出世必要

The Essentials for Leaving the World (出世必要, Chūshì Bìyào) is a Yiguandao cultivation manual from the Qing dynasty, attributed to the pen name Mìzhāi (密齋). It is a practical guide for practitioners of the Dao who seek to transcend the cycle of birth and death — to "leave the world" (出世, chūshì), not by abandoning it, but by awakening within it.

The text is structured as twenty chapters covering the entire arc of cultivation: from understanding cause and effect, through opening wisdom, establishing resolve, keeping the five precepts, dissolving karmic debts, enduring demonic trials, cultivating internal and external merit, refining the heart-mind, and finally attending the Dragon-Flower Assembly — the great gathering at the end of the age. Its doctrinal framework unites the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism) under the Yiguandao principle that "ten thousand differences spring from one root." It reads as a teacher speaking directly to students — earnest, practical, and unflinching.

This is the first complete English translation of the text. All twenty chapters and the Preface are presented here, translated across twenty-three hands of the New Tianmu Anglican Church's tulku lineage (Sessions 83–106). The Chinese source text is from the 善書圖書館 (Morality Books Library, taolibrary.com), which states: 歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通 — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate."

Preface

"Leaving the world" — all who cultivate the true and awaken to the Dao know of this. But from whence does the path of leaving the world come? The people of today remain in blindness. Now, having chanced upon this book, the Essentials for Leaving the World, whose contents are entirely a guide for returning to the root and going home, we have taken it up for printing, so that the high-minded cultivators of the Dao may have a lamp in the dark passage.

The meaning of this book is that the Three Teachings share one origin; the ten thousand differences spring from one root. Their explanations differ, but the source from which they emerge is one and the same. May today's faithful cultivators of the Dao use this book as their materials for leaving the world, so that there may be no error or confusion.

With this, we respectfully offer a preface.

Chapter One — Understanding Cause and Effect

Above is the realm of Heaven, below is the realm of Earth, and in the middle is the realm of Humanity. Whether one becomes a god, an immortal, a human being, a ghost, or an animal — all are within the workings of cause and effect. Gods and immortals are those who are not deluded by cause and effect, while humans who fall into cause and effect are turned and changed without knowing it.

If you wish to know the cause of your past life, look at what you receive in this life. If you wish to know the fruit of your future life, look at what you do in this life.

The cause of the past life is the fruit of this life. The cause of this life becomes the fruit of the next. When cause and effect are unresolved, birth and death are unresolved — and the six paths of rebirth turn on: among animals, the four modes of birth — womb, egg, moisture, and transformation; among humans, two paths — wealth and honor, or poverty and lowliness. Wealth and honor in this life come from merit and good deeds accumulated in the past — good causes yield good fruit. Poverty and lowliness in this life come from wrongdoing and sin committed in the past — bad causes yield bad fruit.

Through life after life and death after death, there is a ledger of ten thousand years, managed by the Ten Kings of Yama. What cause yields what fruit? They reckon it with perfect fairness, without the slightest error. Good is repaid with good, evil is repaid with evil — but repayment may come early or late, in the open or in the dark. Some accounts are settled across several lifetimes, reckoned by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Thus there are retributions one can see, and retributions one cannot.

Where there is cause and effect, there is birth and death. Where there is birth and death, there is the repayment of good and evil. Without cause and effect, one cannot become father and child. Without cause and effect, one cannot become husband, wife, or children. Loving affection and joy are cause and effect; enmity and anguish are also cause and effect. This is not decreed by Heaven and Earth, nor forced upon you by Yama — it is still what human beings bring upon themselves.

How pitiful that, changing faces and taking new names — surnamed Zhang one life and surnamed Li the next — on the road of rebirth, coming and going, they remain lost in delusion!

Good causes lead upward to the Heavenly Hall. Evil causes lead downward to the hells. Within the human realm, to be born in poverty and lowliness is a thousand bitternesses and ten thousand hardships; to be born in wealth and honor is temporary pleasure. Yet the wealthy and honorable inevitably create more sin, and in the next life they descend into poverty and lowliness. If sins pile further, in the life after that they are reborn as animals.

The people of this world do not believe in cause and effect. They say that when a person dies, it is like a lamp going out. They do not believe in retribution. They say: "Who has seen a living man suffer punishment? Who has seen a dead ghost wearing chains?"

But know this: when a person dies, the form perishes, yet the spirit-soul does not perish. The spirit-soul is like a spark of fire — it can be blown from one place to another, it can be rekindled. As for the living man who suffers punishment — disasters of water and fire, the agony of sores and disease, unjust sentences passed by magistrates and officials — most of these arise from the karma of past kalpas, cases determined in the courts of the underworld and sent to the world of the living to be endured. There are also those still living whose souls have already been seized into the underworld to suffer punishment — such things, vivid and real, happen everywhere.

So know this: where there are living men who suffer, there are surely dead ghosts who wear chains. When the sins of the dead are heavy, in the underworld they naturally bear chains; and even if reborn into the world of the living, they must become suffering, living men. Look upon any city, along any great road — how many are there, maimed and misshapen, covered in foul, stinking sores, dripping pus and blood, crying out all day? Is this not a living hell right before your eyes?

People in the world of the living mostly do not believe in the retribution of cause and effect. But when the three inches of breath are severed and the soul enters the courts of the underworld, and they stand reflected in the Mirror of Karmic Deeds — then there is no one who does not believe. Yet by that time, regret comes far too late.

Men and women of this great earth — who can escape the two words "birth" and "death"? Who can dodge the hand of King Yama? But can birth and death actually be escaped? Can King Yama actually be dodged? First, you must see cause and effect clearly. Know that to become human or to become animal — this is but a single spirit. The past body and the future body were never two separate things.

Cause and effect is the root of birth and death. Birth and death is the course of suffering. Present wealth and honor will not last forever. Present poverty and lowliness offers no way out. When the great limit arrives — before the hall of Yama — will you not tremble in fear?

If your good deeds outweigh your evil, you may yet keep a human body. But if your evil outweighs your good, then once the human body is lost, through ten thousand kalpas it will be hard to recover.

Among all causes and effects, the heaviest is the karma of killing. One life repays one life; one blade returns one blade. Even after hundreds and thousands of kalpas, there is no escape. Therefore those who keep a vegetarian discipline do so precisely because they fear to plant the cause of killing and to reap its fruit. This too is the practice of the cultivator: resolving the karma of past lives, attaining the method of liberation, and achieving the fruit of leaving the world.

Chapter Two — Opening Wisdom

In the red dust of this world, cleverness and cunning, calculation and comparison — none of these count as wisdom. True wisdom is setting your heart on cultivation and seeking the path of liberation from suffering and return to the origin.

Men and women in this world who believe in cause and effect, who know to do good and shun evil, who say "I have not cultivated in this life, but I will cultivate for the next" — these are good people. But being a good person does nothing more than preserve a human body in the next life. Even performing great acts of charity does nothing more than convert poverty into wealth. Rising further still does nothing more than convert wealth into the realm of the gods. All of these are blessings of the human and heavenly realms — small causes yielding small fruits, causes that have an end. When the blessings of a small cause are exhausted, one falls back down again. How much less can one be certain of keeping a human body, life after life, in this turbid and evil world? Even if one did remain human life after life, who can guarantee that not a single wayward thought, not a single moment of delusion, would undo everything? Living and dying, dying and living again — one day things go wrong, and all previous merit is lost.

For those who are not free from the bonds of birth and death cannot help but suffer the harms of birth and death. And where does this harm lie? In the bonds of wife and children. Once entangled in love and affection, one naturally strives for fame and profit. Wine, women, wealth, and temper follow as one. Greed, anger, delusion, and attachment are everywhere. It is like a stage play — once you step on stage, you cannot help but sing your part. Little do people know that husband and wife are karmic adversaries, that sons and daughters are creditors come to collect. From love and affection spring endless vexations; from love and affection grow endless resentments. Wine, women, wealth, and temper — four vast oceans of suffering. Greed, anger, delusion, and attachment — a bottomless pit.

Consider: when the three inches of breath are severed, can husband and wife walk the road together? Can sons and daughters die in your place? Can fame and fortune hold off King Yama?

Not only are the bonds of wife and children and all fame and fortune nothing but flowers in a dream — even this body itself is a false and fragile thing, the least enduring of all. Where love wounds, life is endangered. The body is utterly unclean — rank, foul, and filthy beyond close examination. Every kind of suffering falls upon this one body; every kind of sin is committed by this one body. Muddling through a few decades, in the end it all returns to dust.

This false shell — even if it could live a hundred years, a thousand years — is nothing but a burden. What pleasure is in it? The Buddhist sutras say: "The four elements are all empty." The human body is but a false combination of the four elements: water, fire, wind, and earth. The vital essence and blood in the body are water. The warmth in the body is fire. The breath through mouth and nose is wind. The skin, flesh, sinew, and bone are earth. When impermanence arrives: the vital essence dries up — the water is spent. The body grows cold — the fire is burned out. The breath is severed — the wind is scattered. The flesh decays — it returns to earth. When the four elements are emptied, where am I?

The person of great wisdom sets down all these false and idle things at once. Having a wife, they are not deluded by the bonds of marriage. Having children, they are not fettered by parental love. They do not seek fame in the human world, but seek their portion in Heaven. They do not long for the profits of the Eastern lands, but for the rewards of the Western realm. They treat this borrowed, false body as a temporary inn, and in secret they seek the true message. The original spirit is hidden within this false shell — if no one breaks through, it is useless. But once broken through, it becomes a mountain of priceless treasure.

In this world, false cleverness is abundant and true wisdom is rare. Those who have not opened their wisdom have shallow roots from past kalpas. Where there are roots, there is surely wisdom. Where there is wisdom, one can see far and look beyond. Naturally, one begins to reckon with the matter of birth and death. All the petty concerns of saving face in the red dust no longer occupy the heart; they cannot hold you back. To have faith in the Dao and faith in the Buddha — this is the root. To seek the Dao and seek a teacher — this is wisdom.

From the day you enter the Dao, you must still rely on wisdom as your master, with sincerity and wholeheartedness, persevering from beginning to end. You must not, on a momentary impulse, grow excited at first and then fall into regret, sinking back into the ocean of suffering once again.

Chapter Three — Establishing Resolve

The great road to the West leads to the ancient homeland. Where did you first come from? Why not go back there now? Every person has their share in this; every single one can succeed — it is only a matter of having resolve or lacking it.

Consider: a tree of a thousand years can become a spirit. A fox or a demon can also cultivate and refine itself. For a human being to cultivate immortality requires five hundred years less hardship than for an animal. And in this age, cultivation is easier still — for the Three Assemblies of the Dragon-Flower are gathering in the Dao. A thousand Buddhas and ten thousand Patriarchs have all descended to the Eastern Grove. Everywhere, boats of compassion spread wide; whoever meets the destined connection is ferried across. If you reach it in time and receive the initiation, a single kalpa's effort brings success. But if you miss this rare and wondrous chance, then though you wear out iron shoes in searching, you will find no way.

You must raise up a resolve that pierces the heavens — refuse to settle in the red dust, refuse to set foot in the pit of fire. You must walk the great road. And yet upon the road to the West, there are many who block the way. When the bonds of marriage grow heavy, when the love of children deepens — these become obstructions. As for relatives, friends, and family: they gossip, they slander in a hundred ways — every one of them a karmic adversary who cuts off the road.

Moreover, in the red dust there are many false excitements, most beguiling of all: wine, women, wealth, and temper; greed, anger, delusion, and attachment — familiar roads walked for many kalpas, habitual roads you are used to walking, which you cannot bear to leave, cannot manage to drop, cannot bring yourself to sever. And so, living and dying, dying and living, you become the seed of rebirth.

There are those who understand — who know that the red dust is false, who know that cultivation is a good thing — yet entanglement and attachment ruin them all the same. They simply cannot establish their resolve. A person of true resolve, upon hearing the truth, acts at once: what cannot be left behind must be left behind; what cannot be dropped must be dropped; what cannot be severed must be severed.

Since ancient times, those who became Buddhas and Patriarchs abandoned kingdoms, resigned from office, parted from parents, wives, and children — they gave up comfort and embraced hardship. How fierce and bold was their resolve! How firm and unyielding! Resolve is what is called vow-power. Without a vow there is no power; the greater the vow, the greater the power. The vows of past kalpas bear fruit in this life; the vows you make now must not go wrong.

When you set your heart on a vow, it must be this: vow to become a Buddha, vow to reach the Western realm, vow to save every last original soul under heaven. If you only vow to cultivate for the next life, to enjoy great blessings — that is a grave error.

Chapter Four — Clearing Away Encumbrances

Fallen into this world of red dust, who is without encumbrance? "Encumbrance" is the visible sign of karmic conditions ripening. The filial care of parents, the bond of husband and wife, the love of children — all kinship is karmic condition. When karmic conditions remain unresolved, all become encumbrances. The cultivator who cannot clear away encumbrances wears a cangue and drags chains until death — what day of release from suffering could there be? Truly pitiable in their busyness, tasteless in their worry — this is what is meant by encumbrance.

Encumbrance does not mean one must abandon wife and children entirely — only that one must know how to settle them properly. If husband and wife can cultivate together, with children as companions on the path, is that not wonderful? If the husband cultivates but the wife does not, one must find a way to make peace. If they truly are not of one heart, let each settle their own affairs. You must not drag each other down — a stretch of affection is a small matter; ten thousand kalpas of birth and death is a great one.

Those who have children should see them married, but must not cling and entangle themselves, losing sight of the true work. Children and grandchildren have their own fortune — do not make yourself a horse or an ox on their behalf. Once children are raised to adulthood, whatever can be settled should be settled early. If you reckon there are things that simply cannot be resolved — let them go! Do not sit in a daze, thinking of this and that, burdened until the three inches of breath are severed, with countless things still undone.

Husband, wife, and children — it was always a stage play. When the gongs and drums stop, everyone leaves the stage. What is there to speak of — joys and sorrows, partings and reunions? Once you have seen through the red dust, no longer wanting wealth, no longer wanting status, no longer seeking the spectacle of a grand household, naturally the encumbrances grow fewer. Open the gate of love and affection, and the burden grows lighter still.

Those who wish to enter the Dao must first reckon: how shall love and affection be set aside? How shall wife and children be settled? Those who have already entered the Dao should devote seven parts of their effort to cultivation, and only one or two to managing worldly affairs.

Look quietly at how many men and women before you are called students of the Dao, yet in the end come to nothing — all because their encumbrances were never cleared. The middle-aged and the old, even if free from the encumbrance of a spouse, still carry the encumbrance of children — encumbrances never cleared. Some even abandon the Dao and break their vows for the sake of their children, willingly falling into hell to provide for them. This is truly foolish.

The most free-spirited in the world are the happiest. The widowed, the orphaned, the solitary — in the red dust they are thought to have bitter fates, but in cultivation they bear no encumbrance and succeed easily. If they do not seize the chance to cultivate diligently, it is truly a waste.

In sum, those weighed down by encumbrance are still of the middle and lower sort. A person of the highest caliber — what encumbrance could there be? Awaken today, and today you can begin. Fame and fortune, beloved children and cherished wife — say "let go" and let go of all at once. Cut the nail, sever the iron — unmoved, unshaken. That is true skill.

Those of middle and lower capacity, half-saint and half-worldling, may not be entirely free of encumbrance. Be diligent and frugal, to avoid the encumbrance of poverty. Dwell in simplicity and hide your shortcomings, to avoid the encumbrance of affairs. Reduce your social obligations, to avoid the encumbrance of sentiment. Do not give rise to greed and idle fancy, to avoid the encumbrance of the heart. Do not reckon grudges, do not cling to love — to avoid the encumbrance of entanglement between self and other.

Yet worldly encumbrances are many and can never be fully exhausted. To attend to them personally, one cannot help but be burdened. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, for the sake of the ninety-two hundred million original souls, descended into the sea of bitterness and bore a great burden. Pioneering and guiding, they bore the burden of running to and fro. Establishing the Dao and forming connections, they bore the burden of provision and support. Mentoring the worthy and leading the multitude, spending their words and their spirit — yet more endless burdens. Encountering storms and enduring trials, burdened to the ruin of their households, burdened at the cost of their lives — even if burdened unto death, they bore not the slightest resentment.

For in the red dust, burden upon burden drags you down to hell. But in the Dao-field, burden upon burden lifts you up to heaven. Carry this great matter of life and death to the shore, and for ten thousand kalpas you will be free — no more encumbrances forever.

Chapter Five — Keeping the Five Precepts

The Three Refuges and the Five Precepts are the foundation of guarding the Dao. If you take refuge yet do not keep the precepts, it is like cooking sand for rice — how can it satisfy hunger? Those who cultivate the Dao must not keep them loosely and in broad strokes; they must keep them with precision.

First: do not kill. Not only must you not kill — you must absolutely not raise animals for slaughter nor eat their flesh. Day by day, commit no act of killing. Should you encounter killing on the road, silently recite the Buddha's name, and guard against breaking the precept of killing.

Second: do not steal. Be upright and open — do not take a single coin of advantage from others, do not wrongly take a single thing of theirs, do not covet a single object they possess. If merit offerings are left unaccounted for, or if you misuse others' merit offerings, these are all forms of stealing.

Third: do not commit sexual misconduct. Do not walk in places of debauchery. Do not associate with dissolute people. Smoking, gambling, attending spectacles and festivals — these are all deviant affairs, and must be severed completely. To refrain from lust means not only to abstain from lustful acts — you must sever the very root of lust itself. Men must not fix their eyes upon women, nor allow their hearts to stir with improper thoughts. Women must be dignified, sincere, and reverent, with not the slightest air of frivolity or playful manner. As for dress, elegant simplicity is best — showy adornment is not permitted.

To speak more precisely: first and foremost, you must guard the body from leaking. If by day you indulge in wild fantasies, and by night the spiritual elixir escapes, if dreams disturb your soul and dark spirits harass you — that is already breaking the precept of lust; what cultivation is left? This precept is the hardest to keep. It requires eliminating all stray desires and cravings, guarding against them moment by moment, locking the monkey of the mind and tethering the horse of intention. The Mysterious Pass must be held firm, the elixir field kept warm, the breathing rising and descending, wind and fire in motion — only then can you hold fast. Of the nine stages of inner work, the most important is building the foundation. When the foundation is built and the body is like that of a youth of fifteen or sixteen, only then can you truly say you keep purity and precept.

Fourth: do not consume wine or meat. This precept is easy to keep. Even when eating a bowl of vegetarian rice, do not crave rich flavors. To be frugal and cherish one's blessings — this is the way of the wise.

Fifth: do not speak falsely. Be honest and sincere. What should be said, say with a single sentence — do not add branches and leaves. What should not be said, seal your lips and speak not. Those who stir up rights and wrongs, who speak with flowery cunning, who flatter to one's face and scheme behind one's back — such people may have small talents, but in the end they are hollow and insubstantial, and their sins are not light.

Those who cultivate must above all avoid excessive speech: first, it injures the spirit's vitality; second, it invites conflict. Apart from encouraging goodness and transforming others, it is better to appear simple and foolish. One who truly studies the Dao, throughout the twelve double-hours of the day, turns the light inward to the bridge, silently guarding the Mysterious Pass — where is there idle time for chatter and laughter, wasting the hours? In the Dao-field, keep your own vigilance. Do not be like the others. Above all, do not publicize its affairs. The sin of publicity is the gravest of all. Those who wound others with cruel speech will surely suffer evil retribution. Those who harm others with slander will surely face heaven's judgment. Within the Dao, to speak idle gossip, to cool another's good intentions, to ruin another's good works — this sin is unforgivable. One bad word and you fall to hell.

In sum: the great vow and the taking of refuge come first. If you break the precepts, the vow cannot be escaped. In the open, you may deceive other people; in secret, you cannot deceive the spirits. Deceit in the dark room — the eyes of the gods are like lightning. Private words among mortals — heaven hears them like thunder. Let each person search their heart and think carefully: those who have not yet broken them, redouble your effort; those who have already broken them, correct yourselves at once. In time you will surely face the Mirror of the Lotus, and when standing beneath the Spiritual Official's lash, regret will come too late.

Chapter Six — Cutting Off Doubt and Confusion

The cultivator relies entirely on faith. When faith is firm, merit and fruit are accomplished. The Buddha does not ferry those without karmic connection — and the reason is disbelief. Where there is no belief, doubt and confusion multiply.

This great Dao models itself on the full merit of Heaven and Earth, and contains within it the subtle principle of yin and yang. The scriptures of the Three Teachings all bear witness to this Dao. All things and all affairs accord with its workings — there is nothing to doubt. When the educated give rise to doubt, it is because they are blinded by words and letters — what is called "cleverness that defeats itself." When the simple-minded give rise to doubt, it is because karmic obstacles have buried them deep — their roots are shallow and their blessings thin.

There are some who have already entered the Dao and at first placed their faith in the great Way, yet after long years in the Buddha's gate they give rise to doubt instead. What do they doubt? First: they doubt that one lifetime is not enough to succeed. Second: they doubt that the inner work is too difficult. Third: they doubt that the Universal Salvation is false and that the Great Gathering will never come. Fourth: they doubt that demonic trials are fearsome and that the Buddha does not reveal himself. Fifth: they doubt that the Dao-work requires money and that the senior teachers are unreliable. Sixth: they doubt that the altar leadership keeps changing and that the ancestral root is not genuine. Seventh: they doubt that so many have fallen and failed, and they grow disheartened and weary.

Once these layers of doubt take hold, the mind grows hazy and restless, and one is about to retreat into regret. On top of this, when one's ear is not firm, one listens to the heterodox and the deviant, who speak of strange techniques and supernatural powers — and one wants to learn sorcery. Or some false patriarch or demonic teacher pulls one aside and raises new complications — and one wants to pursue the esoteric. All of this is being swindled and losing one's way in cultivation.

A true original soul must cut off every doubt. Consider the practice of inner work: whether it seems effective or not, you persist in the method and press fiercely forward. Whether it seems to succeed or not, you keep your mind unchanged until death. If you can truly apply a sincere heart and endure bitter effort, there is no principle by which it can fail to succeed. In ancient times, the true teaching was transmitted singly and the correct Dharma was hard to encounter. But in this age of Universal Salvation, all may share in the Buddha's light. This is truly a case of a thousand kalpas' worth of cultivation accomplished in one kalpa — and for those willing to set their hearts on this one kalpa, it can be accomplished in a single lifetime.

As for the Great Gathering — the gathering of all original souls at the end of the age — this is the one great event in the 129,600-year cycle, and it is absolutely real. But the workings of Heaven are unfathomable: it may come early or late. Heaven is compassionate and waits for the original souls, who are difficult to assemble all at once. If the Great Gathering does not come in your time, do not ask when the Dao will be made clear or when the Gathering will arrive. You need only make clear your own Dao and gather the fullness of your own being. When your karmic debts are cleared and your merit is more than sufficient, the Dao naturally becomes clear. When the yin and yang within your body unite and the great elixir is formed — that is your own Great Gathering.

As for demonic trials — these are Heaven's good intention. Each trial endured is one layer of karmic debt dissolved. Half of these debts were brought from past kalpas — long-standing debts now come due, inescapable fate. The other half you brought upon yourself: through too little cultivation of merit, through not following the method, through carelessness. If a false person is tested and retreats, there is nothing more to say. If a true person is tested and made clear, it is precisely the time to act. Whether one is genuine or false cannot be known without testing. To separate the clear from the turbid cannot be done without testing. To determine a person's level of attainment cannot be done without testing.

As for the matter of contributions and money in the Dao-work: the senior teachers do not enrich themselves. Without water, a boat cannot sail; without funds, the Dao cannot be opened. Money is needed to print scriptures, and through these your merit is enacted. Money is needed to carry out the work, and through this your connections with all the Buddhas are broadened — assisting the great task of Universal Salvation and the Great Gathering. Not a single coin falls into the void.

As for the ancestral root of the altar — who is genuine and who is false — that is held in Heaven's keeping, and the senior teachers themselves can investigate the details. Listen to the senior teacher's instructions: where they accord with reason, follow wholeheartedly. Where they do not accord with reason, simply hold firm to your own practice and cultivate on your own — this too does no harm.

For those who can pioneer new territory: guide others with a bitter and willing heart, for every step earns merit. Only be careful and attentive, and do not give rise to doubt. Though the wicked world makes the Way hard to walk, utter sincerity moves Heaven, and Heaven will surely protect you.

For those who can form karmic connections: be gentle and patient, and all will share in the benefit. Heaven rejoices in this. Never doubt that the money is wasted — the return on one coin is ten thousandfold. What goes out in the open returns in the dark. There is no room for doubt. The Buddha-dharma is formless. Ascent and descent, Heaven and hell — these cannot be seen with the eyes. But know this: by the time they become visible, it is already too late to do good and mend one's ways.

Whether a cultivator is good or bad, down to the finest thread and the slightest hair, the Dharma-protecting spirits observe and discern it all, recording it in the ledger-books above. On the day when the case is tried before the Three Courts, there will be no denying it.

We who are in the Dao-field, whose experience is still shallow and whose wisdom is still slight — when we see how many have violated the rules and broken the precepts, and all manner of ruin and corruption, it would be hard not to doubt. But know this: each cultivates and each attains; each person's life and death is their own affair. If the multitude does not believe, I will believe. From beginning to end, unwavering. Raise up a mass of adamantine resolve and seize hold of a lion's heart — then there is no possibility of not reaching the Western realm. Those who are full of doubt and confusion are, without exception, people whose foundations are shallow and whose hearts are clouded by karmic debt.

Chapter Seven — Dissolving Karmic Debts

Since humankind descended into the world in the Age of Yin, passing through birth and death in the cycle of rebirth, we have accrued boundless sins and karmic debts. Grievances repay grievances, and there is no end to it. When you enter into cultivation today and your vow-document ascends to Heaven, the Three Realms all take notice — and those aggrieved souls from past kalpas, waiting in the underworld, will not simply let you slip away unpunished. The foremost account is the debt of killing, which is the hardest to escape. Even across three lives, five lives, eight lives — hundreds of years and tens of thousands of miles — those souls will find you and demand your life.

Therefore, the moment you open the Dao here, karmic creditors come to harass you there. Some bring boils and illness to grind you down. Some bring trials and upheaval to turn you upside down. Some bring disasters of water and fire. Some bring falls, blows, and injuries. Some stir up quarrels and disputes. Every kind of disturbance is the work of karmic debts. Or perhaps you see ghosts and demons, debt-collectors come for your life, leaving you restless day and night, your spirit dazed and confused. Their aim is always to make you lose your resolve and break your precepts, so that you return to walking the same road as your karmic creditors.

This is why the Master teaches people to build up layer upon layer of merit: keep a vegetarian discipline to dissolve the debts of killing, conceal others' faults and praise their virtues to dissolve the debts of harsh speech and double-tongued slander, and print and distribute scriptures to dissolve the debts of all deceit, theft, and sexual misconduct. Those who print scriptures must be willing to spend their money. Those who have no money should pour their bitter effort into diligent cultivation. As for pioneering new territory, guiding the multitude, establishing the Dao, and forming karmic connections — all of these serve to dissolve one's own karmic debts.

Karmic debts are enemies. Day and night they lie in wait, seeking to destroy your life. If you let your guard down even slightly, they enter through the openings. Once a karmic account attaches itself to your body, the original spirit can no longer take command, and you grow ever more confused. How could the Dao not be ruined? Beyond cultivating the Dao and keeping the vegetarian discipline, you must also read the scriptures and holy instructions often, listen to good counsel often, keep a clear mind, and practice according to the method. Only then can karmic debts be dissolved.

Men and women today not only fail to dissolve their karmic debts — they add new debts upon the old. Coveting lofty positions and indulging in vain ambitions, flaring up in anger, fighting over merit and seizing others' fruits, stirring up gossip, refusing to follow the rules, refusing to accept instruction — all of these are self-invited karmic debts, self-added karmic debts. In just this way, how many original souls have been ruined by their karmic debts! Everywhere in the Dao-field, what was about to succeed collapses back into failure, what had only just flourished withers again — winds rising, winds falling, toppling and overturning — all because karmic debts remain undissolved. The senior teachers have their debts; the junior students have theirs. Where people are many, debts are many, and the knots cannot be untied. And so storms descend and trials are sent down: the great original souls bear the brunt of disaster and calamity, while the lesser original souls are scattered in terror. Karmic debts are fearsome indeed.

For when the Dao is true, the karmic debts are equally real. Before you obtain the true Dao, the accounts may be deferred. But the moment you obtain the true Dao, the accounts demand immediate settlement. This ledger of debts — you yourself do not know how vast it is. You must settle it early and be done with it, so that your body may be clean.

As for the method of dissolving karmic debts: beyond keeping the vegetarian discipline, nothing compares to pioneering new territory, establishing altars, conducting the work of the Dao, and guiding original souls — for this is boundless merit that can dissolve boundless karmic debts. Look at those of great merit and virtue among the worthy: gods and men alike rejoice in them, and they dwell in peace and clarity — this is the sign that their karmic debts have been dissolved. But if affairs do not go smoothly and errors constantly arise, the debts have not yet been cleared.

I truly fear that at the hour of death, if one dies with accounts unsettled and the karma of past lives manifests in full, the one true spirit-nature will be seized and held fast by its karmic creditors. How then could it journey to the Western realm? It will walk, as before, straight to the hall of King Yama.

Chapter Eight — Reforming One's Temperament

Every person born into the mortal world has a temperament. Temperament is a kind of disease. When the disease grows severe, it destroys your life.

The first and greatest disease: failing to revere Heaven and Earth, failing to be filial to one's parents. To revere Heaven and Earth is to embody the virtue of cherishing life, to keep a heart that loves all things, to show compassion to the old and pity to the poor, to give relief in crisis and aid in hardship, to treat written characters with respect, to treasure the five grains, to practice every kind of consideration — aligning one's own heart with the heart of Heaven, not merely burning incense and kowtowing and calling it done. To be filial to one's parents is to guard one's own body, to do good and accumulate virtue, to build merit and cultivate spiritual fruit, to liberate the spirits of ancestors — and in time, to return together with the virtuous to the Western Paradise. This is true filial piety. It is not merely a matter of raising them in life and burying them in death. If a person has the temperament of slighting Heaven and Earth and making little of their parents, no matter how fine they may be in other respects, they cannot be counted among the human.

As for the rest: where your habitual nature is violent, reform it to peacefulness. Where reckless, reform to steadiness. Where quick-tempered, reform to patience. Where haughty, reform to humility. Where given to lying and idle talk, reform to caution and truthfulness. Where cunning and deceitful, reform to fairness and uprightness. Where extravagant and showy, reform to simplicity and frugality. Where selfish and envious, reform to impartiality and selflessness. Where narrow and impatient, reform to magnanimity. Where rash and wild, reform to carefulness and discretion. Where eager to seize advantage and take small profits, reform to bearing hardship and accepting loss.

Acknowledge only your own faults; do not speak of others' faults. Examine only your own wrongdoing; do not blame others for theirs. Only then can it be said that you have fully reformed your temperament.

Those who enter the Dao must keep the Five Precepts precisely because they have temperament. The ten thousand sins of a human life are all summoned by bad temperament. Reform your temperament, and you dissolve your karmic debts. Look inward and ask yourself: which temperament is heaviest? Attack that one without mercy. Moreover, a cultivator must set a good example in order to inspire others. If the temperament is unreformed and the example is ruined, people will think lightly of the Dao, and you will invite even greater sin upon yourself.

The universal failing of the world is this: in judging others, we see clearly; in judging ourselves, we are blind. Consider this — when another person commits some fault, I see it, my heart refuses to accept it, and my mouth speaks of it. But when I myself commit the same fault, do others not also laugh and talk? All the hundred varieties of bad temperament that people indulge freely in life — after death, when they stand before King Yama, every fault that ruined every affair is written in the registers, and in time it will all be reckoned against you. Not the smallest thing escapes.

For the cultivator, King Yama does not govern directly — but the gods of the empty sky observe and judge. Minor faults may yet be pardoned with compassion. But should you commit such great offenses as deceiving the Master and blotting out the ancestors, acting perversely and contrary, showing no awe of Heaven's mandate, leading others astray in their merit, or joining the demons and walking the crooked path, disturbing the root of the Dao — how could you escape the punishment of the Five Thunders? How many former teachers and great cultivators met terrible ends — all ruined by their flaws and their temperament.

Among all flaws, there are several critical conditions that must never be committed.

The first is pride. Relying on one's own cleverness, flaunting one's own ability, ignoring the Master's instruction, disobeying the Buddhist precepts, wildly transmitting cultivation methods, looking down on others, acting from arrogance alone. Or living in a wealthy household and being unable to relinquish its prestige, unable to lower one's heart. Or being a person of learning, leaning on literary talent, full of conceited self-regard, unable to transform one's fundamental character — how could such a one cultivate the Dao? Among all flaws, pride is the hardest to cure. This single disease has ruined more people than can be counted.

The second is greed. Those who carry out the work of the Dao must follow their lot and accept what Heaven provides. They must not indulge in vain ambitions of advancement. There are those among the Dao-family who greedily covet merit and ordain recklessly, who crave the position of Initiating Master, and when they cannot obtain it, give rise to hatred and resentment. From this come the evils of deceiving the Master and becoming a demon. Great greed produces great demons; small greed produces small demons. In the Dao-field, how many have been ruined by the trap of coveting advancement! Those who grasp for height fall low — this has always been so. Men and women of true resolve need only build merit and fulfill their vows, need only know truly and practice truly. Why worry that there will be no lotus throne for you? But greed inevitably breeds jealousy, and inevitably there will be seizing and snatching, mutual slander, stirring up trouble — all collapsing together into ruin.

The third is cruelty. The heart must not be cruel; the use of money must not be cruel. In dealing with Dao-family and junior students, take generosity as the guiding principle. Be considerate of others' hardships; be patient with others' feelings. In your own food and dress, you may economize. But in employing people and conducting affairs, you must be generous with funds — only then will people exert their strength. If you are nothing but cruel, delighting in punishing others' faults, hard in both money and justice, you will surely reap much resentment. How could such a one manage a Dao-field?

The sages of the Three Teachings set down the scriptures to cure people's flaws. These flaws belong to the acquired, conditioned heart — in the original, primordial state, they did not exist. Look at a child of two or three years: pure natural principle, laughing, crying, joy and sorrow — all without calculation, without a single flaw. It is only because the acquired mind grows and bad habits accumulate that every kind of fault arises. Now, in cultivation, the task is precisely to return to the child. That is the body of the immortal.

Chapter Nine — Cultivating Magnanimity

The capacity of Heaven is vast — it encompasses all phenomena. The capacity of Earth is vast — it gives birth to all things. The cultivator's magnanimity must be as empty as the sky and as open as the earth. Where capacity is great, blessings are great. Where capacity is small, blessings are small.

Consider: when you live through bitter days — even if you freeze and go hungry — you know it is fate, and you do not give rise to resentment in your heart. You take joy only in the Dao. When trials and disasters come — even demonic tests — you know there is a fixed number, and you do not give rise to thoughts of retreat.

If someone slanders or defames you, do not argue with them. In time it will fade of its own accord. If someone humiliates or curses you — do not listen, let them be, yield to them, and do not avoid them. The Diamond Sutra says: if in this life others despise you, it is because the sins of your past lives are being dissolved. Let them trample you however they will — they are only dissolving your karmic debts. You gain the advantage; they heap sin upon themselves.

Moreover, the cultivator must keep the heart open and spacious, for only then can the inner work proceed. If today you argue over who is right and who is wrong, and tomorrow you fight over this fault or that grievance, you fill your belly with nothing but anger. Does this not disturb the mind and invite needless vexation? You must put down all of it at once — the rights and wrongs, the disputes and confusions, every tangled worldly affair. Ask only whether your conscience is clear. What harm is there in taking the loss yourself?

Among your fellow practitioners in the hall, there are noble people and there are petty people. Noble people are easy to deal with; petty people are difficult. Yet if you treat all with magnanimity, without exception — never publicizing another's faults, never taking the smallest advantage, never putting on airs, never boasting of your own merit — then you give no offense to the noble, and you draw no resentment from the petty. Wherever you go, you can go freely.

But if the heart is narrow and the vision shallow, if you are always seeing others' faults and speaking of others' failings, if you cannot bear the slightest grievance and cannot contain the smallest affair — how can you bring your merit to completion and enjoy the blessings of pure cultivation?

Among the senior and junior teachers of the Dao-field, how many have ruined their prospects simply because they were quick to anger! A single spark can burn ten thousand green mountains. No matter how great your merit — if a single flame of ignorance erupts, it burns everything to ash. When ignorance stirs: above, it betrays the Master; below, it harms the community. The blood-heart takes command, the original spirit goes dark — and there is no one who does not fall.

To cultivate magnanimity, the entire practice lies in this: at the moment of anger, endure. In great matters, endure — and you may avoid disaster. In small matters, endure — and you spare yourself trouble. With petty people, endure — and you draw no resentment. Endure and endure again. In time, the heart's energy grows calm and peaceful, and anger no longer arises of its own accord.

This world of red dust is called the Five Turbidities — it is nothing but a pit of vexation. Where could you find a cool and tranquil place? If your capacity is small and your heart is narrow, everywhere you turn becomes an obstacle, and every moment becomes a fight. Is this not misery itself? What pleasure is in it?

Know this: all the things that vex you turn empty in the blink of an eye. There was never anything worth arguing over, and even less worth being angry about. Cultivation, in the end, is nothing more than each person fulfilling their own vow, each person giving the fullness of their heart. When the time comes, attend to your own true work — where is there leisure for quarrels and rage?

Chapter Ten — Cultivating Heart-Virtue

Heart-virtue is the root of cultivation. If you do not speak of heart-virtue, what use is cultivation? The ways in which people deceive their hearts and ruin their virtue are too many to enumerate. Yet there are certain offenses that must never be committed. Commit them, and you will surely fall into hell.

The first is forgetting your Initiating Guide. Your Initiating Guide is the benefactor who pointed you to the path. To forget the one who showed you the way — is this not deceiving your heart and ruining your virtue? If your Guide's example is good, learn from it. If your Guide's example is not good, do not learn from it — but do not turn against them either.

The second is abandoning your Elder Teachers. Your Elder Teachers opened the teachings and saved you from suffering — their kindness is heavy as a mountain. To refuse honest counsel, to feel no inner shame, to turn your face and go join another — such deception of heart and ruin of virtue cannot escape the punishment of righteous thunder. But if an Elder Teacher has strayed into the way of demons, betraying the ancestors and forgetting the root, then you cannot follow them. Each must do their own work. Do not yield to personal attachment.

The third is oppressing your Dao-family. Some rely on their learning, some boast of their connections, some trade on their merit — and they look down on the poor, the plain, the honest. When dealing with others, they harbor jealousy; in secret, they obstruct and seize. This is the pettiness of a selfish heart, and it ruins virtue. Then there are those who say one thing and mean another — crafty and deceitful, standing before the Master and speaking no honest word, always displaying their own achievements and pulling apart others' reputations. When they turn, they plot to break their vows and stir up trouble, using wild threats to frighten people. Such deception of heart and ruin of virtue — Heaven and Earth will show no mercy.

There are those whose restless hearts are unquenched, whose roots of desire are uncut. They think disordered thoughts at every turn, harboring intentions they dare not speak of and cannot face. Some even break their vows in secret while maintaining appearances in the open. How could such a thing be hidden from the gods?

There are petty people greedy for wealth, always seeking advantage, cheating others of their money, enriching themselves at others' expense, with no thought of repayment and no merit to dissolve the debt. Such deception of heart will surely result in rebirth as an animal to repay what is owed.

There are those who do not measure their own capacity — who greedily take on tasks, forcing themselves to handle what they cannot manage. The strength is too small, the burden too heavy. Demons are pressed out of them, and yet they do not grow in Heaven's mandate. They violate the Buddhist precepts. Is this not deceiving the heart and ruining virtue, bringing one's own downfall?

There are those who believe quite sincerely in the Dao and understand the importance of building merit and forging karmic bonds — and yet they will not change their own disposition. Their temperament is violent. One moment they respect the Elder Teachers and embrace the Dao-family warmly; the next moment they turn cold and heartless. They mistreat their parents, defy the Master, quarrel with their brothers and sisters. When the root itself has gone wrong, is this not the deception of heart and ruin of virtue?

How many leaders of the Dao-field, illustrious in reputation, were ruined by a single moment of self-deception — secretly doing things that betrayed their virtue! Heaven withdrew its protection; past karma closed in around them. Some fell so far they could not rise again. Therefore the cultivator must live in constant vigilance against the deception of heart and the ruin of virtue.

The methods of guarding against it are these:

First, honor your Elder Teachers. Second, maintain lifelong respect for the Master. Third, live in harmony with your Dao-family. Fourth, be upright and without selfish motives. Fifth, in the silence of midnight, examine yourself — find nothing to be ashamed of. Sixth, keep your accounts clean and do not take a single coin that is not yours. Seventh, accept your lot, be at peace with what Heaven provides, and conduct your affairs with maturity. Eighth, attend to fundamentals and set a good example.

Anything that wrongs Heaven — do not do it, not even once. Any word that wrongs another person — do not say it, not even half a sentence. Better to let others wrong you than to wrong a single soul yourself.

If heart-virtue is truly cultivated, above you will move the gods, below you will move the people. When both gods and people rejoice, demonic trials will not come of their own accord. Build merit and the merit will be accomplished. Cultivate the fruit and the fruit will ripen.

Chapter Eleven — Knowing Discretion

The secrets of Heaven are subtle and mysterious — they must not be recklessly divulged. In this age, the world is full of wicked men and many slander the Dharma. If you are indiscreet, you will surely invite the wind of persecution. In all matters of the Dao, the first rule is to guard your tongue.

If you encounter a person of virtue — one who possesses at least one or two of the Eight Virtues — only then may you begin to share the teaching. If such a person admires the Dao, first give them a book to read. If they receive it gladly, then over several visits, gradually guide them:

The first time, speak of the retribution of good and evil, the debt incurred by killing, the exchange between human and animal forms, and the principle that all beings rise and fall in the coming and going of lives.

The second time, speak of the sorrows of the red dust — the entanglements of marital affection and parental love, the falseness of fame and fortune, the sufferings of age, illness, and death, the torment that grinds on kalpa after kalpa. Once the human body is lost, one falls into the animal realm. Even performing good deeds and cultivating blessings does no more than preserve a human body — and when those blessings are spent, one falls again. There is no escaping the road of rebirth, no dodging the hand of King Yama. Observe whether faith stirs in them, and let them press you with questions.

By the third visit, tell them: cultivating for the next life is still the lower path. If you truly wish to dodge King Yama, break free of rebirth, escape the sea of suffering, and ascend to the Heavenly Hall — nothing but the Great Dao will do.

Then lay out the origins of the Great Dao: this is the rare and wondrous chance of the Universal Salvation — all the Buddhas have descended into the world, and it must not be missed. Those who cultivate the Dao can deliver their departed ancestors, repay the grace of Heaven for transmitting the Dao, and save themselves from suffering.

If they can truly resolve to cultivate, then speak further: they must keep the precepts, settle their affairs with spouse and children, cause no disturbance, make no trouble — only then can cultivation proceed. If they agree to each of these, then explain: the paths of cultivation are many — some crooked, some straight, some true, some false. Lay out plainly how the various deviant methods harm people, so that no doubts linger.

Say also that the Great Dao is supremely precious, difficult to seek and difficult to find — one must maintain reverent faith, observe the fasting discipline, and purify oneself without ceasing. Wait three to five months. If their sincerity proves genuine, then speak of how every person carries boundless sins accumulated across countless kalpas — without first dissolving these transgressions, nothing good can be accomplished. They must read more scriptures and perform more external merit. If they truly follow the method, then tell them they must seek an Enlightened Teacher.

But never speak lightly of who the Teacher is or where the Teacher may be found. Simply instruct them to cultivate sincerity until it moves Heaven, and go seek on their behalf. After communicating with the Teacher, do not go together — let the Elder Teachers deliberate first, and only then may you bring them in.

If you encounter followers of deviant paths who wish to return to the Root, examine them with even greater care — do not introduce them lightly. If you encounter gentry, officials, or men of standing, you must be doubly cautious. The hardship of breaking new ground is no small merit. But without discretion, it is easy to invite the wind. Recklessly introducing unworthy people brings no small sin.

As for establishing a Buddha-hall — it is the harbor of the Boat of Compassion, the gathering place of the original souls — here above all you must take care. Those who follow the same Dao but a different Teacher must not be brought in. Wandering vegetarians from outside sects should not be entertained. In this age, cunning people abound — they often use the name of the Dao as a cover. Stay vigilant. Do not engage with them lightly.

When coming and going from the Buddha-hall, do not gossip about one household to another. The affairs of one hall need not be told to people from a different hall. Bring Dao-family members in and out at the proper time. Sacred texts must not be carelessly distributed. Rules and ancestral notices must not be casually posted or shown to others.

In guiding others, do not be greedy for numbers — ferrying a thousand or ten thousand is worth less than ferrying one who becomes true.

When working together at the same altar, do not compete or snatch. Help others accomplish good — Heaven sees of its own accord. Those who seize merit by force gain no merit. Quarreling within the Dao invites contempt from others and carries the sin of blocking the gate of goodness.

Men and women must observe propriety and maintain appropriate distance. Private whispering is not permitted, nor sitting at the same table or bench. If virtuous women or faithful widows are present, take even greater care — do not be careless.

Entering and leaving the hall must follow proper order. For important matters, wait until the Elder Teachers have arrived before bringing people in. Let one group depart before introducing the next. When the men's gathering is finished, then receive the women. Men and women must not speak together in the same hall.

When performing rites and conducting the Dao, maintain harmony with the neighbors and do not offend petty people. Rely on upright persons to protect the Dharma. If persecution threatens to rise, find ways to guard against it — you may quietly disperse.

Therefore, those who carry messages and run errands must know how to speak appropriately. Keep your words guarded. Share instructions and confidences only with the trustworthy.

In breaking new ground and conducting the Dao: you must endure tedium, swallow anger, accept injustice, and bear losses. Your eyes must be sharp — discerning the good and bad in people. Your ears must be firm — refuse to listen to idle gossip and petty disputes. Your measure must be broad — able to hold the multitude. With discretion and care, you will naturally accomplish the work and cultivate yourself. Let each person attend to their proper occupation and not wander carelessly.

In sum: follow the rules and the method, and you will not invite the wind or incur sin. Whenever a Dao-hall is exposed and its workers are put to the test, it is always because rules and method were not observed.

When there is no discretion — when those who break new ground are reckless and indiscriminate, greedy for numbers and careless in whom they bring in, when those who conduct the Dao come and go conspicuously and unworthy people slip in among them — then once the wind rises, one drags down another, and no one can hold firm. The result is that outsiders slander the Buddha, and the sin incurred is no small matter.

The true cultivator practices according to the method, with care and discretion — and the wind of persecution will be lighter. If misfortune comes and Heaven sends an extraordinary trial that destiny cannot escape, then bear it alone with your own body. Preserve your loyalty and filial piety. Those who shoulder the calamity to save others will surely attain the highest rank after death. But those who drag others down and implicate teacher and friends will carry sin even beyond the grave.

As for women cultivators: they must not travel far from home. If truly unburdened and resolved to serve the Dao, they must be all the more circumspect. Unless both the person and the place are fitting, do not go recklessly.

The method of discretion lies entirely in two things: guarding your speech and choosing your company. Careless words stir up trouble — bringing vexation and incurring sin. Keeping company without discernment brings loss and deception, and implicates the entire Dao-hall.

Junior students must be discreet, but Elder Teachers must be more discreet still — for they are the root from which the junior students grow. In all their movements, concealment is best. If they show themselves everywhere and their names become known, they are the easiest targets for the wind.

Men and women of the Dao must never use the Elder Teachers as a banner. Those who serve as Elder Teachers have long been on the road — most have no home of their own, depending entirely on their students to provide a home for them. Only through discretion in daily life can the Elder Teachers dwell in peace. Without discretion, how can the boat find harbor?

Chapter Twelve — Enduring Demonic Trials

Since ancient times, demonic trials have come in many forms: there are internal trials, external trials, extraordinary trials, trials of anger, trials of prosperity, trials of adversity, and trials that turn everything upside down.

Internal trials are sores and afflictions of the body, calamities of water and fire, the menace of thieves and bandits, the bites of snakes and stings of insects, falls and bruises and sudden pain.

External trials are the slander of neighbors and the prohibition of officials.

Extraordinary trials are the ruin of one's household and livelihood, suffering criminal punishment, and the death of one's children.

Trials of anger are layer upon layer of false accusation, with no way to speak in your own defense, and kindness turned to enmity.

If the practitioner is wealthy and honored, then prosperity itself becomes the trial — wine, women, riches, and temper, fame, profit, affection, and attachment, all laid before the eyes. The glamour is dazzling but brief. If you cannot let go, if you cannot break through, you will surely ruin your cultivation.

If the practitioner is poor and lowly, then adversity is the trial — clothing and food are scarce, life is toil and exhaustion, fortune turns against you, and everything becomes a test. When trials drive the mind to confusion and the will to despair, retreat from the Dao comes easiest.

There are also those who were first wealthy and then became poor — they cannot bear the hardship, they change their minds, they complain that they should never have begun cultivating. This is the upside-down trial.

In sum: trials are the will of Heaven. The Buddhas are compassionate. Within the trials, there are several layers of meaning.

The first is to separate the clear from the turbid. When the immortals and Buddhas descend into the mortal world, they are the clear. When the deviant spirits attach to people, they are the turbid. When the Universal Salvation opens, the pure and the polluted rush in together. Heaven sends the demonic trials specifically for this reason. Those whose roots are deep grow deeper with each trial. Those whose roots are shallow retreat at the first test. It is like frost and snow descending upon the trees — the grasses change color, but the pine and cypress remain green. It is like rice on the threshing floor: toss it with a wooden shovel, winnow it in the wind, and the chaff and tares fall to one side. The five or ten grains of plump rice that remain become the true seed, and from them life continues without end.

The second is that each trial dissolves a layer of karmic debt. Since time beyond reckoning, every person's sins have piled up like a mountain. Today you enter the Dao, but your karmic creditors will under no circumstances let go. Even if you cultivate the Dao and observe the fasting discipline, you cannot wash it all clean. Therefore Heaven sends the trials: you suffer a little, endure a little, and the trial tests whether your resolve is firm. If your heart truly does not waver, then each trial dissolves a layer of karmic debt — and behind the scenes, heavy sentences are quietly commuted and death penalties are changed to lighter ones, more often than anyone knows. If in a former kalpa your sins were heavy enough that you were destined to be reborn as an animal, then after several trials in this life, the sentence for the next life is pardoned. Who can fathom this hidden mechanism?

There are also cases where houses, fields, and silver are forfeited to offset a destined calamity. Is this not the compassion of the Buddhas? Is this not the good will of Heaven?

The third is to determine the rank of one's spiritual fruition. When the Buddhas descended into the world and established this realm, they set the Nine Grades of the Lotus Throne, awarding each according to merit. Those who made the greatest vows — who shouldered calamity on behalf of the ninety-six hundred million original souls — are the very ones who face the greatest demonic trials. Great trials lead to great advancement. Consider the Patriarchs Xu and Yang, Mu Gong, Huo Jing, and the ancient Buddhas who sacrificed their bodies to attain the Dao, setting the example for ten thousand ages, ascending to the highest rank of the Three Heavens. Seen in this light — without these trials, how could the height of each lotus throne be determined?

Since the Universal Salvation began, how many great true persons have the trials brought forth? Without demons, there is no truth. Without trials, there is no Dao.

There is yet another kind: those whose karma from former kalpas is fixed and whose debts cannot be escaped except by sacrificing the body. For these, the karmic debts of a thousand kalpas are settled in a single kalpa.

And there is one more layer. Among the leaders, some have long stood in the Buddha's hall yet coveted rank and grandeur, or secretly hoarded merit to enrich themselves and their families, or blocked the advancement of the worthy and concealed others' good deeds. Meanwhile, their juniors — the ones who toiled in bitter service for years, who labored in faithfulness only to be unjustly suppressed — could not rise. Heaven sends the trials, and those false leaders are exposed as demons, fall from the Dao of their own accord. Then the worthy ones who suffered emerge to take their place. Above and below are exchanged, the golden badge is reversed — one trial, one transformation.

Moreover, all the faults of temperament and character can only be changed through demonic trials. When newcomers first enter the Dao, some are arrogant, some reckless, some show off their abilities, some talk too freely — every kind of fault the original souls carry. But after enduring several rounds of tribulation, they naturally learn to be careful.

Consider further with a calm heart: through the trials, one's merits and transgressions become clear. Heaven's surveillance never slackens. Whatever sin was committed here, there will the trial come from. If the practitioner is wise, they recognize the sin, repent, pray for pardon, and resolve never to transgress again — and misfortune can be turned to blessing.

Think of how Tang Seng journeyed west to obtain the scriptures: Heaven decreed nine times nine — eighty-one tribulations — and until they were fulfilled, he could not become a sage. Had he succeeded without enduring these trials, then five hundred years later, when mortal longing stirred, he would have been cast down again. Only by exhausting every sorrow of the red dust, by letting every mortal desire die completely, can the matter be settled once and for all — never again reborn in the East, never again descending into the world.

From all this, it is clear that demonic trials are precisely what helps a person attain the Dao. They are like the axe and chisel that carve and shape — it is by their work that a vessel is made. If you are a true person, the trials polish you to completion. If you are not, the trials grind you to ruin.

Leave life and death to Heaven. Whatever demonic trial comes, take it as the karmic debt of former lives. Endure with a settled heart. Do not speak of retreat. Do not give rise to resentment. Even if you starve, even if you freeze, even if you die by the sword — regard it as the completion of your great affair of life and death. Only then are you a person of diamond and iron.

Men and women in the Dao each have their own trials. Imperial wind and black rain are the external trials. But in daily life at home there are also the countless small trials that come scattered and piecemeal — and these are what most easily scatter the heart and erode the will.

Perhaps the Elder Teachers or Dao-family members have bad tempers and speak in anger and scold harshly. The one who oversees affairs is quarrelsome. Day after day, night after night, it grows hard to bear.

Perhaps children pull at your heart — the bond of love is deep and the affection heavy. You know it is karmic entanglement, yet you cannot pull free. Joy and sorrow alike become obstacles to the Dao.

Perhaps friends and relatives come and go, social obligations accumulate, the bustle and commotion constantly intrude. All manner of worldly affairs drag you along. All manner of idle talk flows east and west. How much of what truly matters is lost without your knowing?

These layers of trials that pass before the eyes, without your even noticing, have already squandered your cultivation.

In truth, cultivating the Dao depends entirely on your own resolve. Endure anger. Bear tedium. What you cannot let go of — let go of it by force. What you cannot give up — give it up by force. There is nothing under Heaven that truly cannot be relinquished. You must also learn to see lightly, to steal what quiet you can — placing the sacred above the profane, and the profane below the sacred. All the false affections, all the glamorous facades of this world — not one of them can take the place of your great affair of life and death.

To cultivate purity amid filth, to plant the lotus in the midst of fire — this is great wisdom, and this is a worthy person.

Whoever is true of heart and sincere of will, who would rather die than abandon the Dao — Heaven will surely cherish them and dissolve their calamities. Even when the demonic trial comes, there will be unseen protectors who manifest their power. Great matters may be reduced to nothing. These things I speak of plainly because I have lived through them. Remember them well. When the demonic trial arrives, your heart will have something to hold to, and your spirit will not be thrown into confusion.

Chapter Thirteen — Establishing External Merit

In this era, ten thousand Buddhas descend into the world for the final move. Humans and spirits toil together. The Three Realms hold council. Everything depends on merit. Without external merit, internal fruition is hard to cultivate. The more merit one accumulates, the stronger the fruit becomes.

In the era of secret transmission, one first cultivated internal fruition, then established external merit to fulfill one's vow. But in this era of Universal Salvation, accomplishing merit comes first, and cultivating fruit comes second.

The first and most extraordinary merit is this: to welcome the original souls home on behalf of the Eternal Mother — with all your heart and strength, sparing no hardship, thinking at every moment of nothing but their salvation. In this world of five turbidities, wicked people abound. Everywhere they slander the Buddha and defame the Dao. Merit is hardest to accomplish here. To accomplish what is hardest — that alone counts as extraordinary merit.

If you have received the great Dao and seek only leisure and comfort, caring for yourself while ignoring others, that is selfishness. It is not what Heaven desires. How could it lead to attainment? Moreover, every person carries the karmic debts of countless kalpas upon their body. Without laboring in merit, how can you clear them? If you merely keep to yourself, that cannot be called accomplishing merit. Whenever the slightest opportunity arises, you must establish merit at once — delay, and there will be no merit left to accomplish. But you must do it according to the rules. Do not act in disorder.

All those who participate in this Universal Salvation made their vows in the Heavenly Palace before descending. Many Elder Teachers have endured a thousand hardships and ten thousand tribulations. Even when their families misunderstood them, even when they met danger and lost their lives, they bore not the slightest resentment. So long as a single breath remained, they carried on as before. Even when the Dao-community dwindled and followers grew scarce, they gathered their strength and renewed the work, mended the boat of compassion and set it afloat again — all because their vow came first. Fail to fulfill the vow, and you cannot return home. Fail to fulfill the vow, and you cannot face the Eternal Mother.

Those who accomplish great merit never retreat. They do not speak of retiring into seclusion to cultivate in private. Do not worry that your internal cultivation is incomplete while you spend your days on external merit, fearing you will have no proof of attainment. Know this: when your merit is fulfilled and your karmic debts are cleared, the spirits themselves come to your aid. Yet do not let the words "no time" destroy you. Even if you are busy all day long and cannot attend to internal cultivation, you must steal a moment at dawn or in the evening to sit in stillness. Otherwise, when the three inches of breath are severed, you will regret that you have no fruit to show. In movement, you save others. In stillness, you save yourself. Stolen leisure is the time for internal practice.

Above all, you must first set a good example in your own conduct: sincere, reverent, steady, humble, and careful. Do not covet wealth. Do not lose your temper. You must have inner virtue, and your face must carry something of the Dao's atmosphere. Only then can you accomplish the work.

A true original soul, upon entering the Dao, will naturally want to build merit outwardly and cultivate virtue inwardly. Those who have no desire to advance in merit and virtue — even if they are true original souls — will reap only small causes and small fruits, attending from the margins.

Opening a hall and forming a community of practice is absolutely essential. A Buddha-hall is a heavenly bridge — the road by which original souls return to the West. It is the critical gateway, receiving from above and guiding from below. For every Buddha-hall on earth, there is a lotus blossom in Heaven. To establish one Buddha-hall is thirteen hundred acts of goodness. All who cultivate gather upon this Dharma-ship of the hall. When in days to come they attain their fruition, they will repay the merit of the one who guided them aboard.

As for those who contribute silver to assist the Dao — they are planting the seed of blessings between humans and Heaven. It is an investment that returns ten-thousandfold. As the saying goes: take the wealth you cannot carry from the East and store it as merit in the West. Learn to reckon this account well, for even ten thousand taels of gold cannot purchase your way past birth and death.

As for the poor — give fearless charity. When something needs doing, do not pass the task from one person to another. If you can bear loss, if you can endure hardship, if you can be ground down and still not retreat, then your merit will naturally be accomplished. This too is helping the Dao, and its merit is even greater. We should rejoice that our roots run deep enough to have this chance to serve. As long as you give your whole heart, the merit is already within it.

Yet within merit there is also transgression, and this you must not fail to understand. Opening new ground is merit — but doing it without following the rules, recklessly dragging in anyone at all, is transgression. Establishing an altar is merit — but doing it without discretion, acting boldly and inviting trouble, is transgression.

Within the Dao-community, there are those who squander silver carelessly, who covet offerings, who love to dress in finery. There are those who treat others with cruelty, who show no generosity, who harbor jealousy and selfishness, who seize what belongs to others by force. There are those who use the Dao as a pretext to divert its merit into enriching their own households. All of these are transgressions within merit. One transgression cancels one merit.

Among the men and women of today: some cannot quit smoking and gambling; some disregard the rules and act recklessly; some are arrogant and quick to anger; some spread gossip and tell lies the moment they open their mouths; some are lazy and dissolute, with no discipline at all; some break the five precepts while speaking boldly and feeling hollow within; some are cunning and crooked in their thinking; some wildly predict calamities and speak confused nonsense; some are dazed and confused, terrified of demonic trials; some turn against their teachers, ungrateful and faithless; some refuse to acknowledge their root and set up their own halls; some speak the upside-down words of demons and confuse people's hearts; some curry favor and grab from both sides; some are stingy beyond measure, valuing money above life; some are violent in temper, constantly quarreling; some set a bad example and lead others down the path of ruin.

All of these, though they stand within the Dao, are transgressors. Even if they manage to bring in one or two people, burn a few sticks of incense, and chant a few lines of scripture, their merit still does not outweigh their guilt. The remedy is always the same: reform your faults, cultivate your heart-virtue, return to the rules, heed instruction. Constantly ask yourself: in serving the Dao, what transgressions have I committed? Search until you find your ignorance. Know your guilt, and you will surely change. Change, and the guilt is gone. Then each merit you accomplish counts as a true merit.

At this moment, high and low are not yet distinguished. But at the Dragon-Flower Assembly hereafter, merit and transgression will be weighed to the last thread, and nothing can be denied. At that time, if you wish to repent, it will be too late.

Now, let each person press a hand to their heart and ask: what errors have I committed? While you can still repent, repent. Do not say you have no guilt. Do not think it does not matter. Take up the vow you spoke before the golden censer, recite it with your lips, turn it over in your heart. Do not deceive yourself all the way down to hell.

Since we ourselves began serving the Dao, our merits have been considerable, yet our transgressions have also been many. First: the transgression of recklessly admitting unworthy people. Second: the transgression of failing to observe discretion. Third: the transgression of leading others astray in their merit and fruition. Fourth: the transgression of not avoiding suspicion and not following the rules. These are why we drew upon ourselves a heavy trial. Yet if we were to abandon the work because of this failure, the guilt would only deepen — and the end would surely be hell. Therefore we dare not rest our hands. Let the wind howl and the waves crash — we still hold the rudder and push the pole.

We call upon all men and women of the Dao: be of one heart and one virtue. Lend all your strength. Those with wealth, contribute wealth. Those with strength, contribute labor. Those with words, contribute counsel. Let us ferry this boundless sea of suffering and cross to the other shore — to enjoy eternal freedom and return together to the Land of Ultimate Joy. Would that not be a glorious thing!

Chapter Fourteen — Cultivating Internal Fruition

The three Dragon-Flower Assemblies, the transmission of the alchemical fire, the descent of all Buddhas into the world to fulfill their vows and resolve their kalpas — all of these depend entirely upon internal fruition. Without cultivating it, how can you return home?

In walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, guard the Mysterious Gate with your awareness. Be diligent in your practice. In the daytime, steal a moment of stillness. In the evening and early morning, these are the times for guarding. At the hour of zi, when yang is born, you must be still. The first thing to overcome is the sleep demon. The sleep demon steals your treasure — this is a great harm. To stay wakeful through the long night, guarding the elixir, is the highest practice. When drowsiness comes, let the body sleep of its own accord, but lift the original spirit to the crown. Never sink into heavy, snoring sleep.

For those who have children: first practice restraining desire, then resolve to cut it off entirely. For the cultivator, the gravest danger is losing the true yang. In walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, guard the Mysterious Gate above. Let the breath follow its natural rhythm. The qi of the elixir field will naturally rise. As when passing water or stool, do not let go and relax.

When occupied, return to the formless aspect and guard it with intention. When at rest, return to the luminous aspect and let them merge in a single reflection. At all times, do not let your gaze wander east and west — if you train the true light to scatter, it will become habitual. When the true light does not scatter, the spirit does not wander far. You must guard at every moment: walking, standing, sitting, lying down — always.

Take sitting as an example. The character 坐 is two people sharing one piece of earth. That earth is the Mysterious Gate, the square inch of ground. The two cannot leave it. Observe it with your eyes; even more, listen to it with your ears. When the eyes look upon it, the outer sun and moon exchange their light. When the ears listen to it, the inner sun and moon exchange their light.

This one aperture, the Mysterious Gate, is worth ten thousand pieces of gold. All Buddhas and all patriarchs attained their realization through this one aperture. A thousand scriptures and ten thousand classics all testify to this one aperture.

The Confucian texts say: "Keep your gaze always upon it." The Daoist texts say: "The mechanism is in the eyes." The Buddha says: "Where the heart-mind and the eyes rest." The Dao is right before your eyes — who can recognize it? To recognize it and not cultivate it — that is true foolishness.

When the Mysterious Gate opens fully, one aperture opens and a hundred apertures open with it. After that, the work becomes easier. Throughout the twelve double-hours of the day, never leave this. Even when your hands are at work and your mouth is speaking, the heart-mind can still guard it in secret.

The original spirit of the primordial heaven is hidden within the Mysterious Gate. This is the True Person of your own nature, the Formless Bodhisattva. The whole body is false; this one point is true. If the Mysterious Gate is not opened, you have closed the road to Heaven with your own hands. At the moment of death, the single spark of spirit will still exit through the four gates of eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, and you will not escape the hand of King Yama.

The second stage of the work: use the fire of li to descend, smelting the elixir field. Do not cling to forms. Let it follow its natural course. When it is constantly warm, you can seal the lower gate.

Seated meditation most easily invites demons. The hands and feet may twitch. The heart races, the flesh trembles. The eyes may see white light or red light, all manner of objects — birds, beasts, grasses, trees. The ears may hear the sound of bells and drums. All of these come from unresolved karmic debts. Or you may see the scenery of Heaven. Or you may see bodhisattvas coming and going. All of these are illusory images produced by the discriminating mind.

You must also read the scriptures often and cultivate external merit. Only then can you guard with ease. The work must produce real results. When you reach the point where you cannot stop guarding for even a moment — where your whole body feels wrong without it — and the more you guard the better it becomes, and you cannot bear to leave the elixir: that is the realm of joy. What suffering is there? It is only at the beginning that you must overcome the sleep demon. If you are willing to endure a few months of hard work, after that it becomes familiar and effortless.

This oral instruction must not be taken lightly. It contains a thousand layers of mystery. It encompasses the interaction of yin and yang, the five phases, the eight trigrams of heaven and earth, the heavenly stems and earthly branches, the sun, moon, and stars, the four seasons and eight nodes, cold and heat, day and night, the principle by which all living things are born and transformed — all are contained within it. The flight of birds, the leap of fish, the blooming of flowers and trees, the ripening of the five grains — all are the workings of the Dao within my own body. My body is Heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth are my body.

Yet to know the oral instruction is still the old score. Within each stage there is a stage's own mystery — and a stage's own danger.

There are true medicines and false medicines, true elixirs and phantom elixirs. There are true gates and false gates. The inner medicine and outer medicine may be lost. Advancing the fire and withdrawing the fire have their urgencies and their uses. Stillness practiced incorrectly still breeds illness.

The levels and methods within must all be pointed out by the sages of old and realized through your own contemplation.

In general, guarding the Mysterious Gate lies in settling the spirit and intention. Do not force the qi upward — forcing it risks stirring floating fire, which causes dizziness and fever in the head. Everything depends on single-minded focus of the heart-intention. Do not force or suppress. Let it flow naturally. Keep the body relaxed. Too much tension breeds wild fire.

When gathering the medicine and opening the passes, do not force or pull. You can only follow. The greatest danger is stirring floating fire, which scorches the Gate of Life. If you mistake this for the turning of the passes, illness will follow.

Building the foundation and expelling impurities: the emphasis must be on a firm beginning. If wayward thoughts arise, the medicine will not be produced. If impurities are not fully expelled, yang will be mixed with yin qi — do not attempt to raise it. The first priority is to avoid leaking. When the vital essence and qi are full, the sweet dew will be abundant. Circulating above and below, the floating fire will not flare, and illness will not arise of its own.

Of all those who become ill from the practice, the causes are these:

First — from forcing the fire with effort. Second — from an inflexible heart-mind, suppressing and constraining too harshly. Third — from attempting the work before the foundation is built, while leaking still occurs. Fourth — from impurities mixed in, forcing the ascent prematurely. Fifth — from the sleep demon and drowsiness, allowing yin qi to stagnate. Sixth — from scattered thoughts and an unclear source of the heart-mind, giving rise to illusions mistaken for truth. Seven — from unresolved karmic debts, allowing demons to come and cause harm. Eighth — from the aperture not being truly open, mixing in the breath of mouth and nose, and using intention to force the ascent and descent. Ninth — from the sweet dew not being true, chewing and swallowing saliva, which injures the inner breath. Tenth — from irregular habits of daily life, the pores exposed to wind, cold and heat pressing upon the body.

Further: there are those whose old illnesses are not yet cured who push ahead with the practice in a stifled rush, causing the heart-fire to blaze upward, worsening the illness. There are those who do not follow the method but act on their own cleverness, mistaking false results for good practice, and bring upon themselves incurable disease. There are those who achieve some small result and then, because they cannot resist stirring the fire of ignorance, burn the very substance of the elixir, and their illness becomes impossible to cure. There are those whose root of desire is not yet cut — in seated meditation, the fire of lust suddenly stirs, the kidneys move of their own accord, the vital essence begins to flow. They try to restrain it by force and fall ill. Or the poison hides within and erupts as foul sores.

The varieties of illness are too many to name. It is not that the practice itself causes illness — it is that one does not know how to practice, and illness naturally follows.

These oral instructions must be known. Yet you must not dwell on them with anxious fixation. The final stage — the shedding of the shell and the transformation of the spirit — is called "non-action." At that stage there are no oral instructions at all. When that time comes, you will still need the sages of old to guide you.

Among today's men and women, most use the method of the Celestial Cycle. Each person must examine what stage they have truly reached. If you do not know whether your results are true or false, and there is any doubt, you must ask. Do not remain vague. Whether the practice shows results or not, press forward with fierce courage. Sit in stillness every day. Make it your constant habit. Do not put off today for tomorrow, or tomorrow for the day after. Wait until King Yama sends his message and a hundred illnesses descend upon you — then all your life amounts to is someone who once heard of the aperture but never entered it.

At this point, whether you have fruition or not depends entirely on your own cultivation. Who is going to manage it for you?

When the disasters of the last days arrive — mountain demons and water ghouls come out to harm people, and swords cover the earth, and the five demon kings raise chaos — those who have cultivated internal fruition need only guard the Mysterious Gate and release its awesome light, and they can subdue them all. Those without fruition will tremble in terror, their souls scattered, suffering the kalpa no differently from ordinary people. Then whom will you blame?

You and I cultivate the Dao not to escape a single disaster of swords. We cultivate to escape the kalpa of birth after birth, death after death, through ten thousand cycles of rebirth. But when the era reaches the three disasters and eight tribulations, these too will come. The kalpa serves to send the wicked to hell and the good to Heaven — it is the urgent call for the original souls to hurry home to the West.

For those of lesser capacity, merit and fruition must advance together. For those of middling capacity who cannot accomplish merit, they must rely entirely on chanting scriptures and seated meditation. For those who have merit: with merit first and fruition second, cultivating fruition is easy. For those without merit: demons and obstacles abound, and cultivating fruition is harder.

Therefore you must cultivate with bitter effort. You must cultivate swiftly.

Internal fruition has two levels: great attainment and small attainment. Great attainment is the crystallization of the elixir and the emergence of the spirit — nurturing the warmth, shedding the shell. Small attainment is the opening of the one aperture, the opening of the three passes, the ascent of the true yang, the constant turning of the Dharma wheel. Great attainment encompasses small fruition. Both free you from the road of rebirth.

In this era of Universal Salvation, the ledger of sixty thousand years of karmic debts must be settled. Each original soul has their own past, their own causes of life and death — no two are the same. Those with deep roots and great affinity will find merit and fruition easy to accomplish. At the moment of returning to the void, the edict descends from the celestial registers — clear and self-evident. Those with shallow roots and small affinity will find merit and fruition hard to accomplish. At the critical moment, they too will not escape demons and illness. Without demons and illness, the karmic debts have not been cleared. But so long as the original spirit remains master and the heart-mind does not grow dim — that is enough. Such a person, after death, will continue to cultivate and still await the Buddhas to raise them up.

There is yet another kind: those whose karmic debts from past kalpas are heavy, whose demonic trials are hard to dispel, who at the great trial sacrifice their lives and hold fast. Though they may not have visibly cultivated merit and fruition, they too are counted among those who ascend. For what Heaven values most is the heart of loyalty and filial devotion. What Heaven delights in most is the spirit of integrity and resolve. To these, Heaven will surely grant exceptional grace.

As for those who face no heavy trial — that is another matter, and one must not say that death alone settles all accounts. Those with merit can be elevated after death. Those without merit or fruition have squandered their own path.

Yet the matter of life and death is not in our own hands. We must sincerely and wholeheartedly move the spirits, so that in secret they may add to our blessings and lengthen our years.

Since you have taken up the practice, you must see it through to the shore. Do not ever think of cultivating for the next life — this most exalted and precious Dao is not something you cultivate for a future incarnation. Do not say you cannot reach attainment. Exhaust your heart and strength. Do not stop until the day you die. Great or small, there will surely be some accomplishment. Heaven decides according to your merit. The fruit is proven according to its cause — that is all.

Chapter Fifteen — Knowing Charitable Giving

Accomplishing merit requires people to donate wealth — this too is a great test of character. Only when you can see it clearly and perceive it truly do you know that donating wealth is a good thing. Releasing captive animals and printing scriptures — these are easily seen with the eyes. But within the Dao-hall there are many more matters of provision and arrangement.

First among them: conducting the Dao and forming karmic bonds is one of the great tasks of Universal Salvation. Now that the Great Dao has spread far, the Boat of Mercy reaches every shore. A great vessel needs a great harbor; a small vessel needs a small harbor. In every region and every place, there must be a gathering hall. Receiving those above and guiding those below, managing all the affairs of the Buddha's work — this is the most pressing and most difficult task. And in receiving guests, there are different levels to attend to. Among the worthy, for those of official rank, you must receive them with proper dignity. For the wealthy, you must receive them with the bearing of a prosperous household. For scholars and literati, you must receive them according to scholarly courtesy. In all these matters of clothing, food, and expense, the point is not extravagance or show — the point is to match the station of your guest, to suit their circumstances, and to do so while blending humbly with the world.

Moreover, the noble-minded labor with their hearts — their sustenance must not be neglected. The humble labor with their bodies — their food and clothing too must be complete. Whether by waterway or by road, by boat or by cart, provisions and travel expenses easily span a thousand miles of journey. When you reckon all the costs together, without sufficient funds the expenses cannot be sustained. Without funds, people cannot travel back and forth. Without funds, the work above and below cannot flow through its channels. Would that not be ruin?

Therefore the Patriarch established the regulations and set down the rules, instructing the worthy of Heaven to unite in heart and virtue, to work as one body. The upper guides the lower; the lower supports the upper. The Patriarch oversees the whole. He appoints the Regional Chiefs of the Ten Domains. The Regional Chiefs appoint the Head Overseers. The Head Overseers appoint the ten thousand Halls of Grace. The affairs of the world cannot do without channeling merit to sustain the Dao — using the wealth of all under Heaven to dissolve the karmic debts of all under Heaven, to save the lives and natures of all people, and to accomplish the merit of the whole world.

This is perfectly public, without private interest — open and upright. For all who are within the Dao, men and women who are poor cannot be compelled. But those with surplus must give. If you cannot part with your wealth, you cannot dissolve your karmic debts — and then you cannot resolve the matter of birth and death.

Consider: the silver and money that Heaven bestowed upon you in this life came from the merit you accumulated in past lives. Heaven gave it to you for this life's use — but not for you to enjoy alone. You must also do many good deeds. With your surplus, you make up for another's lack.

For practitioners today: the expenses of food and clothing can be reduced. The costs of marriage can be reduced. The social obligations of the red dust can be reduced. Save that money. Keep a vegetarian discipline always. Dissolve your killing karma. Print more scriptures. Form broad and good karmic bonds. Then give what you can, according to your means, to support the Dao.

For instance: if you donate to the upper halls, providing for the teachers and guests who come and go, you will surely receive no small share of the Buddha's light. If you donate to your Dao-kin, they open new ground and share their merit with you. If you donate to your own spiritual elders, the funds flow up and down while your merit is recorded. If you donate to the local assembly to form karmic bonds, gods and people alike rejoice — what dignity! Beyond all this, helping others and benefiting creatures, performing constant acts of convenience — none of these can be done without giving wealth.

Look at the people of the red dust: they waste their money in vain and buy nothing but a body full of sin. But to give for the sake of the Dao is to borrow from the eastern household to buy land in the Western Paradise — a hundredfold return on one investment, stored in Heaven. What a bargain!

The common saying goes: "The eastern household does not grow poor; the western household does not grow rich." This era of Universal Salvation is precisely the time to attend to the business of the western household. Even if you spend your entire family estate, Heaven will watch over you — it will absolutely not let you starve. Moreover, the spiritual elders are also mindful of each person's circumstances. They do not aim to exhaust anyone's estate or drive anyone into poverty.

Since the beginning of Universal Salvation, how many great original souls have given their very bodies and lives — even dying in chaos without complaint! How could they begrudge a bit of silver and refuse to give? To win a single lotus throne is worth more than ten thousand taels of gold.

Furthermore, the time of the third epoch has arrived, known as the Sweeping Disaster. When the great calamity comes, all things turn to dust. If your very life cannot be preserved, what good is money? Better to see through it now while there is still time. Reckon your family's wealth: keep seven parts for daily life, give two or three parts — no need to consult the abacus. Use it for meritorious giving, for aiding the poor, for supporting the Dao and forming bonds. Your karmic debts will be dissolved, your virtue cultivated. Later, when you leap beyond the kalpa, the good fortune will be beyond telling, the glory beyond exhausting — and then will you still worry about food and clothing?

The rule states: the poor contribute their labor as their primary offering; the wealthy contribute their money to support the merit. The merit is the same.

Those who contribute labor can serve before the Buddha. Otherwise, they can pick up discarded papers, cover exposed bones, clear stones from the path, and remove thorns from the road — all good deeds that cost nothing.

The wealthy who cannot contribute labor must contribute their wealth in its place. You must know how to reckon your own accounts. What is hard to give, you must give. What should be given must be given early. Do not hesitate and doubt, fearing you will become poor and life will be hard. Do not fear that your money was given in vain and brought no return. Do not fear that once it is placed in the hands of the spiritual elders, you cannot know how it will be used.

Know this: Heaven records every merit — every coin is noted. How could it be given in vain? You need only give sincerely.

And who are the spiritual elders? There is no need to interrogate how they use the funds. Where the merit lies, where the karmic debt lies — if they can use your money, they can naturally dissolve your debts. The spiritual elders would never dare use it for private gain, never dare use it recklessly. Once it leaves your hand, Heaven, Earth, ghosts, and spirits all witness it.

If a spiritual elder were to enrich himself and fatten his household, the law of the Buddha would not tolerate it. How many elders have spent their own entire family estates! Their money exhausted! And still they labor and toil for the original souls, wanting only to rescue all beings from suffering. How could they have come for the sake of money? But without resources, they cannot travel, cannot manage affairs, cannot employ people, cannot maintain the channels above and below. This is why they must teach the people to contribute money to sustain the Dao.

To help another achieve what is beautiful and dissolve your own karmic debts — when the debts are cleared and the merit is accomplished, only then will you understand the benefit of giving.

If at this time you have wealth and will not give, then later your merit and fruition will not be achieved. You will fall behind. And then you will blame the spiritual elders, saying they did not make the principle clear at the start and caused you to miss your rare opportunity.

Right now the Great Dao is not yet fully manifest. It is still being carried forward. Money is needed to provision and arrange everything. Those who donate now are donating at the very moment when it is most useful and most needed — the merit is boundless. If you do not give today, when will you give?

Once you wait until Universal Salvation is over and the final gathering has concluded — when there is no Dao left to cultivate, no merit left to accomplish, when the Dao is no longer being carried forward, when the Great Dao has spread to all common people and Heaven supplies all things within and without as one family — then you will not be asked to donate, and even if you have money, you cannot give it.

Think on this, all of you: through countless kalpas you have accumulated boundless sin and karma. Most of it was created through money. In this life of cultivation, how will those sins be dissolved? Only by using money to redeem them. That is why people are asked to donate.

The Patriarch, in his compassion, devises methods for you — repentance of sin, establishment of merit, cultivation of virtue, seeking escape from the sea of suffering.

The Song of Ten Thousand Emptinesses says: "Gold is empty, silver is empty — after death, when were they ever in your hands?"

Let us swiftly awaken. Do not wait until impermanence arrives and all things become empty. See through money early. Is it not better to exchange this empty treasure of the earthly realm for the non-empty rank of fruition? What a bargain!

A human life lasts but a few decades. So long as you cherish your blessings and do not create more karma, how much do you really need for clothing and food? Why cling so bitterly to money, hoarding it and refusing to let go? In the blink of an eye your breath will stop. All of it will be squandered by children and grandchildren — or seized by strangers! And you yourself will arrive before King Yama with empty hands. Is that not the height of foolishness?

If you say the spiritual elders want money: they want it only to carry the Dao forward, above and below. Without money, the work simply cannot proceed.

From this day forward, all of you, men and women of the Dao — if your faith is truly without doubt, then give according to your means. Beyond your personal cultivation and prayers, those who have more give more, those who have less give less. Every year, each person should give at least once. Fix your mind on these four words: establish merit, dissolve karma. The spiritual elders would never dare to waste what you give. The spirits and gods of Heaven will never betray your merit. Do not generate excessive doubt and ruin your own path.

I have explained all of this, layer by layer, from a heart that had no choice but to speak. If any of this were for private gain, may I be struck by the five thunderbolts and cast into the eternal suffering of hell.

Chapter Sixteen — Refining the Heart-Mind

This false body is a great calamity. Its ten thousand schemes and contrivances, its conjuring of demons and working of mischief — all of it is for the sake of the false body and nothing more! Yet the blame cannot be laid entirely upon the body. The body is a lump of dead flesh. Only when qi moves through it can it stir. The master of the body is the heart-mind, and nothing else! What the heart-mind produces is the function of intention. It can ascend to Heaven's hall or descend to hell. Whether one becomes an immortal or a Buddha, whether one is reborn as an animal — all is the doing of the heart-mind and its intentions! The heart-monkey and the intention-horse, through a thousand births and ten thousand kalpas, never find rest.

All cultivation depends entirely on refining the heart-mind. To refine the heart is to let the heart die. How does the heart die? Do not stir the worldly heart. Do not indulge the lustful heart. Do not give rein to the blood-heart. Let them be as if dead. When the human heart dies, the Dao-heart comes alive. Following the Three Refuges and keeping the Five Precepts — this is precisely the method of letting the heart die. If the heart does not die, you absolutely cannot follow the Refuges or keep the Precepts.

All those who find the Dao hazy and their meditation practice without effect — this is entirely because the heart-mind and intention have been let loose. The looseness becomes habitual. When you encounter a deviant path or a wicked affair — something that stirs the heart-mind — you cannot hold fast. You break the precepts and violate the rules. And in that instant, all the layers of karmic debt — is there any of it that was not summoned by your own heart-mind?

The transformations of heart-mind and intention are a thousand tangled threads, yet they never go beyond the Three Hearts.

The first is the Past Heart. What is already done, whether good or ill, is a dream. Joy and sorrow — once past, they are empty. Whether friend or foe, what use is calculating? Yet the people of this world insist on hanging past affairs upon their hearts, turning them this way and that, going and coming, and when they meet with others, all they talk about is what has already passed. Is this not foolishness?

The second is the Future Heart. What has not yet come cannot be seen or grasped. Today you plan for tomorrow's affairs, but tomorrow's affairs are not yet settled — today you simply cannot think them through. Yet the people of this world insist on idle thinking and vain imagining. The poor dream of future wealth. The wealthy fear future poverty. Young couples imagine growing old together. When the child is but a year old, they already think of the wedding day. They have a house, yet want to rebuild it. They have land, yet want to add more. The middle-aged already think ahead to eighty. Past sixty, they dream of a hundred springs.

But do you not know? In the red dust, things shift with every step and change in the blink of an eye. Today you share wine at the banquet — next year, who will be here and who will be gone? Tonight you take off your shoes and stockings — who knows if tomorrow you will put them on again? One breath that does not come, and you are a corpse. Yesterday on the street you rode a horse; today in the coffin you lie still. Life and death hang in the space of a single breath — how can your thoughts command it? And besides, all things in this world are fixed by destiny. Every mouthful of food, every sip of drink — all are the fruit of prior causes. Of ten things you plan, nine will not turn out as you wished. Why torment yourself with needless worry?

If a person does not cling to the Past Heart or give rise to the Future Heart, the heart-mind is clear and pure — how natural!

Beyond the Past Heart and the Future Heart, there remains the Present Heart. The Present Heart takes joy when things go well and treats that joy as real; it takes sorrow when things go badly and treats that sorrow as real. Whatever you crave, you fix your heart-mind upon it. But do you not know that present affairs are also a kind of obstruction? If you sit and brood it is useless. When matters are difficult, urgent, busy, or sorrowful — the more you think, the less you can resolve them. Once a decision is made, act. If you cannot act, let it go. As for present food and clothing — if you can get by, that is enough. Let each person attend to their proper livelihood. Whether poor or wealthy, leave it to Heaven. Idle thinking and wild imagining — what good do they serve?

The practitioner goes along with conditions as they arise. In the present day, do not dwell on what has passed, and do not calculate what is to come. Sweep away the Three Hearts and return to the One Heart — that is all!

Yet the heart-mind is most quick in its spiritual responses, and intention is most restless in its stirring. Coming and going without fixed hour, none knows their dwelling place. How can you gather them in? Even among those who study the Dao, though they may have no wicked or deviant thoughts, the floating fancies and drifting notions can never be cut off. These floating fancies are thoughts without a fixed object, imaginings without a fixed direction — now thinking this way, now that, rising and falling, east and west, how many intentions arising in a single hour, like tangled silk with no thread to pull. Once thoughts begin to race, you forget even where your own body is!

When the heart-mind departs, it exits through the Four Gates. The eye sees form, and the heart follows form. The ear hears sound, and the heart follows sound. The nose smells fragrance, and the heart follows fragrance. The mouth craves flavor, and the heart follows flavor. When the heart goes, the spirit goes. When the spirit goes, the qi goes. When the qi goes, the vital essence and blood dry up — and swift aging, swift illness, and death follow.

The single aperture of the Mysterious Gate is precisely the method for refining the heart-mind. The nine stages of practice — every stage is the refining of heart-mind and intention. Lock the heart-monkey inside the Mysterious Gate. Tie the intention-horse inside the Mysterious Gate. Never depart from the Mysterious Gate for a single moment, and at every moment you are refining the heart-mind.

The instant the heart-mind is forgotten, delusion stirs. In that moment, hold fast to the Mysterious Gate, apply yourself to turning the light inward, and the deluded heart will submit of itself, the scattered thoughts will dissolve. Over time, when the heart-mind is refined to maturity, then no matter what splendor or excitement, what pleasing and lovely affair comes before you, it cannot lure you. No matter what hardship or bitterness, what fearsome and dreadful affair befalls you, it cannot shake you.

The Heart Sutra says: "No eye, ear, nose, tongue, heart-mind, or intention; no form, sound, scent, taste, touch, or dharma." This is precisely the verification of refining the heart-mind.

In ordinary life, when the heart-mind is settled, if you must speak you can speak, if you must act you can act, if you must attend to others you can attend to them. Only the intention must not wander far. If it slips away for a moment, immediately turn the light and bring it back.

Where the heart rests, there the spirit gathers. Where the qi returns, there the vital essence also transforms into qi and unites with the spirit. When spirit and qi are united, this is the practice of refining the hun-soul and governing the po-soul. The hun-soul is the consciousness-spirit — it is the seed of rebirth through all kalpas, craving wealth and lusting for beauty, stirring up mischief for the demons. By day it gives rise to wild thoughts; by night in sleep it turns everything upside down — ruining the three treasures of vital essence, qi, and spirit. Yet the luminous awareness of heart-mind and intention has been enslaved by the hun-soul. In cultivation, make heart-mind and intention the master, commanding the three treasures of vital essence, qi, and spirit. Then the hun-soul, once governed, will never again cause the disorder of inversion.

To refine heart-mind and intention is to refine hun-soul and po-soul. Refine and refine until your created nature becomes one body with the Void itself. Then Impermanence would not dare show its face! Where would King Yama even look for you?

In stillness, let go of the ten thousand ties. Settle the heart, settle the intention. Every stage of practice demands the heart-mind to be fine and finer still, still and stiller still. If the heart-mind scatters for an instant, the medicine is lost, the elixir is ruined, the fire goes cold, the breath falls out of rhythm. Before the True Yang is born, it is the heart-mind's gathered focus that sustains it. When the Great Medicine must circulate, it is the heart-mind's directed intention that drives it. In advancing the fire and in halting the fire, the heart-mind cannot be coarse by even a hair's breadth, cannot let go by even a hair's breadth.

A person who holds the practice cannot afford irritation, cannot afford anger, cannot afford great joy or great sorrow. Why? Because irritation and anger, excessive joy and grief — all summon demonic obstacles. Whenever karmic debts harm a person, whenever demons attach to a body — blame the unruliness of the person's heart. If throughout the twelve double-hours of the day and night the heart does not run loose, how could karmic debt find its way in? A thousand demons and ten thousand monsters could not come near you.

All the incense-burning and prostrations in the world are methods for calming the heart. But guarding the Mysterious Gate is the first and foremost method for refining the heart-mind.

This heart-mind pierces Heaven and penetrates Earth — it is a priceless treasure. What a pity that in the red dust, no one knows how to use it. They only know how to spend it on worldly passions and trivial affairs, squandering a lifetime, spinning through the wheel of rebirth for ten thousand kalpas — the suffering beyond words! How could they know that the sages, the worthies, the immortals, and the Buddhas who transcended the Three Realms and leapt beyond the Five Phases all did so entirely through the practice of heart-mind and intention?

It is said: when the Dao-thought is as strong as the dust-thought, the moment of Buddhahood arrives. When the dust-heart is transformed into the Dao-heart, the ordinary person is the Buddha.

People of the red dust who use heart-mind and intention are clever, quick-witted, grasping, and calculating — and in the end, all comes to nothing. You and I who cultivate, once we have refined heart-mind and intention, have no use for grasping and no need for calculation. Learn to be a fool. Adopt a measure of simplicity. When the practice is complete and the fruit is ripe, you may follow your heart's desire and transform at will — is this not boundless freedom and joy?

All of you say the practice is hard. You say you have no free time. This is nothing but deceiving yourselves. Ask this: in the course of a single day, how many hours is your heart-mind at the Mysterious Gate? When you start talking, you forget. When trouble comes, you forget. When joy comes, you forget. When you are busy with work, you forget. When someone arrives and you go to attend to them, you forget. When you step out the door, you forget. If you kept inward awareness with every thought, never forgetting for an instant — how could the practice be without effect?

The sutra says: "Better to make offerings to one mindless Daoist than to one Arhat." The mindless one is without worldly heart, without blood-heart, without lustful heart. There is only the Dao-heart — continuous and silent, primordial and undifferentiated. Having a heart yet having no heart. In ordinary people, the good and evil, the deviant and the correct, are never settled — only in their deeds does it show. But at the first stirring of intention, at the first movement of thought, the ghosts and spirits already know!

For every person possesses a Primordial Spirit, and the Primordial Spirit dwells at the crown of light. When thoughts are good and correct, the light shines bright. When thoughts are evil and deviant, the light grows dim. The spirits and gods survey from the sky at all times, following the brightness or dimness of the light above your crown to examine the good and evil, the deviant and the correct. This thought of yours — not the slightest fraction of it can be concealed.

For the practitioner, the stirring of a deluded thought is the worst of events. Yet the practice of rectifying the heart and making the intention sincere is precisely the practice of halting delusion and stilling vain imagining! The Heart Sutra says: "Depart far from inverted dream-thinking." To still delusion and halt delusion — this is what it means to depart from inversion.

Furthermore, all the sufferings of rebirth arise from heart-mind and intention. When the heart-mind is fixed upon beauty, at the moment of death you are cast into rebirth to suffer the torment of beauty's prison. When the heart-mind is fixed upon wealth, at the moment of death you are cast into rebirth to suffer the torment of wealth's prison.

In ancient times, Li Boshi was skilled at painting horses — his entire heart-mind was fixed upon horses. At the moment of death, he fell into the womb of a horse. There was a monk whose heart-mind loved snakes — he kept snakes his whole life. At the moment of death, he fell into the womb of a snake.

Look at these two words — heart-mind — and tell me: are they not perilous?

The sutra says: all sentient beings must ferry themselves; the Buddha cannot ferry them. Within this single body there are many sentient beings. The eyes and ears are sentient beings. The mouth and nose are sentient beings. The transformations of heart-mind and intention are sentient beings without number or limit. When the eye does not crave form, you have ferried the eye's sentient being. When the ear does not chase sound, you have ferried the ear's sentient being. When no deluded thought arises, you have ferried the sentient beings of heart-mind and intention.

When heart-mind gives rise to all dharmas, all dharmas arise. When dharmas arise, all manner of suffering and calamity arise. When heart-mind is extinguished, all dharmas are extinguished. When dharmas are extinguished, all manner of suffering and calamity are ferried across — and one enters nirvana.

The Diamond Sutra says: "Give rise to a mind that dwells nowhere."

When the human heart dwells nowhere, the Dao-heart arises of itself.

Chapter Seventeen — Illuminating the Side Gates

Within and beyond the Three Realms, across immeasurable kalpas, all is governed by the Cosmic Cycle. At the beginning of one Cycle, Heaven and Earth open. At the end of one Cycle, Heaven and Earth close. Heaven and Earth were born from Wuji — the Limitless. The Heaven of Wuji is the Heaven beyond Heaven, the place to which all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas return to their root. The beginning and end of each Cosmic Cycle — Wuji alone knows it. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must also descend to the mortal world in response to the turning of the age, to sustain the world.

Heaven opened in the hour of Zi. Earth was carved in the hour of Chou. Humanity was born in the hour of Yin. At the beginning of human life, the Five Elders refined the form, and the One Numinous True Nature descended from Wuji. Originally we were immortal roots and Buddha seeds. But across accumulated kalpas, changing heads and faces, as the years deepened and the months lengthened, we forgot the road home. The ninety-six original people, cast adrift in the Eastern lands, craving the red dust — without immortals and Buddhas descending to awaken them, how could they ever return to the origin?

Why must these original people be ferried back? Because when the Cosmic Cycle reaches its end, Heaven and Earth will be destroyed, and all beings will be dissolved together. The True Nature and Numinous Light will scatter and be lost. When in the future the cosmos is created anew, each divided nature must return to its place. Therefore, at this late hour of the Noon Assembly, all must be ferried back together — for the sake of the plan to generate human roots across the immeasurable kalpas to come.

During the Dragon Assembly, the First Dragon-Flower Gathering was held, and Dīpaṃkara held the Dao, ferrying back two hundred million. During the Serpent Assembly, the Second Dragon-Flower Gathering was held, and Śākyamuni held the Dao, ferrying back two hundred million. Still, ninety-two hundred million original people remain, trapped in the Eastern lands. This present Universal Salvation is the Third Dragon-Flower Gathering. Heaven, for the sake of this great matter of Universal Salvation, made arrangements and preparations thousands of years in advance. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, coming and going, have all been laying the foundations of the Great Ferrying.

At the end of the Zhou Dynasty, the Three Teachings stood together, dividing into three great branches, each singly transmitting the Primordial Great Dao. After Qin and Han, literary culture grew too dominant, worldly affairs too prosperous, and the True Dao hid itself away and did not show. Confucianism declined! By the time of the Liang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties period, the Twenty-Eighth Patriarch of the West — Bodhidharma, the Venerable — received Heaven's command and came to the Eastern lands as the First Patriarch of China. He swept away written words and pointed directly to the Primordial Great Dao — this was the true vein of Universal Salvation. After him it was transmitted to the Second Patriarch Shenguang, the Third Patriarch Pu'an, the Fourth Patriarch Caodong, the Fifth Patriarch Huangmei, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, the Seventh Patriarch Baima, and the Eighth Patriarch Luo Gongzhengzheng. In the Tang Dynasty, the Seventh and Eighth Patriarchs transmitted the Dharma to the householder's fire, and the Dao returned to the Confucian house. At that time, Universal Salvation was still early, and Heaven withdrew the Great Dao. The patriarchal vein was not transmitted for over eight hundred years.

When the late Ming and early Qing arrived, Heaven's Mandate fell upon the Ninth Patriarch Huang, who received the patriarchal seat from afar. The Third Period had arrived! The Ninth Patriarch transmitted to the Tenth Patriarch Wu. The Tenth transmitted to the Eleventh Patriarch He. The Eleventh transmitted to the Twelfth Patriarch Yuan. The Twelfth Patriarch first opened Universal Salvation and established the Dao-root across the land, then transmitted to the Thirteenth Patriarchs Xu and Yang, who bore the kalpa upon their heads and returned to the Primordial. The Five Elders convened at the Silver City, Heaven and humanity met, and the charter of Universal Salvation was set. The Fourteenth Patriarch Yao, the Fifteenth Patriarch Wang, the Sixteenth Patriarch Liu — thus the sixteen generations of the Red Sun era were fulfilled.

The Dao was transmitted to the White Sun. Maitreya responded to the age. Patriarch Lu became the First Patriarch of the White Sun and opened wide the Universal Salvation. After him, the Zhang Patriarch continued to manage the Final Affair. Universally transmitted across the Three Realms, equally gathering the ten thousand teachings, across the ten directions and ten lands, the fifty-four summits, ten thousand departments of Heavenly Grace spread and arranged — the Great Dao extending across the nine continents, to the farthest corners of sky and sea, the original people returning to the root. All this is by the edict of Wuji. Thousands upon thousands of Buddhas, tens of thousands of Bodhisattvas — all must take refuge in this charter before they can achieve and fix their fruit.

Look at this — what a rare and unheard-of great matter! What a wondrous affinity, what a miraculous encounter! Transmitted once in ten thousand kalpas, there is only one gate, and no second Dao. Why then, besides the True Dao, are there so many side gates?

Because under all of Heaven, men and women are not all of the original root and original seed. There are celestial demons. There are earth fiends. There are mountain spirits and water monsters. There are goblins of grass and wood. Within the wheel of rebirth, there are millions of kinds of beasts — these are the alien kinds. Though they wear human form, they possess no Buddha-nature whatsoever. Heaven commands the host of immortals and Buddhas to come and gather the original people. Heaven also commands the host of Demon Kings to come and gather the alien kinds. Each makes their own arrangement. Side gates outnumber the True Dao.

Take for example the Pan Gate, the Yao Gate, the Mahayana Gate, the Daoist Pure Gate, the Buddhist Three-Treasures Gate — though they lack true merit, they can still pull some beings up. But beyond these, there are the twenty-four gates of the Great Golden Elixir, the seventy-two gates of the Small Golden Elixir, the Literary-Opening Gate, the Martial-Opening Gate, the Four Gates of Joy, Anger, Sorrow, and Pleasure — all of these are mixed methods with form and image, which attract demons and invite illness and must not be touched. And beyond these, there are the evil gates that specialize in sorcery — some impersonate Guanyin, some pose as Maitreya, riding clouds and mounting mists, hurling sand and flying stones, loosing flying knives, wielding thunder, possessing powers to move mountains and overturn seas. At this time, the six yang are nearly spent and one yin has already been born. Across sixty thousand years, what they cultivated into became monsters — every one of them emerging to harm people and throw the world into chaos. And beyond these, there are the Five-Star Celestial Demons, who stir only war, raging until the sky darkens and the earth goes black, ghosts weep and spirits wail — even an iron-forged man could hardly escape the Third Period.

The tender original people — how could they withstand this great calamity of the White Sun? Therefore ten thousand Buddhas descend to the world, setting the Boat of Compassion afloat everywhere, receiving the Eternal Mother's children onto the Boat of Compassion. This Boat of Compassion is also without form or image, yet the Dharma is boundless and the spiritual powers are vast — demons who see it lose their souls, ghosts who see it forget their form. Moreover, it ferries only original people. It does not ferry alien kinds. And so the millions of alien kinds each burrow into the millions of side gates, demons attracting demons, each following their kind.

When the Great Dao is made clear, all those alien kinds perish together. Only the True Dharma can attend the Dragon-Flower Assembly. A true original person, who truly possesses the heart of wisdom, will absolutely refuse to walk the road of no return. There are also those who, through the methods of the alien kinds, by a fortunate chance refine a true person and return to right awakening.

But here is the hardest matter of all. The side gates are obvious — they are clearly not the same Dao. Yet within the one Dao itself, the orthodox turns heterodox, and the heterodox disrupts the orthodox. Demons arise from within the Dao. Branches sprout and leaves proliferate. This is the very examination topic that tests people! How many great figures have been tested until their minds went dark and their eyes went blind, misreading the topic, writing the essay wrong, losing their names from the roll of the Examination Hall of the Buddhas!

Every time the patriarchal seat changes hands, there is one generation's true Patriarch — and there is also one generation's false patriarch acting as demon. When the Water Patriarch held affairs, Zhou and Ge declared themselves supreme, set up their own houses, established sword-banners and insignia — things with form and image — to delude men's hearts. They spread across all under Heaven, entrapping the virtuous. These were celestial demons. When the Gold Patriarch held affairs, a false Five-Phases sect declared itself the Gathering-In, disrupting the lineage system — also a great celestial demon. When the Gold Patriarch returned to the West, the seat was secretly entrusted to the Matriarch Gu. Winds and Dao were one. Unfortunately, the Third Matriarch returned to the West, and from Sichuan arose one calling himself the Little Western Splendor — this too was a celestial demon.

In sum, all of this sifts out the turbid and retains the clear. All of it uses pretexts to test the Dao. Those with shallow roots and heavy karma — craving greatness, indulging vain imaginings, not following the principles — every kind of fault, all of them together are cast into the demon path and fall to ruin.

As for the true original person, they must raise the eye of wisdom high and read the examination topic clearly. Where the root is, there the Patriarch is. To return to the root is to recognize the Patriarch. Where is the Patriarch? The Dao-root IS the Patriarch. Men and women, all sentient beings, who hear little and see little, who neither recognize nor know, who drift with the current — they can do little. As for those in the great and small Halls of Grace, they must keep their eyes bright and their ears firm and stand on steady ground. If you turn your back on the Heavenly Principle and believe the demon's words, if you seek advantage and defect to the demon's army, you become a demon who demons others, you go astray and lead the multitude astray — and once you fall, ten thousand kalpas cannot turn it around.

Hold firm to the Dao-root. Follow what is fair. Follow what is correct. Be unwavering from beginning to end. Then of course there will be success. In sum: anything novel and exciting, anything that changes the oral formulas, speaks of Heavenly secrets, and claims that the Gathering-In and the Illumination of the Dao are right before your eyes — all of it is demon. "This year it doesn't come, wait for next year" — delay after delay, the ruse collapses of its own accord. Foolish men and women, willingly accepting deception, wasting the good fortune of this life — all of it stems from the karmic roots of accumulated kalpas. It is truly pitiable. None of it can be saved.

If you truly return to the root and conduct affairs according to the Dharma, then guard the cold and plain family style, follow ordinary human feeling, do not scheme after Heavenly secrets, do not speak lightly of cosmic catastrophe. Conceal your light. Nurture in stillness. Wait in silence for Heaven's heart. Do your utmost, following conditions. Die and then stop! This is the mark of one who has chosen the Good and Wise.

The two words "side" and "true" — nothing is more tightly bound. Only by finding the true and serving it, regardless of the size of your talent or the magnitude of your merit, can you be secure, can you partake of the light — and you will be among those at the Dragon-Flower Assembly. If you mistakenly serve a side gate, then though you have talent it is talent wasted, though you have merit it is merit thrown away. Even your filial devotion becomes disloyalty and unfiliality — all because of Heaven's Mandate!

Those who follow Heaven survive. Those who oppose Heaven perish. Can you not be in awe of this?

Chapter Eighteen — Honoring the Teacher's Transmission

Among the sages of the Three Teachings, there is not one who did not have a teacher. Among the emperors of a thousand ages, there is not one who did not have a teacher. In this era of Universal Salvation, there is a Venerable Teacher who holds the Dao-lineage, and at the Final Gathering-In there is also a Patriarch who manages the Gathering-In. To dishonor the Three Teachers is to be ungrateful. How could such a one achieve the Dao?

To honor one's teacher and elders means to honor the Dao that is in them. Even if the teacher is younger than you, less learned than you, less distinguished than you, less eloquent than you, less imposing than you — so long as you received the grace of their initiation, you must honor and revere them. If the teacher is older, more learned, more distinguished, more eloquent, more imposing — then to honor and revere them goes without saying.

Honoring has several layers. First: the heart must be sincere and the intention true — you must not deceive or conceal from the teacher. Second: speech must be careful — you must not clash with or offend the teacher. Third: courtesy must be thorough — you must not slight or disdain the teacher.

Beyond these three, you must also heed the teacher's instructions, obeying in all things, never defying a command. When there is a task to be done, once the teacher has given the charge, do not shrink from hardship — exert yourself to the utmost. If you cannot accomplish it, at least exhaust your heart in the attempt. If you yourself have faults, and the teacher admonishes or disciplines you, or if you have broken the rules and the teacher punishes you — then all the more must you lower your voice and humble your bearing, accept the teaching and correct the fault. Never secretly harbor private resentment.

Even if the teacher has erred in some matter, even if the punishment is wrongly placed — you still must not become angry or argue. In time, the truth will become clear of its own accord.

In daily matters: when you receive the teacher's arrival, the food and drink must be clean. The offerings must be sincere. In illness, you must serve the teacher with careful attention. When merit-money is collected, deliver it into the teacher's hand — do not give rise to doubt or suspicion.

The greatest form of honoring the teacher is this: pioneer on the teacher's behalf. Establish schools on the teacher's behalf. Guide original people. Spread the Dao-halls. Be utterly loyal, utterly filial, diligent and tireless from beginning to end. Become a model of honoring the teacher, so that all who see it learn to honor the teacher — then your merit is great indeed! Lesser forms: running errands and lending a hand, or supporting with words. In all things, uphold the great righteousness of the Dao and demonstrate the goodness of the Dao. All of this is honoring the teacher.

If you encounter trials by wind, first seek to protect and preserve. If the teacher has been careless in some matter and is not entirely without fault, you may remonstrate gently in private, following the rules with tact and discretion. If the teacher will not listen, then guard your own correctness and do not follow their conduct — that is sufficient. You must not turn hostile and lose your dignity, exposing the teacher's faults and displaying your own merits. Whether the teacher has done well or ill, Heaven itself watches. Heaven itself examines. It has nothing to do with you, the junior student. All that matters is that you yourself are truly good. Even if the teacher brings ruin upon affairs, it will not implicate you. Simply honor the teacher to the end. Revere the Dao to the end. The spirits will surely record your merit and will never leave you wanting.

Moreover: the teacher has the standing of a teacher, has managed a Dao-hall for many years, has opened who knows how many original people, has endured trials by wind again and again — their foundation and their karmic affinity are above yours, the junior student. It may well be that there is no true wrongdoing at all. As for what is called "wrongdoing" — it may arise from hearsay and embellishment, or dwell in the realm of suspicion and resemblance, mostly born from false rumor and mislaid report. The teacher may be unjustly accused and wrongfully slandered. As a junior student, you should trace the situation back to its cause and reason, and think on the teacher's behalf. How could you recklessly slander and defame, casting yourself into the great sin of deceiving the teacher?

Consider this: when the teacher first guided you onto the Dao, speaking a thousand words and ten thousand phrases with bitter and painstaking earnestness, wishing that within a year or half a year they could bring you to the gates of Heaven. We junior students, from our first entry, practiced according to the Dharma. But in time, karmic debts rose to the surface, and gradually the sickness of doubt was born. Gradually we grew slack. And so we looked down upon the Great Dao. To look down upon the Dao is inevitably to look down upon the teacher. To look down upon the teacher is inevitably to deceive the teacher.

Among the men and women today who deceive their teachers, most have fallen into ruin. There are those who could not endure the teacher's correction, who flared into anger and disdained the teacher. There are those who seized credit and stole spiritual fruit, who said the teacher was biased, who changed their hearts and deceived the teacher. There are those who coveted money, who fraudulently collected merit-offerings, who darkened their own conscience and deceived the teacher. There are those whose natures are arrogant and whose temperaments are perverse, who relied on their position to deceive the teacher. There are those whose minds are cunning and deceitful, who twisted right and wrong with clever mouths and deceived the teacher. There are those whose private schemes were thwarted, who secretly harbored resentment, who fabricated pretexts and deceived the teacher. There are those who sought external rewards, who defected to others and deceived the teacher. There are those who used false flattery and pretense, who put on appearances and deceived the teacher. There are those who controlled their territory, who recruited followers out of jealousy and deceived the teacher. There are those who, tested by trials, stirred up trouble and caused others to retreat in regret, and thereby deceived the teacher.

Layer upon layer of karmic obstruction — the telling would never end. To put it simply: to deceive the teacher is to deceive the heart. To deceive the heart is to deceive Heaven. And those who deceive Heaven shall surely meet Heaven's punishment.

All men and women on the Dao: you must revere the Dao single-heartedly and honor the teacher single-heartedly. Listen to the teacher's words. Follow the teacher's conduct. Lean upon the Venerable Teacher, and you will surely partake of the teacher's light and repay the teacher's grace.

At present, demons emerge in multitudes, disturbing and confusing, raging until the hearts and eyes of the world go dark — no one can tell who is true and who is false. One moment of bewilderment, one step taken, and you have already gone wrong. Now you must use your own wisdom to judge the origins and trace the causes, so that you do not lose your way before the road ahead.

Where there is a true teacher, there is a true root. Where there is a true root, there is a true Patriarch. What the teacher relies upon is precisely the true root and the true Patriarch. Follow the Patriarch and you will return to the root. Return to the root and you will honor the teacher. If you do not honor the teacher, then you will have no teacher! Without a teacher, there is no root. Without a root, there is no Patriarch. Without a Patriarch, you cannot return to the origin.

There is only one unhappy circumstance: if the teacher, driven by karmic enmity, follows evil, defects to demons, defies Heaven's Mandate, and destroys the patriarchal root — then absolutely you must not follow! If you can remonstrate, remonstrate with all your strength to set things right. If you cannot remonstrate, then let them go their own way into demonic ruin. Never follow along out of past affection or present courtesy. In matters of life and death, there is no room for compromise. You may follow the teacher to Heaven. You must not follow the teacher to Hell.

If you encounter such a teacher and there is nothing to be done, then seek upward — return to the root and recognize the Patriarch. If there is no path to seek and no word to send, then close the door and cultivate yourself, practicing according to the Dharma. Heaven has always watched over such cases. In time, you too can return to the origin. But you must never bind yourself to the demon party's affinity, or believe the demon party's affairs.

Chapter Nineteen — Returning to the Lineage System

All of us who cultivate the Dao should understand the transmission of the Dao-lineage. Seek out the root. Pursue the source, tracing it back to the uttermost beginning. Advance step by step, honoring the teacher and revering the Dao. You must not leap ahead, nor may you proceed in haste.

Consider: every family and every nation has a system of succession passed down from generation to generation — a system that cannot be leapt over and cannot be despised. To observe the customs of the family and the laws of the nation is what is called keeping order with propriety. When all affairs proceed with method and do not fall into confusion, only then can one hope that every family and every nation will flourish year after year. In the cultivation of heart and the nourishment of nature, it is the same — and all the more necessary to understand the root and the lineage of the Dao-transmission.

There are some who already possess their own lineage-thread, yet abandon the root to pursue illusion. Not knowing the origin of the Dao-transmission to which they belong, they follow heterodox paths in a muddle. They go so far as to scorn their kin and slander the lineage to which they originally belonged. Nor is this all — even the Initiating Masters who enlightened them, the Guiding Masters, the Guaranteeing Masters, and the various senior elders who introduced and arranged things for their benefit — all of these they dismiss and ignore, treating them as though they did not exist. Such people are called those who forget the root.

A person who forgets the root — how could they guard the Ancestral Aperture?

Many are earnest, practicing diligently every day without ceasing, yet still they do not succeed. Most have this very flaw. As Zhuangzi said: the bamboo trap is made for the sake of catching fish, but once you have caught the fish, you think the trap no longer matters. A person who has stumbled once, having learned the lesson, will not stumble again. Yet the person who believes they will never stumble again forgets the lesson of having stumbled. The one who preaches the Dao seeks to illuminate the true meaning of the Dao's teaching. Yet the one who hears the Dao, after hearing it, discards the teacher of the Dao and, abandoning the root, pursues illusion. People like this rarely avoid failure.

Even plants and trees require a firm root before they can grow flourishing branches and leaves, put forth blossoms, and bear tight-clustered fruit — how much more so the cultivation of the Dao? Therefore, how can we not understand our Dao-transmission and its lineage?

Although in our Dao-halls, most people understand our Dao-transmission and its lineage, those who do not understand are also not few. Therefore we must be clear: our Dao is the Non-Dual Dharma Gate transmitted to us by the Heavenly Ancient Buddha. All who have heard the teaching of the Dao and received its benefit and elevation of their nature must follow the instruction of the Gracious Teacher. The teaching bestowed upon us by the Gracious Teacher is supremely precious and will forever be our Dao-transmission and our lineage.

If all who cultivate the Dao can understand our Dao-transmission and our lineage, then surely they can join hands together and return as one to the Eternal Mother's side — returning to the root, returning to the homeland.

This small and humble sentiment — I hope that all the Worthy Elders and Great Virtuous Ones will take it to heart together.

Chapter Twenty — Attending the Dragon-Flower Assembly

The Dragon-Flower Assembly of the Three Antiquities is one that every person may attend. It is not in itself a difficult matter. You need only resolve your will and put it into practice, revere morality and virtue, and begin by attending first to the human way.

In serving your parents, be filial: look up to their hearts, follow their wishes, and do not deviate in the slightest. In serving your elder siblings, be brotherly: be respectful in all things, be harmonious in all encounters, and harbor no stubbornness of heart. In serving your master, be loyal and true: exhaust your own heart in all things, and harbor no cunning. In friendship, be sincere and trustworthy — you must not deceive or defraud. In the presence of elders and superiors, honor them with propriety — you must not be disorderly or defiant. Follow your station, maintain the sequence. In funerals, sacrifices, marriages, and social intercourse, there is nothing that should not be governed by propriety.

In treating others, act with righteousness. In all matters, be fitting and measured. You need only understand the great righteousness — do not be harsh in your demands when affairs arise, and you will accord with the spirit of seeing righteousness and having the courage to act. As for integrity and shame — these too must be cultivated. When faced with wealth, do not take it unjustly. When faced with danger, do not flee dishonorably. If an act would disgrace your character, never force it through.

If you can honor these Eight Virtues, then you will have nearly exhausted the human way, and the Heavenly Way will align of itself! When you can align with the Heavenly Way, the cultivation of the Dao will succeed of itself.

To attend the Dragon-Flower Assembly requires above all a steadfast heart. Move forward with single-minded courage. Cultivate external merit abundantly. Intensify internal merit. Practice both inner and outer cultivation together. Be resolute in your guarding, clear in your seeing. Do not rebel against affairs before they come. Do not waver after they have passed. Do not let yourself be seized by sound and beauty. Do not let yourself be shaken by goods and profit. Do not let yourself be bent by force and might. Do not let yourself be detained by wealth and rank. Do not let yourself be halted by poverty and hardship.

If you have wealth, then give it away and cultivate virtue — in all matters that relieve people and benefit living things, do your utmost. Do not become a prisoner of your own treasury. If you have strength, then exert yourself to the fullest — do not sit idle and miss the moment. For inner virtue, practice according to the Dharma, day after day without interruption. Accumulated day by day, month by month, when the merit is complete and the fruit is ripe, the day to attend the Dragon-Flower Assembly will come of its own.

If every person does this, every person may attend. Though it is an undertaking without precedent and without sequel, it is also a thing that is easy to accomplish and worthy of esteem.

If you say you do not believe me — stand on tiptoe and look.

Colophon

The Essentials for Leaving the World is a Qing dynasty Yiguandao cultivation manual. This is the first complete English translation of the text — all twenty chapters and the Preface — translated across twenty-three tulku incarnations of the New Tianmu Anglican Church (Sessions 83–106, March 2026). The Chinese source text is from the 善書圖書館 (Morality Books Library, taolibrary.com), which permits reprinting, uploading, reproduction, and circulation. The text is in the public domain (Qing dynasty; author Mìzhāi, deceased over 100 years).

First English translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: 出世必要

Chinese source text from the 善書圖書館 (Morality Books Library, taolibrary.com). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

前言

出世者，修真悟道之人所共悉，然出世之路何從也？當今世人尚在盲然，今偶遇「出世必要」一書，內容盡屬返本皈家之導路，採取印刷，以備修道之上士作為暗途明燈。此書之意三教同宗，萬殊一本，其說不一，出源無異；惟今修道善信，以此書作出世資料，庶乎無所差謬矣！謹以此為引證前言。

明因果第一

上而天界，下而地界，中而人界，為神、為仙、為人、為鬼、為畜生，皆在因果之中。蓋神仙是不昧因果者也，人而落於因果，顛倒變化而不知。欲知前世因，今生受者是，欲知後世果，今生作者是。前世之因，今生之果也，今生之因，又出來世之果，因果不了，生死也不了，六道輪迴，畜生四道，胎、卵、濕、化。人有二道，富貴、貧賤。今生富貴，是前世積德行善之因，好因結好果；今生貧賤，是前世作孽造罪之因，壞因結壞果。生生死死，有本萬年簿子，十殿閻羅王掌管，甚麼因結甚麼果？他替你算得公公道道，絲毫不錯。善有善報，惡有惡報，但報有遲有早，有明有暗，有合幾世算結，乘除加減而報，故有看得見之報，有看不見之報。有因果就有生死，有生死就有善惡之報。無因果，不能成做父子；無因果，不能成做夫妻兒女。親愛歡喜是因果，冤家煩惱亦是因果，不是天地定的，不是閻羅王強派的，仍然是人自造自受。無奈改頭換面，姓張姓李，輪迴路上，往往來來，昏迷不覺！好因果上至天堂，惡因果下至地獄，人道之中，生在貧賤，千苦萬辛；生在富貴，暫時作樂，然而富貴必多造孽，來生又轉入貧賤，若再有罪，來世便降為畜生。世上人不信因果，說人死如燈滅；不信報應，說紙見活人受罪，那見死鬼戴伽。豈知道人之死也，形滅而靈魂不滅，靈魂猶如火種，可以吹得過，可以點得著；至於活人受罪，如水火之災，瘡病之苦，王法官刑之冤枉。大半由前劫所造，在陰司則定罪案，發到陽世來受，又有人生未死去，而魂已拿入陰司受刑，此活靈活現，到處皆有，可知有受罪之活人，定有頂伽之死鬼。死人罪重了，在陰司自然頂伽，即或托生陽世，亦必做受罪之活人。試看都市之中，大路之上，多少殘疾不成形的，惡瘡腥臭、流膿出血、終日叫喚，豈不是活地獄即在眼前？人在陽世多不信因果報應，到了三寸氣斷，魂入陰曹，孽鏡臺前一照，沒有不信的，然到此時，悔之已甚遲了。大地男女，誰能逃脫生死二字？那個躲過閻君之手？究竟生死也可以逃得？閻君也可以躲得？先要把因果看得明白，知道為人為畜，只此一靈，前身後身，原非兩個，因果是生死之根，生死是受苦之趣，現處富貴，總不長久，現在貧賤，那有出頭，大限一到，閻羅殿前可不駭怕乎？如果善多惡少，尚保人身，若是善少惡多，則人身一失，萬劫難復矣。因果中最重者殺孽，一命抵一命，一刀還一刀，千百劫後，躲脫不了。所以持齋者，正是怕結殺因，積成殺果，亦修行者了前世之孽，得超脫之法，成出世之果也。

開智慧第二

在紅塵中，聰明伶俐，分別計較，都算不得智慧，真智慧者，發心修行，求出苦還原之道。世上男女，信得因果，知道為善去惡，說今生未修，修修來生，這也是好人。但做好人，不過保來生之人身而已！就是行大善事，不過貧賤轉富貴而已！再得上升，不過富貴轉神道而已！這都是人天福報，小因小果，是為有盡之因。小因福報一了，依然墮落，況在惡濁世中，能保得世世為人乎？縱然世世為人，雖保無一念之差，一時之迷，生而死，死而又生，有朝壞事，前功盡棄。蓋無生死所拘者，不得不受生死之害，其害何在？在於妻恩子愛耳！有了恩愛之牽纏，自然要爭名奪利，酒色財氣，一齊跟來，貪、瞋、癡、愛，到處皆是。比如一台假戲，上了場，不由得你不唱，豈知道夫妻是冤家，兒女是債主，恩愛中惹出許多煩惱，恩愛中生出許多怨恨，酒、色、財、氣，四大苦海，貪嗔癡愛，無邊深坑，請看三寸氣斷，夫妻何能以同行？兒女何能以替死？功名富貴，何能抵得住閻羅？不但妻恩子愛，一切名利，是虛花夢境，就是這個身，亦是虛假之物，最不堅牢。一處恩愛受傷，有礙性命，最不乾淨，腥臭穢污，不堪細想，各樣苦惱，都是一身去受，各種罪孽，都是一身所造，混過幾十年，終歸黃土而已！這個假殼子，縱然能活百歲千歲，也是累贅東西，有何趣味？佛經說：「四大皆空。」人身乃是四大假合，水、火、風、土、為四大。身中之精血足水，有熱氣是火，口鼻呼吸是風，皮毛筋骨是土。無常一到，精血乾枯，水流盡了；週身冰冷，火燒完了；呼吸扯斷，風吹散了；肉團腐壞，仍歸土了。四大一空，我在何處？大智慧人，把道些虛假事惰，一齊放下。有妻而不為妻恩所迷；有子而不為子愛所絆。不求人間之名，而求天上之份；不想東士之利，而想西土之益。暫借假身，做個客寓，暗地討個消息，元神藏在假殼之中，無人指破，便是沒得用的，若指破了，便是無價寶山。世上假聰明多，真智慧少，所以不開智者，由於前劫根淺，有根定然有慧，有慧能見得長，看得遠，自然會從生死上打算留心。這些紅塵顏面上小事，都不在心上，攀扯不住自己，信道信佛就是根，訪道訪師就是慧。從今入道之後，還仗智慧作主，誠心誠意，有始有終，切不可一時高興，久生退悔，依然墮落苦海之中。

立志向第三

西方大路古家鄉，當初從那裏來？此時何不向那裡去？人人有分，個個能成，只在有志無志之分耳。你看千年古樹可以成精，狐狸妖精，也能修煉，為人修仙，比畜物少得五百年苦功，這回修行，更加容易。蓋三會華期，收圓了道，千佛萬祖，齊下東林，偏地慈舟，逢緣即渡，趕上受點，一劫成功，若錯過這會奇緣，則踏破鐵鞋無覓處矣！須要立起沖天志向，不在紅塵安身，不向火坑落腳，總要走一條大路。然而西方路上，攔阻者甚多，夫妻恩重了，兒女愛深了，這都是阻礙；至如親戚朋友家門，說長道短，百樣誹謗，盡都是斷路的冤家。而且紅塵之中，有許多假熱鬧，最是迷人，酒色財氣，貪瞋癡愛，多劫以來之熟路，走慣了的熟路，捨不得，丟不開，斬不斷，所以生生死死，做輪迴之種也。有有人明白，知道紅塵是虛假，修行是好事，無奈牽纏罣礙，誤了一身，總是立不起志向來，真有志向之人，一聞即行，捨不得也要捨，丟不得也要丟，斬不斷也要斬。古來成佛作祖之人，棄江山，辭官職，別父母妻子，去安樂而受勞苦，此等志向，何其猛勇，何其堅固，志向者所謂願力也。無願則無力，願大則力大，前劫之願，今世得力，現在之願，切不可錯。發願心，總要願成佛，願往西方，願度盡天下原人。若只發願修來生，亨洪福，便是大錯矣。

清拖累第四

落在紅塵之世界，那箇無累？「累」是因緣成熟的顯象。孝養父母夫妻之恩，兒女之愛，一切親眷雖都是因緣，因緣不了則皆是拖累，修行人清不了拖累者，則是披枷帶鎖，到死方休，那有出苦之日，真是忙得可憐，憂得無味，即所謂拖累也。累者，不是全不要夫妻兒女，只要自己會安頓，果能夫妻同修，兒女為伴，豈不甚妙。若是夫修妻不修，也要設計調停，如果實實不同心，當各了各事，切不可你扯我，我扯你，一段恩情事小，萬劫生死事大。有兒女者，完其婚嫁，不可貪戀牽纏，失誤正事。兒孫自有兒孫福，莫為兒孫作馬牛，育兒成人後，當了的事，要早些了清，如自量有萬不能了的事件，丟開去罷！不要痴痴呆呆，想這樣做那樣，累到三寸氣斷，還有許多未了之事。夫妻兒女，原是一台假戲，鑼鼓一歇，大家散場，說甚麼悲歡離合，既然看破紅塵，不想富，不想貴，不圖門面熱鬧，自然少些拖累。再把恩愛關打開，拖累更輕，想進道者，先要算計一番，恩愛如何割捨？妻子如何安頓？己進道者，就要用七分功夫在修行上，只可用一、二分功夫，應酬凡事。靜觀眼前多少男女，名為學道，究竟落空，由於拖累不清耳。中年人、老年人，縱然無夫妻之累，而有兒女之累，總是拖累不清，甚且為顧及兒女而退道開戒，為顧全兒女甘墮地獄，真是癡呆。天下最灑脫者，最快樂者。鰥寡孤獨之人，在紅塵以為苦命，在修行則毫無拖累，容易成功。若不加緊修持，實在可惜。總而言之，受拖累者，還是中下之流，上等大丈夫，何拖累之有？今日醒悟，今日能下手，功名富貴，愛子嬌妻，說放下一齊放下，斬釘截鐵，不動不搖，纔是好手段。中下人，半聖半凡，未必全然無拖累。諸如勤苦省儉，免得賑累；安愚藏拙，免得事累；應酬減少，免得情累；不起貪唱妄想，免得心累；不計冤仇，不戀親愛，免得人我牽經之累。然凡事拖累甚多，總累不盡，要親自從事，又不得不累。諸佛菩薩，為九二原人，拖下苦海，受一場大累。開荒打引，受奔走之累；辦道結緣，有支應之累。調賢引眾，費言語，用精神，又有無窮之累。遭風受考，拖累傾家，拖累性命，即使拖累死了，也沒得半點怨恨的。蓋在紅塵之中，累來累去，拖下地獄；在道場之中，累來累去，拖上天堂。把這生死大事拖累上岸，就萬劫逍遙，再無有拖累了。

守五戒第五

三皈五戒乃守道之根基，皈戒不守，如煮沙作飯，何能充饑？修道的人，不是粗守大略，要守精細。一不殺生，不但不殺，斷斷不可養不可餐，日不犯殺生之事，倘若路遇殺生，默念佛號，戒犯殺戒。二不偷盜，要清白正大，不沾人一文便宜，不妄取人一點東西，不貪愛人一樣物件，如有許多功德不清，及妄用人家功德，皆是偷盜。三不邪淫，不到邪淫之地行走，不與邪人往來，如抽煙、賭博、看燈、看會，盡多是邪事，定要斷清。不淫者，不但絕淫事，定要斬淫根。男子目不熟視女色，心不妄動邪念；女子要莊誠敬，毫無輕狂之態，嬉戲之容。至於穿戴，以雅素樸為好，不許華美豔飾。再精而言之，第一要守身不漏，若白日胡思亂想，夜裡靈丹走洩，睡夢顛魂，陰魔擾害，就是犯淫之戒，還修甚麼行？此一戒最為難守，全要除雜意慾念，時刻提防，拴鎖猿馬，又玄關守透，丹田常熱，呼吸升降，風火運動，方纔守得住。九節工夫，最重築基一節，基築成了，如十五、六歲之童體，纔算得守真守戒。四不食酒肉，此戒易守，而吃一碗素飯，亦不圖貪厚味。省儉惜福，賢者之風。五不妄語者，要老實致誠，當說的話，有一句說一句，不必別添枝葉，不當說的話，緘口莫言，若牽扯是非，花言巧語，當面虛哄好聽，背後行奸作怪，此等人縱有小能幹，畢竟浮而不實，帶罪不輕。修行之人，最忌多說話，一則傷神氣，二則惹是非，除勸善化人之外，總是裝痴呆的好。真心學道之人，二六時中，迴光搭橋，默守玄關，那有閒空時間，說話談笑，耽擱時辰。在道場中，自己警戒，不要像他人一樣，切不可張揚其事。這張揚造孽最重，惡口傷人者，必遭惡報，讒口害人者，必有天譴。在道中，亂講閒話，退人善念，誤人好事，罪在不赦，一言之壞，就墮了地獄，合而言之，洪誓大願，皈戒在先，犯了戒規，誓願難逃，明地可以瞞人，暗地不能瞞神，暗室欺心，神目如電，人間私語，天聞若雷；各人捫心細想，未犯者加功，己犯者速改，久後必照蓮花之鏡，而等靈官鞭下，悔之晚矣。

斷疑惑第六

修行之人，全憑信心，信心堅固，功果有成。佛不度無緣之人，因不信故也。不信，則多生疑惑。這個大道，效法天地之全功，包含陰陽之妙理，三教經典都是印證斯道，萬事萬物，皆合道機，毫無可疑。讀書之人生疑惑，乃是為文字遮蔽，所謂聰明反被聰明誤也。下愚之人生疑惑，乃是為孽障沉埋，根淺而福薄。有些已進道者，起初信奉大道，及久在佛門，反生疑惑。疑甚麼？一疑一世難成。二疑工夫難做。三疑普度是假，收圓無期。四疑考魔利害，佛不顯露。五疑辦這要錢，前賢靠不住。六疑上堂變動，祖根不真。七疑敗壞者多，心灰意懶。有了這幾層疑惑，恍恍忽忽，就要退悔了，加以耳根不硬，聽那些旁門左道，說多少奇怪術法，又想學習神通，或那些假祖魔師，扯出來別生枝葉，又想更求玄妙，這都是吃虧上當，失誤修行。真原人要斷去一切疑惑，比如做功夫，無論有效無效，總是依法行持，猛勇前進，不問成與不成，總是一心不變，死而後己。果能用誠心，下苦功，斷無有不成不效之理。古來單傳，正法難遇，當此普度，咸沾佛光，正是千劫修一劫成，肯於這一劫發心者，即一世成矣！至於收圓大事，乃一元十二萬年中一大事，斷斷不假。但天機莫測，有早有遲，上天慈悲，等候原人，一時難齊矣！收圓一時不應，不必問收圓明道之期，只需各人明各人自己之道，收各人身上之圓，自己孽冤消清，功德有餘，便更明道，身上陰陽會合，大丹結就，便是收圓。苦魔者乃上天好意，受一層魔，消了一層冤孽，一半是前劫帶來的，久債還錢，難逃定業；一半是自己招來的，由於少培善功，又不依法，不小心，假人考退了，不必說，真人考明了，正好辦事；是真是假，非考不能；分清別濁，非考不能；定人果位，非考不能。講到捐功要錢，並非是前賢肥己，無水不能行舟，無財難以開道，要錢印書，替你行功，要錢辦事，替你廣結諸佛緣，湊助普渡收圓之事，一文也不落虛空。那道場祖根，誰真誰假，自有上天掌持，而做前賢的也自然查得明細，聽聽前賢交代，合道理的，一心跟隨；不合理的，你自穩住工夫，自修自得。亦不壞事。能開荒的，苦心接引，寸步有功，只是要小心注意，莫生疑惑，雖惡世難行，但至誠感格，天必佑之。能結緣的，和氣耐煩，眾人沾光，上天歡喜，切莫疑惑妄費銀錢，一本萬利，明去暗來，是沒疑惑，佛法是無形的，超昇墮落，眼前是看不見，豈知道看得見時，想行善改過就遲了。修行人，是好是歹，絲絲毫毫，護法神都鑒察明白，記錄在冊簿之上，他日三曹對案，抵賴不得。吾人在道場中，閱歷未深，智慧尚淺，看見幾多違規破戒，一切敗壞之事，難保無疑，豈知各修各得，各人生死各人了，眾人不信我要信，始終不二，撐起一團剛氣，拿定一個雄心，斷無有不到西方，所以多疑多惑者，皆是根基淺薄，冤孽迷心之人也。

消冤孽第七

人自寅會下世，生死輪迴，造下無邊罪孽，冤緣相報，無有了期。今日投進修行，表文一昇，三曹通曉，那前劫冤魂，都在地府等候，如何肯讓你騙了？第一乃殺孽之賬，難以躲脫，縱隔三世、五世、八世，數百年之久，千萬里之遙，他也找得來要命。所以這裡開道，那裡就有冤賬來纏擾，或是生瘡病磨折，或是考風顛倒，或是水火之災，或是跌打損傷，或是口舌生非。種種作鬧，都是冤孽；或者見鬼見妖，討債取命，晝夜不安，心神恍惚，必然叫你退志破戒，依舊同冤孽一路而行，所以師尊教人，立層層功德，以持齋消殺生之孽，以隱惡揚善消惡口兩舌之孽，以刷書消一切奸盜邪淫之孽。印書者，須要捨得銀錢，沒有銀錢者，下苦心用功修持，其餘開荒引眾，辦道結緣，總當消自己的冤孽。冤孽就是仇人，他日夜伺候，想害人性命，若自己大意放鬆一點，他就投了竅，冤賬一上身，則元神不能作主，就越發糊塗，豈有不敗道之理？除修道持齋之外，更要常看經典聖訓，常聽好話，心中明白，依法行持，方能消得冤孽。現在男女，不但冤孽未消，而且若冤孽，添冤孽，比如貪高妄想，動火生氣，爭功奪果，搬弄是非，不遵規矩，不受教訓，盡都是自惹冤孽，自添冤孽，就這樣多少原人，被冤孽弄壞了。各處道場，將成而又復敗，纔盛而又衰竭，風去風來，顛顛倒倒，皆由於冤孽未消。前賢有前賢之孽，後學有後學之孽，人多孽多，消解不開，所以起風降考，大原人頂災頂劫，小原人魂飛魄散，冤孽真是利害。蓋道真則孽亦真，不得真道，冤賬可以遲緩，一得真道，冤賬即速要清，這本冤賬簿子，自己也不知多少，總要早早還清，落個乾淨身子纔好。消冤孽之法，持齋之外，然總不如開荒打引，設壇辦道，接引原人，為無量功德，能消無量冤孽，你看有功有德的賢良，人神歡喜，平安清吉，便是冤孽消清了。若是事不順遂，常有錯訛，還是未消清冤孽，誠恐臨死之期，死得不清白，而夙業現相，一靈真性，被冤孽扯住了，如何能往西方？依然走閻羅殿而已矣。

改脾氣第八

人生落在後天，個個都有脾氣，脾氣就是一種病，病重了，就要傷命。第一大病，不敬天地，不孝雙親。敬天地者，體好生之德，存愛物之心，惜老憐貧，救急濟難，敬惜字紙，愛惜五殼，行一切之方便，以我心合天心，不僅是燒香磕頭了事。孝順父母者，守住自體，行善積德，辦功修果，超度先靈，久後與善人同歸極樂，是為真孝。不但生死養葬了事，人若有了慢天地，薄父母的脾氣，其餘再好些，都不算人也。至於素行凶暴，要改為和平；素行輕狂，要改為穩重；素行動火，要改為忍耐；素行高大，要改為低小；素行講話扯謊，要改為謹慎真實；素行狡猾奸詐，要改為公平正直；素行繁華奢侈，要改為樸實儉省；素行私心忌刻，要改為大公無我；素行窄狹急躁，要改為寬宏大量；素行膽大猖狂，要改為小心機密；素行圖佔便宜、愛取小利，要改為受苦吃虧。只認自己錯處，不言他人錯處；只思自己不是，不責他人不是，纔算改盡脾氣。進道者要守五戒，就是因有脾氣。人生千萬罪孽，都從這些壞脾氣招來，改了脾氣，就消了冤孽，反躬自問，那樣脾氣重些？就在那樣痛改，而且修行要有個好樣子，纔能感化於人，若脾氣不改，榜樣做壞，人家把道看輕，自己更招罪孽。大約世上之通弊，責人則明，責己則昏，豈思：他人犯了甚麼？我看見了，心中不服，口中又講出來了，反之，自我犯了此等脾氣，人家豈不談笑？世上人百樣壞的脾氣，在生前自由自縱，死後見了閻君，一樣樣的脾氣壞了事，都記在簿冊上，久後與你算帳，凡一切也不敢差。修行人閻王雖然不管，而虛空神明監察，犯小毛病，尚可原情赦罪。倘若犯了欺師滅祖，謬行違悖，不畏天命，誤人功果，或投魔行邪，擾亂道根，種種大毛病。如何能逃五雷之誅？有許多前賢大德，何以結果不祥，都是為毛病脾氣所壞。諸毛病中有幾件要緊的症候，是犯不得的。一曰傲：自恃聰明，自逞能幹，不聽師訓，不遵佛規，亂傳修法，看不起人，由己妄行。或在富貴之家，丟不開聲勢，低不下心腸；或是讀書之人，倚仗才學，滿腹驕矜，變不了氣質，何能修道？諸毛病易治，傲病難醫，這一樁病，也不知害壞了多少人。一曰貪：辦事人要隨緣隨分，聽天由命，不可妄想貪高，有等當道親貪功亂度，貪做點傳，貪不到手，生出恨瞋，就有欺師作魔之事，大貪大魔，小貪小魔。在道場中，也不知多少人，上了貪高的當。貪高反下，往往有之，有志男女，只可行功了愿，只要真知真行，何愁無有品蓮呢？反之，貪則必忌，定有你搶我奪之事，互相毀謗，扯是弄非，同歸於敗而己！一曰刻薄：存心不可刻薄，用銀錢亦不可刻薄，對待道親後學，以寬厚為主，要體貼人家艱難，安忍人家心思，自己穿用飲食，但可儉省，而用人做事，全要銀錢放寬些，大眾纔肯出力，若一味刻薄，又好責懲人過，財義兩刻，招怨必多。如何能辦道場？三教聖人，制下經典，那是醫人毛病，毛病是後天血心，在先天原沒有的，試看小孩子兩三歲時，渾然天理，喜怒笑哀，但是無心，那有甚麼毛病？只因後天漸漸長大，習慣越學越壞，所以有種種毛病，如今修行，正要返到小孩子，就是神仙之體。

蓄度量第九

天之量大，包羅萬象。地之量大，生發萬物。修行之度量，要天空地聞。量大則福大，量小則福小，比如處苦日子，就是受凍受餒，也知道是命，總不生怨恨之心，只以道為樂。如遇患難之時，就是受魔考，也知道有定數，總不生退悔之心。如有人毀我、謗我，不與他爭辯，久則自消；有人辱我、罵我，總不聽他、由他、讓他，不迴避他。金剛經裡說今生為人輕賅，即消前世罪，任他百般糟踏，只是替我消孽，我得了便宜，他這墮了一身罪。再者修行人，心中要開闊寬展，纔好做工夫。若今日爭長短，明日對是非，反裝了一肚子氣，豈不擾亂心思，自惹煩惱嗎？總要把是非長短，顛倒錯亂的雜事，一齊放下，只要問心無愧，何妨自己吃虧？至於同堂道親，有君子亦有小人，君子好待，小人難待，惟一概寬宏大量，不張揚人家短處，不佔人分毫便宜，不裝大、不自恃、不自誇功果，如是不得罪於君子，亦不招怨於小人，到處可以去。倘若心腸窄小，眼皮淺薄，總是看見人家不是，說人家不好，自己吃不得一點屈，包含不得一點事，如何能全功果，享清修之福？道場中上下前賢，只為好動火、好生氣，也不知壞了許多前程，一薪之火，能燒萬重青山，不怕你天大的功勞，只要一把無明火，就燒壞了。無明一動，上而欺師尊，下而傷道眾，血心用事，元神昏迷，未有不道墮落者也。要學度景，全在發怒路能忍。遇大事忍過去，可以免禍。遇小事忍過去，省得煩惱；遇小人忍過去，不招怨恨。忍而又忍，久則心氣和平，自然怒不發了。而且紅塵世界，名為五濁世界，總是煩惱之坑，那有清涼之境，若量小心窄，將來處處罣礙，時刻爭鬧，豈不苦死？有何趣味？當思一切不如意的事，轉眼即空，本無可爭，更不必怒，況修行亦不過各了各願！各盡各心！臨時要照管自己的正事，那裡有工夫去爭鬧發乎？

培心德第十

心德者修行之根本，若是不談心德，修行何益？欺心敗德之爭也說不了許多，然有幾件不可犯者，犯了定墮地獄。一日忘引保：引保前賢，是指路恩人，忘了指路恩人，豈不是欺心敗德，引保師榜樣好，就要學他，引保師榜樣不好，不要學他，亦不要翻臉。一日背離前賢，前賢平日開示救你出苦，恩重如山，聽不進忠言，內心不知自懲，翻了臉，又去投別人，如此欺心敗德，難逃正雷之誅。或有前賢偏投魔道，背祖忘根，那就依不得他，各做各事，勿徇人情。一日欺壓道親：或自恃才學，或自誇門勢，或自仗有功，看不起窮寒老實之人，遇人辦事，又存嫉妒之心，暗地去阻塞強奪，此乃私心量小，亦是壞德。又有等口是心非，狡猾奸詐，在師尊面前，全不說實話，總是表自己之功勞，扯人家之敗路，翻了臉，打算開戒鬧事，說糊塗大話嚇人，如此欺心敗德，天地斷不容情的。又有浮心未斷，色根未除，時時胡思亂想，有許多對不得人，說不出口的念頭，甚且暗中破戒，明地做人，這個樣子，怎瞞得神明。又有貪財之小人，專佔便宜，哄騙人家銀錢，肥己潤身，不思填還，又無功德能消，如此欺心，定變畜生還債。又有等不自量身分，一味貪事，辦不下來之事，勉強去辦，力量小，擔子重，壓出魔來土見然不長天命，干犯佛規，豈不是欺心敗德，自招墮落。又有認道頗真，也曉得辦功結緣，而自己情性不改，脾氣暴躁，一時尊敬前賢，親熱道友，一時反面無情，且而薄待父母，抵觸師尊，或弟兄不和，大家爭吵，此時根本之地差了，豈非欺心敗德乎？多少道場領導者，聲名赫赫，只因一念欺心，暗地做敗德之事，上天不佑，夙孽纏身，克有鍛落不堪者矣！故修行人應時時懼怕欺心敗德。防範之法如下：一、要孝敬前賢。二、要久敬師尊。三、要和睦道親。四、要正直無私。五、要午夜自思，無慚愧處。六、要銀錢清白，不沾分文。七、要守分安命，老成做事。八、要講究根本，做好榜樣。凡對不住天的事，一件也不做；對不住人的話，半句也不說。寧可人欺我，我斷不歁人。果然心德培好，上可以感神，下可以感人，人神歡喜，自然不招魔考，辦功則功成，修果則果就。

知機密第十一

天機玄妙，不可妄洩，如今惡人滿世，謗法者多，倘若張揚，必招風考。凡在道中，第一要口慎，如訪有善人，八德之中能佔一二，方可開示，如是慕道者，先送一本書與他看，他若歡喜，便做幾次化他：一次談善惡果報及殺生還債，人畜轉換，來往有昇有降之理；二次談紅塵苦惱，妻恩子愛之牽纏，名利富貴之虛假，老病死苦，劫劫煎熬，一失人身，便墮畜道，縱然行善修福，能保人身，而福盡還墮，總難逃輪迴之路，總難躲過閻君之手，看他信心，追問情由；至三次便說修來生，還是下等，若欲躲閻君、脫輪迴，出苦海、超天堂，非大道不可也。然後把大道根由敘出：如今普渡奇緣，諸佛下世，不可錯過，修道者能超先亡父母，報上天降道之恩，救自己之苦。他果能立志修行，再說要守戒，要安頓夫妻兒女，不作魔，不打擾，纔好修行。他能一一答應，再說修行門路甚多，有邪有正，有真有假，把一切雜法害人之事，點點敘明，免他疑惑。並說大道尊貴，難訪難求，非恆久敬信齋戒沐浴不可，等他過三、五月，果然誠心求道，再談人生累劫以來，各帶無邊罪孽，不先消罪過，好事難成，要多看經訓，多行外功，他果然依法，再說要求明師；但切莫輕言師是何人？師在何處？只教他誠心感格替他去訪，通信於師之後，不可一同前去，得要前賢斟酌一番，方可接引。如遇旁門魔子，倩願歸根，更要細心考察，不可輕易引人。如遇紳董官家，更不可大意。開荒之苦，功不小，然而不知機密，容易惹風，妄引匪人，帶罪亦不小。至於開設佛堂，乃慈航之碼頭，原人之聚處，更不可不小心；同道不同師，不可引入，外來門頭齋公，概不應酬，如今奸猾人多，往往借名打混，總要留心，莫輕加理會。在佛堂往來，不可東家說西家；邁堂內之事，不必敘與那堂內人聽；帶道親出進，以適當時機為宜；善轡不可亂散，規條祖帖不可輕貼，或與人傳看；引人不貪多，渡千渡萬不如渡一成真；同壇辦事，不可爭奪，助人成美，自有天知，強功者無功，本道中吵鬧，令人看輕，就有阻塞善門之罪；男女避嫌，各取方便，不許私地細語，同棹同凳；若是闔女節婦，更要留心，不可大意；堂內出入，須分梯次；緊要之事，等前賢到了，再行引入，一批離去了，再引一批，乾道會畢，再接坤道，不許男女同一堂說話；禮佛辦道，要和睦鄰家，不得罪小人；要謂正人護法，有風要起，設法防閑，可以暗散；所以跑路走信之人，要會答應說話，口風要謹，要共交代共心腹，開荒辦道，要耐得煩，忍得氣，受得屈，吃得虧，眼要亮，認得人的好歹，耳要硬，不可聽閒事是非，度量要寬，容得下眾人，加以機密小心，自然能成事修己；眾生各執恆業，不許亂走。合而言之，要依規矩法則，纔不惹風，不招罪，所以道場敗露，辦事受考，是都由無規矩法則。因此，不機密，開荒的猖狂亂扯，貪多濫引，辦道的出入張揚，匪人混進，一旦風起，你扯我，我扯你，大家擋不住，遂致受人謗佛，獲罪不小。真修士依法行持，小心機密，風考總小些，如或不幸，天降奇考，定數難逃，一身承當，保全忠孝，頂劫救世者，死後定證上品，若多扯他人，連累師友，死了還要帶罪。至於坤道不可出走遠門，果無罣礙，有志辦道，更要檢點，非人地相宜，切勿亂往。所謂機密之法，全在謹言，擇人而交。言語不謹，惹出是非，又煩惱，又招罪。不擇人而交，吃虧上當，連累道場。當後學要機密，當前賢更要機密，前賢乃後學之根本，行止進退，隱藏為妙，若到處出面，聲名倘出，最易招風；乾坤二道，切不可拿前賢作招牌，當前賢者辦道日久，大半無家，全靠後學為家，故要平時機密，前賢才能安住，若不機密，何能停舟乎？

受魔考第十二

魔考之以來，有內考、有外考、有奇考、有氣考、有順考、有逆考、有顛倒考。內考者，生瘡受害，水火之災，盜賊之患，蛇咬蟲傷，趺打驚痛。外考者，鄰里毀謗，官府禁止。奇考者，破家傾業，受刑罪，亡兒女。氣考者，受層層冤枉，有口難辯，恩反為仇。若是富貴之人，以順考之，酒色財氣，名利恩愛，擺在眼前，熱鬧絕短，丟不開，打不過，定然敗道矣！若是貧賤人，以逆考之，衣食困苦，奔波勞碌，運氣不好，事事被考，考得心昏意亂，最易退道矣！更有先富貴，後貧賤的，受不下辛苦，改變心意，埋怨不該修行，這樣名為顛倒考。合而言之，考是上天意，諸佛慈悲，其中有幾層道理，一層為分清別濁，仙佛臨凡為清，異類愛人為濁，普渡一開，污濁並進，上天特降考魔。清者根深，越考越深；濁者根淺，一考必退。好比雪霜一降，草木變色，獨有松柏長青。又好比稻子，用木掀一揚，風簸一打，那些粗糠稗子，都落在一邊，那十粒五雙飽稻子，留作真種，生生不巳。但考一層，是消一層冤孽，人自累劫以來，罪積如山，今日進道，冤孽斷斷不肯放，就是修道持齋，也難消得乾淨，所以上天降考，你等吃些虧，受些苦，就試你的心意可堅固，如果真心不退，則考一次，消一次冤孽，暗中移重就輕，死罪改活之處甚多。如前劫孽重，該當來生變畜，一世有了幾次考，把來世之劫赦免了。此中機關，誰個懂得？也有將房舍田產銀錢等項，折抵災星的，這豈不是諸佛慈悲，上天好意。一層為定他果位，諸佛下世立界，九品蓮臺，依功定奪，發大誓願者為九六原人頂災，往往受大魔考，有大魔考，乃有大陞賞，如徐楊二祖，木公火精，諸位古佛，殺身成道，做萬世榜樣，證三天極品，由此看來，若非降考，豈能定蓮台高下乎。普渡以來，考出了多少大真人？無魔不成真，無考不成道。又有一等是前劫中定，罪孽難逃，非捨身不能了道，所以千劫冤孽一劫消者也。更有一層當領袖的，久在佛門貪妄高大，或私積功德，肥家潤身，或阻塞賢良，掩瞞功德。當後學的，苦功苦行，多年勤勞，被上人冤屈不能出頭，上天降考，考得那些假領袖，現形作魔，自道墮落，等那受屈之賢良出頭辦事，更上換下，金牌倒掛，一考就有變動的。而且脾氣毛病，全要考魔，纔能改變。初進道者，或是高傲，或是膽大，或是逞能，或是講話，一切毛病，原人亦是有的，惟受幾回折磨，自然知道小心。再者平心細想，有考魔可以明白功罪，上天監察，總不放鬆，這裏犯了甚麼罪？那裡就有魔來的。明白的認罪懺悔，求神赦罪，永不再犯，又可以逢凶化吉，諸如當初唐僧取經，天定九九八十一難未滿，不能成聖，若未經過磨難，即便成功，五百年後，凡心一動，就謫下來。只有歷盡紅塵苦惱，凡心死盡，纔可以一了永了，再不投東，永不下世。可見魔考，正是助人成道，猶如斧鑿雕琢之功，所以成就器材，若是個真人，被魔磨好了；不是真人，被魔磨壞了。，把生死由天，任憑甚麼魔考，部當作前功之孽，安心思耐，不講退悔話，不生怨恨心，就是餓死凍死，刀兵而死，也算成全我生死大事，纔是金剛鐵漢。道中男女，各有各的魔考，皇風黑雨，是外來之魔考，而平時在家，又有零零碎碎之魔，最易散心退志，或是前賢道親脾氣不好，言語怒罵，主事嘔氣，朝朝暮暮，也難忍受。或是兒女牽絕，情深愛重，明知是冤，推脫不了，歡喜煩惱，都是障道。又有親友往來，應酬償了，熱熱鬧鬧，時時打擾。一切俗事，攀扯去做，一切閒話，東講西說，也不知耽擱了多少正事。這幾層眼面考魔，不知不覺，就把修行荒誤了！其實修道全靠自己作主，忍氣耐煩，丟不開，狠心去丟；捨不得，狠心去捨，萬無可難丟捨之理。也要看得淡，偷得聞，以聖事為重，以凡事為輕，所有虛假恩情，熱鬧門面，總替不得我的生死大事。於污穢中修清淨，於火坑中種蓮花，這種纔是大智慧，好賢良。凡正心誠意，死不退道之人，上天定然愛惜，替你消解災厄，縱遇魔考，暗中自有護法顯應，可將大事，可化為無事，這些消息，都是我們閱歷過來，所以層層說得清白，諸位緊記在心，遇魔考來時，心中自有把柄，神智自不昏迷。

立外功第十三

這回萬佛出世，末後一著，人神同忙，三曹會議，全靠功德為念，無外功內果難修，功多果自強。單傳之時，先把內果修成，再立外功滿願。如今普渡之時，辦功在先，修果在次。第一奇功，替老⊙接引原人，盡心竭力，不辭勞苦，時時刻刻，以救渡為念，五濁世界，惡人眾多，總是誹佛謗道，功最難辦，難辦的辦得下來，纔算奇功。若得大道，只圖清閒自在，顧自己不顧他人，便是私心，非上天所願，何能成道？再者各人身上，帶有累劫之冤孽，不辦苦功，如何消得清？若僅是自守，不可謂辦功，若稍有一點機會，就要立功即時，再遲就無功可辦，但要照規矩辦，不可以亂辦。這回普渡，部是在天宮立下誓願來的，許多前賢，受盡千磨萬難，縱使家眷誤會，或遇危險之時，了結生命，決無一點埋怨，只要一息尚存，總是照前辦，道場中即使道親稀少，也極力重新整頓，慈舟重新收拾，皆因當初誓願在先，不辦，了不得誓願，就回不得家鄉，見不得老⊙。辦大功者，永不退縮，沒有說什麼歸隱修己之事，莫疑惑內功未成，盡在外功上行走，恐怕自己無憑證，豈知辦功滿了，孽盡冤消，神來湊助；但是不能把「無暇」二字害了自身。即使終日奔忙，不能內修，亦要在天明或晚間抽暇靜養，否則誤到三吋氣斷之時，悔難證果。況動需度人，靜則度己，偷閒時，即可做內功，尤其平日先要做好自己的榜樣，誠敬穩當，謙和小心，不貪財，不動氣，又要有內德，臉上常帶幾分道氣，這纔辦得了道。真原人一進道就會想要外建功內修德，若不想進功修德者，就算是真原人，亦不過小因小果，兩旁伺候而已！開堂結綠，是必不可少，佛堂是一座天橋，原人歸西必由之路，上接下引，要緊之關，地下一間佛堂，天下一朵蓮花，辦出一間佛堂，一千三百善，所有修行者，均在這佛堂法船上，來日修成正果，也將報答引度之功，其次若拿銀錢助道者，皆是給人天之福緣，一本萬利之事，所謂拿東方無法帶走之錢，存在西方之功德，這個算盤要會打，因為縱留下黃金千萬兩，也難買生死的。至於貧苦的，多做一點無畏施，當事情到來不可推張托李，能吃得虧，能受得苦，能久磨不退，自然辦功功成。同樣也是打幫助道，其功德更大。吾人應慶幸根源深厚，才有機會辦道，所以只要盡心，自然有其功德在裡面。然而功中有罪，又不可不知，比如開荒是功，而不照規矩，胡亂拉扯，又是罪。設壇是功，而不知機密，膽大招風，又是罪。其在道場中，或妄費銀錢，貪圖供養，喜穿華美，又或待人刻薄，不存厚道，私心嫉妒，強奪為能，又或借道為名，扯用功德，肥潤身家，如此都是功中之罪，有了一罪，就折了一功。時下男女有煙賭不能戒盡的，有不講規矩，行動輕狂的，有性情高傲，動火生氣的；有播是弄非，張口扯謊的；有懶惰放蕩，毫不行持的；有五戒不清，口硬心虛的；有偏好奸詐，心思不正的；有亂扯劫數，說糊塗大話的；有心神恍惚，怕受魔考的；有與師作魔，忘恩負義的；有不認根本，自立門戶的；有說顛倒魔話，惑亂人心的；有討好現成，兩邊搶綴的；有吝嗇不捨，視錢如命的﹒有脾氣凶暴，同人爭鬧的；有做壞榜樣，招下敗路的，一切等項，雖在道中，也是個罪人。即使勉強引一、二人，燒幾柱香，唸幾句經，也還功不抵罪，總是要改毛病，培心德，還規矩，聽交代，常思自己盡道犯甚麼罪，思盡無知，知罪必改，自然無罪，則辦一功，算一功矣！此時還不見高下，日後龍華會上，功罪分明，絲毫不能抵賴，那時想懺悔，就不能了。如今各人撫心自問，有那些過錯，尚由你懺悔，切不可說沒有罪，莫以為不要緊；且把金爐誓願，口中唸唸，心中想想，不要自己哄自己，哄下地獄去了。像我們自辦道以來，功卻不少，罪亦甚多。一是妄開匪人之罪，二是不依機密之罪，三是誤人功果之罪，四是嫌疑未避，規矩未遵之罪，所以招出重考，若因辦道失敗，從此不辦，帶罪更深，豈不是終歸地獄；故而不敢歇手，任他狂風大浪，依然拿舵撐篙；全望乾坤二道，一心一德，盡力湊助，有財者助財，有力者助力，能說者助言，把這無邊苦海，渡將過去，永享逍遙，同歸極樂，豈不快哉！

修內果第十四

龍華三會，藥火傳齊，諸佛下凡，了願了劫，都是完全內果，若不修辦，怎回家鄉。行住坐臥，意守玄關，勤加在人，白日可以偷得一靜，夜晚清早，都是守的時候；子時陽生，定然要靜，第一要煉睡魔，睡魔盜寶是一大害，長夜不眠，守丹為高，昏沉之時，聽他自眠，把元神提在頂上，總不可酣呼大睡，如有子女而後，先要節慾，而後立志絕慾。修道之人，最忌走失真陽，行住坐臥，上守玄關，呼吸聽其自然，丹田之氣，自必上升，如行大小便狀，不可放鬆。有事時，回無光之相，以意守之，無事時，回有相之光，合一返照，平時切不可東西亂望，把真光飛教慣了。真光不散，神不遠走，時時要守，行住坐臥皆然。以坐為例：坐字乃兩人共一土，土即玄關方寸之地，兩人離他不得，觀之以目，尤要聽之以耳，目視之，是外日月交光，耳聽之，是內日月交光。這一竅玄關，值金萬千，諸佛諸祖，由一竅而成，千經萬典，都是印證這一竅。儒書曰：「常目在茲。」道書曰：「機在目。」佛云：「心目之所在。」道在眼前，誰人能識，識之不煉，真是愚癡，玄關開透，一竅通，則百竅皆通，以後工夫容易，二六時中，不離這個，就是手裡做事，口內說話，心意亦可暗守。先天元神，藏在玄關，是為自性真人，無相菩薩，渾身是假，這點是真，若玄關不開，是自閉天堂之路，命終之時，一點靈魂，仍從眼耳鼻舌四門出去，還是難逃閻王之手。二部工夫，用離火下降，燒熬丹田，不可著相，聽其自然，如常常溫暖，纔能閉住地戶，打坐最易招魔，或手腳亂動，心跳肉顫，或眼見白光紅光，一切東西物件，鳥獸草木等樣，或耳聽鐘鼓之聲，都是冤孽未消，或著天堂光景，或見菩薩往來，都是幻景識神。還要多看經典，多培外功，纔守得如意，功夫要做出效驗，直到那刻不守，就渾身不好過，越守越好，捨不得下丹，真是樂境，那有什麼苦處，只是初下手要煉睡魔，肯下幾月苦功，以後熟慣，就不費力了。這個口訣，不可看輕，包含千層玄妙，配合陰陽五行，乾坤八卦，天干地支，日月星斗，四時八節，寒暑畫夜，萬物生生化化的道理，都在其內；鳥之飛，魚之躍耀，花木之開放，五穀之成熟，皆我身道機。我身即天地，天地即我身也，但會口訣還是老譜子，而一節中有一節之玄妙，即有一節之危險。有真藥，有假藥，有真丹，有幻丹，關有真關，有假關，內藥外藥有走失之時，進火退火有緩急之用，靜的不得法猶生病，其中層次法則，全要前賢指破，自己參悟，大約守玄關，在神意收定，不可著力提氣，恐提起浮火，有頭昏腦熱之病，全在心意專一，不可著力逼悶，須要流通自然，身體放鬆，太緊則生繁火；採藥開關，不可著力提引，只可以隨之，最怕提助浮火，逼燒命門，誤以為轉關，則生病矣！築基去濁，著重在緊開頭。有妄念，則藥不生，濁未去盡，陽中雜陰氣，切莫升提。第一以不漏為主，則精氣充足，甘露必多，上下灌運，不致浮火發燒，自然無病。許多做出病來的，一由於著力助火。二由於心不圓通，拘逼太甚。三由於基未築成，尚有走漏。四由於污濁混雜，勉強升提。五由於睡魔昏沉，陰氣阻滯。六由於念頭散亂，心源不清，生出幻境，誤識為真。七由於孽未消清，魔來擾害。八由於竅未真開，雜口鼻之呼吸，用意升降。九由於甘露不真，咀咽津，反傷內息。十由於起居不調，毛竅受風，寒熱逼人。更有老病未除，悶頭急行，心火上炎，而病轉重。史有不依法則，自作聰敏，以假效驗當好工夫，弄成不治之病。更有梢知效驗，因好動無明，火燒丹本，得病難愈者。定有色根未斷，靜坐時，忽動慾火，腎妄動，精已欲流，忍而成病，或邪毒伏內，發為惡瘡者。種種毛病，說之不盡，非是工夫能成病，乃不會做工夫，自然出病耳！這些口訣，不可不知，但亦不可動存著想，還乃是脫胎神化，名為無為，是沒有口訣的，到那時，也要前賢指點。現在男女，大半用的周天之法，各人自己做到甚麼樣子，不知足真是假，有疑惑之處，定要請問，不可含糊，無論有效無效，猛勇前進，每日靜心，習以為常，不可今日推明日，明日等後日，等到閻王送信，百病臨身，依然動一番病苦，只算得一個空聞道竅之人，此時有果無果，在人自修，誰來管著你。後來災難到了，山妖水怪，出來害人，且而遍地刀兵，五魔作鬧，有果者玄關一守，放出威光，可以降伏得他；無果者心驚膽戰，魂飛魄散，還與俗人一樣遭劫，看你埋怨那個。你我修道，乃是躲生生死死，千萬輪迴之劫，不是躲一時刀兵之劫。但時至三災八難，都是有的，劫遇者，收惡人歸地獄，送善人上天堂，正是催趕原人，早回西方。下等人功果並進，中下人即不能辦功，全要誦經打座；有功之人，先功後果，修果容易，無功之人，多招魔障，修果難些。所以要苦修，要速速修，修果又有大成小成之分，大成者結丹出神，溫養脫殼；小成者一竅通，三關開，真陽上升，法輪常轉，大成並小果，總免得輪迴之路。當此普度，給六萬餘年冤緣大賬，原有生死，各有來因，不得一樣的。根基深，緣分大者，功果易辦，歸空之時，丹書下詔，明白自然；根淺緣小者，功果難辦，臨危時，也不免於魔病，不病不魔，冤孽未消，但要元神作主，心不昏迷耳，此人死後加修，還候諸佛提拔，又有一等人，前劫孽重，魔考難消，臨大節捨身拼命，這樣雖未見修功果，亦在越昇之例。蓋上天所重者忠孝之心，所喜者節烈之氣，定要格外施恩。至於無重考者，又不可說，一死了事。有功的，可以死後加封，無功果的自誤前程，然而生死二字，不由自己作主，必須誠心誠意感格神明，暗中可以添福添壽。既然修行，總要成功到岸，切莫想修來生，這個至尊至貴之道，豈是你修來生的，切莫說說修不到，盡心竭力，至死方休，大小總有成就，上天依作功定奪，依因證果而己。

知布施第十五

辦功要人捐財，亦是考人的大題目，見得到，看得到，纔知捐財是好事；諸如放生印書，是眼易見的。而道場中更有許多鋪張安頓之事，第一辦道結緣，是普渡中一件大事，如今大道通行，慈航遍地，大船要大碼頭，小船要小碼頭，一方一所，必有聚會之所。上接下引，交得一切佛事，最為緊難，而應酬賓客，又有等分不同，比如賢良中，有官宦體統待之，有富豪，就要富家氣象待之，有文人學士，就要依文人禮儀待之，其間衣服飲食等用度，原不講奢華好看，總要與人相稱，與人相宜，又要和光混俗。況且君子勞心，供養不可太落﹒小人勞力，衣食亦要週全。水路陸路，舟行車行，伙食盤費，動級千里之途，通盤打算，非銀錢充足，則用度難支。如無可用度，則彼此不能往來，上下辦事不能通路，豈非敗局。所以祖師定下章程，立出規矩，教天上的賢良，同心同德，事同一體，以上制下，以下承上，祖師掌盤，分命號首十地，號首十地分命頭頂，頂航分命萬部恩堂，世事不得不調功助道，以天下之財，消天下之孽，救天下之人性命，成天下之功。至公無私，光明正大，凡在道中，男女貧寒者，不能勉強，若有餘之家定要捨財，捨不得財，消不得孽，就了不得生死。且因前世修積，上天賜你的銀錢，與你今生使用，亦不教你獨自受用，也要你多做好事，以你之有餘，補他人之不足。如今修行者，衣食之用，可以省儉；婚娶之費，可以省儉；紅塵應酬，可以省儉。省下銀錢，常持齋，消殺孽，多印書，廣結善緣，再量力捐出助道。比如捐在上堂，供養往來師賓，定沾佛光不少，捐與道親，他開荒分功與你，捐與自己前賢，上下支用，記你功德，若捐在本方會坐結緣，人神歡喜，多少體面，其餘濟人利物，行時時之方便，總非捨財不可。試看紅塵中之人，妄費銀錢，反買一身罪孽，至於為道捐出，乃是借東家之財，買西方佛地，一本萬利，存在天堂，是一樁大便宜。俗語云：「東家不窮，西家不富，這回普渡，正是辦西家之事，就是辦完家業，上天自有照看，斷斷不致叫你餓死，況且當前賢的，也要體量人家有無，並不是傾人家業，逼人窮苦。普渡以來，多少大原人，捨身捨命，即使遭亂死而不怨，豈有吝銀錢而不能捨之理？爭得一槃蓮台，勝似黃金萬兩，再者三期時至，名為掃世劫，大難一到，萬般都化為灰塵，性命難保，銀錢何益？何如趁這時節看破，量家財之多少，留得七分度日，施二三分，不上算盤，做施功濟貧，助道結緣之資，孽也消了，德也培了，後來跳出劫外，說不盡的好風光，享不盡的好榮耀，還愁甚麼衣食？」規矩上說窮人出力為主，富者捨財助功，功德一樣。出力者如佛前辦功，不然如檢字紙，掩白骨，除當途之瓦石，去道路之荊棘，都不用錢的好事；富貴不能出力，惜財以為力，要自己會打算盤，難捨務必要捨，當捨必須要早捨，切不可疑疑惑惑，怕弄窮了，日子難過，又怕銀錢白送了，不得力，又怕交與前賢手，不知他怎樣用法，豈知上天記功，分文必錄，那得白送了，你只認真，況前賢是何等人？不必追問他如何用法？公在何處？孽在何處？他能用得你的銀錢，自然消得你的冤孽，前賢斷不敢私用，斷不敢妄用。但出了你的手，天地鬼神皆知之，倘若前賢肥家潤身，那是佛法不容的，多少賢，把自己家業辦完了！銀錢用盡了！猶為原人奔波勞碌，原是想救眾生出苦，豈專為銀錢而來，奈何無資財，則不能行走，不能辦事，不能用人，不能支應上下，故何以教大眾出錢助道之由也。成人之美，消己之孽，孽盡功成，你纔知道出錢好處，此時有財不捨，到後來功果不成，流落在後，你反埋怨前賢，當初不說明道理，失誤奇緣，此時大道未明，正在辦事，要銀錢鋪張安頓，捐財者正捐在得力有用之時，其功無窮，此日不捨，等待何時？一旦等到普渡後的收圓結束，無道可修，無功可行，道不辦了，大道行於庶人，普天供養，內外一家，也不要你捐財了，有財你也捐不得了，試想諸位眾生，累劫以來，積下無邊罪孽，大半是由銀錢造出，這回修行，罪孽如何消解？只好將銀錢抵贖，所以叫人捐財。祖師慈悲，替你想方法，懺悔罪孽，立功培德，求出苦海。萬空歌云：「金也空銀也空，死後何曾在手中。」吾人迅速醒悟，莫等無常一到，萬有皆空，趁早看破銀錢，不如將這虛空之國寶，來換這不空的果位，何等便宜？人生數十年，只要惜福不作孽，穿衣吃飯，能用幾多？何必苦苦把這銀錢，蓄積不肯放手？轉眼氣斷，盡讓與兒孫濫用了！或被外人分佔了！自己落得一雙空手去見閻君，豈不到底癡呆？若說前賢要錢，不是要想上下辦道，非錢斷乎不行。從今以後，諸位乾坤，果然信心無疑，各人量力，除加修工夫，求事之外，多的多捐，少的少捐，每年每人，總要捐一次，惟認定立功消孽四字，前賢斷不敢濫用你的；上天神明，定不辜負你的功，不可多生疑惑，自誤前程。我今層層說明，乃不得已之苦心，倘為私計，定遭五雷之誅，永墮地獄之苦。

煉心意第十六

這個假身子，是樁大害，千百萬樣，鋪張打算，興妖作怪，盡為假身而已！然也不能罪全歸於身，這身子乃一團死肉。有氣以運之，方能活動，其為身之主，心而已矣！心之所發，為心意之用，能上天堂，能下地獄，做仙佛、變畜類，都由心意造作所為！心猿意馬，千生萬劫，無由休息。修行全要煉心意，煉心者，死心也，心何以死？不動凡心，不逞色心，不縱血心，猶如死了一樣。死了人心，纔活道心，遵三皈，守五戒，正是用死心法子，心不死，斷不能遵皈守戒。凡認道恍惚坐功無效驗者，皆由心意放蕩之故，平時之蕩慣了，遇著邪徑壞事，可以動心意的，使把持不住，開戒違規，頃刻之間，所有層層冤孽，那樣不從自己心意招來的？心意變化，千頭萬緒，而總不外乎三心。三心者，一日過去心，已往之事，好歹都是做夢，歡喜煩惱，過去即空，是親是冤，計較何益，世上人偏偏要把己過之事，掛念在心，這樣那樣，來來往往，同人家會面，也是談講過去之事，豈不癡呆。一日未來心，未來之事，看不見，拿不定，今日打算明日事，還有不定的明日事，今日斷想不出來，世上人偏要空思妄想，現在窮，想後來富，現在富，又怕後來窮。幼年夫妻，想到老來常作伴，兒女週歲，又想後來婚嫁時。有房舍，又想改造；有田產，又想多添。中年人，就想到八十歲；花甲過，更想百春。豈知紅塵中事，移步換形，轉眼變動，今日酒席筵同飲，來年誰在誰亡？今晚脫下鞋和襪，不知明朝穿不穿？一口氣不來，就是死屍了；昨日街頭猶走馬，今朝棺內己眠屍，生死都在呼吸之間，怎麼由得你思想？況萬般百事，都是命裡注定，一飲一食，莫非前因。思想十件事後來就有九件不如意，何苦去操那些冤枉心？人若不存過去心，不生未來心，心中清淨，何等自然。除此過去、未來之心，尚有現在心。現在心，但將如意事，把歡喜當真；遇不如意事，把煩惱當真。貪愛甚麼？就把心意貼在甚麼上，豈知現在事，亦是一種阻礙，若只空思想亦枉然，事有難處、急處、忙處、憂悶之處，越思越想，越得不了，主意打定，當做就做，不能做就丟開，對於現在衣食，過得去則可。然而各安恆業，窮富聽天，胡思亂想，何益於事？修行人隨緣隨份，現在日子也不記念已往，也不算計將來，掃三心，歸一心而己！然而心最靈通，意最活動。出入無時，莫知其鄉，如何收拾他？往往學道者，縱然沒有壞邪念，而浮想浮念者，總割不斷。浮想浮念者，無一定之念，無一定之想，忽而念這樣，忽而念那樣，一個時刻，想上想下，想東想西，也不知起多少意念，好比亂絲無有頭緒。心思起了，連自己身子，都忘記在何處？心意之去，由四門而走，眼觀色，心隨色走；耳聽聲，心隨聲走；鼻聞香，心隨香走；口貪味，心隨味走；心走則神走，神走則氣走，氣走即精血枯，速老速病，以至於死耳。玄關一竅，正是煉心意之法，九節工夫，節節是煉心意，心猿在玄關裡鎖，意馬在玄關裡拴，時刻不離玄關，即時刻煉心意也。心意一忘，必生妄動，就把玄關刻一守，著力返照，妄心自伏，雜念便消，久而久之，心意煉得純熟，任隨甚麼繁華熱鬧，可喜可愛之事，也不能引誘我；任隨他甚麼艱難困苦，可畏可怕之事，也不能搖動我。心經上說：「無眼耳鼻舌心意，無色聲香味觸法。」正是煉心意之效驗。平時心意守定，一定要說話，也可以說話，要做事，也可以做事，要應酬，也可以應酬，只是意不放蕩遠走，偶然走出去，即回光追轉。心在何處，神即聚在何處，氣歸何處，精亦化為氣，而與神合一，神氣合，即是煉魂制魄之功；魂乃識神，為歷劫輪迴之種子，貪財好色，為魔作鬧，白日胡思亂想，夜裡睡夢顛倒，坑害精氣神三寶。然心意靈覺，反為魂所使役，修行以心意為主宰，統攝精氣神三寶，則魂一受管束，永無顛倒之害。煉心意即所以煉魂魄，煉來煉去，造化與虛空同體，無常何敢見面？閻王何處找尋？所以清靜時，要望萬緣放下，了心了意，節節工夫，全要心意細而又細，靜而又靜。心意一散，藥也走了，丹也壞了，火也冷了，呼吸也不均了。真陽未生時，全靠心意聚團。大藥要轉時，全仗心意推運，進火止火，心意粗不得一點，放不得一點，有工夫之人，心意煩燥不得，動火生氣不得，大歡喜，大憂愁不得，何以煩惱動火生氣，憂喜過度，皆能招魔障。凡冤孽之害人，魔怪之附體，都是怪人心之放蕩。若二六時中，心不放蕩，何由招得罪孽，千妖萬怪，都不能近身的，一切燒香禮拜，皆是放心之法，而守玄開，為煉心意第一著。這個心意，為通天徹地，無價之寶。可惜在紅塵中，不會用他，只曉得用在凡情俗事，枉活一生，輪迴萬劫，苦不盡言矣。那裡知道聖賢仙佛，高超三界，跳出五行，全憑心意做工夫。所謂道念如同塵念，成佛時，塵心愛作道心，凡夫即佛。紅塵人用心意者，聰明伶俐，執著計較，總是成空。你我修行，煉了心意，無用執著，不去計較，學一個痴人，裝幾分呆氣，煉到功圓果滿之時，從心所欲，隨意變化，豈不逍遙快樂哉！你們諸位，說工夫難做，又說沒有閒工，這多是自己哄自己，請問一日之中，有幾個時辰，心意在玄關乎？大約說起話來，就忘記了。煩惱時，又忘記了。歡喜時，又忘記了。慌忙做事時，又忘記了。見有人來，去應酬時，又忘記了。出門定路時，又忘記了。如果一心三思，內守時刻不忘，那有無效驗？經上說：「供養一尊羅漢，不如供養一個無心道人。」無心者，無凡心、血心、色心，只有道心綿綿默默，渾渾沌沌；有心亦無心，凡人之善惡邪正不定，然做出去，纔見得。一起心，一動念，鬼神已知矣！蓋人各有元神，元神即在光頂上，念善念正，其光明亮，念邪念惡，其光昏暗。神明時在空中監察，即隨人頂光之明暗，考查善惡邪正，這個念頭，是絲毫瞞不得的。修行人妄念動了最壞事，然正心誠意之功，正是止妄念，息妄想而己！心經說：「遠離顛倒夢想。」息妄止妄，即是遠離顛倒。再者輪迴之苦，都從心意生出，心意偏在色，命終之時，打入輪迴，受色之苦，心意偏在財，命終之時，打入輪迴，受財之苦。當日李伯時善能畫馬，一心一意專用在馬，命終之時，墮於馬胎。有一僧人心意愛蛇，一生養蛇，命終之時，墮於蛇胎。你看心意二字，險乎不險？經上有說，眾生自渡，佛不能渡，這一身之中，有許多眾生，眼耳是眾生，口鼻是眾生，心意變化，無數無邊之眾生。眼不貪色，是渡了眼眾生，是渡了耳眾生。不起妄念，是渡了心意之眾生。心生種種法生，法生則有種種苦厄，心滅種種法滅。法滅則渡種種苦厄，而歸涅槃。金剛經云：「應無所住而生其心。」蓋無所住於人心，而道心自生矣。

明旁門第十七

三界內外，無量劫來，都是元會所管，一元之始，天地一開，一元之終，天地一合。天地從無極生來，無極之天，為天外之天，是諸佛菩薩歸根之所。一元會之終始，無極知之。諸佛菩薩，亦要應運下凡，維持世界。天開於子，地闢於丑，人生於寅，生人之始，五老煉形，而一靈真性，從無極而降，本是仙根佛種，累劫以來，改頭換面，年深月久，忘記歸家之路，九六原人，流落東士，貪戀紅塵，不得仙佛下凡點化，何能返本還原？這些原人，何以定要渡回？蓋元會盡時，天地有壞，人物一齊消化，真性靈光，也飄散沒有了。在將來再造化乾坤，每個分性要歸位，所以當此午會之未，要一齊渡回，為無量劫後，生化人根之計。在辰會時，初會龍華，燃燈掌道，渡回二億。巳會時，二會龍華，釋迦掌道，渡回二億。尚有九二原人，困在東土，這回普渡，為三會龍華，上天為普渡大事，早於數千年間，早日安排預備，諸佛菩薩，往往來來，都是為普渡之根基。周朝末年，三教並立，分為三大支，都是單傳先天之大道，秦漢而後，文治太盛，世事繁華，真道藏隱而不露，儒教亦衰矣！至五代梁朝時，西方二十八代祖師，達摩尊者，奉天命而來東土，為中華初代祖師，掃除文字，直指先天大道，乃普渡之正脈，後傳二祖神光，三祖普庵，四祖曹洞，五祖黃梅，六祖慧能，七祖白馬，八祖羅公遠正，在唐朝之時，七祖、八祖，法傳火宅，道歸儒家，此時普渡尚早，上天把大道收回，祖脈不傳，八百餘年，到了明末清初，天命黃九祖遙接祖位，三期時至矣！九祖傳吳十祖，十祖傳何十一祖，十一祖傳十二袁祖，十二祖初開普度，通行道根，乃傳徐、楊十三祖，頂劫而歸先天，五老定會銀城，天人交接，定下普度章程，姚十四祖，王十五祖，劉十六祖，此乃紅陽十六代圓滿。道傳白陽，彌勒應運，路祖為白陽初祖，大開普渡，後渡弓長祖，繼續辦理末後一著，三曹普傳，平收萬教，十方十地，五十四頭頂，萬部天恩，鋪張佈置，大道偏於九洲，海角天涯，原人返本，此乃奉無極之敕命，千千諸佛，萬萬菩薩，都要皈依這個章程，纔能成功定果。看起來，是何等罕見罕聞之大事？奇緣奇遇？萬劫一傳，只有一門，並無二道，何以正道之外，又有許多旁門？蓋普天下，男男女女，不盡然是原根原種，有天妖、有地魔、有山精水怪、有草木之妖，輪迴中，有千萬類之畜生，是為異類，雖人形，全無佛性，上天命眾仙佛，來收原人，又命眾魔王，來收異種，各做各的文章，旁門比正道更多。如潘門、姚門、大乘門、道士清淨門、和尚三寶門，雖無真功，且能拔渡；更有添大金丹二十四門、小金丹七十二門、文開門、武開門、喜怒哀樂四門，都是有象之雜法，招魔招病，沾不得的；更有邪門，專講法術，或能觀音假彌勒，以騰雲駕霧，飛砂走石，能放飛刀，能使雷聲，有移山倒海之神通，此時六陽將盡，一陰已生，六萬年來，修成妖怪，部是出頭害人，擾亂世界；更有五斗天魔，只動干戈，大鬧得天昏地暗，鬼哭神嚎，任是鐵打漢子，也難逃出三期。原來原子，如何經得起這白陽大劫？所以萬佛下世，普泛慈舟，把老⊙兒女，接引在慈舟之上，這慈舟亦無形無象，然而佛法無邊，神通廣大，妖見喪魂，鬼見忘形，且只渡原人，不渡異類，而千萬異類，各鑽入千萬旁門，以魔引魔，各從其類；大道一明，那些異類同歸消滅，只有正法能赴龍華，是真原人，實有慧心，斷不肯走上不歸路。也有那些異類之法，又惜此假煉個真人，歸正覺，夫旁門分明，本不同道，而尤難辦矣。一道之中，正變為旁，以旁亂正，道內生魔，分枝生葉，更是考人的題目，多少大角色，考得心昏眼花，認題目不一，文章做錯，選佛場中，去了名字矣。每逢交盤之時，有一代真祖師，又有一代假祖作魔，當初水祖掌事時，周葛稱尊，自立門戶，設下劍旗牌號，有形有象，惑亂人心，佈滿天下，坑害賢良，是為天魔。金祖掌事時，有假五行，自稱收圓，擾亂統系，亦大天魔也。金祖歸西，密交姑太，風同道一，不幸三姑西歸，四川又出小西華者，此乃天魔也。總而言之，一切去濁留清，一以借端考道，大凡根淺孽重者，貪高妄想，不依法則，種種毛病，一齊打入魔道，同歸於敗而己。至於真原人，實要高舉慧眼，認清題目，何以根之所在，即祖之所在也。能歸根即能認祖，祖之所在者何？道根即祖也，男女眾生，寡聞少見，不識不知，隨波逐流，尚無大能，至於大小恩堂，更要眼亮耳硬，站穩腳跟，若背天理，而信魔說，圖便宜而投魔軍，自魔魔人，自誤誤眾，則一墮落，萬劫難翻。惟當靠定道根，從公從正，始終不二，自有成功。總之新奇熱鬧，改口訣，說天機，以收圓明道即在目前者，皆魔也。今年不改，又指來年，節節支誤，自行敗露，癡呆男女，甘受愚朦，失誤今生好事，都由累劫孽根，實是可憐，莫能救度，若真正歸根，依法辦事，則守冷淡之家風，按平常之情理，不妄謀天機，不輕言劫運，韜光養晦，默待天心，盡力隨緣，死而後己！斯可擇善知識矣！旁正二字，關係最緊，惟得正而輔之，勿論才之大小，功之巨細，皆有可靠，皆能沾光，總在龍華會中之人。若錯輔旁門，雖有才是枉用其才，雖有功是白送其工，即是盡孝，反為不忠不孝，皆天命之故也！順天者存，逆天者亡，可不畏乎？

尊師傳第十八

三教聖人，莫不有師，千古帝王，莫不有師。當此普度，有掌道統之師尊，末後收圓亦有辦理收圓之祖師。不敬三師，是為忘恩，何能成道？尊敬師長者，敬其有道，就是年紀小於我，才學不及我，功名不如我，言詞不勝我，氣象不高我，既然受開示之恩德，就要尊之敬之。若師之年紀大，才學高，功名有，言語氣象，皆可佩服，則尊之敬之，更不待言。尊敬有幾層講法：一者要心誠意實，不可欺瞞於師。二者說話要謹慎，不可沖撞於師。三者禮貌要周到，不可輕慢於師。三者之外，更要聽師交代，凡事遵命，不可違命，即有能辦應辦之事，受師交代之後，不辭勞苦，竭力去做，做之不到，也要盡心。自己或有過錯，尊師勸戒，或犯規矩，師責懲，更要低聲下氣，受教改過，切莫暗動私心。就是師長有差錯之事，誤責之處，亦不可生氣爭辯，久後自明，平時迎接師到，飲食須要清潔、供養需要誠懇，疾病須要小心服侍，功德銀錢，交與師手，不可起疑惑之心，其尊師之大者，替師開荒，替師辦學，接引原人，鋪張道場，盡忠盡孝，始終勤苦，做出尊師榜樣，使人皆知尊師，則功大矣！其次或奔走幫忙，或言語扶持，總要顧住道中大義，顯得道中好處，皆尊師之事也。若遇風考，先要設法保全，或者師有大意之處，未免無過錯，亦不妨於背後相勸，照規條上委婉諫之，若練之不從，亦惟自己護守其正，不照他行為可也。不得反面失體，揚師之短，彰己之長，為師的好歹，自有上天監察，上天查考，與你後學無干，亦只要你自己真好，師即壞了事，也連累不到於你，只管尊師到底，重道到底，神必記功，斷不虧負。況既有師資，辦了多年道場，開了多少原人，經了累次風考，根基緣分，總在你後學之上，未必真有壞事，至所謂壞事者，或出附會之說，或涉疑似之間，多由於誤傳誤聽，未免受屈受冤，為後學者，正當原情按理，替師設想一番，何得妄口毀誣，自陷欺師之大罪，試思師先前渡你之時，千言萬語，苦心叮嚀，恨不得一年半載，就把你帶到天堂。我們後學，自初入門，依法行持，久之冤孽上身，漸漸生了疑病，漸浙懈怠，就把大道看輕了，輕道必然輕師，輕師必然欺師。現在男女欺師者，多歸於墮落，有因受責懲，忍耐不住，動火而輕師者。有搶功奪果，說師心偏為，變心而欺師者。有貪弄錢財，騙收功德，昧己而欺師者。自性情高傲，脾氣乖僻，仗勢而欺師者。有心術詭詐，翻扯是非，狡口而欺師的。有私謀不遂，暗生怨恨，捏故而欺師的。有希圖外賞，投他人而欺師的。有虛假哄誘，裝模作樣而欺師的。有把持地方，招生忘妒而欺師的。有受考招風，使生退悔而欺師的。層層孽障，訴之不盡，合而言之，欺師即欺心，欺心則欺天，其所遭天譴者必矣。凡在道男女，總要一心重道，一心尊師，聽師言，依師行，靠得師尊，定然沾師的光，報得師的恩。目下群魔並出，紛紛擾亂，鬧得世人心昏眼花，也不知誰真誰假，一時恍惚，動腳就錯，今要自己用自己的智慧判斷其來歷根由，纔不至迷於前程。蓋有真師，即有真根，即有真祖，而師之所靠者，正為真根真祖之故，依其祖必歸其根，歸其根，必尊其師，若不尊師，必無師矣！無師即無根，無根即無祖，無祖不能還原返本。只有一樁不幸，師為冤孽所使，或信邪投魔悖了天命，滅了祖根，則斷乎不可從也！能諫者，力為諫正，不能諫者，總其自魔，切勿徇其平時情面，將就生死大事要緊，只可隨師上天堂，不可跟師下地獄，若遇此等師傅，無可奈何，則宜訪上歸根認祖，若是無路可訪，無信可通，則可閉門修己，依法而行，上天原有照顧，久後亦能還原，切不可結魔黨之緣，信魔黨之事矣。

歸統系第十九

凡是我們修道的人，都應該明白道脈的傅承。探尋根本，追求源頭直到極始。循序漸進，尊師重道，不可跨越，也不可急躁進行。比如每個家庭至每個民族，都是有世世代代相互承襲的系統，既不能跨越，也不能藐視。所以遵守家庭的規範及民族的律法，就叫作規規矩矩遵守秩序。一切事情都能有條有理而不會紊亂，然後才能期望每個家庭及每個民族都能年年繁榮茂盛。在修心養性方面也是一樣，而且更應該瞭解道統的根源及脈系。有些人本來已有自己的組線卻捨根本而追求虛幻，不知道自己所歸屬的道統根源，而糊裡糊塗追隨旁道，甚而篾親並毀謗其原屬組線。不僅如此，甚至連那些開導他們的點傳師、引師、保師反介紹調度他們使之受益的諸位前輩大德等都一概置之不理，視而不見，像這種人，就叫作忘本的人。忘本的人焉能守得住祖竅？所以認真的人，雖然每天動作不懈但還是不成功，大多數的人就是有這方面的缺陷。像莊子所說作捕魚的竹器為的就是要捕魚，但是，當你捕到了魚，你就認為這個竹器不重要了。曾經跌倒的人因為有了教訓，以後就不會跌倒了。然而，以為從此不再跌倒的人卻又忘掉曾經跌倒的教訓；講道的人就是要聞明道義的真諦，然而，聽道的人在聽完道理後就摒棄講道的老師，不去抓住根本而去追求虛幻，像這種人，很少有不失敗的。即使草木之類植都須有紮實的根部，然後才能生長茂盛的枝幹樹葉、綻開花朵結實緊緊，更何況修道？所以我們豈可不去瞭解我們的道統及脈系呢？雖然在我們的道場裡，大部分的人都瞭解我們的道統及脈系，但是不明瞭的人也是不少啊。所以我們必須明白我們的道是：天然古佛所傳給我們的不二法門。所以凡是得聞道義，而蒙受益處提昇性的人，都必須遵守恩師的教誨。恩師賜給我們的教導非常尊貴，永遠都是我們的道統及脈系。修道的人，如果都能明瞭我們的道統及脈系，就一定能攜手合作一同回歸老⊙的身邊，歸根故里。這一點小小的心意，還希望各位前賢大德共勉。

赴龍華第二十

三古龍華之會，是人人可赴的，本非難事，只要立志行持，尊崇道德，處己則先從人道著手。如事父母宜孝，仰體其心，順從其志，而無絲毫道悖。如事兄宜悌，處處恭敬，遇事和睦，而無執拗之心。如事主人宜忠實，處處盡己之心，不存狡猾。如交友，宜誠信不可欺詐。如對長上，敬之以禮，不可紊亂而驕抗，循分依序，喪葬、祭祀、婚姻、交際無往而不以禮節之。如待人以義，遇事合宜適度，只須能明大義，不可遇事苛求，方合見義勇為之意。其他如廉也、恥也，更宜講求臨財毋苟得，臨難無苟免，有喪人格之事，切莫強行。如是可尊崇八德，庶幾人道盡而天道自合矣！能合天道，而修道自成。龍華可赴，尤須堅心，一致勇往直前，外功多培，內功加緊，內外兼修，毅然有定守，湛然有定見，不逆意於事前，不游移於事後，不為聲色奪，不為貨利搖，不為威武屈，不為富貴挽，不為貧困阻，如有財者，則捨財培德，對於濟人利物之事，盡量為之，不可作守財虜。有力者，則盡力而為，不可坐誤，內德則依法行持，逐日無間，日積月累功圓果滿，自有赴龍華之日。人人如此，人人可赴，雖為空前絕後之舉，恰亦易能貴之事也，謂予不信，跂予望之。

Source Colophon

Chinese source text from the 善書圖書館 (Morality Books Library, taolibrary.com), page category/category9/c910.htm. The site states: 歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通 — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate." The text is in the public domain (Qing dynasty, pre-1900 composition; author pseudonym Mìzhāi 密齋).

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