Dongxuan Lingbao Dingguan Jing Zhu — Annotated by Lengxuzi

This is a short Tang-dynasty (618–907) Daoist scripture on stilling the mind, preserved together with a phrase-by-phrase commentary in the Daoist Canon (正統道藏, printed 1445), where scripture and commentary together are catalogued as DZ 400. The base scripture — properly the Dongxuan Lingbao Dingguan Jing, "Scripture on Concentration and Contemplation of Numinous Treasure from the Cavern of Mystery" — belongs to the same small family of Tang meditation texts as the Qingjing Jing, and is framed as a teaching given by the Celestial Worthy to the True Person of the Left Mystery. Its commentary is signed at the close by a certain Lengxuzi, "Master of Empty Coldness," in a note dated only to a renshen year of the sixty-year cycle; which renshen year, and who Lengxuzi otherwise was, cannot be recovered from the text itself.

The commentary proceeds clause by clause, glossing nearly every phrase of the scripture in the smaller interlinear type of the original print. This translation keeps that structure visible: the scripture's own words stand in plain type, and the commentary that follows each phrase is set off in italics and parentheses, exactly where it falls in the source. What the commentary explains is one of the clearest short statements of early Tang meditation method — relinquish external affairs, still the moving mind without extinguishing its power to illuminate, and pass, without forcing the pace, through seven bodily and spiritual signs toward becoming, in the text's own ranking, an Immortal, a True Person, a Divine Person, and finally a Perfect Person. A closing afterword by Lengxuzi, in more literary prose, explains why the commentary was written.

One translation note: 了 (liao), "to realize" — at once to understand a thing completely and to be finished with it — is the word that names this whole family of scriptures in several of its sister texts, and it is rendered "realize" here as elsewhere on this shelf. The source as transmitted here breaks off its main text mid-sentence, at the words "and then he spoke a verse, saying" — no verse follows on this leaf of the transcription, and none has been supplied.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, printed in full below the translation. The base scripture within this commentary already has a published English translation — see the colophon below — so no claim of firstness is made here; this is an independent Good Works Translation of the complete commented text.

Translation

Main Text

Ling ("Numinous") means shen, "spirit" — called ling in Heaven. Bao ("Treasure") means zhen, "precious" — called bao on Earth. Heaven's numinous transformations, spirit-like and unfathomable in their working, cover all things without limit; Earth's many treasures nourish and sustain the host of beings, bearing up the ten thousand things in abundance. This scripture is said to be like Heaven and like Earth: able to cover, able to bear; possessing the numinous, possessing the treasure; its merit without limit. Where this mind is realized, the scripture is therefore named Lingbao, "Numinous Treasure." Ding ("Concentration") means the mind made still, like the earth unmoving. Guan ("Contemplation") means wisdom's seeing, like Heaven's unceasing shining. Where the substance of concentration holds no errant thought, and the contemplation of wisdom is boundless, and concentration and wisdom are cultivated as one — the scripture is therefore named Dingguan, "Concentration and Contemplation."

The Celestial Worthy addressed the True Person of the Left Mystery, saying — (Zuo, "Left," stands for concentration. Xuan, "Mystery," means the profound and subtle. Zhen, "True," means pure: one, without admixture. Ren, "Person," means one who has penetrated principle and reached true nature. Yue, "said," is only a word marking speech.)

Now, one who wishes to cultivate the Way (the mind that presses forward toward the Way is called "cultivating the Way") must first be able to relinquish worldly affairs (to be entirely unstained by them is called "relinquishing affairs"), and cut off external affairs entirely (the six dusts are the "external affairs," which must be kept at a distance. The six dusts are form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and mental objects. To be stained and attached to them no further is called "entirely"), letting nothing set itself against the mind (when circumstance does not come to oppose the mind, the mind has no vexation; when the mind does not stir into defilement, circumstance brings no trouble. When mind and circumstance are both forgotten, there is no vexation at all — this is why it is called "letting nothing set itself against the mind"). Only then sit at peace (to gather in and settle one's vexations is called "peace"; the original mind not stirring is called "sitting"), and inwardly observe the mind's stirring. If you become aware that a single thought has arisen, you must remove it, and see to it that peace and stillness prevail (wisdom-mind shining inward is called "inward observation." Outflowing thought not yet removed is called "the mind stirring." When a prior thought suddenly arises, the awareness that follows attends it; once the stirred mind is extinguished, the very awareness of it is also forgotten — this is called "removal." When the realized mind does not stir, this is called "peace"; when the aware nature does not move, this is called "stillness" — hence "peace and stillness").

Next: even where there is no fixed clinging or attachment, floating and drifting confused thoughts must also be entirely extinguished and removed (when the manifold minds do not arise, false thoughts are all forgotten, and confused thoughts do not spring up — how could there then be clinging or attachment? Hence it says "extinguished and removed"). Practice diligently day and night, without lapsing for even a moment ("day" speaks of purity, "night" speaks of defilement; when defilement and purity are both forgotten, there is no interruption at all — hence it is called "without lapsing"). Only extinguish the moving mind (forgetful thought and discrimination are called "the moving mind"; awareness's illumination drives it off — hence "extinguishing"), do not extinguish the illuminating mind (wisdom's illumination is constantly bright, without a break — hence "not extinguishing the illuminating mind"); only settle the mind into emptiness (raising no mind at all is called "the empty mind"), do not settle the mind into fixed abiding (being attached to nothing at all is called "not fixed into abiding"), and rely on no single dharma, yet let the mind constantly abide (to grasp at a single dharma is called "attachment to appearance." The mind's not grasping at any dharma is called "not relying." Illuminating, yet ever still — hence "constant abiding").

And yet the ordinary mind is restless and contentious. Furthermore, for the beginner, stilling the mind is very difficult; sometimes stillness cannot be achieved at all, or a brief pause is soon lost again (this means that vexations from habituated nature are hard to extinguish; when the power of concentration is not yet accomplished, a brief pause is soon lost again). That which departs and that which remains make war on each other; the hundred workings of the body surge and circulate (when the mind stirs toward a defiled object, the object comes and pulls at the mind; mind and object defile one another — hence it is called "making war." When false thoughts do not cease, a hundred faults arise of themselves — this is called "the hundred workings of the body surge and circulate"). Only after long, long refined reflection does the mind become tempered and ripe. Do not, because a brief gathering-in fails, therefore abandon the labor of a thousand lifetimes (when the concentrated mind does not stir, one accords with the true constant; but if a single thought is not gathered in, the labor of a thousand lifetimes is thereby abandoned). Once one has attained a little stillness (at first one attains purity and clarity, but proper wisdom has not yet arisen — hence it says "attained a little stillness"), then — at the time of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down (this is the four dignified postures), in places where one engages with affairs, in places of clamor and noise (seeing any and all appearances is a "place of engagement"; the arising of any and all mental states is a "place of clamor and noise") — deliberately settle into peace in every case (to still confusion and return to quiescence is called "making the intention"; to attain a place of tranquil plainness is called "peace"); whether there are affairs or no affairs, always be as if without mind; whether dwelling in stillness or dwelling in clamor, let one's resolve be single (when being and non-being are both dismissed, and stillness and function are both forgotten, the ten thousand dharmas are not two — this is called "singleness").

If one binds the mind too tightly, this too becomes an illness: the qi bursts out as madness and derangement — this is its symptom (a one-sided mind clinging to stillness is called "binding the mind"; the mind seeing appearances outside itself is called "derangement"). If the mind does not move at all, one must also let it go free — finding the right balance between slack and tight (wisdom arising out of concentration is called "letting go free"; concentration and wisdom equally fused is called "attaining the right balance"). Of itself the practice constantly finds its due measure (too much concentration and one becomes dull; too much wisdom and one becomes wild; concentration and wisdom used equally is called "finding due measure"). Restrained yet not attached, released yet not moved; dwelling in clamor without aversion, engaging in affairs without vexation — this is true concentration (still, yet ever illuminating; illuminating, yet ever still; empty, yet ever functioning; functioning, yet ever empty; attaining the original, fundamental stillness — hence "true concentration"). Do not, because engaging in affairs brings no vexation, therefore seek out many affairs; do not, because dwelling in clamor brings no aversion, force yourself toward clamor (habituated nature and worldly toil must constantly be reined in and governed; one must not indulge and let them run loose). Take being without affairs as the true dwelling (seeing one's fundamental nature as empty and still — this is why it is the "true dwelling"), and having affairs as responsive traces (the functioning of wisdom is boundless — this is why it is "responsive traces").

As with water or a mirror serving as a reflector: they show forth the shapes of things according to what comes before them (the original mind is pure and clear, just like water or a mirror: its illuminating function is unobstructed, and the ten thousand images all appear within it — this is called "showing forth shapes"). Skillful means alone are able to enter concentration (the nature of all dharmas is empty, still, with nothing arising — this is why it is "entering concentration"). Whether wisdom arises slowly or swiftly does not depend on the person. Do not, in the midst of concentration, urgently press to seek wisdom; urgency injures the nature, and injury means no wisdom (urgently seeking knowledge and views, true concentration is thereby lost. Clinging to and grasping at appearances — hence it says "no wisdom"). If, in concentration, one does not seek wisdom, and wisdom arises of itself — this is called true wisdom (the substance of the mind is still and quiet, its marvelous function inexhaustible — this is why it is "true concentration"). Wisdom that does not exert itself: real understanding seems foolish (realizing that there is no discrimination to be made is called "not exerting." Hiding one's light and concealing one's traces — hence it says "seems foolish"). This further nourishes concentration and wisdom: the two excellences without limit (stillness and illumination equally fused — hence it says "the two excellences without limit").

If, in the midst of concentration, thoughts and imaginings arise, one will often draw in a host of aberrant forces — goblins, sprites, and a hundred kinds of demons — appearing in response to the mind (this is the mind grasping at appearances; once appearances arise in response, every manner of deviant demon comes competing to disturb and confuse the practitioner). Even seeing the Celestial Worthy, the various immortals, and the True Persons — these too are such omens (these are all mere appearances; one must not grasp at or become attached to them). Only let it be that above the concentrated mind, all is open and vast with nothing covering it; below the concentrated mind, all is broad and empty with no foundation to stand on (the prior thought does not arise — hence "nothing covering"; the following thought does not stir — hence "no foundation"). Old karma dissolves day by day, and new karma is not created (past habituations are entirely exhausted — this is called "old karma dissolves day by day"; the mind no longer stirs into new grasping — hence "new karma is not created"). Nothing hinders or obstructs; one breaks utterly free of the cage of the world's dust (stained by nothing at all — hence "nothing hinders or obstructs"; liberated, with no bonds — hence "breaking utterly free of the cage of the world's dust"). Practicing thus for a long time, one naturally attains the Way (wisdom's illumination never extinguished is called "practicing for a long time"; according with principle and merging with the real — hence "attaining the Way").

Now, for a person who has attained the Way, there are in all seven signs. First: the mind attains concentration easily, and one becomes aware of all the outflows of sense-dust (the mind attains purity and clarity; every dust-thought is fully known — hence "aware of all the outflows of sense-dust"). Second: long-standing ailments are entirely dissolved, and body and mind become light and clear (true qi and embryonic breathing [taixi]: chronic illness is entirely healed; embodying the Way and merging with the real, the body becomes light and does not age). Third: what was prematurely depleted is filled and restored; one's years are returned and one's life-span renewed (the bones and marrow become firm and full — hence "what was prematurely depleted is filled and restored"; the countenance holds fast and does not change — this is called "years returned, life-span renewed"). Fourth: one's years extend to tens of thousands, and one is called an Immortal (xianren) (long life without death, years extending to tens of thousands, one's name entered into the immortal registers — hence "Immortal"). Fifth: the form is refined into qi, and one is called a True Person (zhenren) (attaining the original, primordial qi — hence "the form refined into qi"; the nature made true and without falsehood — hence "True Person"). Sixth: qi is refined into spirit, and one is called a Divine Person (shenren) (true qi penetrating spirit, yin and yang become unfathomable — hence "Divine Person"). Seventh: spirit is refined and merged with the Way, and one is called a Perfect Person (zhiren) (true spirit according with the Way — hence "Perfect Person").

As for the power of reflection, it grows ever brighter with each sign attained ("the power of reflection" means constant illumination without cease; "grows ever brighter" means brightness upon brightness, unbroken). When one arrives at the Way's completion, wisdom is then perfect and complete (if one realizes one's fundamental nature, attains the Way, and becomes a True Person, wisdom becomes perfectly bright, and the ten thousand dharmas are all fully possessed). But if one has long studied the stilling of the mind, yet the body shows not a single one of these signs — the years are cut short, the tainted substance fades, and the countenance withers into emptiness — and yet one calls oneself awakened in wisdom, and further claims to have completed the Way, then the principle of seeking the Way has, in truth, not been realized (penetrating spirit and merging with the Way — this is truly attaining and completing the Way. But if the mind is deluded and the body perishes, one has not departed from birth and death. The Scripture of the Western Ascension says: "For this reason, having lost the root of life, how could one know the source of the Way?").

And then he spoke a verse, saying:

Afterword

The Way is learned through the mind; it is not to be sought by borrowing from another. Spirit dwells dependent on form, having nothing outside it. My own numinous brightness spans the present and spans antiquity — only because it is bound by the six emotions is my true and upright thought thereby wounded. Greed, hatred, delusion, and confusion, and every kind of view and error, turn their back on the true and face toward the false, with no end to it. It was truly because the True Teacher, taking pity on the ignorance of living beings, therefore expounded this wondrous scripture — making it a model and mirror for humans and gods, a ladder and a ferry for the realization of the Way. Hence this teaching of Concentration and Contemplation, which brings forth the wondrous root, penetrates the mysterious and subtle to their depths, washes away the vapors of defilement, and rises beyond seeing and hearing; which makes manifest no-appearance after the arising of form, and attains the utmost of emptiness before any sign appears; in which thing and self are both forgotten, and form and spirit both become wondrous. All of us within the Daoist order — revere this, revere this!

In the year renshen, the first auspicious day of the third month, Lengxuzi bows his head and reverently records this.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Daoist shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The source alternates an unmarked base scripture with interlinear commentary set off by 〔 〕 brackets in the original printing; no 〖 〗 lemma-marks occur in this text. The translation keeps that alternation visible by setting the scripture's own words in plain type and each commentary note that follows it in italics within parentheses, in the order and position the source presents them. The source's two structural headings, 本文 ("Main Text") and 後記 ("Afterword"), are reproduced as translated headings; the afterword itself, written in more literary continuous prose rather than clause-by-clause commentary, is rendered as prose throughout.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. The base scripture within this commentary, catalogued as the Dongxuan Lingbao Dingguan Jing, DZ 400, was searched for in the standard bibliography of Daoist texts in English translation (Komjathy, Daoist Texts in Translation) and in a 2023 update of the same survey. Komjathy's bibliography records two prior English renderings of the base scripture: Livia Kohn's translation in Seven Steps to the Tao: Sima Chengzhen's Zuowang lun (Steyler Verlag, 1987), pp. 129–43, and Eva Wong's partial translation (selections) in Teachings of the Tao (Shambhala, 1997), pp. 132–35. A live web search to check further — and specifically to check whether this particular interlinear commentary, as distinct from the bare scripture, has itself previously been rendered into English — could not be completed at the time of preparation, so that narrower question remains open. Given the confirmed prior translations of the base scripture, no claim of firstness is made for any part of this text. This Good Works Translation was made independently from the Chinese and did not consult either prior translation.

A note on terms. 了 (liao), "realize," is used throughout in its double sense of complete understanding and completion, matching its use elsewhere on this shelf. 法 (fa) is kept as "dharma," in its Buddhist-derived technical sense of "phenomenon" or "thing" rather than "law" or "method" — this commentary borrows Buddhist vocabulary as freely as its sister scriptures do. 候 (hou), the seven markers of bodily and spiritual attainment in the text's central passage, is rendered "signs." The source text breaks off mid-sentence at "and then he spoke a verse, saying," with no verse following on this leaf of the transcription; this is preserved exactly as given, without a supplied verse.

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

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Source Text: 洞玄靈寶定觀經註

Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. 〔 〕 marks small-type interlinear commentary as formatted in the transcription.

本文

〔靈者，神也，在天曰靈。寶者，珍也，在地曰寶。天有靈化，神用不測，則廣覆無邊；地有眾寶，濟養羣品，則厚載萬物。言此經如天如地，能覆能載，有靈有寶，功德無窮，證得此心，故名靈寶。定者，心定也，如地不動。觀者，慧觀也，如天常照。定體無念，慧照無邊，定慧等修，故名定觀。〕

天尊告左玄真人曰〔左者，定也。玄者，深妙也。真者，純也，一而無雜。人者，通理達性之人也。曰者，語辭也〕：

夫欲修道〔進趣之心，名為修道〕，先能捨事〔一切無染，名為捨事〕，外事都絕〔六塵為外事，須遠離也。六塵者，色、聲、香、味、觸、法。更不染著，名為都絕〕，無與忤心〔境不來忤，心即無惱；心不起染，境則無煩。心境兩忘，即無煩惱。故名無與忤心〕，然後安坐〔攝澄煩惱，名之為安。本心不起，名之為坐〕，內觀心起。若覺一念起，須除滅，務令安靜〔慧心內照，名曰內觀。漏念未除，名為心起。前念忽起，後覺則隨。起心既滅，覺照亦忘。故稱除滅。了心不起，名之為安。覺性不動，名之為靜。故稱安靜〕。

其次，雖非的有貪著，浮遊亂想，亦盡滅除〔眾心不起，妄念悉忘，亂想不生，何有貪著？故曰滅除〕。晝夜勤行，須臾不替〔晝之言淨，夜之言垢。垢淨兩忘，無有間替，故名不替〕。唯滅動心〔忘想分別，名曰動心。覺照祛之，故名為滅〕，不滅照心〔慧照常明，無有間，故名不滅照心〕；但凝空心〔不起一切心名空心〕，不凝住心〔一切無著，名之不凝住心〕，不依一法而心常住〔若取一法，即名著相。心不取法，名為不依。照而常寂，故為常住〕。

然則凡心躁競。其次，初學息心甚難，或息不得，蹔停還失〔言習性煩惱，難可滅除，定力未成，蹔停還失也〕。去留交戰，百體流行〔心起染境，境來牽心，心境相染，故名交戰。妄念不息，百非自生，名曰百體流行〕。久久精思，方乃調熟。勿以蹔收不得，遂廢千生之業〔定心不起，則契真常。一念不收，千生遂廢〕。少得靜已〔初得清淨，正慧未生，故曰少得靜已〕，則於行立坐卧之時〔四威儀之時也〕，涉事之處，諠鬧之所〔見一切諸相為涉之處，起一切諸心，名為諠鬧之所也〕，皆作意安〔息亂歸寂，名為作意。恬淡得所，名之為安也〕；有事無事，常若無心；處靜處諠，其志惟一〔有無雙遣，寂用俱忘，萬法不二，名之唯一〕。

若束心太急，又則成病，氣發狂顛，是其候也〔偏心執靜，名曰束心。心外見相，名為顛也〕。心若不動，又須放任，寬急得所〔從定發慧，名為放任。定慧齊融，名曰得所〕。自恒調適〔定多即愚，慧多即狂；定慧等用，名曰調適〕，制而不著，放而不動，處喧無惡，涉事無惱者，此是真定〔寂而常照，照而常寂，空而常用，用而常空，得本元寂，故為真定〕。不以涉事無惱，故求多事；不以處喧無惡，強來就諠〔習性塵勞，常須制御，不可縱逸〕。以無事為真宅〔見本性空寂，故為真宅〕，有事為應跡〔慧用無邊，故為應跡〕。

若水鏡之為鑒，則隨物而現形〔本心清淨，猶如水鏡，照用無碍，萬象俱現，名為現形〕。善巧方便，唯能入定〔諸法性空，寂無所起，故為入定〕。慧發遲速，則不由人。勿令定中急急求慧，急則傷性，傷則無慧〔急求知見，真定乃亡。貪著諸相，故云無慧〕。若定不求慧而慧自生，此名真慧〔心體寂靜，妙用無窮，故為真定〕。慧而不用，實智若愚〔了無分別，名之不用。韜光晦跡，故曰若愚〕。益資定慧，雙美無極〔寂照齊融，故云雙美無極〕。

若定中念想，多感眾邪，妖精百魅，隨心應見〔為心取相。諸相應生，一切邪魔，競來撓亂〕。所見天尊、諸仙、真人，是其祥也〔此為諸相，不可取著〕。唯令定心之上，豁然無覆；定心之下，曠然無基〔前念不生，故云無覆；後念不起，故曰無基〕。舊業日銷，新業不造〔宿習並盡，名曰舊業日銷，更不起心，故名新業不造〕。無所罣礙，迥脫塵籠〔一切無染，故名無所罣礙；解脫無繫，故云迥脫塵籠〕。行而久之，自然得道〔智照不滅，名曰行而久之；契理合真，故云得道〕。

夫得道之人，凡有七候；一者，心得定易，覺諸塵漏〔心得清靜，塵念盡知，故曰覺諸塵漏〕；二者，宿疾普銷，身心輕爽〔真氣胎息，痼疾盡瘳。體道合真，身輕不老〕；三者，填補夭損，還年復命〔骨髓堅滿，故填補夭損；駐顏不易，名為還年復命也〕；四者，延數萬歲，名曰仙人〔長生不死，延數萬歲，名編仙籙，故曰仙人〕；五者，鍊形為氣，名曰真人〔得本元氣，故曰鍊形為氣；正性無偽，故曰真人〕；六者，鍊氣成神，名曰神人〔真氣通神，陰陽不測，故曰神人〕；七者，鍊神合道，名曰至人〔真神契道，故曰至人〕。

其於鑒力，隨候益明〔鑒力者，常照不息也。益明者，明明不絕也〕。得至道成，慧乃圓備〔若了本性，得道成真，智慧圓明，萬法俱備〕。若乃久學定心，身無一候，促齡穢質，色謝方空。自云慧覺，又稱成道者，求道之理，實所未然〔通神合道即得道真成。心惑身亡，不離生死。《西昇經》云：是故失生本，焉能知道源〕。而說頌曰：

後記

道由心學，匪假佗求；神依形住，罔有其外。我之靈明，亘今亘古，惟其絏於六情，是以戕我正念。貪嗔癡昧，種種見惑，背真向偽，無有殫期。寔惟真師憫念眾生無知，故演此妙經，作人天規鑑，為證道梯航。是有定觀之說，發揮妙本，洞徹玄微，滌乎垢氛，超乎視聽；明無相於有形之後，致虛極於未兆之先；物我俱忘，形神俱妙。凡我羽流，敬之敬之。
龍集壬申三月初吉，冷虛子稽首謹識

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 洞玄靈寶定觀經註, revision of 19 May 2023), 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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