Xiudao Zhenyan — Ascribed to Bai Yuchan
This is a collection of some seventy short aphoristic teachings on inner cultivation, preserved in the Daoist Canon and ascribed, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription's own header, to Bai Yuchan (白玉蟾), a celebrated master of the Southern School of internal alchemy. That same header dates the text to the Northern Song, which does not match the dates conventionally given for Bai Yuchan, who is usually placed a century or more later, active in the early thirteenth century under the Southern Song. We give the ascription exactly as the source states it and do not attempt to resolve the discrepancy ourselves; no more precise date or authorship can honestly be claimed.
The text has no chapters, titles, or internal divisions — it is a chain of independent sayings, each running from a single sentence to a short paragraph, moving freely between plain moral advice, technical instruction on stilling the mind and gathering the breath, warnings against false methods (sexual "battling," the crude firing of mercury, forced circulation of the breath), and quotations drawn from older scripture and from the Confucian classics. A few sayings are framed as answers to questions a student has put to the master, in the manner of a recorded discourse.
One phrase recurs and resists a single English equivalent: 腔子裡, literally "within the body's own frame" or "within the chest cavity" — the text's homely image for the mind staying at home in the body instead of wandering outward, rendered here as "within its own chamber." Readers will also meet 玄關, "the mysterious pass," and 元海, "the ocean of origin," alongside more familiar images of gathering and guarding the breath.
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 the Xiudao Zhenyan.
Translation
Investigating the mysterious teaching is not hard to grasp on the surface — what is hard is entering through the teaching of one's nature. Enter this way, and one reaches the very source. Mistake the path, and it is like tracing marks in empty air, or seeking a road by parting water.
The principle of cultivating the mystery can be grasped in the mind but cannot be handed on in words; it lies hidden, faintly, within the sentences of the ancients. Heaven does not speak, yet the four seasons proceed; the waxing and waning of yin and yang within the human body — no person can make this happen by will.
The wonder of the great Way lies entirely in the concentrating of spirit. Whoever hears of the Way should take up this meaning and seek it there. Once spirit is concentrated and the aperture is found, the work goes like splitting bamboo — joint answers to hand at every stroke. Otherwise one stands facing a wall, unable to take a single step forward.
Those who study the Way must have a mind as broad as sea and sky before they can advance in virtue. The mind should be empty and open, the spirit settled and calm; if one can keep the mind unmoved, the foundation of the elixir can be established.
For those who study the Way, nourishing the mind is the chief task. When the mind moves, the spirit tires; when the mind is settled, the spirit is at ease. Tired, the Way hides; at ease, the Way is born. Only a breast vast and open can carry the Way.
Heterodox teachings have long confused the Way — sexual "battling and plundering," the firing of mercury, forced circulation: all of these are deviant paths. The young, the unsteady in faith, and those who hurry anxiously after profit cannot easily be told of this Way. Whoever wishes to cultivate it must first take as guide a single word: blandness.
The boundary between immortal and ordinary, the pass between man and ghost, rests entirely on how one applies effort. But applying effort is like catching a cunning hare: relax too much and the hare bolts free; grip too hard and the hare dies. One must seek it within emptiness itself — otherwise how is this worth calling effort at all?
When the ordinary mind does not guard itself within, the breath scatters of itself. If one can constantly turn the sight inward, the breath gathers in and the organs are nourished; in time spirit and breath grow full. The ancients said: "Let the breath always pass through and open every joint, and naturally the essence will be full and the valley spirit endure."
In stillness, refine the breath; in motion, refine the mind — and the work of elementary study is complete.
One must curb desire. What is prior to Heaven must be settled by means of what comes after.
In motion the mind wanders vast and vague — better to keep this heart long within its own chamber. Students of the Way must first know the method of gathering in the mind before they speak of the work of stillness.
Whoever wishes to study the mysterious work must first, again and again, close the eyes; sit quietly for some hours out of the day; only then come and ask about the Way.
Cleverness and wit are not as good as foolishness. Students, simply through the two words "sharp and quick," give rise to opinions and do many ruinous things. To gather in body and mind, begin first from a single word: foolishness.
Heaven, in giving birth to man — that by which man lives and does not die — is "profound and unceasing." Lacking this unceasing quality, a man's breath would be cut off. Thus Heaven and Earth endure by the working of breath, and man too lives by the working of breath. Whoever can refine and hold fast this working shares longevity with Heaven and Earth, and becomes unceasing. Unceasing, and therefore enduring — the Doctrine of the Mean has said this.
Settle the heart and spirit — only then may one speak of the Way. To enter the mysterious pass, one must use the power of settling. Settled, one is still; stilled, one gives birth. It is not enough to be still within stillness — one must be able to be still within motion; only then does the strength of one's effort show itself. Spirit settled — this is the inner stroke. When affairs come, the mind responds; when affairs go, the mind stops. Breath settled — this is the outer stroke.
Careful in speech, correct in bearing; upright in speech, exacting in breath. The essential point of elementary study lies wholly in rectifying the breath and settling the spirit, in forgetting the mind and guarding the mouth — nothing more.
Cultivating the Way originally comes out of bitterness. But wherever a moment of quiet leisure can be had, take it — this itself is the Way. One must steal leisure even in the midst of busyness; for if a person can steal leisure, leisure is his. Otherwise he will have no peaceful hour his whole life long.
The heart-mind is the master of the whole body; the master must therefore always be at home. Let the master be absent even a moment, and the hundred bones fall into disorder — this is why students of the Way must prize constancy. Diligent at the start and slack at the end, working now and stopping now, is to abandon oneself.
"The four dignified bearings are all illusion; one point of numinous light alone is real. Hide and store the numinous brightness, and let it not shine too far, and then true suchness, the body without duality, appears." This one point is like the edge upon a sword, like the fire hidden within stone — it flashes once and is gone. This is why cultivators of nourishment must rear the sacred embryo, must gestate the infant: it is this. If the work is not begun early, then by the time the essence is dried and the blood exhausted, bent double upon the meditation cushion, what good does it do?
Many are those who long for the Way, yet the net of the vulgar world drags at them, and so the mind of the Way fails to advance. It is not that the Perfected do not pity the world — but what can be done, when the people of the world tangle themselves in their own knots? Now, to free students from this suffering, I set out a few words briefly. The stirring of the mind is not truly the mind — it is intention. The racing of the spirit is not truly the spirit — it is discriminating consciousness. Intention is full of desire; consciousness is full of attachment. Remove these two thieves, and the true nature becomes perfect and bright. Without desire, what is there to covet? Without attachment, what is there to seek? Free of covetousness and seeking, the nature is like emptiness itself, and vexation and idle thought no longer burden it. Add to this the refining of breath, and the golden elixir can be completed; the estate of an immortal can be hoped for.
Nourishing the breath lies only in gathering in the mind. When the mind stays within its own chamber, the breath is preserved.
To dwell amid the world's dust without being stained by it is the highest grade. Next best is to avoid it.
The two words "clarity and stillness" are the method for exchanging one's very bones.
Any ordinary person who can govern the mind is already a person within the Way. If the obstructions of the vulgar world are entirely dissolved, what cause is there to fear not succeeding?
Empty it, and empty it again, until one merges bodily with Heaven. Empty, empty, empty — yet within emptiness there is real work. Fall into pure extinction, and one ends by sinking into an obstinate, dead void.
For one who sits in stillness, the point is not to be still only while sitting, but to be still at all times.
When the spirit platform is not extinguished, and wise awareness constantly abides, this is the supreme treasure of the Way. Yet it is without form and without shadow, and cannot be spoken of clearly. One must grasp it silently with the mind; it is not to be sought outside.
Spirit is the sprout of the mind. A face moist and lustrous is the sign that blood and breath are harmonious and full. What matters above all is that the Flower Pool be nourished until its water is sufficient — then the tree of intention comes naturally into bloom.
The ancients taught people to seek the joy that Confucius and Yan Hui found. This joy cannot be sought through mere sentences and chapters; it lies in Heaven's mandate. When the mind is still, the spirit is clear; when the spirit is clear, the breath is harmonious — only then can this joy be attained.
The work at hand must not be neglected; mere procrastination brings no benefit. Whatever moment one gains, practice in that moment; thought must constantly turn back and illuminate this place. Where spirit arrives, breath arrives; where breath arrives, life-destiny grows firm.
The two words "reverence and caution" penetrate through Heaven and reach through Earth. No person who lets the mind run loose can ever become an immortal or a Buddha.
In all that a person does in life, whatever is handed down through the ages, it comes to nothing but this one point of spirit-light. Yet spirit cannot be born without essence, and essence cannot be nourished without stillness. To reach the state of utmost emptiness and utmost numen, one must refine this work of generating and this work of nourishing.
When the mind of the Way is constantly present, ordinary thoughts retreat of themselves. Forget the Way for a moment, and an ordinary thought arises for that moment; forget the Way for a single thought, and ordinary feeling arises for that single thought. One must constantly remind oneself.
Human life is like an illusion; one must seek out the true body. Under Heaven there is not one thing that is real — even this body is not one's own; only this one point of numinous light is. If it has nowhere to rely upon, then at the moment of extinction, what will it follow after? Is this not sorrowful?
Burning incense and brewing tea — this is the Way. Gazing at mountains, streams, clouds, and evening glow — this too is the Way. The breast need only be vast and unclouded; one need not seek the Way only upon the meditation cushion.
Studying the Way is a joyful thing. Joy is the Way; suffering is not the Way. Only this joy is not the joy of ordinary people.
Dwelling amid the world's dust and its social dealings is what most obstructs the Way. If a person can lessen worldly affairs by one part, the strength of the Way advances by one part. If illusory entanglements are not broken, there will never be a place to settle.
A person should treat himself as a sage and a worthy, and must not think little of himself — then he will attain what is above. Under Heaven there has never been an immortal who was not first a sage and a worthy.
People of the world should know the Way of frugality. Frugal with the eyes, one nourishes the spirit; frugal with speech, one nourishes the breath; frugal in affairs, one nourishes the mind; frugal in desires, one nourishes the essence; frugal with the heart, one escapes birth and death. Frugality is the very handle of the ten thousand transformations. But whoever does not know the true Way of frugality, and pursues only harshness and stinginess, has strayed far indeed from the Way of frugality.
The supreme wondrous Way originally comes from what is submerged, hidden, and still. If a single thought grows tangled and confused, ten thousand conditions rise up in profusion, and body, mind, nature, and life-destiny will never on any day be settled. If one cannot even attend to oneself, what leisure is there for other affairs? A person must turn around urgently, and reach the other shore early.
The mysterious work does not mean only nourishing the breath and filling the essence — one should also circulate the marrow and replenish the brain. Only when one's household goods are gathered in to the full may one be called truly wealthy. If the body still lacks something, one is only a beggar putting on a show of good appearance. Here is plainly a good road — why not walk it? What a pity, to leave vacant a seat among the immortals — is one still in such a hurry, even at night?
Vexation is the axe that fells one's nature. A person must apply effort exactly where it is hardest to master. If one does not transform and perfect one's temperament, how can one become a good and worthy person?
All who study the Way must, in speech and conduct, stand somewhat above the ways of the ordinary world. If one still walks the path of the common crowd, what is there worth prizing in studying the Way?
In studying the Way, the first task is transforming one's temperament; only after that, in dealing with others and with affairs, becoming somewhat more generous and substantial — this is what makes one a vessel fit for the Way.
The literati of today, simply through the obstruction of doctrine, find it hard to enter the Way, not knowing that the Way is none other than the Way of Confucius and Mencius. Were not Zhou Lianxi and Shao Yaofu exactly this? One must not view this Way as belonging solely to the Daoist school — one must know that the Confucian and the Daoist are one and the same. Did those two masters, Zhou and Shao, ever leave their households to practice cultivation? People today take the Way as a school of renouncing the world, and fear it — how mistaken this is!
The spring peach's abundant brilliance is the true yang stored up through the three months of winter. The autumn chrysanthemum's abundant yellow is the true yin gathered and nourished through the summer's heat. The mysterious principle within this is grasped only by one who understands it in the mind.
A person is burdened by physical form; once a certain age arrives, wind-ache rises in every joint and every limb aches. Why speak of hell — this itself is hell. Had one, in ordinary days, some little exercise of stillness, how could this stretch of suffering be avoided? Thus the body is what I love, and yet I am also burdened by the body. But if I can take hold and grasp firmly this stretch of numinous nature, then life and death, coming forth and going in, are entirely at my own command.
For the student of the Way, the first task is clarifying the mind and reducing desire. To rest one's pillow high beneath a thatched eave, to give free rein to one's aims beside a bamboo window — this is the carefree grade of the Daoist household. If one still runs about chasing after things in confusion, how does one differ from the vulgar crowd? "Cultivate and nourish one's nature and temperament; transform one's constitutional temperament" — these two phrases are the very first matter in entering the gate.
There has never been a person who cultivates the Way who was not still and silent. A careless mind and a floating breath are of no use whatsoever.
Someone asked about foreknowledge. The answer was: "The workings of things are born from the mind; affairs are judged by principle. When a person judges affairs by principle, that person is himself a spirit. Abandon principle and go asking spirits instead, and even the spirits will not tell you."
All who enter the mysterious gate take stilling the nature as the chief task. It is like a spring courtyard just after new rain: the four walls entirely still, the plants and trees holding spring within them, secretly storing up their growth. Understand what lies within this, and there is a true end to reach — one need not insist that only discoursing on mysteries is the Way.
The human mind is like the eye: let the finest speck of dust enter the eye, and the eye is at once uneasy. Let a small matter enter the mind, and the mind is at once thrown into disorder. Thus studying the Way lies only in settling the mind. If the mind is not settled, then something as slight as a paper window torn by another will surely give rise to anger and resentment; something as fine as a single needle taken by another will give rise to stinginess and regret. Nor is it only wealth and rank that throw the mind into disorder — gain and loss divide one's thoughts, and vexed and wayward musings arise; as soon as one becomes aware of them, remove them at once. On hearing praise or blame, good or ill report, brush it away as soon as it is heard; do not let the mind take it in. If the mind takes it in, it becomes full; once full, the Way has nowhere to dwell. One must make what is heard and seen, right and wrong, unable to enter the mind. That the mind does not take things in from outside is called an empty mind. That the mind is kept from chasing after outer things is called a settled mind. When the mind is settled and empty, the Way comes of itself to dwell there.
An immortal scripture says: to concentrate the essence and nourish the spirit, unmixed with outer things, is called clarity. To turn the spirit back and restore the breath, settled and unmoving, is called stillness. Govern thought so as to settle the will; still the body so as to calm the spirit; preserve the breath so as to conserve the essence. When thought and deliberation are both forgotten, and one enters dark meditation and inward contemplation, body and spirit become one. When body and spirit become one, one draws near to the real.
As grime is gradually removed, the mirror grows bright; as the mind gradually quiets, the nature grows clear. Cultivate a single pool of autumn water within, and I need not seek to mirror things — things will enter my mirror of themselves.
What is truly present within must take form without; not the slightest part of this can be counterfeited. A worthy of former times said: "Where a mountain holds fine jade, the plants and trees upon it do not wither. Where the body holds the wondrous Way, the bodily frame does not decay." Thus whoever has true effort in the mind must have, in the very face, a fine complexion.
The human mind is like fire: unless it is checked, it will burn itself up. Guarding against the smallest beginning and stopping decline before it spreads rests entirely in the single mind.
It is not hard for people under Heaven to set their resolve; what is most to be feared is that the thought turns back to the two words "wealth and rank" — these are the fragrant bait that hooks a person's thought and turns it aside. This is why, again and again, those who attain the Way are either the poor and destitute, or those who come after some great calamity. Why is this? Because their ties to the dusty world have been cut off, and when they turn their heads, all is empty. Thus Sun the Perfected, in his commentary on the Treatise on Malignant Illness, said: "Immortals in the tens — every one attained the immortal Way through some malignant illness." Their worldly karmic ties were entirely exhausted, self and things both forgotten, without the least turning back of thought — and so misfortune became the very means of their good fortune.
All who cultivate the Way must take hold of this one thing with a single grasping hand; walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, unmoved by anything outside, settled as firm as Mount Tai, unmoving and unshaken. Shut fast the four gates, so that the thirteen thieves cannot enter from without, and the treasure within the body is not let to leak out. Day after day, if it is so, why bother bowing in worship to seek the true immortals? — this itself is the very first seat upon Penglai.
Mysterious cultivation differs from the Buddhist school: the Buddhists call this bodily frame a "stinking leather bag." In entering the gate of the Daoist school, one must, on the contrary, wholly preserve this bodily form. For the body is the cart that carries the Way; when the spirit departs, the body dies, just as when the cart breaks, the horse bolts free.
The transmission of the great Way is originally not difficult; it is that people of the world take the wrong turning at the outset, and so make it so laborious. Have you not heard: "The great Way is not far off — it is within the body. The ten thousand things are all empty, but the nature is not empty. When the nature is empty, harmonious breath pours in; when the breath returns to the ocean of origin, one's years are without end." And again it is said: "If you wish the spirit within the body not to depart, let no single thing remain lodged upon the spirit platform. Let a thing remain within the body, and the spirit is not clear; the true essence is dissipated and wasted, and the Way is hard to attain."
"When a single thought stirs, all is fire; where the ten thousand conditions fall silent, there the real is born" — this is the rule of guarding the center. The essential task in advancing along the Way is nothing other than questioning the mind. Thus it is said: "To study the Way, one must first know one's own mind. The depths of one's own mind are hardest of all to find. But if the seeking reaches the place where there is nothing left to seek, then at last one believes: the ordinary mind is itself the mind of the Way."
In studying the Way, the nature should be kept simple and unmixed; one should make no use of cleverness and cunning. The essential point lies entirely in placing the mind in the realm of "what is there to think, what is there to deliberate," in the heaven of "knowing nothing, understanding nothing" — this is the whole outline of the great Way.
The method of the shortcut consists in nothing but guarding this one mind. When the yang breath does not leak away, it gathers together to form the ocean of origin.
The Way has never been attained by anyone without inquiry and study. Even the recorded sayings of the sages of the Three Teachings are nothing other than the disclosure of Heaven and Earth's secrets, a stair by which to lead later students onward. Savor them with a careful mind, and the true particulars become known.
Someone asked about not being able to "take hold" in the work of stillness. The answer was: "Where the ten thousand conditions fall silent — that itself is the realm of the immortals. At that moment sincerity is single and undivided; the dragon can be taken, the tiger can be caught. If you say there is no place to take hold, you have still not reached emptiness."
Time and light pass in an instant; even the legendary halberd that waved the sun backward could not hold it long — how much less can one bear to hold on with attachment? Extending outward from one's own single body: my one body is Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth are my one body; the people under Heaven are myself, and I am the people under Heaven. Not to separate self from other is the one vessel fit for entering the Way. Should the smallest grain of a knot or a grudge remain, one has already lost one's original nature.
Whoever has set his will upon cultivating the Way should, whenever he seizes a moment of time, advance at once and apply effort, working essence, breath, and spirit until they are fused into one, and then wait for the moment when circumstance arrives. One must not wait to begin only once everything is perfectly arranged — that is merely to waste one's days in vain. Drifting on, day after day, aimless and unhurried — time passes as swiftly as a white colt glimpsed through a crack, and how often does one see the halberd raised to hold it back?
Within the Three Realms, the mind is the master. If the mind can look inward, then even though it is for a time stained by worldly dust, in the end it must awaken to the great Way. If the mind cannot look inward, it must in the end sink into perdition. Thus the opening chapter of the Daodejing says: "Constantly having desire, one observes its aperture" — this means observing this very aperture. "Constantly without desire, one observes its subtlety" — this means the subtlety made manifest within this aperture. The Most High said: "From measureless kalpas until now, I have kept my mind turned inward in contemplation, and so arrived at the wondrous Way of empty nonbeing." If students truly wish to still their minds, let them first turn to inward contemplation, and wait until the mind is like an autumn pool steeped in bright moonlight — only then may they speak of further advance.
For one newly entering the mysterious pass, there is no need to seek elsewhere: beginning this very day, one must keep the essence from leaking away at night — this itself is the ladder and ferry to ascend among the immortals, this itself is the seed for forming the embryo.
The work of cultivating the Way is like drawing out the leaves of a banana plant or peeling back the sheaths of a bamboo shoot: one seeks advance layer by layer, and only when one reaches the very core does it come to rest.
Students of the Way must, above all, gather themselves in and keep hidden; what they must most avoid is being too openly discerning. Thus it is said: "A person who does not keep himself hidden cannot grasp the essential point of the Way."
The sprouting of the ten thousand affairs lies entirely in the single mind. When the mind stirs, the workings stir; when the workings stir, the spirit becomes bright and unites with them. Thus it is said: "The Way of utmost sincerity can know things in advance" — to make it spirit-like and bright rests in the person himself.
Cultivating the Way always comes down to refining a single nature. There is the nature of Heaven's mandate, and there is the nature of constitutional temperament. What is originally empty and numinous is the nature of Heaven's mandate; what is ordinary in daily use is the nature of constitutional temperament. Now this one nature of Heaven's mandate has been entirely covered over by the nature of constitutional temperament. If one refines away the nature of constitutional temperament, the nature of Heaven's mandate at once appears, and the Way is naturally attained.
The single prior-heaven breath is originally without form, yet is wondrously able to give birth to all that has form; it is therefore the very root from which Heaven, Earth, humankind, and all creatures are born, and the very fountainhead of the Way lies here.
In these several passages of true sayings, on the substance of nature and the source of nature, I have, without reticence, spoken out in a single breath the workings of Heaven that sages and worthies through the ages did not disclose. Yet although the principle is here recorded in writing, the method is still transmitted only by word of mouth; one must wait upon the true oral instruction of a sage teacher before the hand can find where to begin. Students, above all, must not presume to rely on their own cleverness.
Colophon
This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Meditation and Inner Alchemy shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The source is a chain of aphoristic sayings with no chapter divisions; the translation follows the source's own paragraph breaks throughout, and quoted verse or dialogue embedded within a saying is set off with quotation marks, matching the source's own use of quotation punctuation.
A genuine translation-status check was performed before the claim below was written. The two local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western translation consulted for this check — Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 update of Pregadio's Daoist Texts in Western Languages — were searched for the Chinese title, its romanization, and the name Bai Yuchan, with no entry found for this text. Two web searches were then run, on the Chinese title and on its pinyin romanization together with "translation," and neither returned any published English translation. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of the Xiudao Zhenyan. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty.
A few notes on hard points. The header attached to the Wikisource transcription names Bai Yuchan as author and dates the text to the Northern Song; since Bai Yuchan's conventional dates place him in the Southern Song, this dating cannot be reconciled and is reported here without correction. The phrase "thirteen thieves" (十三賊人) is translated literally; its exact referent was not independently confirmed. The title given for Sun Zhenren's commentary, rendered here as the Treatise on Malignant Illness, is likewise translated literally from the source without independent verification of the work it names.
Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.
🌲
Source Text: 修道真言
Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
凡參玄宗不難得手，難從性宗參入。如從此入，便得淵源。倘錯行路徑，如書空尋跡，披水覓路矣。
修玄之理，可以意會，不可以言傳，古人章句之中隱隱在焉。天不言而四時行，人身陰陽消息，人不能使之然也。
大道之妙，全在凝神處。凡聞道者，宜領此意求之。凝神得竅，則勢如破竹，節節應手。否則面牆而立，一步不能進。
學道之人，須要海闊天空，方可進德。心宜虛空，神宜安定，能使心不動，便可立丹基。
學道之人，以養心為主。心動神疲，心定神閒。疲則道隱，閒則道生。胸次浩浩，乃可載道。
邪說亂道久矣，采戰、燒汞、搬運皆邪道也。年少者、不篤信者、遑遑趨利者，皆未易言此道。欲修此道，先宗一淡字。
仙凡界、人鬼關，全在用功夫。然用功夫者，如擒狡兔然，稍懈則兔縱，稍緊則兔死。須於空虛中覓之，否則何足言功夫哉。
凡人心不內守，則氣自散。若能時時內觀，則氣自斂，調養臟腑，久之神氣充足。古云：「常使氣通關節透，自然精滿穀神存」。
靜時煉氣，動時煉心，下學之功畢矣。
須節慾。先天必須後天定。
動時茫茫，不如此心久在腔子裡。學道者要先知收心法，再言靜功。
欲學玄功，須先時時瞑目，一日間靜坐幾刻，再來問道。
聰明智慧不如愚，學人只因伶俐二字，生出意見，做出許多壞事。今欲收拾身心，先從一個愚字起。
天之生人，人之所以生而不死者，於穆不已也。人若無此不已，則氣絕矣。故天地以氣機存，人亦以氣機生。能煉住氣機，便與天地同壽，便不息了。不息則久，中庸言之矣。
定其心神，方可言道。要入玄關，須用定力。定則靜，靜則生。不但靜中能靜，必須動中能靜，方見功夫之力。神定，內一著也。事來心應，事去心止。氣定，外一著也。
語謹形正，語端氣峻。下學要緊處，全在正氣安神，忘心守口而已。
修道原從苦中來，但得清閒處便清閒，此即是道。且更須忙裡偷閒，故人能偷閒便有閒。不然，則終身無寧晷矣。
心乃一身之主，故主人要時時在家。一時不在，則百骸亂矣，所以學道貴恆。始勤終怠，或作或輟，則自廢也。
「四大威儀皆是假，一點靈光才是真。晦藏靈明無多照，方現真如不二身」，則此一點，如劍上鋒，如石中火，一現即去。故修養家，要養聖胎、孕嬰兒者，此也。功夫如不早做，及至精乾血枯，屈曲蒲團，有何益哉。
令人慕道者多矣，俗網牽人，是以道心不進。至人非不憫世，奈世人自糾葛何。今為學子脫此苦惱，略敷數言。夫心之動，非心也，意也。神之馳，非神也，識也。意多欲，識多愛。去此二賊，真性圓明。不欲何貪，不愛何求。無貪無求，性如虛空，煩惱妄想，皆不為累。再加煉氣，金丹可成，神仙可冀。
養氣只在收心。心在腔子裡，則氣存矣。
居塵不染塵，乃上品也。其次避之。
清靜二字是換骨法。
凡人能治心，便是道中人。若全消俗障，何患乎不成。
虛之又虛，與天合體。空空空，空中有實功。若還純寂滅，終是落頑空。
靜坐者，不在坐時靜，要在常時靜。
靈台不滅，慧覺常存，此道之至寶也。然無形無影，莫可明言。默以心會，不在外求。
神乃心之苗也。面色潤澤，方徵血氣沖和。總要華池養得水足，意樹自然花開。
昔人教人，尋孔顏樂處。此樂非章句可能尋，在天命也。心靜則神清，神清則氣和，始可得之。
下手功夫疏不得，因循無益。得一刻，便做一刻，念頭須時時返照此處。神到則氣到，氣到則命堅。
敬慎二字，通天徹地。再無放心之人，能仙能佛。
人生做事，業傳千古，不過此一點神光耳。然神非精不能生，而精非靜不能養。欲至極虛極靈地位，須煉此能生、能養功夫。
道心常現，則凡念自退。一時忘道，則起一時之凡念。一念忘道，則起一念之凡情。須要時時提醒。
人生若幻，須要尋著真身。天下無一件是實，連此身也不是自家的，只這一點靈光。若無所依，到滅度時，何所隨著，豈不哀哉。
焚香烹茶，是道也。即看山水雲霞，亦是道。胸中只要浩浩落落，不必定在蒲團上求道。
學道是樂事。樂則是道，苦則非道。但此樂不比俗人樂耳。
居塵世中應酬，最是妨道。人能於塵事少一分，道力即進一分。幻緣不破，終無著處。
人當以聖賢自待，不可小視自己，則上達矣。故天下未有不聖賢的神仙。
世人當知儉之道，儉於目可以養神，儉於言可以養氣，儉於事可以養心，儉於欲可以養精，儉於心可以出生死，是儉為萬化之柄。若不知儉之道，惟以刻薄慳吝是趨，則於儉之道失之遠矣。
無上妙道，原從沉潛幽靜中得來。若是一念紛紜，則萬緣蔚起，身心性命，何日得了。一已尚不能照應，何暇及他事哉。人須亟亟回首，早登彼岸。
玄功不但要養氣足精，仍宜運髓補腦。傢俬攢聚到十分，方稱富足。倘身中稍有缺乏，便是空體面的窮漢子。分明一條好路，為何不走，可惜一個神仙闕，夜間難道也匆忙。
煩惱是伐性之斧，人當於難制處下功。若不將氣質變化完善，怎得成善士。
凡學道人，言語行事，必較世俗人要超脫些。若仍走俗人行徑，何貴乎學道。
學道先以變化氣質為主，再到與人接物上渾厚些，方是道器。
今之文人，只因理障，難以入道，不知道即孔孟之道。濂溪堯夫非此乎，不可專作道家看。要知儒與道是合一的。周邵二子，何嘗出家修行耶。今人將道作出世一派而畏之，何其誤也。
春桃多豔，是三冬蘊藏之真陽也。秋菊多黃，是三伏聚養之真陰也。此中玄理，意會者得之。
人為形質所累，年紀一到，則百節風生，四體皆痛。何必地獄，即此便是。倘平日少有靜動，詎可免此一段苦楚。故形為我所愛，我亦為形所累。若將此一段靈性，做到把握得住時，出生入死，總由我使喚。
學道者，首以清心寡慾為主。高枕茅簷，肆志竹窗，方是道家逸品。若紛紛逐逐，何異流俗。陶養性情，變化氣質，二語乃入門之始事也。
修道之人，未有不靜默者。粗心浮氣，一毫用不得。
有問前知者，答曰：「機從心生，事以理斷。以理斷事，人即神也。棄理問神，神亦不告。」
凡入玄門，只以靜性為主。如目前春庭新雨，四壁寂然，草木含春，暗藏長養。理會此中，就有個究竟，不必定以談玄為道。
人心如目也，纖塵入目，目必不安。小事入心，此心即亂。故學道只在定心。若心不定，即紙窗之微，為人扯破，必生怒忿；一針之細，為人去取，便生吝惜。又不徒以富貴亂心，得失分念，煩邪亂想，隨覺即除。毀譽善惡，聞即撥去，莫將心受。心受則滿，心滿則道無所居。要令聞見是非，不入於心。是心不外受，名曰虛心。使心不逐外，是名安心。心安而虛，道自來居。
仙經云：專精養神，不為物雜謂之清。反神復氣，安而不動謂之靜。制念以定志，靜身以安神，保氣以存精。思慮兼忘，冥想內觀，則身神並一。身神並一，則近真矣。
垢漸去而鏡明，心漸息而性澄。養成一泓秋水，我不求鏡物，而物自入我鏡中。
有諸內，必形諸外，一毫也假不得。前賢云：「山有美玉，則草木為之不凋。身有妙道，則形骸為之不敗。」故心有真功夫者，貌必有好顏色。
人心猶火也，弗戢將自焚。防微杜漸，總在一心。
天下人不難立志，最怕轉念富貴二字，是鉤人轉念的香餌。所以每每得道者，非貧寒，即大患難之後。何也，割絕塵累，回頭皆空。故孫真人注《惡疾論》曰：「神仙數十人，皆因惡疾而得仙道」，是塵緣都盡，物我俱忘，毫無轉念，因禍得福也。
凡修道之人，一手握住此物，行住坐臥，不為外動，安如泰山，不動不搖。緊閉四門，使十三賊人，不得外入，身中之寶，不使內出。日日如此，何必頂禮求真仙，便是蓬萊第一座。
玄修與釋家不同，釋家呼此形骸為臭皮囊。道家入門，全要保此形體。故形為載道之車，神去形即死，車敗馬即奔。
大道之傳，原自不難，是世人錯走路頭，做得如此費力。豈不聞「大道不遠在身中，萬物皆空性不空。性若空時和氣注，氣歸元海壽無窮」。又曰：「欲得身中神不出，莫向靈台留一物，物在身中神不清，耗散真精道難得。」
「一念動時皆是火，萬緣寂處即生真」，此守中之規也。進道之要，無如問心。故云：「學道先須識自心，自心深處最難尋。若還尋到無尋處，始信凡心即道心。」
學道性要頑純，毋用乖巧。其要總在將心放在何思何慮之地，不識不知之天，此大道之總綱也。
捷徑之法，推守此一心。陽氣不走，相聚為元海。
夫道未有不探討而得者。即三教聖人語錄，無非發天地之秘密，接引後學階梯。細心玩味，便知端的。
有問靜功拿不住者，答曰：「萬緣寂處，即是仙界。此時誠一不二，龍可拿，虎可捉。若云無拿處，仍是未空。」
光景倏忽，魯戈難留，那還禁得執著。自一身推之，吾一身即天地，天地即吾一身，天下之人即吾，吾即天下之人。不分人我，方是入道之器。倘少分芥蒂，即差失本來。
凡有志修道者，趁得一時間光陰，便進步用功夫去，將精氣神做到混合而為一的時節，以待事機之來。不可望事全方下手，是自虛時日也。悠悠忽忽，日復一日，白駒易過，幾見揮戈。
三界之中，以心為主。心能內觀，即一時為塵垢所染，終久必悟大道。若心不能內觀，究竟必落沉淪。故《道德經》首章曰「常有欲以觀其竅」者，觀此竅也。「常無慾以觀其妙」者，現此竅中之妙也。太上曰：「吾從無量劫中以來，存心內觀，以至虛無妙道。」學子既欲潛心，先去內觀，待心中如秋潭浸明月，再談進步。
初入玄關者，不用他求，自今日始，要無漏精夜，便是登仙梯航，便是結嬰種子。
修道功夫，如抽蕉剝筍，層層求進，必至頭方止。
學道人全要斂藏，最忌明察。故曰：「人不藏，不能得道之要。」
萬事萌芽，在乎一心。心動則機動，機動則神明而合之。故曰，至誠之道，可以前知，神而明之，存乎其人。
修道總是煉得一個性。有天命之性，有氣質之性。本來虛靈，是天命之性。日用尋常，是氣質之性。今一個天命之性，都為氣質之性所掩。若煉去氣質之性，即現出天命之性，而道自得矣。
先天一炁，本屬無形，妙能生諸有形，所以為生天、生地、生人、生物之根本也，而道之源頭在是矣。
真言數段，性體、性源，將歷來聖賢未洩之天機，不惜一口道盡。然理雖載於書，法仍傳於口，必待聖師口訣真傳，下手方有著落。學人切勿自作聰明可也。
Source Colophon
The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 修道真言, revision of 7 November 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.
🌲