Dongxuan Lingbao Wuliang Duren Jing Jue Yinyi — attributed to Zhang Wanfu

This is a Tang-dynasty ritual handbook attached to the single most important scripture of the Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) tradition, the Lingbao Wuliang Duren Shangpin Miaojing ("Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Limitless Salvation"), commonly called the Duren Jing ("Scripture of Salvation"). It survives in the Daoist Canon as DZ 95, and tradition attributes it to Zhang Wanfu, a Daoist priest of the Tang dynasty active in the early eighth century. The title names its two halves: 訣 (jue), "formulas" — instructions for how a priest is to bow, burn incense, click the teeth, breathe, and visualize while reciting the Duren Jing — and 音義 (yinyi), "sound and meaning" — a running glossary of the scripture's rare characters, giving their pronunciation and, where needed, their sense.

In form the text is prose throughout, apart from several sets of four-character spells (呪) meant to be recited during visualization, which are kept here as verse. The bulk of it explains, character by character, the title of the Duren Jing itself; sets out the correct posture, breath-count, and inward vision for reciting it; names the thirty-two heavens of the four directions that the reciter is to salute in turn; gives four spells and their visualizations for calling on the "inner sounds" of the four cardinal heavens; reproduces the glossary proper, entry by entry; and closes with a short account of how the Duren Jing's own three prefaces and two chapters are divided. Where the text quotes an outside source and marks the quotation with the formula "右出…" ("the above is drawn from…"), that citation is kept as the text gives it — it names sources such as the Jinlu Jianwen Jing, the Taiji Baojue, and the Lingbao Yuzi Jing that are themselves largely lost outside this handbook's citations of them. A note on one word: 劫 (jie), the Buddhist aeon, is kept as "kalpa," the loanword the Chinese text itself already uses.

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

Translation

Whenever one holds the Ten Divisions' Honored Scriptures of the Most High Dongxuan Lingbao Limitless [Salvation], face east and make three bows in front, then stand facing north, turn left to face east, and click the teeth thirty-six times. Visualize clouds of five colors covering the whole chamber: the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, the Lion and the Dark Warrior, the Vermilion Bird and the Phoenix, standing guard before and behind; jade maidens and immortal boys, the spirit officials of the Five Emperors, and armies of the immortals and spirits numbering nine hundred million, encamped in guard on every side. Then sway the body three times and recite the scripture through to the end, and when it comes to facing south to "descend the lungs," bow as at the start.

　　The above is drawn from the Scripture of the Golden Register Tablets.

　　Whenever one opens the numinous treasury and recites the scripture, one should always burn incense, put on the full ritual vestments in order, and bow to the scripture according to the rite, reciting this spell:

Silent, silent, utterly without source —
towering empty through kalpas of knives.
Broad and free, the Dongxuan text —
who can fathom this dim, far reach?

Once entered on the Great Vehicle's road,
who reckons the years and kalpas past?
Not born, and likewise never ending —
to be born at all is by the lotus flower's cause.

Transcending and ferrying the Three Realms' throng,
a compassionate heart unbinds the world's net.
The Realized Person's virtue is beyond compare —
age after age, one of the immortal house.

　　The above is drawn from the Precious Formulas of the Great Ultimate. In holding the Scripture on Sustaining the Spirit Chapters the same spell and rite above are likewise used.

　　As for the Upper Chapter Wondrous Scripture on Limitless Salvation of the Most High Dongxuan Lingbao: this raises up both the person and the Dharma together, holding the general and the particular as one. The Most High is the Dharma King of a single age; the Lord of the Dao is the sovereign who proclaims and transforms by preaching the scripture. "Dongxuan Lingbao" is the overall title of the Ten Divisions; "Limitless Salvation" is the particular name of this one scroll. "Great" (太) is the finest name for what is utterly vast. "Upper" (上) is the beautiful title for what reaches the very height. To reach the height is to dwell above with nothing over it; to be utterly vast is for nothing to surpass it in extent. Wishing to make plain that the sage embodies the noble and honors virtue, exhausts principle and fathoms the subtle, turns and returns beyond all measure, and is hard to conceive of in thought — hence it is called "the Most High." "Cavernous" (洞) means empty and passing through without obstruction, open and free and without contrivance, encompassing the clear and distant, manifest and penetrating to the utmost reach. "Mysterious" (玄) means deep and subtle, remote and far, wondrously still and calm, its principle reaching into the dim and dark, its root hidden and distant beyond measure. "Numinous" (靈) means its essence functions brightly and clearly, its wisdom illumines round and full, meeting every change and exhausting every nature as is fitting, its true wisdom encompassing the whole realm of the myriad workings. "Treasure" (寶) means rare and outstanding, honored and exalted in glory, spreading its image so that heaven and earth take form, lending its pneuma so that all that bears life is transformed and nurtured. "Limitless Salvation": "limitless" (无量) names what is beyond having a measure, "measure" (量) names what has a numerical limit; "salvation" (度) speaks of ferrying others across, "person" (人) names the class of beings so called. This, then, is to ferry across the people of heaven, without limit or number — all who thereby rise and advance enter the wondrous gate together, their achievement fulfilled in mind, brought back to formlessness. "Upper Chapter Wondrous Scripture": this scripture begins at the beginning-before-beginning, and was preached first of all; among the ranks of scriptures it is marked as uppermost; its root and source remain forever calm and clear — hence it is called the "Wondrous Scripture." Seeking out this purport, its meaning holds the limitless, and to make plain the limitless there are five aspects of its own: first, its essence is limitless; second, its virtue is limitless; third, its majesty is limitless; fourth, its ranks are limitless; fifth, its sounds are limitless. That its essence is limitless: the Celestial Worthy's root and source reach back so far that they are in themselves hard to know — whether in the two bodies of the real and the responsive, or the twofold wisdom of the provisional and the actual, hence he is given the name Longhan though in himself formless that very day, and takes the title Kaihuang though he is called Yuanshi — adapting his teaching to the occasion, dispensing the medicine that answers the illness, meeting all without exhaustion, his root never confined to any one place: this is the first, that his essence is limitless. That its virtue is limitless: his essence abides in the primal yang, calm in spirit and still in tranquility, his mouth holding the five colors, his light illuminating the great thousand worlds, able to make those who receive the Dharma, within the pearl, hear the scripture from the Most High — this is the second, that his virtue is limitless. That its majesty is limitless: the sage holds sun and moon in his bosom, sets in order yin and yang, turns back mountains and halts rivers, harmonizes the sequence of the pneumas; a thousand thousand heads cut off, he subdues the demons that trouble; ten thousand ten thousand forms trimmed away, the deviant does not disturb the upright — this is the third, that his majesty is limitless. That its ranks are limitless: if one speaks of ordinary things, all have their ranks and orders, having thereby marks of higher and lower, less and more; but now to make plain that the sage responds to things according to circumstance, is neither high nor low, meets the occasion and follows what is fitting, is neither less nor more, hard to measure by rank of high and low, impossible to grasp by amount of less and more — therefore he is without rank, and being without rank is to be limitless: this is the fourth, that his ranks are limitless. That its sounds are limitless: to make plain that the sage, by preaching without words, preaches without exhaustion, by an echo without sound, echoes without ceasing, causing those through the kalpas to attain understanding, and heaven and humankind to hear and awaken — hence it is said, the hidden words of Great Brahma, the limitless sound, and also called the sound of the midst of heaven: this is what is meant — this is the fifth, that its sounds are limitless. This has set forth the outline in brief; such is its meaning, in short.

　　The above is drawn from the Preface to the Ten Divisions of Dongxuan Lingbao.

　　The Four Ultimates' Bright Codes says: whenever reciting the scripture, one must make mind and eye correspond to one another, the eye not looking about idly, the mind holding no other thought. Every time, when unrolling the scroll and reading the sentences through to the end, one must not stop partway, nor skip over the heavenly sounds — for three such faults one will never attain immortality, and for five or more the soul is condemned to the hells, the three paths, and the five sufferings, for ten thousand kalpas. The Hidden Commentary says: for every five hundred words of the scripture recited, click the teeth three times, run the tongue along the upper and lower lips, and swallow the saliva three times, so that one is not exhausted; kept up over time, the voice grows clear. Not following this method wastes the pneuma and wearies the spirit.

　　The above is drawn from the Preface on the Inner Work of the Heart in the Retreat of Dongxuan Lingbao.

　　Among ordinary people, many recite the Dongxuan Lingbao Limitless Salvation Scripture, and though there are formulas for the visualization and invocation that go with it, few understand the proper order and measure of them. This is now set out fully again, so that it may be known. From beneath the title downward, the true scripture descends from Yuanshi; and since this is what the Lord of the Dao himself praised and elaborated, one should follow the Ten Divisions of Dongxuan. In holding the inner sounds in mind, one must follow the original method throughout. This is now set out in full, as follows.

　　On reading to the words "words of the Dao," follow the text below and hold in mind the invocation of "servant so-and-so." If reciting for oneself, one should not say it; if reciting on another's behalf, one should not omit it — for the heart of a servant does not hold two loyalties at once. If reciting for both oneself and another, one should follow the original text. When this is done, draw in the pneuma thirty-two times, slowly and gently drawing in the pneuma of the thirty-two heavens, and only then recite according to the method. This is precisely the method of Yuanshi's own visualization for Limitless Salvation.

　　In the Chapter on Walking the Way, click the teeth thirty-two times, to be heard by the thirty-two heavens, and bow the heart thirty-two times. One must, one by one, silently recite the names of the heavens, hear the heavens with the heart, and one by one bow with the heart. In bowing with the heart, though the body does not move, one bends and submits inwardly, just as with a bodily bow. All should first practice this until thoroughly familiar, knowing where each heaven lies, so that when the moment comes there is no confusion or disorder. In every case of visualization and invocation, this is the rule throughout.

The Heaven of the August of Great Yellow and the Assembled;
the Heaven of Great Brightness, Jade and Complete;
the Heaven of Clarity and Brightness, He Tong;
the Heaven of Primal Face, Even Nurture;

the Heaven of Primal Brightness, Raising the Text;
the Heaven of the Seven Luminaries, Mo Yi;
the Heaven of Emptiness and Nothingness, Crossing the Balance;
the Heaven of the Great Ultimate, Enshrouded Halcyon.

　　The above eight heavens belong to the Blue Heaven of the Nine Pneumas of the East; recite them starting from the northern head, proceeding south.

The Heaven of Vermilion Brightness, Harmony and Yang;
the Heaven of Primal Brightness, Reverent Flowering;
the Heaven of Bright Luminance, Ancestral Whirling;
the Heaven of Zhu Luo, August Gauze;

the Heaven of Empty Brightness, the Hall of Brightness;
the Heaven of Beholding Brightness, End and Stillness;
the Heaven of Primal Brightness, Reverent Rejoicing;
the Heaven of Great Blazing, Ultimate Jade.

　　The above eight heavens belong to the Vermilion Heaven of the Three Pneumas of the South; recite them starting from the eastern head, proceeding west.

The Heaven of Primal Bearing, Confucian Rising;
the Heaven of Great Peace, August Cliff;
the Heaven of Manifest Settling, Ultimate Wind;
the Heaven of the First August, Filial Fragrance;

the Heaven of Great Yellow, Kingfisher Layers;
the Heaven of No-Thought, River's Following;
the Heaven of Ascending Twine, Yuan Music;
the Heaven of the Limitless, Cloud Oath.

　　The above eight heavens belong to the White Heaven of the Seven Pneumas of the West; recite them starting from the southern head, proceeding north.

The Heaven of White Court, Vast Passage;
the Heaven of Deep Penetration, Primal Cavern;
the Heaven of Distinguished Favor, Wondrous Completion;
the Heaven of Elegant Delight, Forbidding the Upper;

the Heaven of Nothing Above, Constant Melting;
the Heaven of Jade Grandeur, Ascending Triumph;
the Heaven of Dragon Transformation, Brahma's Passage;
the Heaven of Level Nurture, Fine Splendor.

　　The above eight heavens belong to the Black-and-Mysterious Heaven of the Five Pneumas of the North; recite them starting from the western head, proceeding east.

Method for Chanting the Inner Sounds of All the Heavens and Holding Them in Visualization

　　The visualization method of the East, Dan Lou, sixty-four characters. Click the teeth nine times, visualize nine-colored dragons leading and following, and blue clouds nine-fold enfolding the body, and recite the spell:

Vermilion brightness opens the chart,
eight pneumas turning to the real.
All governing the primal pivot —
the Blue Emperor, the great spirit.

Flowing, transforming beyond the nine,
entwined about my very body.
The numinous sound in eight books,
sixty-four chapters entire.

Cavernously bright through heaven and earth,
joined with me into an immortal.
Driving forth the dragon carriage,
ascending to the emperor's shaft.

　　When the spell is done, draw the pneuma in nine times and stop. Practiced for nine years, the eight heavens will each send eight Jade Maidens of the Blue Waist and eight Jade Boys of the Blue Flower to guard and attend the body, bringing the essence of the blue tusk to birth within, the body's light shining forth, penetrating to see through emptiness and nothingness. When ten thousand recitations are complete, the Dao is achieved, and one may fly and walk; seven generations of ancestors share the blessing, and all ascend to the Southern Palace together.

　　The visualization method of the South, Nan Yan, sixty-four characters. Click the teeth three times, visualize the Vermilion Bird and the Phoenix soaring in front, and crimson clouds three-fold enfolding the body, and silently recite the spell:

Three pneumas wheeling to and fro,
the numinous phoenix comes in flight.
Jade sounds in eight characters,
blazing and bright at the Purple Tenuity.

An auspicious day of great rejoicing,
my Dao opens wide and cavernous.
Vermilion cinnabar fed and honeyed,
I look up and drink the numinous radiance.

The body brings forth water and fire,
crimson-clad in feathered robes.
Ascending the void, treading flight,
my feet mount the phoenix stair.

Circling round through the eight heavens,
seven generations of ancestors accompanying me.

　　When the spell is done, draw the pneuma in three times and stop. Practiced for three years, the eight heavens will each send eight Jade Maidens of Great Cinnabar and eight Jade Boys of the Great Sun to guard and attend the body, bringing down the essence of the three pneumas of vermilion cinnabar, turning white hair back and keeping the countenance, unmoved through ten thousand kalpas; seven generations of ancestors rise beyond, entering the Hall of Blessing above, returning to the womb in a royal house, and thereby attaining rebirth.

　　The visualization method of the West, Dao Li, sixty-four characters. Click the teeth seven times, visualize the White Tiger and the Lion leading on left and right, and white clouds seven-fold enfolding the body, and silently recite the spell:

Seven pneumas of golden numen,
the eight heavens' honored spirits.
The White Tiger draws the carriage,
the Lion bears up the shaft.

Seven pneumas entwined about,
refining me into an immortal.
The body ascends into golden light,
mirrored and lit by white cloud.

Within and without transformed and changed,
rising to enter the cavernous gate.
Seven generations of ancestors leave the night,
in the Nine Shades their souls turn about.

Through a hundred million kalpas, salvation opens —
following its course, forever enduring.

　　When the spell is done, draw the pneuma in seven times and stop. Practiced for seven years, the eight heavens will each send eight Jade Boys of White Numen to guard and attend the body, bringing down the essence of the seven pneumas of Great Whiteness, halting the years and keeping the countenance, a child's face through ten thousand kalpas, blessing reaching seven generations of ancestors, ascending and being saved into the Southern Palace, returning to the womb and being reborn, generation after generation into a royal house.

　　The visualization method of the North, Jue Wu, sixty-four characters. Click the teeth five times, visualize flying dragons and feathered canopies thick and dense on left and right, and black clouds five-fold enfolding the body, spirit boys and jade maidens in feathered robes and flying skirts attending before and behind, and silently recite the spell:

The primal heaven wheels to and fro,
flowing radiance rises to Highest Clarity.
Great Existence opens its turning,
eight characters, high and bright.
Flying, primal, clearing the void,
cavernous shade arises of itself.
Five pneumas entwined about,
irrigating my very body.
Capped and girdled at the northern tally,
receiving refinement in cavernous numen.
The kidneys' court issues forth to the north,
within and without, light and essence.
Flying and walking through the Three Realms,
roaming and feasting at the Purple Court.
Seven generations of ancestors rejoice together,
delighting through the years of the kalpa.
Within the forest of the seven treasures,
returning to the womb and reborn again.
Departing forever from the long night,
one's name recorded at the Southern Palace.
On yellow registers and white tallies,
generation after generation, born an immortal.

　　When the spell is done, draw the pneuma in five times and stop. Practiced for five years, the eight heavens will each send eight Jade Boys of the Great Primal to guard and attend the body, bringing down the essence of the numinous moisture's five pneumas, returning the years and keeping one's aspect, preserving one's life-span among the Three Pure Ones, blessing reaching seven generations of ancestors, generation after generation born as an immortal.

　　The above is drawn from the Lingbao Scripture in Jade Characters.

　　Whenever one holds this Scripture of Salvation, the methods of the six visualizations and invocations are laid out complete as above.

Pronunciation and Meaning

Dao gu ("words of the Dao"): the Most High Lord of the Dao made the preface for this scripture, hence it is throughout called "the Dao's own words." Shi qing tian zhong ("in the midst of the first blue heaven"): this is the heaven of the northeast. Fu li ("Fuli"): 土 is pronounced du. Liang ("measure"): read in the departing tone. Wu yang ("without limit"): fanqie yu-yang; it names the boundary that encircles heaven. Yu bo ("dense and roiling"): read as written. Yin (瘖, "mute"): pronounced yin; an illness in which one cannot speak, said of the yin. Bo (跛, "lame"): fanqie bo-wo; an ailment of the foot. E (痾, "sickness"): pronounced jiu; an illness, an ache. Gu (痼, "chronic"): pronounced chen; the look of one long stricken and grown distant because of it. Fan ("return"): fanqie fu-yuan. Bobo ("roiling"): pronounced fu. Kuosan ("dispersed wide"): fanqie si-gan. Jian du ("overseeing the crossing"): the first character read jian. Cu xi ("coarse and complete"): fanqie zu-gu. Shu ("suddenly"): pronounced shu. Xu (欻, "abruptly"): fanqie xu-wu. Zhong shang ("wounded within"): zhong read in the departing tone. Zeng ("hatred"): fanqie zi-neng. [An unclear character]: pronounced ji. Jing shi chu jiao ("the scripture first went forth as teaching"): some say "Yuanshi went forth as teaching" — this is an error. Zang ("hidden away"): fanqie si-lang. Xuan ji ("the Turning Pivot"): xuan above, ji below — these are the four stars of the Northern Dipper's bowl. Bu xing ("not moving"): pronounced heng. Shi (屍, "corpse"): also written 尸, meaning the dead. Sang ("mourning"): fanqie xi-yi. Wei wei zhi tian ("the heaven where majesty has not yet been established"): the sentence ends here. Yi zeng ("a hundred million-fold"): zeng pronounced zeng (as in "hatred," above). Shang ("above"): read in the level tone. Shi jie ("corpse liberation"): to feign death and hide one's form, secretly perfecting the body into an immortal within. Chang yi ("long in service"): fanqie ying-zhi. Duan di ("cutting off the earth"): fanqie tu-guan. Chang wei ("long to be"): fanqie gan-wei. Wei di wang ("to be emperor and king"): read with the tone of "the correct position." Weng ming ("dense and dark"): fanqie wu-kong. Shi zhe ("the envoy"): fanqie shi-shi. Da fan ("Great Brahma"): the eight heavens above the sun and moon. Miao miao jie ren ("vast, vast through kalpas of knives"): miao means boundless and dim. San hua ("Three Flowerings"): read in the level tone. Li bian ("convenient departure"): the bian of "convenience." Sen ("dense growth"): fanqie suo-cen. Jing hong ("clear and vast"): pronounced hong. Da xing ("great conduct"): pronounced heng. Du e ("crossing the strait"): pronounced e. Can ("attendant steed"): pronounced can. Jian zhen ("overseeing the perfected"): the first character read jian. Ying du ("answering the crossing"): pronounced xiang. Yu lan ("dense and ragged"): pronounced lan. Tian huai ("calm and at rest"): the first character pronounced tian, the second fanqie wu-wai. Huang jia ("august sedan"): pronounced jia. Wan li ("winding and dim"): the first character fanqie yu-yuan, the second pronounced li (low tone). Ruan yue ("Ruan Music"): pronounced yue. Bo bei ("roiling reversal"): pronounced pei. Tan ("Tan"): pronounced tan. Xiu le ("elegant joy"): pronounced luo. Zong jian ("overall oversight"): pronounced jian. Xing yuan ("conducted afar"): the second character read in the falling tone. "Today, joyfully blessed to receive salvation": the sentence ends here. Dan shi ("picul-weight"): fanqie duo-gan. Gu cong ("beating drums, following along"): pronounced congo Youguan ("touring and beholding"): pronounced guan. Xian ting ("all hearkening"): pronounced ting. Xing ("primal turbulence"): fanqie hu-ding. Shi tian ("to make the heavens"): pronounced shi. Yi shi wu fen ("one part in ten thousand five"): fanqie fu-wen. Shang wen zhu tian ("heard above by all the heavens"): some read it with the character "gate" — this is an error. Zhan guo ("beheading and taking the ear"): fanqie gu-bo, the punishment of removing the ear. Le xi ("joy, ah"): pronounced luo throughout below as well. Guo zhi ("passing beyond it"): pronounced guo (falling tone). Bie zhen ("parting from the perfected"): pronounced bie (falling tone). Xie tui ("slackening and withdrawing"): fanqie gu-ai. Yun ceng ("clouds in layers"): pronounced ceng. Yi xie ("changing what is deviant"): pronounced yi. Bu le ("not joyful"): pronounced wu-jiao. De guo ("attaining its passing"): pronounced ge. Jiu ge ("the old pattern"): some read it as "its pattern" — this is an error. Pi zhong ("the negative comes to its end"): pronounced bi. Xiu ("abundant"): pronounced xiu, meaning grand and flourishing. "All who share this calamity share the same pneuma": the sentence ends here. Wei ("to be" / "for the sake of"): pronounced wei (falling tone). Hao fen ("a hair's difference"): fanqie fu-wen. Dan ("Dan"): dan, upper tone. Hui: pronounced wu-wai. He: pronounced hu-wai. Guan yin ("beholding the sound"): pronounced guan. Hui zhi ("wheeling about"): pronounced zhi. Nan yan ("Southern Yan"): pronounced yan. Shen shen ("thick and dense"): Yan Gong's commentary reads it as "washed and washed." Tui qian ("pushing forward"): pronounced chui. Zhuo luo: the first character read duo, the second he. Yuan zhan ("circling and turning"): fanqie zhi-lian. Xiao yu: pronounced yu. Yi miao ("changing to dimness"): pronounced yi. Jue ("to seize"): fanqie ju-huo. Dong fu ("east and covering"): fanqie fang-mao. Zong jian ("overall oversight"): pronounced jian (as above). Bu bi ("not opening"): pronounced bi. Da liang xuan xuan ("great and boundless, mysterious and mysterious"): to call it "limitless" (无量, wuliang) is an error.

　　This scripture was received by the Most High Great Lord of the Dao from Yuanshi Tianzun, and transmitted by him as a teaching to the world. The Lord of the Dao composed a front preface, a back preface, and a middle preface — three prefaces in all. The front preface runs from "the Dao's own words, in the past, at" down to "facing east and reciting the scripture," which is this. The middle preface runs from "the song of the Three Realms' chapter" onward — these two chapters together reach as far as "cavernously bright, the utmost words," which is this. The back preface runs from "among all these heavens" down to "great and boundless, mysterious and mysterious," which is this. The scripture itself has two chapters: from "Yuanshi, cavernous and mysterious" down to "arrayed in words, ascend to Clarity" is the former; and the latter chapter, from "the primal cavern, the jade calendar" down to "calamity reaching the seven generations of forebears," is this. The Hidden Words of Great Brahma are not counted among these two chapters — some take the scripture itself as one chapter and the hidden words as a second, but this too is an error. The middle preface says: recite the scripture ten thousand times, and one may thereby attain the Dao — "cavernously bright, the utmost words." This, then, is the hidden language, mysterious and profound, and it should be understood that it does not fall within the two chapters of the scripture proper. Let those who read and recite it hold this in mind with faith and no doubt: when the merit is full and the Dao complete, understanding will come of itself, and heaven and humankind will share the same blessing, the living and the departed alike receiving its grace — how can one not set one's will to it, how can one not strive at it! The Record of Numinous Verifications of the Mysterious Gate and the Collected Record of Verifications of the Daoist Gate both carry accounts of those who attained verification by holding this scripture; may those who have penetrated to the truth diligently practice it.

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 prose throughout except for five sets of four-character spells (呪), which are kept as verse with their original line divisions; the long central paragraph unpacking the title character by character, and the closing account of the scripture's three prefaces and two chapters, are rendered as continuous prose following the source's own paragraphing, marked at each turn by the source's own citation formula "右出…" ("the above is drawn from…"), which is kept as a plain sentence rather than converted into a modern footnote. The pronunciation-and-meaning glossary (音義) — a list of fanqie 反切 spellings and brief glosses for rare characters in the scripture — has been translated entry by entry as continuous prose in the order the source gives them; because a fanqie spelling only reconstructs a Middle Chinese sound and has no equivalent in English, each entry is rendered as "[character], fanqie [X]-[Y]" or "pronounced [reading]," with the semantic gloss added in English where the source gives one. One character in the glossary section could not be identified with confidence in the transcription used and is marked in the translation as "[An unclear character]"; this reflects a gap in the digital witness text, not an unencodable character in the original woodblock.

A genuine translation-status check was performed before the claim below was written. The two local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western-language translation — Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud survey of Daoist texts in Western languages — were grepped for this text's Chinese title, its pinyin, and its DZ number; both list a published English translation of the Duren jing itself (Stephen R. Bokenkamp, in Early Daoist Scriptures, 1997) but neither lists any translation of this separate ritual-and-glossary companion text. Two web searches were then run, for the Chinese title and for the romanized title together with "translation." Both searches turned up Chinese-language descriptions of the text (confirming its attribution to Zhang Wanfu, its DZ 95 placement, and its two-part jue/yinyi structure) but no published English translation of it. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of the Dongxuan Lingbao Wuliang Duren Jing Jue Yinyi. We state this as the limit of our search, not as a certainty.

A note on terms. 劫 (jie), the Buddhist aeon, is kept as "kalpa," the loanword the Chinese text already uses; this text, like the Duren Jing it serves, wears its Buddhist borrowings openly. The thirty-two heaven-names in the "Chapter on Walking the Way" section are transliterated character-glosses rather than idiomatic English — they function in the source as ritual proper names to be recited, not as descriptive phrases, and are translated compound by compound to preserve their form as names.

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

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Source Text: 洞玄靈寶無量度人經訣音義

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

凡持太上洞玄靈寶无量十部尊經，東向前三禮，北向立左轉東向，叩齒三十六通。思五色雲氣覆滿一室，青龍白虎，師子玄武，朱雀鳳凰，備守前後，玉女仙童，五帝神官，神仙兵馬九億萬眾，營衛左右。便搖身三過而誦經竟，當從南面下肺，禮如初。

　　右出金錄簡文經。

　　凡開靈蘊，誦經之時，皆當燒香，整具法服，禮經如法，誦呪曰：

寂寂至无宗，虛峙劫刃阿。豁落洞玄文，誰測此幽遐。

一入大乘路，孰計年劫多。不生亦不滅，欲生因蓮華。

超浚三界徒，慈心解世羅。真人无上德，世世為仙家。

　　右出太極寶訣。持生神章經亦同此上呪及法 o

　　《太上洞玄靈寶无量度人上品妙經》者，斯乃人法雙舉，總別俱舍，太上一代之法王，道君宣經之化主。洞玄靈寶是十部之總題，无量度人為一軸之別目。太者，極大之嘉名。上者，窮高之美稱。窮高則居上无頂，極大則物莫能過。欲明聖人體貴德尊，窮理盡妙，轉迴靡測，難可思議，故云太上。洞者，虛通不滯，豁達无為，營覽清遙，顯暢遐徹。玄者，沖微邃遠，妙寂湛然，理致杳冥，幽原眇邈。靈者，精用朗掙，智照圓明，將應變盡性之宜，實慧周萬機之境。寶者，珍奇挺秀，尊貴加榮，布象則天地成形，貸炁則含生化育。无量度人者。无是不有之目，量是數極之名，度以濟彼為言，人以物類成稱。斯乃濟度天人，極无數量，凡厥昇進，俱入妙門，成就有心，使歸无相。上品妙經者，此經始於无始，最為先說，眾品之內，標之其上，元宗常湛，故曰妙經。尋斯旨趣，義含无量，就明无量，自有五意。一者體无量，二者德无量，三者威无量，四者品无量，五者音无量。體无量者，但天尊宗源久遠，本自難知，或真應兩身，權實二智，是以託名龍漢，即日无形，設號開皇，乃稱元始，隨機設教，逐病與藥，周應不窮，元乎不在，此第一體元量也。德无量者，體處元陽，恬神靜漠，口含五色，光照大千，能使受法珠中，聞經太上，此第二德无量也。威无量者，聖人懷藏日月，推定陰陽，迴山駐流，調和炁序，千千截首，制伏祆魔，萬萬翦形，邪不擾正，此第三威无量也。品无量者，若論凡物，皆有品第，即有高下少多之目，今明聖人應物隨緣，非高非下，赴機逐便，不少不多，難可以高下格量，无能以少多所得，是以无品，品則无量，此第四品元量也。音元量者，明聖人以无言之說，說則不窮，无聲之響，響則无絕，使歷劫解悟，人天曉聞，故云大梵隱語，无量之音，又云天中之音，斯之謂也，此第五音无量也。略陳梗概，其意云爾。

　　右出洞元靈寶十部經序。

　　《四極明科》曰：凡誦經，當令心目相應，目无妄視，心无異念。每使披卷言句周竟，不得中住，越略天音，三犯萬不得仙，五犯已上，死充地獄三塗五苦萬劫之中。《隱注》曰：讀經五百言，則叩齒三下，以舌舐上下脣，咽液三過，令人不極，久而聲清，不如此法，損氣勞神也。

　　右出洞玄靈寶齋內事心業序

　　人間多讀誦《洞玄靈寶元量度人經》，雖有祝想之訣，而罕解節度，今復具言，庶可得知。自題以下降元始正經，既是道君叔贊，宜依洞玄十部。存念內音，自須依本法。今具列之如左。

　　讀至道言，次依下文，存思祝誦臣及甲乙。若自為，不宜云，及為人，不宜云，臣心不兼二故也。若為己及人，宜依本文。畢，引炁三十二過，須徐徐引取三十二天之炁，然後依法誦之。此正是元始元量度人存念法也。

　　行道章，叩齒三十二通，上聞三十二天，心拜三十二過。須一一依口密誦天名，心聞諸天，一一心拜。心拜，形雖不動，隨心屈伏，如身禮也。皆先習精熟，知天所在，无令臨事致得，遲迴不次。凡存念祝誦，悉皆如此也。

太黃皇曾天，太明玉完天，清明何童天，元臉平育天，

元明文舉天，七曜摩夷天，虛无越衡天，太極濛翳天。

　　右八天位係東方九炁青天，從北頭為始南行也。

赤明和陽天，元明恭華天，曜明宗飄天，竺落皇笳天，

虛明堂曜天，觀明端靜天，元明恭慶天，太煥極瑤天。

　　右八天位係南方三炁丹天，從東頭起西行。

元載孔昇天，太安皇崖天，顯定極風天，始皇孝芒天，

太黃翕重天，无思江由天，上揲阮樂天，无極曇誓天。

　　右八天位係西方七炁素天，從南頭為始北行。

皓庭霄度天，淵通元洞天，翰寵妙成天，秀樂禁上天，

无上常融天，玉隆騰勝天，龍變梵度天，平育賈奕天。

　　右八天位係北方五黑玄天，從西頭始東行。

誦諸天內音存念法

　　東亶婁六十四字存念法。叩齒九通，思九色之龍導引前後，青雲九重覆匝身形，呪曰：

赤明開圖，八炁迴真。總統元關，青帝大神。

流化九外，纏綿我身。靈音八書，六十四篇。

洞明天地，與我合仙。運致龍駕，上昇帝轅。

　　呪畢，引炁九咽止。行之九年，八天各以青腰玉女、青華玉童各八人，侍衛身形，致青牙之精，生身光明，徹見虛无。萬遍道成，即得飛行，七祖同福，皆昇南宮也。

　　南南爓六十四字存念法。叩齒三通，思朱雀鳳凰翱翔其前，絳雲三重覆匝身形，密呪曰：

三炁徘徊，靈鳳來飛。玉音八字，爓煥紫微。

吉日大慶，我道洞開。朱丹哺飴，仰吸靈暉。

身生水火，絳被羽衣。登空飛步，足踐鳳梯。

周旋八天，七祖相隨。

　　呪畢，引炁三咽止。行之三年，八天各以太丹玉女、太陽玉童各八人，侍衛身形，降致朱丹三炁之精，反白留容，萬劫不傾，七祖超昇，上入福堂，反胎王家，即得更生。

　　西刀利六十四字存念法。叩齒七通，思白虎師子導引左右，素雲七重覆匝身形，密呪曰：

七炁金靈，八天尊神。白虎策輦，師子捧轅。

七炁纏綿，鍊我成仙。身登金光，映照素雲。

內外變化，昇入洞門。七祖出夜，九幽旋魂。

億劫開度，隨運長存。

呪畢引炁七咽止。行之七年，八天各以素靈玉童八人侍衛身形，降致太素七炁之精，停年留貌，萬劫童顏，慶及七祖，昇度南宮，反胎更生，世世王門。

北玃无六十四字存念法，叩齒五通，思飛龍羽蓋蓊鬱左右，黑雲五重覆匝身形，神童玉女羽衣飛裳，侍衛前後，密呪曰：

元天徘徊，流景上清。大有啟運，八字高明。飛元澄空，洞陰自生。五炁纏綿，灌我身形。冠帶北單，受鍊洞靈。腎府北出，內外光精。飛行三界，遊宴紫庭。七祖同慶，歡樂劫齡。七寶林中，反胎更生。長夜出離，南宮記名。黃籙白簡，世世生仙。

　　呪畢，引炁五咽止。行之五年，八天各以太元玉童各八人，侍衛身形，降致靈滋五炁之精，還年留景，保命三清，慶及七祖，世世生仙。

　　右出靈寶玉字經。

　　凡持此度人經，六度存念祝誦法具件如前。

音義

道古 太上道君為此經序，故皆云道言也。 始青天中 東北之天是也。 浮黎 土 音杜。 量 良去。 无鞅 於仰切，天圍限也。 鬱勃 如字。 瘖 音因，疾不言，陰之謂也。 跛 博我切，足疾也。 痾 音久，疾阿也。 痼 音沈，困久故遠之貌。 返 府遠切。 勃勃 音拂。 廓散 思幹切。 監度 上音緘。 粗悉 祖沽切。 倏 音叔。 欻 許物切。 中傷 中去。 憎 子能切。 @ 音忌。 經始出教 或云元始出教，誤也。 藏 似郎切。 璿機 上旋下機，北斗魁四星是也。 不行 音衡。 屍 或作尸死。 喪 息依切。 威未制天 句絕。 億曾 音憎。 上 常去。 尸解 肯託形隱化，內賈身成仙也。 長役 營隻切。 斷地 徒管切。 長為 干偽切。 為帝王 音正月位同。 蓊冥 烏孔切。 使者 師事切。 大梵 日月之上八天也。 眇眇劫刃 眇茫也。 三華 平聲。 離便 方便之便。 森 所岑切。 淨霐 音泓。 大行 音衡。 度戹 音厄。 驂 音參。 監真 音緘。 應度 音響。 鬱繿 音藍。 恬懀 上音甜，下烏外切。 皇笳 音加。 宛黎 上於遠切，下力低切。 阮樂 音岳。 勃悖 音沛。 曇 音潭。 秀樂 音洛。總監 音鑒。 行元 下孟切。 今日欣慶受度 句。 擔石 多甘切。 鼓從 詞用切。 遊觀 音貫。 咸聽 音汀。 涬 胡頂切。 使天 音史。 一十五分 扶問切。 上聞諸天 或云關字，誤也。 斬馘 古伯切，去耳之刑。 樂兮 音洛；下同。 過之 古臥切。 別真 彼月切。 懈退 古隘切。 雲嶒 音層。 易邪 以致切。 不樂 五教切。 得過 音戈。 舊格 或云其格，誤也。 否終 音彼。 烋 音休，盛大貌。 凡有此灾同氣 句。 為 音位。 毫分 符問切。 亶 丹上。 薈　 烏外切。 惒　 胡外切。 觀音　 音貫。 迴蹠　 音隻。 南爓　 音艷。 詵詵　 嚴公註云洗洗。 推前　 音吹。 凙洛　 上鐸下郝。 緣邅　 陟連切。 蕭嵎　 音愚。 易邈 音亦。 攫　 居縛切。 東覆　 方茂切。 總監　 音鑒。 不辟　 音壁。 大量玄玄　 云元量者，誤也。

　　此經太上大道君受之於元始天尊，傳教於世。道君為前序、後序、中序，凡有三序焉。前序自道言昔於至東向誦經是也，中序自三界之歌章之後，此二章並是至洞明至言也是也。後序自此諸天中至大量玄玄也是也。經有二章，自元始洞玄至列言上清，且後章自元洞玉曆訖禍及七祖翁是也。其大梵隱語非其二章之數，或以經為章，隱為二章，此亦誤矣。中序云：誦經萬徧，乃能得道。洞明至言，此則隱語玄奧，不在經文二章之列可知矣。讀誦之士，當心信无疑，功滿道備，自當洞曉，人天同福，存歿沾恩，可不志哉，可不勉哉。玄門靈驗記、道門集驗記，持此經得驗記，皆有傳載，通真之士，勤而行之。

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 洞玄靈寶無量度人經訣音義, revision of 13 July 2009), 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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