the Vimalakīrti Sūtra are translated in place as part of the flow of the argument, since the source presents them that way rather than setting them off as block quotations.

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 update of the Purple Cloud survey) were checked by Chinese title, by "Lü Dongbin," and by the DZ-catalogued Zhouyi cantong qi — a different and unrelated text that the title's word "cantong" risks being confused with — and neither reference records a translation of this scripture. Two web searches were then run, for the Chinese title and for "Lü Zu Cantong Jing" translation, and turned up nothing beyond unrelated results for the Zhouyi cantong qi. 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 title. 參同 ("cantong," roughly "convergence" or "joining together") is best known from the alchemical classic Zhouyi cantong qi, but this scripture is a distinct and later work; nothing in the source text itself claims kinship with that classic, and the title here is read instead in light of the scripture's own content — its deliberate blending of Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist citation into a single moral teaching. No Daozang catalogue number could be confirmed for this text from the sources consulted; it is presented here as transcribed on Chinese Wikisource, without further external attribution.

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

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Source Text: 呂祖參同經選錄

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

呂祖參同經選錄

敬畏天地章

天尊告曰：

　　學道之士，欲明心性，先須知得心性從出之源。蓋人物始生，皆由天賦其性，地載其形，故天地謂之大父大母。從古佛仙聖賢，莫不首敬天地，雖人有貧富、貴賤、男女、賢不肖之分，而其戴高履厚則一也。末俗不知性所從來，命由天定，肆意任心，逆天背理，以致天鑒其惡，或貧或賤，或疾或殀。世愚不察：孽由自作，謂天弗佑，橫出怨謗，是謂懟天。假飾己善，妄求非分，是謂欺天。暗室作非，遇人掩著，是謂昧天。口談仁義，心多荊棘，謂天弗知，謂人罔覺，是謂誑天。　對諸三光，弗誠弗敬，威儀弗檢，畏懼弗存，是謂褻天。己命偶乖，嫉人富有，瞋天弗公，是謂誣天。讀書不明，誦經弗解，妄議前人，譏誹有道，是謂藐天。即有一二修省之子，略知向善，無如善念未純，善根未固，善果未深，遂希福報，妄延僧道，章奏屢陳，是謂瀆天。吾今告爾修士，務宜首敬天地，然所謂敬，又非媚天以邀福也。正直之人尚不受媚，況天地乎？所謂敬者，蓋從自己性天中，時時省察，于自己心地上，刻刻檢點，一言而弗合於天地，弗言也；一行而弗合於天地，弗行也。以吾神明之性天，仰體乎于穆之天；以吾靜鎮之心地，俯察乎安寧之地。如子輿氏所雲：「存心養性以事天」，如《禮》所雲：「聞雷而懼，中夜必興」，斯稱敬畏。若末俗凡流，素無實行，矯舉以祭，只曰謾天，非敬畏也。然心性難明，以敬畏入，雖暗室屋漏，常若天地神明昭鑒在上。如此存心，則非僻無自而生。非僻不生，則心君泰然，性天朗霽。身口意業，自然清凈。三業清凈，則六根、六塵俱可清凈，而入聖之基已有體段。然又不可一刻放逸，加以時時洗滌之功，及至陰符消盡，陽神脫現，渾渾默默，天真發光，端坐天廷，隱顯莫測，名之曰佛；佛亦強名，名之曰仙；仙亦強稱。仙乎？佛乎？聖耶？賢耶？名雖多種，實由一心，惟心與性，是二是一，心性與天，同體不異，是謂三才，與道為一。敬畏天地，功效最神，不知敬畏，漫曰學道，只是魔精。命終之後，必墮惡趣，永失真道。

清凈身業章

既知敬畏存心，則三業可凈。然此三業亦須逐事省察，隨時檢點，方能漸凈。如彼身業，曰：殺、盜、淫，無論貧富貴賤，人皆有之。何謂皆有？即如殺業，大之帝王窮兵黷武，武將誅降屠城，文吏草菅民命、輕戮無辜；次之豪貴非理烹宰，屠兒魁儈，慘害生靈；小之啟蜇之際，戕害昆蟲，方長之初，刈伐草木。此皆殺業之易見者。又如世俗愚氓，與人仇怨，遂欲立殲其軀，瞋憾一萌，殺機旋動，天鑒其罪，注名殺籍，致受殺報，了無解釋。又有一等深文胥役，筆鋒害命，不顧天理，枉法屈刑，殘虐無辜。緣茲殺因，釀成殺果，冤冤相報，無有了期。太上曰：「天之道，不爭而善勝，不言而善應……天網恢恢，疏而不失」能無報乎？然昔聖戒殺，言其大概，吾今詳為開導，爾諸學人，能凈殺業，即是仰體好生。蓋一切蠢動含靈，與吾同體，自昔聖賢皆以愛物為心，能愛物則殺業凈，殺業凈則太和元氣在吾一身，而此心與天地通矣，何災不滅？何福不增乎？

其一曰盜，盜之一字，匹夫匹婦，稍知惜恥者皆不肯為，似乎甚少不知，所謂盜者，豈必白晝劫奪、昏夜穿窬方謂之盜？凡官吏侵漁國帑，以及有主之物，不問而取，雖一草一木，一花一果，一飲一食，皆謂之盜。蓋以其物非己有，我私竊之，欺人于不及知也。是以古之聖賢，非道非義，一介不取，謹小慎微，職此之故。至於學士文人，剽竊文字、掠取虛名，以欺於世，此更盜之尤者。究之天惡其心，神為之鑒，久之敗露貽譏儒林，此種盜業，世多蹈之，最難知，實為姦險。

其一曰淫，淫之一字，舉世易犯，而豪貴文士，其惡為最。從古聖經賢傳，諄諄誡淫，深為剴切。蓋淫之為惡，喪人名節，虧己德行，受害無窮。流毒莫甚，不必顯有其事始謂之淫。凡創為淫詞、造作淫具，起一淫念、述一淫事，皆是淫機未除，淫根未斷。若妖冶在前，而一心不亂，一塵不染者，世有幾人？昔佛訓諸弟子，見婦之長者，視之如姊，幼者如女，所以敬守此心，不使放佚，則雖目觸色境，心離色塵，於此制得，色根自除，不致染著也。

然此三業，心為之根，富貴豪強，文人學士，犯者極多，爾諸學人，欲凈身業，務凈其心，業根一除，萌芽不復生矣。

罪福報應章

上古之世，淳氣未漓，聖哲在上，化成天下。人皆有善而無惡；中古之世，淳氣既漓，為惡者多，作善者少。故聖人以神道設教，明善惡報應之趣，生死輪迴之理，使人遷善而改過。然世之儒者，不知天道好旋，惠迪吉，從逆兇，毫髮不爽，聞佛仙所說報應神驗之事，率以為荒渺無稽。至謂：「佛法未入中國以前，並無所謂『碓舂、磨研'者。」不知地獄苦報，載諸仙經者歷歷可考，豈但佛經已乎？況修善者生天，積惡者入三途苦趣，聖有明訓，特事屬幽渺，人未及見耳。

太上曰：「天之道，不爭而善勝，不言而善應。」豈盡無稽乎？即佛經「碓舂、磨研」種種地獄變相，亦只為下根之人難以理訓，不得不明示三途苦趣以儆惕之。實佛氏慈悲，不得已耳。《維摩經》雲：「此方之人，剛強難化，故佛為說剛強之語以調伏之」，非謂修善之人亦有碓舂、磨研之苦報也。故于上、中之資，則惟宣說明心見性之功，于罪福報應，只戒其勿犯耳。然報應之理，不特佛、仙諄諄告誡，即載之儒書者，亦難枚舉，如《春秋》一書，古聖垂訓之大經、大法。然《春秋》事載于前，報應驗之於後二百四十二年之間。其為報應彰彰者何限？試舉數事言之：齊襄公實死 魯 君，及人問罪，而推其罪于公子彭生。至崔杼之亂，公見豕人立而泣曰：「公子彭生也！」因驚走，遂遇難。鄭國鬼禍，語兆「于明年殺段之前」，事驗于次年殺段之際。詎非冤仇相報于死後者乎？齊桓公葵丘之會，初命曰：「無易樹子，無以妾為妻」，而內嬖如夫人者六人，以致死後五子爭立，不得殮，屍蟲迸于寢門之外。此非背誓之慘報乎？晉獻公假道滅虢，謀極陰險，而天亦以陰險報之：獻公納驪姬而生奚齊、卓子，滅人之國而納其女，仇人在側，迷而弗知，以致殺申生、走重耳，懷、惠出，幾喪其國。寧謂陰謀詭計天弗知乎？若魏顆之結草退敵，感其從父治命、嫁父妾，以恩報之於地下。誰謂鬼神盡渺茫乎？然昌黎韓子，大儒也，亦謂：「左氏浮誇」；柳子厚，才人也，於此種多不信，況下此者乎？

古往今來，善惡報應亦不止此。如呂不韋以孕妾獻秦王，欲其子為天子，後為始皇，故秦帝以呂易贏。然不韋卒死其子之手。不韋可謂巧矣，而天之報施尤為巧焉！春 申 君以娠妾進楚王，亦欲其子之為王也，而卒，見殺于其妾。是謀人者終被人謀，害人者卒為人害！禍不旋踵也。然此猶為報復之在人類者，至於秦將 武安 君，坑長平軍四十萬，至今身墮畜牲道中，未有了期。夫以秦之暴虐，白起以暴虐佐之，視數十萬蒼生不啻一犬豕。天道好生，宜其受斯苦報，萬劫難復也。至於野史所載，與夫功過勸善諸書，或得之傳聞、或得之目擊，其事跡縱極怪異，俱屬可信，非盡虛誕荒渺無稽。蓋宇宙之大，理之所無，每為事之所有，焉可誣也？

《詩》曰：「神之格思，不可度思，矧可射思。」又曰：「天維顯思，陟降厥士，日鑒在茲。」又曰：「上帝臨汝，勿貳爾心」。凡爾在會弟子，若聞人有一善報，則宜惕然懼曰：「我或有如是乎？」惕則戒，戒則畏，蹈之而不善之心止。故《語》曰：「見善思齊焉，見不善而內自省也。」若見善而不知勉，見不善而不知懲；或聞善報而生忌心，聞不善之報而有歡心，此種意見，恐惡因日積，惡報反在自身矣。慎勿蹈迂儒一偏之見，謂佛、仙報應之語為不足信，而以經中「生死輪迴」、「地獄苦趣」俱屬子虛，甘心墮落，死而無悔也。

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 呂祖參同經選錄, revision of 14 October 2017), 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 a public-domain morality scripture. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.

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