Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Tianzun Shuo Jiuku Miaojing Zhujie — spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, with the commentary of Dongyangzi

This is a short Daoist salvation scripture (the Jiuku Miaojing, "Wondrous Scripture on Salvation from Suffering") together with a full running commentary, preserved in the Daoist Canon. The base scripture is spoken in the voice of the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure (Língbǎo Tiānzūn), one of the Three Purities, here also identified with the Most High Lord of the Dao; it promises rescue from suffering — read by the commentator not only as rescue of the dead from the underworld but as every living being's liberation from the round of birth and death. The scripture itself is brief, built from four-character lines; the commentary that surrounds it, by a certain Dongyangzi of the Daoshen Hermitage, is many times longer, and reads the scripture as a manual of inner cultivation — reinterpreting its imagery of clouds, mist, gates, and doors as the body's own breath, points, and centers. A preface by one Zhou Zhun, styled Baozhenzi of Jinjiang, records that Dongyangzi wrote the commentary after they met at West Lake in Wuyi. Neither man's dates are given in the text; the exact century of composition is not stated and this translation does not guess at it.

The scripture proper is short verse in four-character lines; the commentary is continuous prose, each portion following the scripture words it explains. This translation keeps that alternation: each line or phrase of the base scripture is set as a heading in bold, followed by its commentary below. Where the commentary quotes older scriptures by name (the Huangting Jing, the Duren Jing, the Zhen'gao, and others), those titles are given in English with the Chinese noted once.

A note on one word: the Chinese here writes 炁 rather than the ordinary 氣 for "qi," a graphic distinction some Daoist texts draw between the primordial, uncreated breath and the breath of ordinary respiration. This translation renders both as "qi," letting context (and the commentary's own explanations) carry the distinction, but flags it here for the reader.

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 commentary.

Translation

Preface

The way of long life and lasting sight lies in refining the qi and nourishing the spirit, the two practiced together. Yet the work of refining and nourishing is rooted in a single mind: if the mind can be diligently cultivated, why should one fear failing to learn immortality? The Declarations of the Perfected says: "Becoming an immortal is a study of the mind" — how deep a teaching this is. I have long admired the cultivation of the real, but had not met a superior man who could truly understand life and death and penetrate nature and destiny, one before whom I might kneel and ask. Recently, traveling to the West Lake of Wuyi, I chanced upon Lü of Siming; at our first meeting we took to each other joyfully, and settled a friendship among the mist and vines. So I brought him back with me and lodged him in my quiet hall.

Master Lü, styled Dongyangzi, had in his youth met a Realized One, and had set his mind wholly on the learning of Zhuangzi and Laozi, ranging widely through the books of the immortals, so that there was nothing asked of him he did not know. One day he said to me: "In the world there is a scripture called the Scripture on Salvation from Suffering. It is in truth the secret purport of the Great Cavern, the hidden word of the highest Way. Because it is deep and obscure, its wondrous principle hard to fathom, it has been handed down from antiquity without its meaning ever having been made plain. I wish to exhaust what I have stored up and set forth its meaning."

Before long the book was complete, ten thousand words flowing on. First it makes clear the single point; it shows that the auspicious clouds and propitious mist are the Great Harmony; it distinguishes the Gate of Life and the Door of Death as the Mysterious Female; it divides the clear and the turbid of the twofold qi; it judges the fire-talismans of samadhi; it takes the Muddy Pellet as the place to which the immortal's realized nature returns, and the returning of the heavenly qi above as the place where the treasure of destiny gathers. In sum it discourses on the pivot and essentials of the highest Way, gathering it all within — not merely warning the unlearned and benefiting later students, but making a person thoroughly understand cultivation and silently recognize the workings of Heaven. How could this be set beside empty words and showy, vain writing?

Ah — the wondrous Way and utmost words of this scripture, long obscured and unclear, are made manifest today. The Honored Ones of the Heavens set forth their teaching to broadly save; those they call "the suffering" are not only the suffering, bewildered souls of the shades — what they save is every living being under all Heaven. They wish every person to embody the Way, all to leave the paths of delusion, to make clear the transparency of the gourd-heaven, and awaken to the non-action of true nature; and then, taking in the qi of Heaven, stealing the emptiness of the Void, knotting the sagely embryo, and penetrating spirit-intelligence, causing form and spirit to become wondrous, they ascend in broad daylight — this is called the great man's transcending the bounds of the age, escaping the calamity of the Three Realms' transmigration; only then is it truly called saving from suffering.

How great it is! Transcending death and delivering the living — nothing surpasses this scripture. Whoever meets this commentary and holds fast to it without letting go will surely see himself attain the Way.

Respectfully prefaced by Zhou Zhun, Baozhenzi of Jinjiang.

The Wondrous Scripture on Salvation from Suffering, Spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure of the Cavern of Mystery, of the Most High — with Commentary
Commentary by Dongyangzi of the Daoshen Hermitage

Commentary on the Title

The Most High

Tai is the name of the utmost great; shang is the title of the honored and revered. Because it began above the Great Change and the Great Origin, it is called "the Most High." Now the Great Change is that in which qi has not yet appeared — the first qi of the Primordial Beginning not yet seen. The Great Change changed and became the Great Origin: the Great Origin is the beginning of qi. The primal, prior qi of Heaven first showed the faintest trace. The Great Origin changed and became the Great Beginning: the Great Beginning is the beginning of form — gradually there was the form of the primal qi. The Great Beginning changed and became the Great Simplicity: the Great Simplicity is the beginning of substance — the form and substance of the primal qi were now complete. The Great Simplicity changed and became the Great Ultimate: the Great Ultimate is chaos — vast and dim, shaped like a hen's egg, within it an essence, spread through without bound, the primal qi congealed while clear and turbid were not yet divided. Once the Great Ultimate had changed, chaos opened and the murk split apart; then the clear, yang qi rose to become Heaven, and the turbid, yin qi sank to become Earth. The Yijing says, "The Great Ultimate generates the Two Modes" — this is it. The Two Modes generate the Three Powers: that is, the qi that is neither turbid nor clear, the central-harmonizing qi, knotted together to form the human order. This is what is meant by "the Dao generates the One" — the chaos of the one qi; "the One generates the Two" — the clear and turbid of the two modes; "the Two generate the Three" — the human order of the three powers; and after that "the Three generate the ten thousand things."

The ten thousand things begin from Heaven and Earth; Heaven and Earth cannot possess themselves — what possesses Heaven and Earth is the Great Ultimate. The Great Ultimate cannot generate itself — what generates the Great Ultimate is the Great Simplicity. The Great Simplicity cannot nurture itself — what nurtures the Great Simplicity is the Great Beginning. The Great Beginning cannot conceive itself — what conceives the Great Beginning is the Great Origin. Before there was the Great Origin, there was first the Great Change. Now "the Most High" means what began above the Great Origin and the Great Change — this is the greatness that has no greater, hence "Tai"; it rises higher than the eight bounds of the compass, hence "Shang." Furthermore, tai also means "utmost," and shang means "high": it says that the wondrous meaning of this scripture is utmost and high, beyond which nothing surpasses.

Long ago the sages fashioned this character tai 太: its graph is composed of ren (person) over yi (one) with a dot. For a person to attain the One is called being great; a great person able to stand alone, upright, constantly correct in this one dot, may be joined to the whole body of the Most High. This one dot spans past and present alike, neither born nor destroyed; in the Way it is called the primal spirit; in Confucianism it is called the true nature; in Buddhism it is called the original coming. In the eye it is able to see; in the ear, to hear; in the nose, to smell; in the tongue, to taste; in the hand, to grasp and hold; in the foot, to walk. Down to speech and silence, motion and stillness, a thousand turnings and ten thousand changes — never has it failed to reach spirit-intelligence through this one dot. Thus Lord Lao's refining and nourishing was only ever the nourishing of this one dot; Zhuang Zhou's parables spoke only ever of this one dot; the Duke of Zhou's looking-up-in-thought thought only ever of this one dot; Confucius's stilling of the heart stilled only ever this one dot; the Tathagata's great awakening awakened only ever to this one dot; the patriarchs' transmission from one to another transmitted only ever this one dot.

The common people use it daily and do not know it: outwardly stirred by sound and form, inwardly sunk in craving and desire, by day following passion and love, by night chasing dream-flight, thought and clinging grasping at everything, never resting even a moment. When this one dot is not correct, the mind's shadow is constantly askew, drawn out by passion and desire until it goes outward — so it forms the character da (great, i.e. exaggerated, gone out of bounds), which speaks of drifting and turning in the wheel of transmigration, or even becoming an animal.

As for the graph of shang 上: it is composed of bu (to divine, to reckon) over yi (one). Bu means "to reckon"; the "one" is one's nature. He who can reckon this one nature of his and be humble enough to dwell below others is a superior man. The rivers and seas, by lying below the hundred valleys, become king of the hundred valleys; a small state, by placing itself below a great state, wins the great state. This is why Confucius went down to question the fisherman. Now if a person humbling himself is not sincere, he will not attain the real — though a well be a thousand fathoms deep, in drawing its water one draws only from the surface. So the sage does not descend unless he is also to rise. Hence it is said: the noble takes the humble as its root, the high takes the low as its foundation. Know then that one who never places himself before others but constantly follows them, who puts his own person last and so comes to stand first — this is humility honored and made bright: it is the way the Realized One conducts himself in the world. So it is said: reckoning this one and dwelling below is what makes a superior man; the principle is plain.

But if this one nature of a man's own reckoning becomes instead self-conceit, self-boasting, self-approval, self-display, delighting to stand above others — then this is to be a lesser man. But if instead one's body is joined with the Great Void, utterly without self, if what is called "the one dot" forgets both inner and outer, casts off both high and low alike — this is the Way of utmost sagehood. It may be said: one's own self is the Three Purities — why toil to gaze upward for them? One's own self is the Most High — why toil to seek without?

The Cavern of Mystery

Dong means "to penetrate through." Above it penetrates Heaven, below it penetrates Earth; within it, the divine immortals move darkly to and fro. Under Heaven there are ten great caverns and thirty-six small caverns, dwelling within the vastness of the Great Void; none of them fail to penetrate one another, cavern joined to cavern. It is only that when the immortal sages gather they take on form, and when they disperse they become qi, naturally coming and going through the void, without obstruction. So the sage takes the far things from other beings and the near things from his own body. Within a single human body, too, there are caverns. The head has nine palaces, above them the empty Heaven — together the ten great cavern-heavens; the spinal column has twenty-four joints, together twelve towers — together the thirty-six caverns. Above they penetrate to the nine heavens through the Muddy Pellet; below they reach through to the nine earths at the tailbone; within, the real qi moves darkly to and fro. So the sage, in the utmost stillness of emptiness, turns the pivot of the Dipper, spirit penetrating and qi opening through, joining above with Heaven — this is what is called the three palaces rising and falling, coming and going above and below without end.

Moreover the single character dong is made of shui (water) beside tong (same, together): that is, "cavern" and "water" are the same. Now the water of the great sea, the flow of the eight cords, the nine wilds, and the River of Heaven — draw from it and it is not exhausted, pour into it and it does not fill; vast and boundless, without shore or edge, its depths cannot be measured. So one who forges the Way proceeds from the coarse to the fine, from the fine to the subtle; when the subtle is exhausted one then reaches the wondrous, and when the wondrous is exhausted one then reaches the mysterious — and when the Way is mysterious, there is nothing it does not penetrate. So "cavern" names what cannot be fathomed for its depth, and "mystery" names what cannot be exhausted for its subtlety. It says that this hidden purport is distant and deep, deep as a Cavern of Mystery — were it not for one born ready for the Jade Void, who could penetrate it?

The Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure Speaks the Wondrous Scripture on Salvation from Suffering

The Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure is the Most High Lord of the Dao. Spoken of in terms of the body: the numinous is spirit, the treasure is qi, and the physical form is the dwelling-house of the numinous treasure. Now a person's ears and eyes are the gates of the primal spirit: by day the mind wakes and spirit wanders to the ears; by night the eyes close and spirit returns to the Crimson Palace. Ordinary people see and hear outwardly, so spirit wanders outward, meeting sound and form, stirred within; spirit's nature turns into passion, passion is caught and entangled, so the mind holds thoughts, its movement clings, by day it imagines and by night it dreams, restlessly racing on. Racing after desires without limit, the hundred numina grow weary in their labor and disperse, and the dwelling-house, without its treasure, crumbles. All this comes from using spirit outwardly and being unable to guard it within. But the Utmost Person forgets all methods and guards only spirit: the eyes look inward and spirit's light kindles in the Jade Tower; the ears hear inward and the wondrous tone resounds in the Chamber of Carnelian; spirit's hall is vastly settled, not one thought arises, wisdom and calm nourish each other, and in time the Way becomes numinous, reaching above to Heaven and coiling below through Earth, the six penetrations and four openings, its wondrous use without limit, transformation unmoved by it, yin and yang unable to fathom it — so one can ride the shadow-light and mount the whirlwind, ascend to the real and join the Way, all of it flowing from spirit's nature. Can this not be called numinous?

Now a person's nose and mouth are the door through which the treasure of destiny goes in and out, breath by breath joined to Heaven and Earth, the place through which primal qi comes and goes: each exhalation lets out grain-qi, each inhalation lets in primal qi — the mechanism of not dying, the essential of long life, lies truly hidden here. Ordinary people, their minds racing outward, their passions impatient and their qi hurried, breathe from the throat; the embryonic origin scatters and disperses, the real qi withers, the qi is exhausted and destiny ends — is this not to be pitied? Only the Utmost Person deeply reaches the source of transformation, breathes the qi of Great Harmony, seizes back the root and returns to the origin, returns to the root and restores destiny, breathing from the heel. Nothing is more a treasure than qi; one who reaches this principle makes the Muddy Pellet and Jade Tower the roost of his spirit, and the gate of Mystery and door of the Female the place where he gathers in his qi. Qi controls spirit, spirit gathers in qi; mother and child guard each other, nature and destiny merge as one — and then the myriad spirits do not scatter, and so become numinous; the one qi congeals and becomes treasure — this is called the numinous treasure of a single body.

Now the suffering of living beings is nowhere greater than in the transmigration of birth and death. The Celestial Worthy, in great compassion, expounds this cavern-wondrous teaching, opening the gate of what was closed and stopped, pointing the road of brightness; those who understand and awaken through it escape birth and death, forever free of transmigration — hence it is called "saving from suffering." A "scripture" (jing) is a path (jing), and it is constant (chang); it means to make those who study the higher way walk this path constantly.

The Scripture, with Commentary

At that time the Celestial Worthy Who Saves from Suffering,

The Celestial Worthy is the primal qi itself. His dharma-body is without form; qi accumulates and becomes the real. He is the Honored One among the Heavens; when it gathers it forms a body, when it disperses it becomes qi again.

pervading and filling the ten directions of the world,

The primal qi is so great nothing is outside it, so fine nothing is beyond its entering; in the valley it fills the valley, in the pit it fills the pit, spreading to the eight bounds, nowhere that it is not present — hence "pervading and filling the ten directions of the world."

constantly by his awesome, spirit-like power rescues and delivers all living beings,

Now nothing has awesome, spirit-like power greater than the primal qi; the workings of the primal qi alone hold the power of transformation. "Living beings" means the four modes of birth — from the womb, from the egg, from moisture, from transformation — down to flowers and plants, birds and beasts, fish and turtles, all that creeps and flies and stirs, sentient or not: all are nourished into being by the primal qi. So while the primal qi remains, softness and weakness are fed and there is life; when the primal qi departs, hardness and stiffness wither and there is death. Laozi said: "The soft and weak are companions of life; the hard and stiff are companions of death." Whatever has shape, form, sound, or color is a thing; all of it, having obtained the primal qi, afterward lives — hence "rescues and delivers all living beings."

that they may escape from the paths of delusion. Living beings, unaware,
are like the blind who see sun and moon.

Living beings, steeped in sound, form, and craving, are thereby caught within the paths of delusion, quite unaware that fish are in water and water is in fish, that man is in qi and qi is in man; when fish lose water they die, when man loses qi he perishes. A fish large enough to swallow a boat, stranded and losing water, can be tormented by ants; so it is said, a fish cannot escape its depths, a man cannot leave his qi. A fish that can breathe in and out and turn into water does not die; a man who can breathe in and out and turn into qi lives long. The whole world knows only to eat grain, meat, fruit, and vegetable to nourish life, and does not know that grain, meat, fruit, and vegetable are things that kill the body — for what has form belongs to yin, being the essence of earth, while only the primal qi belongs to yang. Moreover a person, exhaling, sends qi out three inches; inhaling, draws qi in three inches; one exhalation and one inhalation make one breath; in a day and a night there are thirteen thousand five hundred breaths, and the real qi reckoned amounts to eight hundred and ten zhang, rising and falling between the breathing of nose and mouth. The ordinary person cannot hold onto it, and it all returns to emptiness and disperses; when one breath fails to return, a person's life is ended. This scripture holds the secret of nourishing qi, retaining spirit, and not dying, but the ignorant of the world do not reach its purport — like the blind, though the sun and moon shine in their greatness, unable to see them. Hence: "like the blind who see sun and moon."

I myself, from within the Great Void, reach out to draw all beings from the boundless.

The primal qi is within the great emptiness of the Void, like a bellows, endlessly working though it has no substance; it can enter where there is no gap. So it is said to be present yet formless, absent yet possessing essence: lose it and one dies, gain it and one lives. From of old down to now, those who attained the Way and ascended as immortals cannot be counted; all of them attained the flowing qi and used it to first become real — hence "reach out to draw all beings from the boundless."

Auspicious clouds open the Gate of Life; propitious mist seals the Door of Death.

This is the very eye of the scripture, the pivot of salvation from suffering, and lies exactly here. "Auspicious clouds" and "propitious mist" are other names for the wondrous qi of Great Harmony; "Gate of Life" and "Door of Death" are alternate titles for the gate of Mystery and the door of the Female — some call them Heaven's Gate and Earth's Door, some the gates of Qian and Kun. Wherever "gate" and "door" are spoken of, there must be something that goes in and out through them. "Opening" means unbarring; "closing" means sealing. The Yijing says: "closing the door is called Kun, opening the door is called Qian; one closing, one opening, is called change; coming and going without end is called the Way." That Heaven and Earth are able to endure long is due to this. If a person wishes for long life and lasting sight, to equal Heaven and Earth in years, he must, within the Gate of Life and Door of Death, exhaust the workings of opening and closing, and investigate the wonder of transformation, so as to let the two qi of Heaven and Earth, yin and yang, rise and fall, come and go, without end — this is called sun going out and moon coming in, also called going out by the clear and coming in by the mysterious. Without meeting the pointing-out of an Utmost Person, this is not something even the most learned scholar can hear of, for its nature must be awakened by oneself, though its transmission is lent by a teacher. I myself once received from my teacher's instruction the resolving of this deep subtlety, and now dare to take what the Most High never divulges of the real mechanism and lay bare the sagely secret; students should study it closely. The formula says:

"The Gate of Life, the Door of Death — a thousand different names for them: one called the Vermilion Deep, one called the Spirit Hall. The lesser student, not understanding, breathes in through the nose and out through the mouth; the pivot of the higher immortals, nothing among the ten thousand kinds compares to it. Auspicious clouds, propitious mist, now rising, now falling; opening through, filling up, cloud-essence and purple fat. Gathering in the plain essence, the shadow that flies through the void; the qi comes and enters the body, its taste surpassing sweet dew. Like the tortoise drawing in its breath, one penetrates the numinous and does not die; taking after the clam that sips the moon, one nourishes and knots the pearl. This mechanism of Heaven, once divulged — whoever meets it keeps it secret; when the work is done and one rises light, one drives and mounts the carnelian carriage."

First it issues from the Mysterious, the Primal, and the Beginning, that it may pervade auspicious response and the mechanism of resonance.

The Great Way, at its very first, arises from the one qi; the one qi first becomes the three qi of the Mysterious, the Primal, and the Beginning — hence "first it issues from the Mysterious, the Primal, and the Beginning." The three qi knot together and become the Three Purities, three colors mingling in chaos, blazing through the great void; each of the three qi again generates three radiances, three folded to make nine, and so becomes the nine tiers of heaven, the nine heavens. The Scripture on the Generation of Spirits says: "The extension of life altogether rests on the three numina, the Mysterious, the Primal, and the Beginning-qi divided." The Scripture of the Yellow Court speaks of "the three qi turning right, the nine paths bright," and also says "the nine qi shine bright, issuing among the tiers of heaven" — that is, the three qi are the honored ones of Heaven and Earth, the nine qi are the root of the ten thousand things. One who can search out and refine the three essences-qi of the Mysterious, the Primal, and the Beginning, and reach through to resonance at the meeting of propitious mist and auspicious cloud, may be said to have attained the pivot of transformation — hence "that it may pervade auspicious response and the mechanism of resonance."

Saving all from every sin, delivering all from every distress. Vast and distant, transcending the source of the immortals; broad and boundless, spontaneously clear. All relying on the power of the Great Way, thereby they subdue every demon-essence.

Of all sin, none is greater than the sin of death; of all distress, none is greater than the distress of death. Though human deaths have countless kinds, in the end they return to three roads: the sage's death is called becoming spirit; the worthy's death is called returning; the ordinary person's death is called becoming a thing.

What is meant by the sage's death being called becoming spirit? The sage nourishes the sagely embryo in the chamber of spirit; within the body a body is born; the yang spirit sheds the mortal husk; he dies yet does not perish, shedding the embryo and transforming as spirit — this is called a spirit immortal.

What is meant by the worthy's death being called a return? The worthy, while in the world, does not mix with things; his nature clings to nothing; he takes life as a lodging and death as a homecoming — "return" is a homecoming. Spirit and essence enter their gate, the bones and frame return to their root; what more is there of "I"? He is able to empty out all that he has, and his spirit-consciousness, numinous and bright, goes forth beyond things; transmigration does not enter him, the officers of the shades cannot bind him; free and at ease, even the joy of a king facing south does not surpass it. To make the mind bright and reach one's own nature — the worthy, the noble man, the eminent monk, all of this kind transcend and attest the true constant, forever free of entanglement. But should his ground of insight be less than clear, his cultivation somewhat lacking, clinging to talk of emptiness, stuck in mere contemplation — in the end he is called a shade-spirit, a suffering, bewildered ghost-immortal; or if he wishes to leave the world he may seize another's shell and enter a new womb.

What is meant by the ordinary person's death being called becoming a thing? The ordinary person, while in the world, his soul dreaming and his thoughts always mixed with things, unable to step outside things, unable to go beyond things — so when his life is about to be cut off, form and spirit cannot separate from each other, like a living turtle shedding its shell, or a crab dropped into boiling water, pain and suffering in every form and manner. After death, the realm is dark, like a bird flying at midnight, blindly casting itself about, not knowing where it will land — subject to the molding of the Creator, receiving birth according to its karmic consciousness, sometimes transformed into another kind without even knowing it, for it is the mind's own transformation, and it cannot help but be transformed. It is just as the most violent becomes a fierce tiger, the most lustful becomes a woman, or one becomes a creeping thing, a beast of burden, a bird, or an insect; and even if one attains a human body again, all of this is called "becoming a thing" — hence "the ordinary person's death is called becoming a thing."

If, when a person is dying, every part of the body has gone cold but the crown of the head alone remains warm, this person has attained the Way and goes straight home to the pure land. If every part has gone cold but the region of the heart is still warm, he will attain a human body again. If one does not aspire to cultivate the Way, but anxiously and urgently chases after profit and fame, sinking in sound and form, day after day, like an ox or sheep driven to the slaughterhouse, every step taken is a step closer to death. Before death comes, can one not swiftly seek the utmost Way and diligently practice it, becoming real and transcending the world, seeking to be spared the sin and distress of birth and death? Hence: "saving all from every sin, delivering all from every distress." When the Way is accomplished, one's name is inscribed on the golden register, one's rank set among the immortal ministers; jade maidens with banners and pennants, immortal boys beating time — one wanders free above the Clarity, higher and higher, vast and distant, to the village of the Great Web, all the heavens' Brahma-qi vast to the point of utmost clarity — hence "vast and distant, transcending the source of the immortals; broad and boundless, spontaneously clear." Wearing the talisman, the thousand demons lose heart; releasing the flowing gold, the ten thousand essences are destroyed and their forms undone — hence "all relying on the power of the Great Way, thereby they subdue every demon-essence."

In the midst of emptiness, what is that blazing brightness? It is named the Muddy Pellet immortal.

He empties out the ten thousand methods, yet the wondrous function lies within — hence "in the midst of emptiness." The inner scene blazes and glows, and looking back one sees it alone — hence "what is that blazing brightness?" The Muddy Pellet, three inches straight in from between the eyebrows, is the chamber of carnelian for the brain's blood, the jade chamber of the soul-essence, the dwelling of the hundred numina's destiny, the mountain-source of bodily fluid; one name for it is the Upper Infant — it is the upper spirit of the bodily frame. Hence "it is named the Muddy Pellet immortal."

Purple cloud covers the Yellow Lord Lao,

The qi of metal and wood, blue and white mingling in meeting, transform into jade-green mist; the qi of water and fire, black and red completed together, transform into purple cloud. Now among all that is refined into form and substance, nothing comes before true water and true fire. True water is not spittle, saliva, bodily fluid, or grain-qi; it lies in gathering the Great Harmony, and within the wondrous qi there is of itself a water of true unity, called the mysterious spring — one must understand the clear and turbid of this water's source. Fire has originally no form; it is born through things; used without method, calamity will surely follow from it. In the immortal schools' practice of fire there are also several grades: used it can dissolve the corpse and refine the soul-essence, the body changing to pure yang; there are talismanic reckonings matching the passage of the heavenly cycle of sun and moon, all handed down mouth to mouth, hard to set down on bamboo and silk. The immortal worthies have a saying: "The immortals keep secret the easy, not the hard; the sages transmit the medicine, not the fire." Now if one practices water without practicing fire, the qi has difficulty rising; if one practices fire without practicing water, there can be no steaming and rising. So when water and fire are both accomplished, the misted, brooding qi transforms into purple cloud; wherever spirit gathers, qi must attend it — hence the purple cloud, dense and lush, rises above to the Muddy Pellet, covering over the Yellow Lord Lao at the center. Hence "purple cloud covers the Yellow Lord Lao."

this is called the Lord of the Three Treasures.

The Lord of the Three Treasures comes into being through the congealing and transformation of spirit, qi, and essence. What is meant by spirit having yin and yang? If, through visualization and thought, one attains penetration to the numinous, and is thereby able to go in and out of the gate of Heaven and know beforehand what has not yet come to pass, this is called the yin spirit. But if one accumulates the qi of yin and yang, and it knots together to form an auspicious body, a body born within the body, an embryo-immortal that dances and sheds its husk, this is called the yang spirit. The yang spirit becomes an immortal; the yin spirit becomes a ghost.

What is meant by qi having clear and turbid? Heaven has form and substance; those that hold blood and breath, such as grain, meat, fruit, and vegetable, are nourished by the roots of the earth and grow; their character is composed of "lacking" beside "fire" — this is called grain-qi, also named earth-qi, and is thus called turbid. Now the wondrous qi of Great Harmony gives birth to Heaven and gives birth to Earth, makes spirits spirit and makes emperors sovereign; forcibly named, it is the Way — that is, it is qi, and qi is the Way. Looked at, it cannot be seen; listened for, it cannot be heard; grasped at, it cannot be caught; a formless form, an imageless image, it passes through metal and pierces stone, filling the eight wildernesses. Its character too is composed of "lacking" beside "fire" — fire is yang, being the clear, yang qi within the void and emptiness. One who accumulates yin qi dies; one who takes in yang qi lives.

What is meant by essence having reversal and compliance? Compliant, it becomes a person; reversed, it becomes the mother of the elixir — both of these proceed through the practice of fire, with its risings and fallings. Now the ordinary meeting of husband and wife is called the kalpa-fire of desire; it likewise passes through the three passes and through the tailbone gate, and compliant emission becomes a person. But to draw in and contract the golden tortoise is called the gentle fire; to close the breath and proceed is called the martial fire; matching it to sun and moon is called the talisman-fire. So the immortal and the priest open the golden lock, penetrate the jade pass, turn the pivot of the Dipper, and wield sun and moon; the golden essence pierces the crown, silver waves surge to Heaven — this is called flowing against the current, hence "reversed, it becomes the mother of the elixir": compliant, the body dies; reversed, the bones become firm.

Now a person's eyes are the gate of spirit, the nose and mouth are the door of qi, the tailbone is the road of essence; spirit's subtle function, Heaven's true sagely work, are all hidden here. And so the Utmost Person looks inward and hears backward, concentrating his spirit; he breathes the Great Harmony, taking in its qi; reversing the flow of the pearl, he gathers his essence; the Three Treasures congeal and accumulate within the chamber of spirit, and all transform into spirit — hence "this is called the Lord of the Three Treasures."

Return, and bring the qi of high Heaven, thereby to govern the souls of the nine heavens.

A person's head has nine heavens, also called the Heaven-Valley, where the soul-spirits dwell in the Yellow Court — as is said, "above there is the soul-numen, below the Pass of the Origin." The physical form delights in the taste of food; spirit delights in feeding on qi; heaven-qi is the food of the yang spirit. The Scripture on the Generation of Spirits says: "The soul is born grasping the roaming qi, drifting and drifting, refining the plain radiance." Now what is "trusted, roaming qi" is the qi of high Heaven above; what the soul-spirit grasps is what it delights to feed on as qi — and so the qi of high Heaven is used to govern the souls of the nine heavens. If spirit does not obtain the one qi to govern it, it cannot be numinous; if the valley does not obtain the one qi to fill it, it cannot be full. Spirit, without means to be numinous, will grow faint, and spirit will leave the body; the valley, without means to be full, will grow exhausted, and the heaven-valley will be empty. Once the valley-spirit has departed, a person's life is ended.

Long ago, before meeting the primal qi, it went off vast and unreturning; now, having become clear about the real, once gone it has whence to return again — hence it is called "the great return." "Return, and bring the qi of high Heaven, thereby to govern the souls of the nine heavens" — only then does the valley-spirit not die. Hence it is said: spirit, obtaining the One, becomes numinous; the valley, obtaining the One, becomes full.

All the wondrous spirits of salvation from suffering are well seen at the time of salvation from suffering. Above Heaven, mingled into the undivided,

Now in cultivating the higher Way, the essential lies in keeping spirit whole. The one whose spirit is whole shines yet does not dazzle; he is covered over so as to nourish his uprightness, and so can return to the Great Simplicity, embrace the Void and its calm, merge and stand alone; his nature wanders in the realm of utter quiet and stillness, sprouting no least fragment of ordinary knowledge, and so his spirit does not depart; raising no least sliver of a thought, and so his spirit does not disperse. Zhuangzi said: "When one's Heaven-nature is kept whole, one's spirit does not withdraw." One who keeps his Heaven whole has spirit-light that clings unbroken, generating and transforming the ten thousand spirits — hence "all the wondrous spirits." Now whoever speaks of "saving from suffering" saves himself; if suffering does not save itself, who can save it? When my Way is about to be accomplished, the great flood may reach to Heaven and I do not drown; the great drought may scorch the mountains and I am not burned; life and death bring no change to me — how much less the death of the great cycles and great kalpas? Transcending beyond calamity and distress — hence "well seen at the time of salvation from suffering." This is what is called the Way of the whirling wind merging into the oneness of the Sovereign, the one merging the hundred spirits within one's own Heaven, undivided — hence "above Heaven, mingled into the undivided."

heaven-qi returns to a single body, and all become spontaneous persons.

Now heaven-qi arises before the Great Change, transcending beyond the ten thousand images; it responds to clarity and brightness in its going out and coming in, waits upon the workings of spirit in its rolling up and unrolling, clarifies to blue-green in the high heavens, thins to rose-pink in the setting sun; it does not meddle with wind and rain, does not offend against dust — it breathes at the gate of the Mysterious Female, bathes in the realm of the formless and soundless, stops hunger and thirst, removes filth, drives off the Three Corpses, dissolves the hundred illnesses: this is the pure and empty qi that possesses the Way. The Jade Emperor's Secret Instructions on the Spirit's Function says: "One who knows the utmost Way, Heaven does not kill; one who takes in primal qi, earth does not destroy." One able to understand the principle of breathing in and out may cause the sun's rosy light and the sun's essence, the moon's radiance and the moon's brightness, the three essences and five sprouts, the primal sovereign's correct qi, all to come and join with one's own body — all of this is heaven-qi. When the Great Harmony enters the body, the bones and flesh grow light and clear, the crown of the head bears a round image, hidden or manifest of itself — only then can one become a spontaneous person. Hence "heaven-qi returns to a single body, and all become spontaneous persons."

But if one arises from an unclean place, is steeped in a place of damp and dryness, mixes rank and foul food and drink, and is confounded by the vapors that rise from graves and corpses — this is the turbid, evil, sunken, and stagnant qi of death, which the way of the immortals shuns; and this is why immortals so often dwell in high towers, being nearer to the qi of Heaven. The Scripture of the Yellow Court says: "Above all shun the deathly qi of every filth and baseness."

Spontaneously it has a separate body, rooted originally within the Cavern of Emptiness; the trace of the Cavern of Emptiness is no trace, and the whole body is entirely emptiness.

Laozi said: "Heaven takes the Way as its model, the Way takes the spontaneous as its model." Heaven's Way likewise takes the spontaneous person as its model — how can one not embody it? Now the bodiless body is originally the newborn infant, itself its own basis and its own root, from of old firmly abiding. Laozi said: "Dim, as though it existed — I do not know whose child it is; it seems to have existed before the Sovereign." This is what is meant by "a separate body." And the Palace of the Brain, round and empty, exactly matches the real — hence the Sovereign Lord dwells there, and the Muddy Pellet is the storehouse of the Cavern of Emptiness. The Scripture of the Yellow Court says: "Ask whose child dwells within my body; where has this person gone, entering the Muddy Pellet?" — this speaks exactly of it. So one who guards spirit gathers in the stirring mind; guarding spirit without losing it, becoming one with spirit, one then forgets even the trace of what one guards — hence "the trace of the Cavern of Emptiness is no trace." When the one essence penetrates through, transcending beyond the ten thousand images, spirit wandering in the realm of the great desert's true emptiness, then vast and open, the whole body is entirely emptiness.

First, qi is entrusted and one stands; second, qi complies and one is born; third, the ten thousand methods are accomplished; fourth, brightness governs.

Liezi said: "Life is not one's own possession; it is what Heaven and Earth entrust as harmony." Examining its beginning, one originally had no body of one's own; it stands by being entrusted with the two qi of Heaven and Earth, father and mother — hence "first, qi is entrusted and one stands." Knowing that this body is what qi has given birth to, one should not violently oppose its qi and cause it to be cut off young; one must urgently move the heaven-qi to return it to the body, so that unbroken it does not cease, the embryonic breath returning to the root, complying with and receiving its qi, so that naturally one enjoys long life and lasting sight — hence "second, qi complies and one is born." Now the Utmost Person holds up Heaven and Earth, grasps yin and yang, the universe within his hand, the ten thousand transformations born from his body; he can cause form to be transformed into qi, and so it is without limit; qi transformed becomes spirit, and so spirit is inexhaustible; spirit's transformation joins the Way, the Way joins the spontaneous; taking the method to enter the Way, the method is thereby easily reached; taking the Way to enter the method, the method is thereby easily accomplished. When a single method is truly attained, the ten thousand methods are all accomplished together — hence "third, the ten thousand methods are accomplished." When the Way is accomplished, the crown of the head bears a round image and the body has brightness — hence "fourth, brightness governs."

Furthermore, the Outline of the Five Scriptures says: "The Wondrous Scripture on Salvation from Suffering is rooted in the Hidden Book of the Blue Firmament; it is truly a secret text of refinement and deliverance. The scripture's main headings number four, and their essential lies simply in 'brightness governs.'

"First is called 'qi is entrusted and one stands.' Now the Primordial Beginning, by the one qi, divided Heaven and Earth and set in motion yin and yang, as the root of the ten thousand things. This is what Master Zhou meant: 'The Great Ultimate, moving, generates yang; still, generates yin; yang changing and joining with yin, thereby generating wood, fire, metal, water, and earth' — this is it.

"Second is called 'qi complies and one is born.' Now once Heaven and Earth were divided and yin and yang established, then humankind received their harmonizing qi and so was born. This is what Master Zhou meant: 'The essences of the Two and the Five wondrously join and congeal; the Way of Qian forms the male, the Way of Kun forms the female; the ten thousand things are transformed and born' — this is it.

"Third is called 'the ten thousand methods are accomplished.' Once the way of humankind was established, sages and worthies then arose in its midst, laid out the guiding threads, established institutions, called this rectifying virtue and benefiting use to enrich life, and afterward the way of humankind did not fail. What Master Zisi meant by 'cultivating the Way is called teaching' is also this meaning.

"Fourth is called 'brightness governs.' Brightness is the substance of one's nature; 'governs' means to honor it as one's lord. If a person can honor this brightness, constantly making it the ruler of his own body, so that motion and stillness, speech and silence, all take their orders from it, then naturally, within the numinous tower, all is open and clear, and nothing can obscure it, and the substance of the Way is complete. What the Doctrine of the Mean calls 'honoring one's nature and virtue,' what the Great Learning calls 'being in bright virtue,' what Zhuangzi calls 'the true lord' — all point to this. Now this brightness, every person possesses it: it was not preserved for Yao, nor lost for Jie; it was not increased for Yan Hui, nor destroyed for Robber Zhi. Hold to it and one is worthy; discard it and one is foolish. Attain it and one ascends to Heaven's hall; lose it and one sinks to hell. In hell, all the burning, boiling, butchering, and cutting, the countless forms of bitter torment, all come from the loss of this brightness."

Above Heaven, thirty-six; below the earth, thirty-six; the Great Mystery has no bound — how wondrous is the Great Cavern Scripture.

This speaks of the three Caverns, the three Vehicles, and the thirty-six divisions' honored scriptures. In the first year of Longhan, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning brought forth the twelve divisions of the Cavern of Perfection's scriptures, expounding the way of the nine sages. In the first year of Chiming, the Most High Lord of the Dao brought forth the twelve divisions of the Cavern of Mystery's scriptures, expounding the way of the nine Realized Ones. In the first year of Shanghuang, the Most High Lord Lao brought forth the twelve divisions of the Cavern of Spirit's scriptures, expounding the way of the nine immortals — more than eight thousand chapters in all, knotting the flying, mysterious qi, the purple seal-script of the five directions, blazing through the Great Firmament, its eight-cornered radiance shining through the emerald void; the celestial, true August Personage set brush to it and wrote it down.

The thirty-six divisions are kept secret above Heaven in the Purple Tenuity's Golden Watchtower; the boundless, high, true ones together with the Ten Spirits and Five Elders guard and protect them; the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning together with all the sages above the heavens pay homage to these numinous writings three times each month, and they have never been transmitted down to the world below — hence "above Heaven, thirty-six." The Primordial Beginning also keeps thirty-six divisions secret in the palace of the dragon, to guard the seas and peaks and the cavern-heavens — hence "below the earth, thirty-six": this is the Great Mystery without bound, the wondrous Great Cavern Scripture. In my ignorant surmise, some say it corresponds to the yang number four-nine, the yin number six-six; some speak of the seventy-two pentads — all of this strays far from the mysterious purport, how confused it is! For the scriptures of the highest vehicle have never spoken of such reckonings by number.

Return your allegiance to the Most High Honored One, who can dissolve every sin.

To return one's spirit and one's allegiance to the Most High means one may not depart from the Way even for a moment. Not departing from the Way even for a moment, the spirit-intelligences protect one and great fortune follows; every movement meets with the auspicious — what sin could there then be?

Celestial Worthy of Great Treasure and High Heaven of the East,
Celestial Worthy of Mysterious Reality and Ten Thousand Blessings of the South,
Celestial Worthy of Great Wonder and the Utmost Ultimate of the West,
Celestial Worthy of the Mysterious Height and the Jade Dawn of the North,
Celestial Worthy of Deliverance and Upper Sagehood of the Northeast,
Celestial Worthy of Nurturing Life and Deliverance of Destiny of the Southeast,
Celestial Worthy of Great Numen and the Void Sovereign of the Southwest,
Celestial Worthy of Measureless Great Flower of the Northwest,
Celestial Worthy of the Jade Void and Bright Sovereign of the Zenith,
Celestial Worthy of the True Sovereign and Cavern of Spirit of the Nadir.

The Way declares: the Celestial Worthies of the ten directions are as numerous as sand and dust. They take on form throughout the ten directions of the world, to broadly rescue and deliver the beings of Heaven.

The Celestial Worthies of the ten directions are the Celestial Worthies of Numinous Treasure of the ten directions. Wherever the words "the Way declares" occur, these are the words spoken by the Lord of the Dao. This scripture is what the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure spoke — that is, the ancestral teacher of all the Heavens, the physician-king of the Three Realms, the Most High Great Way's Lord of the Jade Palace, dwelling in the True Realm of Highest Clarity, presiding over the medicine-pearl within the Sun Watchtower, taking on form as auspicious light and propitious qi, spreading throughout the boundaries of the ten directions, broadly delivering the beings of Heaven. Now "the beings of Heaven" are those humble and reverent, generous in kindness and virtue, broad and giving, tolerant and forgiving, empty and calm, gentle and still, harmonious of countenance, loving and honoring their teachers and friends, hearing the Way with sincere faith — these have the qualities of the beings of Heaven, and the Celestial Worthy will then transform his body and descend, bestow the higher Way, deliver them to become real — hence "broadly rescue and deliver the beings of Heaven." But those whose root capacity is turbid and evil, who do not hold to precept and practice, whose nature delights in wanton killing, who laugh loudly on hearing the Way — these are the same as those spoken of as "the failed": it is not that the Way abandons the person, but that the person abandons the Way.

Qi is entrusted and merit is gathered,

Liezi said: "Whenever qi gathers, there is life; whenever qi disperses, there is death." Knowing that qi's gathering brings life, one cannot forbid it; knowing that qi's dispersing brings death, one cannot stop it. Since primal qi has no forbidding or stopping, then destiny belongs to the Creator, not to oneself. But the Utmost Person grasps its pivot and essential, able to hold in his own hand the breath of exhaling and inhaling; the breath's going in and out is under my own hand — this is "my destiny is with me, and does not belong to Heaven." What the common saying calls "nursing one's breath" is in truth a sagely word handed down by the immortal real ones, transforming the ordinary and foolish — who can awaken to it? One who awakens to it can naturally hold his breath and keep it from scattering; then naturally the entrusted, harmonizing qi gathers into a single breath, and in time, accumulating merit and building virtue, one naturally becomes real. Hence "qi is entrusted and merit is gathered."

With one voice they rescue the sinner.

Laozi said: "One who is of the Way, the Way in turn gains him." If one diligently seeks a teacher's gate, savors the utmost principle, thoroughly studies the classics and instructions, single-mindedly bears the Way in mind, applying his will without division — this is what is meant by "sounding in accord, one with the other; qi seeking its own kind": only then can one speak of the utmost Way with him, and deliver and save him. Hence "with one voice they rescue the sinner."

The sinner is truly to be pitied; I now speak this wondrous scripture.

Now a person, received into life within the womb, ten months unbroken, the mother exhales and he exhales, the mother inhales and he inhales; when qi is full and spirit complete, the womb opens and he is born, startling Heaven and shaking Earth, and comes to be a person — this is called an infant. The infant's mind prizes only the milk of its mother, and knows nothing else — this is the time of holding fast to the real and embracing simplicity. Once a hundred days old, he is enticed by things, feeling appears outwardly, and before long he can laugh — then the infant changes into a child, and from this point begins the loss of the Way and the loss of simplicity. After that, at fifteen one is a youth, at twenty one comes of age; the eyes are dazzled by the five colors, the ears confused by the five tones; the seven emotions seize one's nature, the six desires muddy one's real being, and pure simplicity is entirely swept away. In one day and one night there are ten thousand deaths and ten thousand births, driving and enslaving the soul-spirit, never resting a single breath — this is the person living in the world, receiving punishment in the unbroken hell of this very life, sinking and drowning without any date of release; were it not for attaining the Way, who could escape it? Such a sinner is truly to be pitied. This is why the Celestial Worthy widely opens the gate of salvation from suffering, broadly sets forth the subtle and wondrous canon, so that the sacred realm of the Three Purities lies open, plain to return to.

Chant it without ceasing; return the body without a moment's rest.

One thought fixed on the Way and chanting without ceasing, exhausting the immortal scripture without a moment's rest in mind — once chanting is without ceasing, then its depth and mystery join with the spontaneous. The Scripture on Inner Vision says: "Qi coming and entering the body is called life; spirit departing and leaving the form is called death." So the sage steals and gathers the qi of Heaven, returning it to a single body; the sagely work of penetrating and functioning turns three times by day and night, unwilling to rest even a moment — hence "return the body without a moment's rest."

Heaven's hall enjoys great blessing; hell has no voice of suffering.

The heavenly immortal does not leave Heaven; the spirit immortal does not leave spirit; the earthly immortal does not leave earth; the immortal of herb and stone does not leave the taking of herb and mineral medicine; the ghost-immortal does not leave the shade-spirits among ghosts — all of this is caused by the kind of way that each has practiced, just as water goes to the damp, fire goes to the dry, cloud follows the dragon, and wind follows the tiger. The higher student, congealing spirit and refining qi, restores destiny and returns to the root, his body changed to pure yang, his person transcending the dust and the kalpas; even to the point of chewing the morning mist and swallowing the evening dew, the two luminaries entwining him, the six qi reaching his body, breathing the flower-essence of the great Brahma-clouds, his wondrous function entirely feasted in the kitchen of Heaven, he naturally attains long life and returns to Heaven's hall — hence "Heaven's hall enjoys great blessing." Not eating the fruit of the hundred grains, the essence of the soil, so his body does not die, he returns to earth without the suffering of sinking and falling — hence "no voice of suffering."

The fire-haze becomes a clear and cool place,

The fire-haze is the name of a southern hell. Living beings are constantly burned in the mind by the fire of desire and their eyes are darkened by its haze — hence "fire-haze." Wherever the eye touches, the mind is stirred, and hell appears at once; but once one awakens to the true explanation, Heaven's nature is bright and clear through and through, one thought settled and calm — and then what was called the fire-haze all transforms into a realm of clarity and purity.

and the sword-trees turn into fragrant groves.

The sword-trees are the name of a hell. Living beings compete for fame and gain, contend over self and other, cut and grind against one another like things, their talk like spears and halberds, facing each other like enemies — and so they receive the punishment of the sword-tree hell. But the Utmost Person, embodying the Way, holding vastness and great light, acts yet does not contend, and the brambles and thorns within his breast all transform into groves of jade trees and fragrant woods.

Above he ascends to the Palace of Vermilion Mounds; below he enters the Gate of Opened Light.

This speaks of the practice of fire. The heart is the Palace of Vermilion Mounds, called the ruler-fire of the upper triad; closing the breath and sitting in meditation, guiding it with the mind — then there is nothing it does not burn through. The kidneys are the Palace of Mysterious Obscurity, called the minister-fire of the middle triad; rising through waist, flank, and belly, closing the breath and moving it — then there is nothing it does not reach. The bladder is called the commoner-fire of the lower triad; stirring the pivot mechanism, the golden tortoise spits flame — then there is nothing it does not rise through. When the upper corpse is refined, the fire-qi rises and ascends to the Crimson Palace — hence "above he ascends to the Palace of Vermilion Mounds." When the lower corpse is burned away, the fire-qi passes clean through the tailbone — hence "below he enters the Gate of Opened Light."

He rises beyond the calamity of the Three Realms,

The people of the world set their heads toward the heaven of desire and tread with their feet on the ground of desire; their bodies dwell within the realm of desire, turning in the wheel of the six desires' karma, never resting — because they cannot forget desire. If one can be constantly free of desire, then the calamity of transmigration through the Three Realms is at once transcended.

and goes straight up to the Heaven of Primordial Beginning.

The Heaven of Primordial Beginning is the sagely realm of the Jade Clarity. Once the higher Way is accomplished, spirit ascends to the Jade Clarity, taking rank as a Realized Person; going out, all the heavens attend his carriage, ten thousand spirits equip his guard — far higher than the reality of the Great Clarity and the Highest Clarity.

At this the flying-heaven Realized Persons, a numberless multitude, gaze up in reverence at the honored countenance, and make this hymn, saying:

A person's skull is made of eight plates, called the eight heavens, also called the eight gates; within are the golden tower, the jeweled hall, the jade watchtower, the purple chamber — one's own self without image, the Realized Person who governs it all, the ten thousand spirits dwelling there. When the Way is accomplished, spirit's light shines inward, Heaven's gate opens of itself, the infant sheds its husk, and then the Realized Person flies out from Heaven's gate — hence "flying-heaven Realized Persons." The thousand real ones and ten thousand numina within the body are the "numberless multitude." The Scripture on Limitless Salvation says: "Above, the eight gates open, flying to Heaven's dharma-wheel." The Scripture on the Generation of Spirits says: "Rejoicing in this infant's shedding" — this speaks exactly of it. Spirit ascends to the Mysterious Capital, pays homage above to the Void Sovereign — hence "gaze up in reverence at the honored countenance," and make a hymning song, chanting and praising the virtue of the great sage.

The Celestial Worthy expounds the scripture's teaching, drawing in and receiving the floating lives.

Heaven's office is to cover, Earth's office is to bear, the sage's office is to teach and transform; that the Celestial Worthy broadly spreads the teaching of the scripture, drawing in and receiving the beings of the floating world, is the sage's office.

Diligently cultivate the study of non-action;

Non-action acting is called the Way; non-action spoken is called virtue. Heaven, non-acting, is thereby clear; Earth, non-acting, is thereby at peace; the two non-actions joined together, the ten thousand things are born — how could a person alone lack non-action? Hence it is said: calm and quiet, empty and without action — this is the level ground of Heaven and Earth, the substance of the Way and its virtue. The diligent higher student, the man of lofty learning transcended, able to rely on non-action, thereby matches the level standard of Heaven and Earth, tallies with the substance and reality of the Way and its virtue — is this not great indeed?

awaken to the true Way and it accomplishes itself.

To awaken to what is true is to first realize that the ten thousand conditions are all illusory, and only the Way is real; embracing and holding to this real, one naturally accomplishes the Way.

Neither deluded nor wasted,

The people of the world are deluded by fame, gain, feeling, and desire, and wasted by sound, form, and flavor; deluded upon delusion, until it reaches waste. "Waste" speaks of spirit not being clear, and the mind's numen chasing after things, drifting further and further away without return. Laozi said: "Wasteland, how boundless it is" — this resolves to say that one has never held to the center. Now the Utmost Person walks in ease, treads in contentment, calm and alone with himself, spirit-bright and seeing all alike; the whole world is to him but dust and toil, illusion and dream, wind-lamp and foam, dew-flash and bubble-shadow — since none of it is firm or lasting, none of it is worth clinging to or longing for; he enters the realm of the utmost calm and the truly constant, not one thought arising, the ten thousand conditions all at rest. Having reached this realm, what delusion or waste could remain?

without self and without name.

Not exalting worth and ability, setting his own person outside, and emptying himself to pass through the world — hence "without self." The Way is constantly without name; hence the sage conceals his light and hides his person, fearing that his Way is not yet accomplished while his name outstrips his reality. Name is the guest of reality; when the empty name goes forth, the Way and its virtue are already complete — hence it is said: "unbroken, unbroken, it cannot be named." Zhuangzi says: "The spirit person has no merit, the utmost person has no self, the sage has no name."

Brightly chanting the verses of sin and blessing,

— this proclaims the transforming teaching.

ten thousand times over, the mind's defilement is cleared.

To study closely the sacred canon is to make the numinous storehouse empty and bright.

At this the flying-heaven spirit kings and all the immortal multitude, having finished chanting this hymn, bow their heads to the Celestial Worthy, and take their leave with these final words.

The flying-heaven spirit king is one's own original, true August Personage. Now spirit's penetrating transformation, many becoming one, is not thereby lessened; transforming into ten thousand, is not thereby increased. "And all the immortal multitude" refers to one's own ten thousand spirits. "Bow their heads to the Celestial Worthy" means forever following and relying on the Great Way. "Take their leave with these final words" means returning once more to the Limitless.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Lingbao Salvation Scriptures shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The source is a preface followed by a running commentary on a short scripture: each portion of scripture is set as a lemma in bold, and the commentary that follows it is kept as prose beneath. The commentary itself quotes a number of older scriptures and philosophical texts by name (the Declarations of the Perfected, the Yijing, the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the Scripture on the Generation of Spirits, the Scripture on Limitless Salvation, the Scripture on Inner Vision, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi, Confucius, and Master Zhou Dunyi's Taiji teaching); these are rendered by their standard English titles and left otherwise untouched.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. Both local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western translation supplied for this project — Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud survey of Daoist texts in Western languages — were searched for this title, its variant forms, and the character string 救苦 (jiuku); neither records a translation of this scripture or its commentary. Two web searches were run for the Chinese title and for related romanized and English forms. They surfaced a different, related scripture — the Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing (太一救苦護身妙經), which has drawn amateur discussion-forum translations under a different title and a different deity's name — but turned up no published or amateur translation of this particular commentary, the Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Tianzun Shuo Jiuku Miaojing Zhujie. 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 hard passages. One line of scripture, transcribed 還將上天黑, appears to be a transcription anomaly for 還將上天炁 ("bring the qi of high Heaven"); the commentary immediately following it glosses the line using 炁 (qi) throughout, and the translation follows that gloss rather than the character as transcribed, which is flagged here rather than silently corrected. The embedded formula on the Gate of Life and Door of Death uses old physiological argot (the tortoise's breath, the clam and the pearl) whose precise anatomical referents are traditional rather than explicit in the text; it is rendered as image rather than resolved into anatomy. The long quotation from the "Outline of the Five Scriptures," correlating the scripture's four headings with Zhou Dunyi's Song-dynasty cosmology, is translated as literally as the source allows.

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

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Source Text: 太上洞玄靈寶天尊說救苦妙經註解

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

太上洞玄靈寶救苦妙經序

　　夫學長生久視之道，在乎鍊炁養神，兼施並行。然鍊養之功，本乎一心，心能勤修，則學仙何患乎不得。《真誥》曰：仙者心學，奧哉斯旨也。僕夙慕修真，未逢上士，有果能明生死，達性命者，僕將跪履而問焉。比遊武夷西湖，與四明呂君邂逅，一見歡然，遂定交為煙蘿友，因俱載以歸，館于靜舍。呂君號洞陽子，蚤遇至人，刻意莊老之學，博極仙書，問靡不知。一日謂愚曰：世有所謂《救苦經》者，實大洞之密旨，上道之祕言也。以其隱奧玄微，難窮妙理，所以傳自往古，而詮註未彰，思欲殫所蘊，發揮其義。未幾書成，滔滔萬言，首明一點，指慶雲祥煙為泰和，辯生門死戶為玄牝，分二炁之清濁，判三昧之火符，以泥丸仙明真性之所歸，還上天炁為命寶之所集，總談上道之樞要，集然包括其中，不惟警未聞裨後學而已，抑亦使人洞明修鍊，默識天機，豈架空言衒虛文之比哉。噫，此經之妙道至言，晦久而未明，今日顯矣。夫天中之尊，演教法弘濟，所謂救苦者，非獨為幽魂苦爽而設，其所救者，普天之下生靈耳。蓋欲使人人體道，咸離迷途，湛壺天之朗徹，悟真性之無為，然後服天氣，盜虛无，結聖胎，通神明，使形與神妙，白日飛昇，是謂大丈夫越世表，出三界輪迴之難，始名真救苦耳。大矣哉，超死度生，無出是經，有遇斯解，留神不捨者，必見其得道矣。錦江葆真子周準謹序。

太上洞玄靈寶天尊說救苦妙經註解

道神庵洞陽子註解

太上

　　〔太者至大之稱，上者尊崇之號。以其始乎太初太易之上，故曰太上。夫太易者，未見炁也，元始之初炁未之見也。太易變而為太初，太初者，炁之始也，先天元炁始見微芒。太初變而為太始，太始者，形之始也，漸有元炁之形矣。太始變而為太素，太素者，質之始也，元炁之形質具矣。太素變而為太極，太極者，混沌也，溟涬鴻濛，狀如雞子，其中有精，彌綸無外，元炁凝而清濁未分也。太極既變則混沌開，而鴻濛裂，於是清陽之炁昇而為天，濁陰之炁降而為地。《易》曰：太極生兩儀，是也。兩儀生三才，即非濁非清，中和之炁，結而成人倫也。是謂道生一，一炁之混沌也；一生二，二儀之清濁也；二生三，三才之人倫也，然後三生萬物。萬物始之於天地，天地不能自有，有天地者太極也；太極不能自生，生太極者太素也；太素不能自育，育太素者太始也；太始不能自孕，孕太始者太初也。未有太初，先有太易。夫太上者，謂始乎太初太易之上，是無大之大，故曰太，高出乎八極之表，故曰上也。又太者甚也，上者高也，言是經妙義甚高，則無以過矣。昔者聖人製此太字，其文從人從一從一點者，蓋人得一謂之大，大人能卓然獨存，常正此一點者，可與太上全體也。此一點亘古亘今，不生不滅，在道則謂之元神，在儒則謂之真性，在釋則謂之本來；在眼能視，在耳能聽，在鼻能嗅，在舌能嘗，在手能執持，在足能步履。以致語默動靜，千轉萬變，未嘗不因此一點而通靈也。是以老君之鍊養，養此一點而已；莊周之寓言，言此一點而已；周公仰思，思此一點而已；孔子之潛心，濳此一點而已；如來之大覺，覺此一點而已；祖師之相傳，傳此一點而已。百姓日用而不知，外為聲色所蕩，內為嗜欲所汨，晝隨情愛，夜逐夢飛，念想攀緣，未嘗暫息，此一點不正，心影常偏，為情慾誘之，使出於外，故成大字，以言乎流浪輪轉，或為畜類也。夫上字之文，從卜從一。卜，度也；，一，性也。卜爾之一性，能謙遜居下者，則為上士矣。江海以下百谷，則為百谷王；小國以下大國，則取大國。此孔子所以下漁父也。夫下人不精，不得其真，井雖千仞，汲之水上，是以聖人不降則不昇。故曰貴以賤為本，高以下為基。是知未嘗先人而常隨人，後其身而身先者，謙尊而光，此真人應世之道也。故曰卜爾之一居下，則為上士，其理昭然，卜爾之一性，若乃自矜自伐，自是自彰，而好居人上者，斯則下人矣。若夫體合太虛，廓然無我，所為一點者，內外俱忘，上下雙遣，斯則至聖之道，可謂自己三清，何勞仰望，自己太上，何勞外求也。〕

洞玄

　　〔洞者通也，上通於天，下通於地，中有神仙，幽相往來。天下十大洞、三十六小洞，居乎太虛磅磚之中，莫不洞洞相通，惟仙聖聚則成形，散則為氣，自然往來虛通，而無窒礙。是以聖人遠取諸物，近取諸身。則人一身之中，亦有洞者。頭有九宮，上有寥天，共為十大洞天；柱骨二十四節，共十二重樓。共三十六洞，上通泥九之九天，下徹尾閒之九地，中有真炁幽相往來。是以聖人於虛極靜篤之中，斡轉璇璣，神通炁洞，上與天通，所謂三宮昇降，上下往來，無窮者也。且洞之一字，從水從同，即是洞與水同也。夫巨海之水，八紘九野天漢之流，酌焉而不竭，注焉而不滿，渺渺漫漫，無垠無際，不可得而測其淵深也。故造道者，皆自麤至細，自細至微，微極而後至於妙，妙極而後至於玄，道之玄則無乎不通矣。故洞也者，以其幽深而不可測也；玄也者，以其微妙而不可窮也。言是奧旨遠邈，深如洞玄，非玉虛之夙挺，其孰能通之哉。〕

靈寶天尊說救苦妙經

　　〔靈寶天尊即太上道君也。以身言之，靈者神也，寶者炁也，形者靈寶之宅舍也。夫人有耳目，乃元神之門，晝則心寤，神遊於耳，夜而目寐，則神歸絳宮。眾人視聽於外，則神遊於外，見聞聲色，動蕩乎中，神性化而為情，情受牽纏，故心有念，動有著，晝有想，夜有夢，薾然馳逐。馳逐於無涯之欲，百靈疲役而消散，宅舍無寶而崩頹。此皆用神於外，而不能守之於內者也。若夫至人，萬法俱忘，惟神是守，目內視而神光炊於玉闕，耳返聽而妙韻響於瓊房，神宇泰定，一念不生，智恬交養，久而道靈，上際於天，下蟠於地，六通四闢，妙用無窮，造化莫移，陰陽莫測，故能駕景乘飇，登真合道，莫不由於神性者也，得不謂之靈乎。夫人有鼻口，乃命寶出入之戶，息息通於天地，元炁之所往來，凡一呼則穀炁出，一吸則元炁入，不死之機，長生之要，實隱於此矣。眾人心靈外馳，情躁炁促，息之以喉，胎元蕩散，真炁凋零，炁竭命終，可不惜哉。惟至人深達造化之源，呼吸太和之炁，奪本還元，歸根復命，息之以踵，寶莫寶於炁，達斯理者，泥丸玉闕所以棲其神，玄門牝戶所以襲其炁，炁以制神，神以攝炁，母子相守，性命混融，然後萬神不散，故能靈，一炁凝結則成寶，是謂一身之靈寶也。夫眾生之苦，莫大於輪迴生死，天尊大慈，演說洞妙，開滯塞之門，指光明之路，解悟之者，得脫生死，永免輪迴，故曰救苦也。經者徑也，常也，欲令上學之人依此徑路常行之也。〕

爾時救苦天尊，

　　〔天尊則元炁是也，法身無相，積炁成真，為天中之尊，聚則成形，散復為炁。〕

徧滿十方界，

　　〔元炁大無不包，細無不入，在谷滿谷，在坑滿坑，彌滿八極，無往不在，故曰徧滿十方界。〕

常以威神力，救拔諸眾生，

　　〔夫威神力莫大於元炁，元炁之運，獨秉造化之權。眾生者所謂胎卵濕化之四生，至於花卉草木，禽獸魚鼇，蠕飛蠢動，有情無情，皆含育元炁而生，故元炁在則柔弱滋養而生，元炁去則堅強枯槁而死。老子曰：柔弱者生之徒，堅強者死之徒。凡有貌象聲色者，皆物也，悉得元炁而後生，故曰救技諸眾生。〕

得離於迷途。眾生不知覺，如盲見日月。

　　〔眾生就染聲色嗜慾，因於迷途之中，殊不知魚在水中，水在魚中，人在炁中，炁在人中，魚失水死，人失炁亡。吞舟之魚碭而失水，則蟻能苦之，故曰魚不可脫於淵，人不可離於炁，魚能吐納而化水則不死，人能吐納而化炁則長生。舉世但知日食穀肉果菜以養命，而不知穀肉果菜乃戮形之物也，夫有故以其有形者屬於陰，乃土地之精也，惟元炁屬陽，且人一呼則炁出三寸，一吸則炁入三寸，一呼一吸為一息，一日一夜一萬三千五百息，真炁計八百一十丈，昇降於鼻口呼吸之間，凡夫不能掌握，皆歸空而散，則一息不返，人命卒矣。此經有養炁留神不死之訣，世愚不達其旨，譬如盲者雖有日月之大明，莫能見之，故日如盲見日月。〕

我本太无中，拔領无邊際。

　　〔元炁在太空虛无之中，其猶橐籥嗡張不息，以其無有，能入於無間，故日有而無形，無而有精，失之則死，得之則生。亘古通今，得道昇仙者，莫計其數，皆得沖炁以為用始成真，故曰拔領無邊際。〕

慶雲開生門，祥煙塞死戶。

　　〔一經之眼目，救苦之樞機，在於此也。慶雲祥煙乃太和妙炁之異名，生門死戶乃玄門牝戶之列號，或曰天門地戶，或曰乾坤門戶，凡言門戶者，必有物從玆而出入也。開者闢也，闔者塞也，易曰闔戶謂之坤，闢戶謂之乾，一闔一闢謂之變，往來不窮謂之道，天地所以能長且久者，以此也。人欲長生久視，與天地齊其年，當於生門死戶之中，窮通塞之端，究造化之妙，使通天地陰陽二炁，往來昇降之不窮，謂之出日入月，亦曰出清入玄也。不遇至人所指，非碩學之所能聞，以其性須自悟，命假師傳也。僕曩承師旨决以淵微，輒將太上不泄真機顯露聖訣，學者宜精究之，訣曰：〕

　　〔生門死戶兮千般異呼，一曰朱淵兮一曰神廬，下士不達兮鼻吸口吐，上仙樞要兮萬類莫如，慶雲祥煙兮既昇且降，開通充塞兮雲英紫腴，採集素英兮飛空之景，炁來入身兮味勝醍醐，像龜引息兮通靈不死，效蚌吸月兮涵養結珠，天機斯泄兮遇者祕密，功成輕舉兮駕馭瓊輿。初發玄元始，以通祥感機。〕

　　〔大道始初發生乎一炁，一炁初為玄元始三炁，故曰初發玄元始。三炁結而為三清，三色混沌，煥爛太空，三炁復各生三熙，疊三成九，即成九霄，而為九天也。《生神章》云：須延總三靈，玄元始炁分。《黃庭經》所謂三炁右迴九道明，又曰九炁映明出霄間，即是三炁為天地之尊，九炁為萬物之根。人能探鍊玄元始三素之炁，通感祥煙慶雲之際，是謂得造化之樞機，故言以通祥感機。〕

救一切罪，度一切厄。渺渺超仙源，蕩蕩自然清。皆承大道力，以伏諸魔精。

　　〔一切罪莫大於死罪，一切厄莫大於死厄，人死雖有萬殊，總歸三路，聖人死之曰神，賢人死之曰復，眾人死之曰物。何謂聖人死之曰神，聖人養聖胎於神室，身內生身，陽神脫質，死而不亡，脫胎神化者，謂之神仙也。何謂賢人死之日復，賢人在世，不與物交，性無所著，以生為寄，以死為歸，歸者復也，精神入其門，骨骸返其根，我尚何存，蓋能虛諸所有，而神識靈明出乎物外，輪迴不入，陰官莫拘，脩然自在，雖南面王樂，亦不及也，明心達性，賢人君子，禪伯之流，超證真常，永無係累，稍或見地未明，修為有缺，著於談空，滯於觀想，終則謂之陰靈苦爽鬼仙是也，或欲出世，則能奪舍投胎。何謂眾人死之曰物，眾人在世，魂夢念想，常與物交，不能外物，安出物外一，故命將絕時，形神不能相離，如生龜說殼，螃蟹入湯，疼痛苦楚，萬狀千般，既死之後，境界黑暗，猶如夜半之禽飛，懵然妄投，不知所歸何地，在造物之陶鑄，隨業識以受生，或化異類而不自覺，蓋心之所化而不得不化也，亦猶至暴者化為猛虎，至淫者化為婦人，或為傍生六畜禽蟲之類，及再得為人，皆謂之物也，故曰眾人死之曰物。若人臨終之時，諸處俱冷，惟頂門尚自溫暖者，此人得道，徑歸净域。諸處俱冷，心頭尚溫，再得為人身。不慕修道，惶惶汲汲，奔逐利名，沉滯聲色，日復一日，如牽牛羊赴於屠肆，步行一步去死轉近。未死之前，可不速求至道，勤而行之，成真度世，求免生死之罪厄，故曰救一切罪，度一切厄。道成則名刊金籙，位列仙卿，玉女麾幢，仙童鼓節，逍遙上清，上上渺渺，大羅之鄉，諸天梵炁，蕩蕩至清，故曰渺渺超仙源，蕩蕩自然清。佩符則〕千魔喪膽，流金則萬精滅形，故曰皆承大道力，以伏諸魔精。

空中何灼灼，名曰泥丸仙。

　　〔空彼萬法，而妙用在中，故曰空中。內景煥爛，返視獨見，故曰何灼灼。泥丸在兩眉間直入三寸，為腦血之瓊房，魂精之玉室，百靈之命宅，津液之山源，一名上一赤子，乃形軀之上神，故曰泥丸仙。〕

紫雲覆黃老，

　　〔金木之炁，青白交會，則化碧霞，水火之炁，黑赤既濟，則化紫雲。夫受鍊形質，莫先於真水真火也，真水非涕唾津液谷炁，所以化之濁水，在乎採太和，妙炁之中自有真一之水，謂之玄泉，要當明其水源之清濁也。火本無形，因物而生，用無法則禍發必克，仙家行火，亦有數等，用之則滅屍鍊魄，體變純陽，則有符數契合周天日月之纏度，皆口口相傳，難書竹帛。仙彥有之曰：神仙祕易不祕難，聖人傳藥不傳火。夫行水不行火，則氣難上騰，行火不行水，則不能薰蒸，是以水火既濟，而氤氳炁乃化為紫雲，神聚處氣必朝之，故紫雲蒼鬱，上朝於泥丸，覆蓋於中央黃老君，故曰紫雲覆黃老。〕

是名三寶君。

　　〔三寶君者，因神炁精凝化而有也。神有陰陽，炁有清濁，精有逆順。何謂神有陰陽，若因存思念想而後通靈者，亦能出入天門，預知未然，謂之陰神也。若夫積陰陽之炁，結而成祥身內生身胎仙舞蛻者，是謂陽神也。陽神為仙，陰神為鬼也。何謂炁有清濁，天有形質，含血氣者穀肉果菜之類，滋地根而生長，其字從旡從火，是謂谷炁，亦名地炁，故曰濁也。夫太和妙炁生天生地，神鬼神帝，強名為道即炁也，炁即道也，視之不見，聽之不聞，搏之不得，無形之形，無物之象，透金貫石，充塞八荒，其字從旡從火，火陽也，乃虛无之中清陽之炁也。積陰炁者則死，服陽炁者則生。何謂精有逆順，順則成人，逆為丹母，斯皆行火而有昇降也。凡夫婦之接名為劫火，亦通三關而透尾閭，故順出則成人，若乃提縮金龜，是謂文火，閉息而行，是謂武火，契合日月，謂之符火，故仙人道士開金鎖，徹玉關，運璇璣，斡日月，金精貫頂，銀浪衝天，是謂泝流，故曰逆為丹母也，順則形斃，逆則骨堅也。夫人有眼目者，乃神之門，鼻口者炁之戶，尾閭者精之路，神微妙用天真聖功盡隱於此矣，於是至人內視返聽凝其神，呼吸太和襲其炁，逆運流珠聚其精，三寶凝積於神室之內，皆化為神，故曰是名三寶君。〕

還將上天黑，以制九天魂。

　　〔人頭有九天亦曰天谷，魂神居之黃庭，所謂上有魂靈下關元是也。形好食味，神好食炁，天炁乃陽神之飯食也。《生神章》云：魂生攝遊炁，飄飄鍊素華。夫信遊炁者乃上天炁也，魂神所攝者蓋好食炁，而故以上天之炁制於九天魂也，神不得一炁以制之則不能靈，谷不得一炁以充之則不能盈，神無以靈而將恐歇，而神去於身矣，谷無以盈將恐竭，而天谷空虛矣，谷神既逝，則人命終矣。昔之未遇元炁，蕩蕩而去，今既明真，去而有所復來，故曰大還也，還將上天之炁以制九天魂神，始得其谷神不死，故謂神得一而靈，谷得一而盈。〕

救苦諸妙神，善見救苦時。天上混无分，

　　〔夫修上道，要在全神，神全之士，光而不耀，蒙以養正，故能復太朴，抱虛恬，混成獨立，一性遊乎寂寞靜極之境，不萌纖芥之知，故其神不離，不起毫釐之念，故其神不散。蒙莊曰：其天守全，其神不卻，守其天者神光纏綿，化生萬神，故曰諸妙神也。凡言救苦者，自救之也，苦不自救，孰能救之，我道將成，則大浸稽天而不溺，大旱山焦而不熱，死生無變於己，而況大數大劫之死乎，超越厄難之外，故曰善見救苦時也。所謂迴風混合帝一之道，一混百神於〕自己天上而不可分，故曰天上混无分。

天炁歸一身，皆成自然人。

　　〔夫天炁者起於太易之先，超乎萬象之外，應清明以出入，佇神機以卷舒，澄清碧於高天，淡輕紅於落日，不干風雨，不犯塵埃，呼吸玄牝之門，澡雪希夷之域，止飢渴，除滓穢，去三尸，消百病，此乃清虛有道之炁也。玉皇神用祕訣曰：知至道者天不殺，服元炁者地不滅。能明吐納之理，即使日霞日精月華月英三素五芽元皇正炁來合我身，此皆天炁也，太和入體則骨肉輕清，項生圓象，隱顯自然，始能為自然人也，故曰天炁歸一身，皆成自然人。如起於不潔之地，因於燥濕之處，雜腥穢之飲饌，混屍塚之蒸鬱，斯乃濁惡沉滯之死炁，仙道忌焉，所以仙人多樓居者，以其近天炁也。《黃庭經》云：至忌死炁諸穢賤。〕

自然有別體，本在空洞中，空洞迹非迹，徧體皆虛空。

　　〔老子曰：天法道，道法自然。天道猶法於自然人也，可不體之哉。夫無身之身，本來赤子，自本自根，自古以固存。老子曰：湛兮似若存，吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。此所謂別體也，且夫腦宮圓虛而適真，是以帝君居之，故泥丸為空洞之府也。《黃庭經》云：問誰家子在我身，此人何去入泥丸。正言此爾。所以守神者攝動心也，守神不失，與神為一，則忘其所守之跡矣，故曰空洞迹非迹。一之精通，超乎萬象之表，神遊太漠真空之境，則廓然徧體皆虛空也。〕

第一委炁立，第二順炁生，第三成萬法，第四主光明。

　　〔列子曰：生非我有，是天地之委和也。察其始也，本無我體，因委天地父母二炁而立，故曰第一委炁立。知夫此身乃炁之所生，不當暴逆其炁，使之夭閼，急宜運天炁以歸身，使綿綿而不絕，胎息歸根，順受其炁，自然久視，故曰第二順炁生。夫至人者提挈天地，把握陰陽，宇宙在乎手，萬化生乎身，能使形化於炁，所以无窮，無化成神，神之所以無盡，神化合道，道合自然，以法入道，法固易達，以道入法，法固易成，一法苟得，則萬法俱成，故曰第三成萬〕法。道成則頂負圓象，身有光明，故曰第四主光明。又《五經提綱》云：救苦妙經本於青霄隱書，蓋鍊度之祕文也，經中綱領有四，其要在於主光明而已。一曰委炁立，蓋元始以一炁分判天地，運化陰陽，為萬物之本，周子所謂太極動而生陽，靜而生陰，陽變陰合，而生木火金水土者，此也。二曰順炁生，蓋天地既判，陰陽既立，則人受其沖和之氣以生，周子所謂二五之精妙合而凝，乾道成男，坤道成女，萬物化生者，此也。三曰成萬法，人道既立，叉有聖賢出於其間，陳綱紀，立制度，謂之正德利用厚生，而後人道不窮焉，子思子所謂修道之謂教，亦此意也。四曰主光明，光明者性體也，主云者奉之如君也，人能奉此光明，常為一身之主，動靜語默，皆聽命焉，自然靈臺之間，軒豁洞達，物莫能蔽，而道體全矣，《中庸》所謂尊德性，《大學》所謂在明德，莊子所謂真君，皆指此也。夫此光明，人人具有，不為堯存，不為桀亡，不為顏增，不為跖滅，操之則賢，捨之則愚，得之則昇天堂，失之則沉地獄，凡地獄中燒煮屠割苦毒萬狀，皆失此光明也。

天上三十六，地下三十六，太玄无邊際，妙哉大洞經。

　　〔斯言三洞三乘三十六部尊經也，元始天尊於龍漢元年出洞真十二部經，演九聖之道，太上道君於赤明元年出洞玄十二部經，演九真之道，太上老君於上皇元年出洞神十二部經，演九仙之道，計八千餘篇，結飛玄之炁，五方紫篆，煥於太霄，八角垂芒，耀於碧落，天真皇人按筆書之。三十六部祕於上天紫微金闕，无極高真與十神五老共相翊衛，元始天尊與諸天上聖皆月三朝其靈文，未傳下世，故曰天上三十六。元始復以三十六部祕於龍宮，以鎮海嶽洞天，故曰地下三十六，乃太玄无邊際，妙哉大洞經也。愚暗臆揣，或云陽數四九，陰數六六，或云七十二候之說，殊乖玄旨，何昧如斯，蓋上乘經典，未嘗言於衍數。〕

歸命太上尊，能消一切罪。

　　〔歸神歸命於太上，蓋言不可須臾離道也，須臾不離於道，則神明護之，大福隨之，動與吉會，何罪之有。〕

東方王寶皇上天尊，
南方玄真萬福天尊，
西方太妙至極天尊，
北方玄上玉晨天尊，
東北方度仙上聖天尊，
東南方好生度命天尊，
西南方太靈虛皇天尊，
西北方无量太華天尊，
上方玉虛明皇天尊，
下方真皇洞神天尊。
道言：十方諸天尊，其數如沙塵。化形十方界，普濟度天人。

　　〔十方天尊即十方靈寶天尊。凡有道言二字，即道君所言。此經乃靈寶天尊所說，即是萬天之宗師，三界之醫王，太上大道玉宸君，居上清真境，治藥珠日闕之內，化形為祥光瑞炁，流布十方之界，普度於天人。夫天人者，謙恭博施，仁德寬容，虛恬柔靜，相貌為和，愛敬師友，聞道篤信，此為有天人資質，天尊則化身下降，授以上道，濟度成真，故曰普濟度天人。若夫根器濁惡，不持戒行，性耽謠殺，聞道大笑者，此為同於失者也，非道負人，人自負道。〕

委炁聚功德，

　　〔列子曰：凡炁聚則生，炁散則死。知炁聚則生，人不能禁也，知炁散則死，人不能止也，元炁既無禁止，則是命屬造物而不屬於我也。至人得其樞要，能掌握呼吸之息，息之出入，由吾掌握，則是我命在我，不屬於天。俗喭所謂將息者，實仙真流傳，點化凡愚之聖語也，孰能悟之。悟之者自能將其息而使不散，則自然委和之炁鍾聚於一息，久而積功累德，自然成真，故曰委炁聚功德。〕

同聲救罪人。

　　〔老子曰：同於道者，道亦得之。若乃勤求師門，躭味至理，研窮典誥，一心念道，用志不分者，是之謂同聲相應，同氣相求，始可與言至道，而救度之，故曰同聲救罪人。〕

罪人實可哀，我今說妙經。

　　〔夫人受生胞胎之中，綿綿十月，母呼亦呼，母吸亦吸，炁足神備，解胎而生，驚天駭地，而得為人，謂之嬰兒，嬰兄之心，但貴食母之乳，餘無所知，此乃含真抱朴之時也。既生百日，為物所誘，情見於外，俄而能笑，則變嬰以為孩，自此乃為喪道失朴之始也。然後十五為童，二十弱冠，目眩五色，耳惑五音，七情奪其性，六慾汨其真，純樸蕩而盡矣。一日一夜，萬死萬生，驅役魂神，不閉一息，此乃處世之人，生身受罪於無間地獄，湮淪汨沒，無有出期，苟非得道，孰能免離，若此罪人，實可哀也，是以天尊大開救苦之門，廣闡微妙之典，三清聖域，坦然可歸。〕

念誦無休息，歸身不暫停。

　　〔一念在道而不休誦，究仙經而不息念，誦既無休息，則淵明奧賾，契合自然。《內觀經》曰：炁來入身謂之生，神去離形謂之死。是以聖人盜採天炁，歸乎一身，聖功冲用，三返晝夜，不欲暫停，故曰歸身不暫停。〕

天堂享大福，地獄無苦聲。

　　〔天仙不離於天，神仙不離於神，地仙不離於地，藥石仙不離於服餌藥石，鬼仙不離陰靈之鬼，此皆所行之道類使之然，亦猶水之就濕，火就燥，雲從龍，風從虎也。上學之士凝神鍊炁，復命歸根，體變純陽，身超塵劫，至於咀嚼朝霧，嚥嗽沆瀣，二景纏絡，六炁臻身，呼吸大梵之雲英，妙用悉享於天廚，自然長生，歸於天堂矣，故曰天堂享大福。不食百穀之實，土地之精，故身不死，歸於地而無淪墜之苦，故曰無苦聲。〕

火翳成清署，

　　〔火翳者南方地獄之名也，眾生常為慾火焚心而色翳目，故曰火翳。觸目動心，地獄即現，既悟真詮，性天朗徹，一念湛然，所謂火翳者皆化為清净之域也。〕

劍樹化為騫。

　　〔劍樹乃地獄名也，眾生競名利，爭人我，與物相刃相摩，交談如矛戟，對面如寇讎，見受劍樹之獄也。至人體道，含洪光大，為而不爭，胸中之荊棘悉化玉樹騫林也。〕

上登朱陵府，下入開光門。

　　〔此言行火也，心為朱陵府，謂之上昧君火，閉息宴坐，以心引之，則無乎不焚。腎為玄冥府，謂之中昧臣火，昇腰脅腹，閉息行之，則無乎不達。膀胱謂之三昧民火，提動機關，金龜吐燄，則無乎不昇。鍊上屍則火炁騰陟於絳宮，故曰上登朱陵府，焚下屍則火炁透徹尾閭，故曰下入開光門。〕

超度三界難，

　　〔世之人頭頂欲天，足履欲地，身處欲界，輪轉於六欲業輪之中，無有休息者，不忘於欲也，能常無欲，則三界輪迴之難頓超之矣。〕

徑上元始天。

　　〔元始天即玉清聖境也，上道既成，神昇玉清，位為真人，出則諸天侍軒，萬神備衛，高出乎太清上清之真也。〕

於是飛天真人无鞅數眾，瞻仰尊顏，而作頌曰：

　　〔人之頂骨八片，謂之八天，亦曰八門，中有金樓寶殿玉闕紫房，自己無相，真人總領，萬神居之，道成則神光內燭，天門自開，嬰兄蛻質，於是真人飛從天門而出，故曰飛天真人。身中之千真萬靈，即无鞅數眾也。《度人經》曰：上開八門，飛天法輪。《生神章》云：慶此嬰兒蛻，正此謂也。神昇玄都，上朝虛皇，故曰瞻仰尊顏，而作謠歌，頌詠大聖之德也。〕

天尊說經教，引接於浮生。

　　〔天職覆，地職載，聖職教化，天尊所以廣敷經教，接引浮世眾生者，乃聖人之職也。〕

勤修學無為，

　　〔無為為之之謂道，無為言之之為德，天無為以清，地無為以寧，二無為相合而萬物生，人安得無為哉。故曰恬淡寂寞，虛無無為，此天地之平而道德之質也，勤修上士，絕學高人，能依无為，是配合天地之平準，符契道德之質實，不亦大哉。〕

悟真道自成。

　　〔悟其真者，始覺萬緣俱假，惟道是真，抱守其真，自然成道。〕

不迷亦不荒，

　　〔世人迷於名利情欲，荒於聲色滋味，迷之又迷，以至於荒，荒者言其神不明，而心靈逐物，蕩蕩逝去而不返也。老子曰荒兮其未央哉，决以言其未嘗守中也。夫至人履乎平易，踐乎恬愉，澹然獨與，神明俱視，天下皆為塵勞妄幻，風燈眾沬，露電泡影，既不堅久，無足傾戀，入乎泰定真常之域，一念不生，萬緣俱息，至此境界，何荒迷之有哉。〕

無我亦無名。

　　〔不尚賢能外其身而虛己以逝世，故曰無我。道常無名，是以聖人韜其光而隱其身者，恐其道未成而名勝於實也，名者實之賓，虛名出而道德備矣，故曰繩繩兮不可名。莊子云：神人無功，至人無己，聖人無名也。〕

朗詠罪福句，

　　揚教化也。

萬徧心垢清。

　　〔精研聖典，靈府虛明。〕

於是飛天神王及諸仙眾，說是頌畢，稽首天尊，奉辭而退。

　　〔飛天神王乃我本來之帝真也。夫神通變化，眾而為一，不為不足化而為萬，不為有餘，及諸仙眾，則自己之萬神也。稽首天尊，永遵依大道也。奉辭而退，復歸於无極也。〕

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 太上洞玄靈寶天尊說救苦妙經註解, revision of 27 August 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 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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