祖師四十八訓

The Forty-Eight Instructions of the Patriarch (祖師四十八訓, Zǔshī Sìshíbā Xùn) is a foundational doctrinal text of Yiguandao (一貫道, the Way of Pervading Unity), written by Wang Jueyi (王覺一), the fifteenth patriarch of the transmission lineage, also known as Beihai Laoren (北海老人, the Old Man of the North Sea). It was composed in the renyin year — the eighth year of the Guangxu reign (1882 CE), during the late Qing dynasty.

Where the True Scripture of Maitreya is Yiguandao's daily prayer and the Ten Admonitions its creation myth, the Forty-Eight Instructions is its intellectual spine — a systematic exposition of the Dao as the unity underlying the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism). Wang Jueyi argues that a single "Principle" (理, lǐ) flows through heaven, earth, and humanity, manifesting as nature, destiny, heart, will, and feeling. The text covers the transmission of the Dao, the cosmological framework of the Three Periods, the proper conduct of practitioners, the unity of the Three Teachings, internal alchemy, the Yijing, and the final gathering of souls. It is at once a philosophical treatise, an organizational charter, and a spiritual manifesto.

This is the first complete English translation. 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." The text is in the public domain (Qing dynasty, author deceased over 100 years).

The First Instruction

We must understand: this Dao is the great body that gives birth to heaven, gives birth to earth, gives birth to humanity, gives birth to all things. It is the great function by which one becomes a Buddha, becomes an immortal, becomes a sage, becomes a worthy. It unites the Three Teachings and pervades both heaven and humanity. The manifest and the hidden, substance and function, are one. Center and periphery, root and branch, affairs and principle — all are encompassed.

This Dao: spoken of as that which covers and shelters all things, it is called "Heaven." Spoken of as that which governs all things, it is called the "Sovereign." Spoken of as that which is true and without falsity, it is called "Sincerity." Spoken of as that through which all things pass in common, it is called the "Dao." Spoken of as that in which nothing is without its proper ordering and each thing attains its own ordering, it is called "Principle."

In heaven it is called "Heavenly Principle." On earth, "Earthly Principle." In things, "the Principle of Things." In affairs, "the Principle of Affairs." This Principle: spoken of as that which is bestowed, it is called "Destiny." Spoken of as that which is received, it is called "Nature." Spoken of as that which responds to the ten thousand changes, it is called "Heart." Where the heart tends, it is called "Will." What the heart holds in remembrance, it is called "Intention." Stirred by the ten thousand affairs, giving rise to joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness — this is called "Feeling."

A thousand names, ten thousand titles — they cannot be counted. Trace them to their root, and none is other than the flowing forth of "One Principle." Therefore the Unborn True Sovereign scattered "Principle-Nature" and sent it down. What is the ultimate meaning of "Principle"? The Doctrine of the Mean says: "Nature is Principle; Principle is the Five Constants." The student must first exhaust "Principle," and only then can one fully realize Nature. None who have not understood "Principle" have ever fully realized Nature. None who have not fully realized Nature have ever returned to the root and restored the origin.

The Second Instruction

All who transmit the Dao of "exhausting Principle and fully realizing Nature" must honor the teacher and revere the Dao, and be scrupulous in the giving and receiving of transmission. Only thus will they not cause the most honored and most precious orthodox lineage of the former sages to be cheapened through themselves, nor the weighty responsibility of succession to be taken lightly through themselves.

The Third Instruction

The final stroke — this is the true lineage of a thousand sages, the life-vein of ten thousand saints. Those who behold it become Buddhas; those who cultivate it become sages. Only those of the highest root and highest capacity, children of great virtue, can receive it. Those without affinity or share cannot be made to believe. Therefore it is said: "If roots are thin and karmic share is shallow, it is hard to enter the ancient Dharma-hall of the Dragon Flower." Those who do not believe need not be forced to receive the transmission.

The Fourth Instruction

The Correct Dharma of Non-Action is "the true emptiness within form, the wondrous existence within nothingness. It exhausts the Three Realms vertically and spans the Ten Directions horizontally. Approach it and you cannot see its head; follow it and you cannot see its tail." In its progressive transmission, there is the division into the Pure Dharma Body, the Complete Reward Body, and the Hundred-Billion Transformation Bodies. The Pure Dharma Body — substantial and radiant — is the attainment of the great person, rooted in the earthly degree. The Complete Reward Body — great and transforming — is the attainment of the sage, rooted in the degree of the Primum Mobile. The Hundred-Billion Transformation Bodies — saintly beyond knowing — is the attainment of the divine person, rooted in the degree of the Utterly Still and Unmoving Heaven. Three levels of transmission, distinguishing the clear from the turbid, elucidating the Dao by which humanity is fulfilled and united with Heaven — there is a sure handle to grasp. This is what is meant by: "One Dharma contains immeasurable Dharmas; one gate breaks open ten thousand gates." Rise above all, and only then can you gather all back in. Without understanding this, one cannot sweep away a thousand gates and gather in ten thousand teachings. The Three Teachings returning to One is precisely the ten thousand Dharmas returning to One.

The Fifth Instruction

The Great Dao of the final age reveals what ten thousand sages left unrevealed and supplements what ten thousand worthies left incomplete. Its Dao unites the Three Teachings; its Principle pervades both humanity and Heaven. In writing commentaries and establishing doctrines, one must cite the classics and rely on precedent. Uniting Heaven, earth, and humanity — possessing Principle, possessing Qi, possessing Form. One who knows Principle can establish rites, so that the gradations of familial closeness and the ranking of the worthy are ordered without confusion. One who knows Qi can establish music, knowing the participation of Heaven to create the six yang pitches, knowing the pairing of Earth to create the six yin pitches — the six yang pitches generating each other at intervals of eight, the five tones with their gains and losses of three parts, having their source. The five tones of gōng, shāng, jué, zhǐ, yǔ correspond to the five ranks of sovereign, minister, people, affairs, and things, and to the full circuit of the ten palaces — all having their root.

Furthermore: the trigrams of Fuxi are rooted in Heaven and Earth. The trigrams of King Wen are rooted in Fuxi. The "Exchange of Changes" by Confucius unites Heaven and Earth, Fuxi, and King Wen into one. Before the Changes were drawn, after the Changes were drawn — Heaven and Earth are in the Changes. None who do not know Heaven and Earth can know the Changes; nor has anyone known the Changes without being rooted in Heaven and Earth. Only thus can one trace backward to the ancient past and forward to the age to come, threading all with One.

Those who do not understand this and yet annotate the Book of Changes are sinners against Fuxi, King Wen, and Confucius.

The Sixth Instruction

Students who speak of past, future, and present must take the era of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, and King Wen — the Three Dynasties and earlier — as the past orthodox lineage, the springtime of transmission. In those days, every five hundred years a true king would arise, and in each interval there would be one who illuminated the age. Therefore it is said: "Nine kalpas to attain the Dao."

Laozi, Shakyamuni, and Confucius represent the present transmission. From Laozi to now is over three thousand years; from Shakyamuni and Confucius to now is not yet three thousand years. Rounding off, together they make three thousand years, divided into: the Correct Dharma for one thousand years, the Semblance Dharma for one thousand years, and the Degenerate Dharma for one thousand years. The present age is the summertime of transmission.

The Seventh Instruction

All who carry out the Dao must thoroughly comprehend the true lineage of the epochs — the Yuán, the Huì, the Yùn, and the Shì — and only then may they speak of past and future. Those who do not understand this and yet recklessly speak of future matters are deceiving themselves and deceiving others — they are sinners against the Dao.

The Eighth Instruction

The Heaven of the Limitless and the Heaven of the Supreme Ultimate are the source of Principle-Nature and Qi-Nature. The Supreme Ultimate, the Two Forms, the Four Images, the Eight Trigrams, the sixty-four hexagrams, the three hundred eighty-four lines, the eleven thousand five hundred twenty counting rods — all are rooted here. One root, ten thousand branches; ten thousand branches, one root. Thread by thread fitting into the clasp; every clasp made of thread. Those who do not understand the source and flow of Principle and Qi, yet recklessly discourse on Nature and Destiny — all are sinners against Confucius and Mencius.

The Ninth Instruction

All who transmit the Dao must thoroughly penetrate the meaning of "exhausting Principle and fully realizing Nature," "the unity of Principle and Form," and "the three grades, one Principle" — what, in the end, is their point? Only then may one take hold of the Dao and transmit the Dao. If not, pulling up the sprouts to make them grow — above, one offends the sages and worthies; below, one brings harm to the future. To differ from the sages of the Three Teachings is to be a heretic.

The Tenth Instruction

On the Dipper-Ox Palace: there is a Dipper-Ox Palace above in Heaven, and a Dipper-Ox Palace below on Earth. Of the transmission of the orthodox lineage — "Two flowers bloom in Western Sichuan, spreading brocade; the moon shines bright over the North Sea, celebrating wind and clouds."

"Flowers bloom in Western Sichuan" — this refers to the first year of Daoguang, the first jiǎzǐ of one thousand, when the Nine Purple held sway. Western Sichuan corresponds to the celestial lodges of Jǐng, Guǐ, and Liǔ, the initial degree of the Lí Palace, and the earthly Kūn Palace. The twelfth patriarch transmitted the Dao to Chengdu, exactly in the Nine Purple cycle. Hence the "summer-nine maiden opened heaven" — summer is the solstice, nine is the purple number, maiden is the middle daughter. "Lí" occupies the Former Heaven position of Qián and the Later Heaven position of Gòu; hence "Western Qián."

The Yuán patriarch was the Qián-Yuán substance. Thereafter, five years per line, until Jīn Gōng reached the "Stripping" hexagram. At Huāgēn, thirty-six was complete — the number of six-sixes — and the yang was exhausted, the yin pure. Therefore after the Jīn patriarch, two women held the Dao — the even numbers of the Kūn lines. From guǐyǒu to dīngchǒu, five years and sixty months, and the Kūn lines were complete. This was precisely the Upper Yuán jiǎzǐ, with One White holding sway. Qíng-Qí corresponds to the celestial lodges of Nǚ and Xū, and the earthly Gèn Palace. "One yang is born at zǐ; three yangs are complete at Gèn." "The North Sea" — One White belongs to Kǎn. Hence: "The moon shines bright over the North Sea, celebrating wind and clouds." The Kǎn Palace is Earth-Thunder Return, the hexagram of Zhèn-Gèn. Kūn in the Former Heaven is Zhèn; hence "Eastern Zhèn." West is Western Sichuan; East is Shandong.

The Eleventh Instruction

At a time when there were those who would destroy the Three Teachings, all students of China must take the heart-method and life-vein of the Three Teachings' sages, expand their substance and extend their function, and explain them thoroughly to the bottom, practicing deeply. Even the two characters "Námó" of the Buddhist tradition can be used to elucidate the Three Changes and the One Thread, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Nine Heavens and the Heaven Beyond Heaven, Original Nature and Qi-Nature, the Human Heart and the Heart of the Dao, as well as the hidden depths of the scriptures of the Immortals, the Daoist Canon, and the Thirteen Classics — penetrating all without obstruction, thread by thread fitting into the clasp, as if tallies were matched. Only then can one unite the Three Teachings and pervade both Heaven and humanity, convincing the world through Principle — and only then restore the orthodox lineage of the Three Teachings.

Those who do not understand this and yet recklessly claim to represent the Three Teachings — all are practitioners of petty words that undermine the Dao.

The Twelfth Instruction

All practitioners must recognize Principle and recognize the Dao. As for spirit-writing: there is the correct and there is the deviant, and many have been led astray by it.

The Thirteenth Instruction

Students must recognize Principle, humbly seek instruction from those who are enlightened, and naturally the stream will not turn to the deviant and the deluded.

The Fourteenth Instruction

When the thousand gates and ten thousand doors come to submit through recognizing Principle, they must obey the assignments of the one who holds the Dao, and surrender everything they possess completely. Principle and Nature-Principle must be expounded and made clear — only then will there be no deviation by a hair's breadth that leads to an error of a thousand leagues, and no harm of misleading oneself and others. Then, according to each person's talent and capacity, credentials may be given — and all will become one harmony, one shared wind. Only thus will the Dao be helped rather than harmed, and one may serve as heir to the sages and worthies, true descendant of the Immortals and Buddhas, bringing glory to the past and blessing to the future for ten thousand ages.

Those who do not submit to direction, who steal the Dao, pilfer the Dao, recklessly transmit or recklessly receive — let them bear the consequences of their own vows. The one who holds the Dao bears no responsibility for them.

The Fifteenth Instruction

Wealth is the source that sustains life, and it easily stirs the heart to greed — and greed leads to downfall. The contributions from every quarter of the disciples must be reported to the top, down to the last coin. Food and expenses must be distributed from above to below — only then is there proper order between high and low, and finances are clear. If contributions from the various quarters are not turned over and are spent privately, this is to be judged as using the public purse for private gain.

The Sixteenth Instruction

The Buddha has four kinds of disciples — bhikṣu monks, bhikṣuṇī nuns, upāsaka laymen, and upāsikā laywomen — and all studied together in the same hall. The civilizing influence of the two "Nan" odes of King Wen's era also began from within the women's chambers. In the sequence of cultivation, regulation, governance, and pacification, self-cultivation is the root of regulating the family. And the investigation of things, the extension of knowledge, the making sincere of intentions, and the rectifying of the heart are the root of self-cultivation.

When fellow practitioners and their family members wish to hear the Dao, let them listen together in the public hall — men on the left, women on the right, and let no mixing be permitted. When the lecture is finished, let each return to their own quarters. Men and women must not share the same room; women practitioners must not serve as personal attendants to men. The sexes must be clearly separated, and all suspicion avoided. The slightest attachment of desire and one enters the path of downfall — the boundary between the human and the animal is decided by a single thought. Therefore Confucius taught: do not look, do not listen, do not speak, do not act. The Buddhist gate teaches: no self, no other, no sentient beings, no lifespan. The Daoist gate teaches: always banish your desires. And our Dao teaches: guard against lustful thoughts, guard against stray thoughts — this is subduing the dragon and taming the tiger. The three hundred poems, summed up in a single phrase: "Think no evil." The words differ, but the meaning is one.

The Seventeenth Instruction

A household of a thousand mouths has one person in charge — that is order. A state with three lords and none knowing whom to follow — that is chaos. Therefore the Five Flowers and Ten Leaves must take their commands from the one who heads the house. The Crown, Protector, Guide, Witness, Benefactor, and the assembly must take their commands from the Five Flowers and Ten Leaves. High and low must have their rank; above and below their station — only then is there order without confusion. If leaders great and small each run their own affairs and do not obey the commands from above, this is disrupting the Buddhist order, and justice demands punishment.

The Eighteenth Instruction

Affairs have the constant and the changing; the Dao has the canonical and the expedient. Founding and preserving each have their proper way. At present, the orthodox lineage of Western Qián has fallen into daily disorder. The Sānhuá faction calls the Xīhuá faction demons; the Xīhuá faction calls the Sānhuá demons. By now, the branches of Sānhuá are beyond counting, and those of Xīhuá likewise beyond counting. Each side attacks the other, and all have become demons.

Therefore the Sovereign of the Unborn, from the Sacred Center, descends to Eastern Zhèn, hangs the golden tablet upside down, replaces those above with those below, sweeps away all that has form — the side gates and petty lanes — and returns all to the Former Heaven's One Thread: exhausting Principle, fully realizing Nature, reaching the Great Dao of Destiny.

This Dao encompasses the hidden and the manifest, shares a single source for the subtle and the obvious, illuminates substance and reaches function, ordered and sequential. Without my personal transmission and personal instruction, no one can respond to every situation with fitting precision. If one cannot rise above all, how can one bring all back? Furthermore, the credential of the cross-shaped hand seal — no one else possesses the complete version. Only when I personally arrive can the hearts of the assembly be won and their doubts dispelled. Therefore, though this time is nominally the Gathering, it is in reality a new founding. No matter large or small, I must personally attend to everything. Only after the ten thousand Dharmas return to One can we fix the order and then establish the rites. This is the time for exercising authority flexibly, not the time for routine maintenance. I ask all to understand and forgive — do not say I am grasping power and meddling. I cannot help it.

The Nineteenth Instruction

The learning of the sages and worthies must encompass both root and branch, giving equal weight to substance and function. One must possess real, practical learning — only then, in withdrawal, can one perfect oneself, and in engagement, perfect others as well. As the Great Yu ordered the Nine Categories, as King Wen turned the hexagrams, as Confucius composed the Appended Statements, as Shao Yong systematized the world — so from Feng Hou, Tai Gong, Zhang Liang, and Zhuge Liang onward, there has been one vein of true transmission. But as the customs of the world decline and learning strays from truth, such learning is lost.

Now, fortunately, Heaven does not hoard the Dao and reveals a thread of the dark mechanism. Therefore, beyond the work of Nature and Destiny, the establishing of rites and the composing of music, the studies of the Changes, the Jiǎ method, the Yǐ method, the Rén method, the Qín method, and the Calendar — each has its true gateway of entry. Students must each master one discipline thoroughly, not be greedy for many, and only then can it be of practical use. But this must be transmitted only to those who are sincere and know their place — lest there be lasting harm and reckless disclosure that brings down Heaven's censure.

The Twentieth Instruction

At present, the thousand gates and ten thousand doors all claim to be patriarchs. Yet know: the true patriarch is only one. The rest merely raise a name and spread a teaching, passing through the great earth to gather people's karmic connections. We receive all who come — whether they return or not is of no great consequence. Since the gatherings at Zhōngzhōu, Yànnán, Zhàoběi, and Jiāngbīn, the star-discs are complete. Those who now row against the current are people without original nature. If among the various gates there are truly pillars of the Buddhist assembly, then spirits will dispatch and ghosts will direct them — there will be omens beforehand, and upon meeting or hearing our wind, they will compete to come and submit. Those who do not come are necessarily those who in their previous work of spreading the Dao were extravagant and wasteful, ruined the moral order, and had their names recorded in the black register.

The Great Dao of the final age unites the Three Teachings and returns them to One, merges the ten thousand Dharmas into the non-dual. Those who receive it become immortals; those who behold it become Buddhas; those who cultivate it become sages. "If roots are thin and karmic share is shallow, it is hard to enter the ancient Dharma-hall of the Dragon Flower." Not only do such people fail to enter — they go and obstruct others, to their harm. The Sovereign of the Unborn, from the Sacred Center, has decreed the great matter of the Gathering. Each person's vow is their own to bear. "A single grain of rice in the Buddhist household is great as Mount Sumeru. Betray the work of the final age, and you return as beast with fur and horns."

The Twenty-First Instruction

Those who study the Dao must take benevolence and righteousness as their root and loyalty and faith as their guide. Those who hold office must be loyal to their posts and respectful in their duties. Those who live as commoners must serve the public and abide by the law. None shall engage in slaughter, the wine trade, opium houses, gambling dens, or the debauchery of the pleasure quarters — such filth stains the pure standard.

As for the Dao of the Three Teachings' sages — though it is a righteous cause, still: when virtue is cultivated, slander arises; when the Dao is lofty, destruction comes. King Wen could not escape imprisonment at Yǒulǐ; Confucius still suffered the siege at Chén and Cài. Therefore the sage said: "If you wish to become a person of pure gold and fine jade, you must be tempered in fierce fire. If you plan to accomplish world-shaking deeds, you must walk over thin ice."

Without suffering the bitterest suffering, one cannot become a person above others. Without enduring demonic trials, one cannot become a Buddha. "Therefore when Heaven is about to confer a great charge on a person, it first torments their heart and will, exhausts their sinews and bones, starves their body, empties their substance, and thwarts their every undertaking — thereby stirring the heart, toughening the character, and increasing what they could not do." All who cultivated the Dao in ancient times experienced this. Why should people today be any different?

In fierce wind you know the strong grass. In upheaval you discern the loyal minister. Only in the cold of winter do you know the pine and cypress are last to wither. The True Man of Eternal Spring said: "Who in this life does not face demonic trials? None are worse than the thorns of the Western Road." And again: "The Dao rises a foot, and the demons rise ten thousand yards. The monkey of the mind must be subdued entirely by force." Preserve your heart, nourish your nature — this is how to serve Heaven and Earth. Whether life is long or short, do not waver. Cultivate yourself and await — this is how to establish your destiny.

The Twenty-Second Instruction

Since the twelfth patriarch and the Five Elders, the various gates — though unequal in height and differing in merit — share one thing: none possess the true transmission. What they transmit is nothing more than "taking from Kǎn to fill Lí" — the method of initial cultivation. When this method is sincerely practiced: guarding the upper center brings empty fire blazing upward — if not toothaches, then eye disease. Guarding the lower center brings cold dampness sinking downward — if not chills and cold, then seminal loss and hernia. In general, overdoing the lifting makes the upper replete and the lower empty, producing the condition of "floating yang." Therefore even the practice of taking from Kǎn to fill Lí has been abandoned in the end, leaving nothing but confusion over proper vegetarianism.

Yet for forty years of frontier-breaking, the leaders ran to the ends of the earth, severing bonds of affection and abandoning family wealth, enduring demons and suffering. That they spread their banner far and wide is truly pitiable.

Now the Sovereign of the Unborn personally descends to Eastern Zhèn, transmitting this unsurpassed, profound, subtle, and wondrous Dharma — truly the orthodox lineage of illuminating the heart and seeing one's nature, the shortcut for transcending birth and death. It unites the Three Teachings and returns them to the One Thread; it merges the ten thousand Dharmas and brings them all into the Doctrine of the Mean. The Heaven of Principle and the Heaven of Qi — a vista opened for the first time in all antiquity. The Human Heart and the Heart of the Dao — the true lineage of ten thousand sages, firmly grasped.

Advance upon the hundred-foot pole, and pierce upward through the thirty-three heavens. Release your hands at the cliff's edge above the abyss, and illuminate downward through the eighteen hells. Exhausting the Three Realms vertically, spanning the Ten Directions and beyond — True Nature fills and pervades, present everywhere. "Where a thousand rivers have water, a thousand moons shine" — yet the moon may sometimes wane. "Where ten thousand leagues are cloudless, ten thousand leagues of sky" — yet the sky may sometimes be veiled. True Thusness — the Buddha Nature — though you look and do not see it, listen and do not hear it, yet in truth above and below, in every direction, there is nothing it does not pervade. "Let the blue sea change ten thousand times — the True Thusness of the Limitless endures forever." This is the final stroke: the Dharma-eye that with a single pointing dodges King Yama.

From Bodhidharma onward, this has been the very Dao. When Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, attained the Dao, he composed this verse: "Bodhi is no tree at all; the bright mirror has no stand. Originally there is not a single thing — where could dust alight?" And again: "After this, the lineage-wind of Shakyamuni ceases. When the Confucian understanding receives my transmission, the ten thousand Dharmas are penetrated. In the final era of the Three Periods, the universal deliverance opens. Rectify the heart, make sincere the intention — unite with the Doctrine of the Mean."

Later, because the task was to break open the frontier and sow the seeds, they transmitted "taking from Kǎn to fill Lí." The supreme vehicle was held back to be transmitted only at the end — pervading Heaven and piercing Earth — the Dao of the Limitless, the Supreme Ultimate, and the Imperial Ultimate, the Three Poles threaded as One. Only this can bring the Three Teachings back to One, the ten thousand Dharmas back to One, and accomplish the great matter of the Gathering and the Fruition.

The Twenty-Third Instruction

Regarding the matters of the Supreme Ultimate and the Imperial Ultimate — several lineages already possess credentials. I truly dare not hand them over, lest greed and delusion arise and provoke contention. Therefore I first entrust them to the positions of the Five Phases and Ten Stations. When the work has been accomplished, I shall await Heaven's determination of rank. I dare not make rash judgments.

The Twenty-Fourth Instruction

At present the credentials are in my grasp. For the time being, I must be allowed to lead first — only then can there be a lineage with order. Without this, one cannot speak of "one Dao, one wind." When matters are settled in the future, success will be judged by Heaven and humanity together. I would gladly retire to the forests and springs, content to let others lead. But if I were to shrink back now and yield control to another, not only would people across the world refuse to come — even those I have already gathered would never accept it. This is the way things must be. Do I enjoy being a teacher of others? I have no choice.

The Twenty-Fifth Instruction

At present our Dao circulates through the four capitals. My commentaries have been printed in the northern, eastern, and southern capitals. I do not contend over rank. Among my disciples, those who unite the Three Teachings and pervade both Heaven and humanity are too many to count on one hand. Would any of us lightly bow to another as teacher? My refusal to step aside from leadership is to follow and assist the Heavenly Dao. The dangers of high places — am I not aware of them? I have no choice.

The Twenty-Sixth Instruction

The hand-seal covenant is the credential for the Dragon Flower Three Assemblies, the road-pass to the Cloud-City on the Hàn. It may only be given to those who submit to our Dao. "Those whose Dao differs do not plan together." I come to save them, yet they wish to exclude me — what can be done?

The Twenty-Seventh Instruction

In my transmission of the Dao, I neither replace another's Three Masters nor alter another's Six Masters. I merely elucidate the Great Dao, complete the work of the Gathering, and help others succeed. The Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan once bowed to seventy-two teachers. The sage said: "In learning, there is no fixed teacher." Those among the various gates who have heard of Grand Master Wáng Bódǎng and make this a grievance are mistaken.

The original orthodox lineage was established by the Sovereign of the Unborn, from the Sacred Center. By the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang it was placed under the care of the Golden Mother of the Jade Pool. Now the Sovereign of the Unborn, because the Jīn patriarch has returned to the Void and the frontier-breaking work is complete, personally descends to Eastern Zhèn — turns the wheel, changes the configuration, and arranges the great matter of the Gathering, to rescue the ninety-two hundred million original people.

Everything used in spreading the Dao — food, clothing, the Dao that is transmitted, the lodgings that are maintained — all belong to the Sovereign of the Unborn, bestowed by Heaven and Earth. Now that the Sovereign personally descends to the mortal world to rescue the original people and consummate the Gathering — yet students of the Dao have forgotten the Unborn Precious Land entirely. They fix their names and establish their titles, rank merit and determine station, link cause to fruit, raise the heights of Bodhi, and aspire to eternal life. The child sees its mother; the drifting boat reaches shore; the lonely traveler returns home — and all of this they have forgotten. They treat the one appointed by the Sovereign as an enemy, turning kin into foe. How utterly senseless!

"Heaven above would not harm the Unborn Center, yet here below the Ancient Buddha's heart is spent in vain." The ancients had such a saying — and now such a thing has actually come to pass. How lamentable!

The Twenty-Eighth Instruction

The so-called hand-seal credential is the mark of identification by which fellow practitioners and friends of the Dao recognize one another. At present, the thousand gates and ten thousand doors are unequal in wisdom and virtue, differing in goodness and wickedness. Though they all go by the name "Dao," the reality of their "Dao" differs as Heaven from Earth. Without a credential and covenant, how can one distinguish the true from the false? Not only is there fear that the unworthy may swindle property — there is greater fear that criminals may infiltrate and bring harm to all.

The disciples of Confucius, for all ages, have been one family. Our Dao is now known near and far. With this credential, not only can fellow practitioners of the present recognize and look after one another — even generations hence, the descendants of teachers and students and friends of the Dao may present it and be recognized. This is why I do not avoid suspicion in establishing this credential of mutual identification. All who possess it are of the Dao; those who lack it are another matter.

The Twenty-Ninth Instruction

All who study the Dao must understand the great meaning of the bond between teacher and disciple, and that the five debts of gratitude — to Heaven, Earth, sovereign, parents, and teacher — carry equal weight. Therefore: when the sovereign is present, the minister has no authority. When the father is present, the son has no authority. When the teacher is present, the disciple has no authority.

Yet among today's students, one obtains the Dao today and tomorrow already wants authority to return to oneself. To contend with the sovereign for power — this is called a treacherous minister. To contend with one's father for power — this is called a rebellious son. To contend with the teacher for power — this is called a renegade disciple. Those who study the Dao have renounced worldly affections in order to become sages, worthies, immortals, and Buddhas. How could anyone who is disloyal in service ever become an immortal, a Buddha, a sage, or a worthy? Let all take this to heart.

The Thirtieth Instruction

Our Dao is the true lineage of the Three Sages, the authentic root of the ten thousand Dharmas. It has personally received the imperial edict of the Sovereign of the Unborn, from the Sacred Center, and the credential-document of the Jade Emperor on High. The Three Tribunals have conferred; a thousand sages and ten thousand saints lend their hands to assist the Dao. One pardon and you ascend the path of awakening; one pointing and you pass through to the Heavenly Realm. Great, and nothing is left outside; fine, and nothing is left unpenetrated. Knowing that being and non-being share a single source; discerning that affairs and Principle are one.

Guarding the One, returning to the One, threading the One — as clear as looking at the palm of your hand. Illuminating the heart, preserving the heart, cultivating the heart — as plain as features upon a face. In writing commentaries and establishing doctrines, there is not a speck of dust — every sentence pierces through to the True Emptiness of Nature. In expounding the Dao and discussing virtue, there is a sure destination — every word penetrates thoroughly to the Endowed Nature of Heaven. Elucidating the true essence of the study of Principle, the study of Number, and the study of Form — opening a vista unprecedented in a thousand ages. Analyzing the hidden depths of the Unchanging, the Changing, and the Exchanging — establishing a model for ten thousand generations.

In poverty, perfect oneself without shame. Hold to your aspiration. In success, perfect others as well. Seize the moment to establish merit. Hold in your heart compassion for Heaven and pity for humanity; carry with you the Dao of mending Heaven and saving the people. And when the shallow and ignorant heap on you their insults and abuse — I meet them with no-mind. "Whether the Dao shall prevail — ah, destiny! Whether the Dao shall fail — ah, destiny!" "Not to be troubled when others do not recognize you — this is the mark of the true person." "The noble one finds ease wherever they enter."

The Thirty-First Instruction

On the matter of spirit-writing: I dare not disbelieve it, nor dare I believe it entirely. As for what I cannot disbelieve — when the Sovereign of the Unborn, from the Sacred Center, commanded me in certain matters, even the idle talk and cold words that followed were without exception fulfilled later. Again, the hexagrams of the Changes, the Tàiyǐ method, and the variable formulas transmitted by the Elder Master Lǐ — the longer I have studied them, the more I believe in their truth. How could I not believe in such things?

Yet the Sovereign personally appointed the Three Poles in Shandong — and the Supreme Ultimate returned early, and another was substituted. The Imperial Ultimate, though someone holds the title, I still do not know if it is real. To this day, all the great matters still fall to us to bear. And now several more families claim to be the Supreme and Imperial Ultimate. I find myself caught between two difficulties. If I say that the hexagram lines the Imperial Ultimate uses to "change Heaven and change Earth" are true — it defies reason. It is as if one who knows neither the past nor the present could somehow know the future. Dare I follow the sentiment of the moment and mislead the faithful of the whole earth, invite the laughter of future ages, and create a sin vast as the sky?

Yet I wish to disbelieve, and there is the command of the spirit-writing. I dare not mislead people, and dare I mislead the spirits? I have one method to distinguish true from false and determine compliance or refusal. In the practical learning transmitted by the Elder Master Lǐ, the points I have not yet understood — I humbly ask for clarification. If the spirit-writing can clearly explain them, I will believe in truth. Furthermore: if the holder of the Supreme Ultimate can transmit the Dao of the Supreme Ultimate, and the holder of the Imperial Ultimate can transmit the Dao of the Imperial Ultimate, then I will cooperate in earnest. Only thus can I not lose myself within, not lose others without, not fail the spirits above, and not mislead the world below.

The Thirty-Second Instruction

All students of our school: you are not permitted to read books that are not of the sages, nor to pursue useless learning. For illuminating substance, you should read the Diamond Sutra, the Classic of Purity and Stillness, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean until they are familiar and thoroughly understood — then naturally they will benefit the source of Nature, Destiny, and Heart.

For reaching practical function, you should thoroughly study the Book of Changes, the Hé Diagram, and the Luò Writing. Understand the fortune and misfortune of the hexagram lines; know the waxing and waning of yin and yang; recognize the generation and conquest cycles of the Five Phases; master the transformations of the regular and the extraordinary; comprehend the avoidance of good and ill fortune. Only then will you possess real learning. As for rites, music, governance, punishment, the hundred schools, the Thirteen Classics, the Twenty-One Histories, astronomy, and geography in all their vastness — each may study according to their material and talent. Do not seek breadth; seek depth. Fear not a thousand skills known — fear only one skill mastered.

The Thirty-Third Instruction

Among the various alchemical scriptures, only the Cantong Qi and the Wuzhen Pian show real insight into the circulation of the One Qi and the waxing and waning of the sun and moon. And my own Deep Source of the Three Changes and Exploring the Origin of Unity have already encompassed their meaning and gone beyond it. If you wish to read them, you may; if not, that is also fine.

As for the allegorical language of male and female, dragon and tiger, lead and mercury, cauldron and furnace, fire and medicine — shallow-sighted people often make wild guesses and wrong interpretations, falling into side-gates. Since we have already obtained the final stroke, the supreme vehicle — the Three Teachings' scriptures are sufficient to verify it. The methods of the various alchemical texts cannot be used.

The Thirty-Fourth Instruction

What the alchemical texts call the "Nine Turns of the Golden Elixir": because the Former Heaven's Qián and Kūn became the Later Heaven's Kǎn and Lí — taking the yang from within Kǎn, yang being the number nine, hence "Nine Turns." The Nine Turns means restoring the yang, supplementing Lí to reconstitute Qián — this is "Gold." When sun and moon merge and are refined into the Primordial One Qi — this is the "Elixir." Therefore, in the Former Heaven, Qián and Kūn are Nature and Destiny.

As for "Dragon and Tiger": the Former Heaven's Lí resides in the East and is the Azure Dragon. The Later Heaven's Lí resides in the South and is the Vermillion Dragon. The Former Heaven's Kǎn resides in the West and is the White Tiger. The Later Heaven's Kǎn resides in the North and is the Black Tiger. Kǎn is the middle son and is called the "Infant." Lí is the middle daughter and is called the "Maiden." The intention that can drive and direct is called the "Yellow Woman." These are the Three Families: East-three, South-two, Center-five.

Trace it to its essence: it is nothing more than taking Lí-Kūn as Nature and Kǎn-Qì as Destiny. When spirit and qi merge into one, this is the dual cultivation of Nature and Destiny. The Confucian approach — condensing the spirit and stilling Destiny as the starting point — cultivates the upper gate first and draws up the lower two: the path of Non-Action, the near path. The Daoist approach — accumulating essence and stilling thought as the starting point — cultivates the lower gate first and penetrates upward through the two above: the path of Action, the distant path.

This is the true formula of the True Water and True Fire Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, the Nine-Turn Returning-Yang Elixir, the Nine-Turn Purple-Gold Elixir, the Dragon-Tiger Great Elixir, and the Taiyi Returning Elixir. Spirit is the fire; qi is the medicine. The rising of yang is the "Living Midnight." There is a place for the refining, a time for the gathering — this is the "cycle." The Small Celestial Circuit is rooted in the waxing and waning of sun and moon. The Great Celestial Circuit is rooted in the circulation of the One Qi. Sun and moon are Form. Circulation is Qi. Form belongs to Material Nature; Qi belongs to Qi-Nature. All of it is: "What Heaven decrees is called Nature; what follows Nature is called the Dao." Nature is the Nature of Principle — the Nature bestowed from above, the Nature of human stillness at birth — confirmed in the Doctrine of the Mean as "the Heaven without sound or scent," in the Diamond Sutra as "the Buddha Nature that is apart from all forms," and in the Classic of Purity and Stillness as "the Nature emptied of all emptiness."

Therefore the Dao of the final age is entirely rooted in the scriptures of the Three Teachings as its starting point, reaching the Heaven of Principle and the Heaven of Qi as its completion — only then can humanity be fulfilled and united with Heaven, and one may enter the domain of the sage. Thereafter, "exhausting Principle and fully realizing Nature, fathoming the spirit and knowing transformation" — the progressive attainment of the Great Transformation and the Sacred Spirit may finally proceed on solid ground, as the true lineage of the Three Teachings and the standard for ten thousand ages.

The Thirty-Fifth Instruction

The Dao is originally One Principle, and there were never two teachings. But because the qi-endowment of human beings has the clear and the turbid, roots have the sharp and the dull, vision has the high and the low, knowledge has the bright and the dark, learning has the deep and the shallow, and teachers have the true and the false — thus the distinction of the Three Vehicles and the division of the orthodox and the deviant arise.

When teaching someone at first encounter, one must teach by embodying the Dao according to their level. For those who entered through the alchemical texts: discuss with them the true Nature-and-Destiny, the true Fire-and-Medicine, and tell them that subduing the dragon has its method and taming the tiger has its technique — that laying the foundation, refining the self, warming, bathing, shedding the womb, and spirit-transformation all have their formulas. Explain everything thoroughly, then break through everything, sweep away everything, and gradually guide them into True Thusness — the Buddha Nature. Only then will their hearts and mouths be won. If you do not address what they already possess, their minds are full of opinions, and they will think our Dao incomprehensible.

The Thirty-Sixth Instruction

For those who have entered deeply into the Buddhist sea — you must not discuss with them the methods of Action or the methods of Form. If you speak of Action, they will say: "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows." If you speak of Form, they will say: "All that has form is delusion." You must discuss with them the "Great Meaning of the Coming from the West," and elucidate the three principles of "grasping before the sound, receiving after the word, and speaking face to face."

Expound clearly for them: past, present, and future; the Unity of Principle and Form; True Thusness and the Buddha Nature. Then naturally, exhausting the Three Realms vertically and spanning the Ten Directions horizontally, one transcends beyond the realm of the Primordial Sound — and becomes the eternal, never-retreating Vajra Body, Prajñā Nature, Bodhi Seed: the Supreme, Correct, and Equal Awakening of the Correct Dharma.

Knowing that Dharma-form is formless, and the wondrous is not nothing — there is something real within. Only then can one neither fall into the stubborn void above, nor sink into attachment to form below. Shouldering the Correct Dharma, greatly reviving the ancestral wind — one becomes a master who unites lineage and teaching, whose eloquence matches their principle, who teaches according to the place, delivers beings without measure, serves as teacher of humans and gods — a Great Awakened Dharma King.

Then further elucidate for them: the great function of the "Six-Character True Mantra" and of "Guānyīn," and of the "Constant" and the "Changing" — only then can you deliver the high monks of the Buddhist gate.

The Thirty-Seventh Instruction

The student should know: the Dao originally has no name — it is forcibly called "Dao." The Dharma originally is Non-Action — it is forcibly called "cultivation." The Diamond Sutra says: "There is no Dharma to be spoken — this is called speaking the Dharma. Even the Dharma should be abandoned, how much more the non-Dharma. There is no Dharma to be obtained — this is called an Arhat. There is no practice to be practiced — this is called the Bodhisattva. All sages and worthies are distinguished by their Non-Action Dharma."

The Buddha-Dharma is apart from all forms. Those who have not received the true transmission mostly fall into the stubborn void and fail to reach the function of "observe as thus," the real substance of "the Unity of Principle and Form," and the ultimate of "the Supreme, Correct, and Equal Awakening."

Therefore in my transmission of the Dao, I first point out True Thusness — the Buddha Nature, the Emptiness of all dharmas — pervading Heaven and piercing Earth, unborn and undying, unstained and unpurified, neither increasing nor decreasing — this real Principle. This Principle is inherent in every person, perfectly present. But constrained by qi-endowment, veiled by material desire, one chases the false and abandons the true, turns from awakening to embrace the dust, forgets what was always there, and drifts through birth and death. Therefore I teach the method: when occupied, guard against lustful thoughts; when idle, guard against stray thoughts. When both are purified to extinction, the spirit merges with the void — transcending the Three Realms, unconfined by the Five Phases — and one becomes the indestructible Great Awakened Golden Immortal of ten thousand kalpas.

The Thirty-Eighth Instruction

When meeting literary Confucians who lack broad and comprehensive learning, you absolutely must not discuss with them the scriptures of the Immortals and the Buddhist canon, or speak of becoming an immortal or a Buddha. Since Hán Yù attacked Buddhism and denounced Laozi, later Confucians have all failed to grasp the principle that the Three Sages share a single source. In their writings, they routinely dismiss Buddhism and Daoism as heresy — leaving the one called "Hidden Dragon" with an injustice none can redress, and the sage of the Western Mountains with a song too lofty for any to join.

Worse still, those in monks' robes and Daoist caps have sunk ever lower, with few who have attained anything. In this final age, all Three Teachings are thus. If you wish to engage the Confucians of the age, you must first, from the "Heaven" of "what Heaven decrees is called Nature," clearly separate Principle from Qi. First expound the One Thread of the Heaven of Qi, open up the degrees of Heaven, and elucidate the source of Transformation. Then the traffic between the Root of Heaven and the Cave of the Moon, the news of the expansion and contraction of spirits and ghosts — from the rising and descending, deduce the Two Forms; from the Two Forms, divide the Four Images, Eight Trigrams, sixty-four hexagrams, and the three hundred sixty-five and a quarter degrees of the full circuit.

The Great Transformation circulates: above it drives the constellations, below it upholds the great earth, in the middle it threads through all beings. The single yang of "Return" is the odd, and the numbers of "participating in Heaven" arise. The single yin of "Meeting" is the even, and the numbers of "pairing with Earth" appear. Pitches, measures, weights, capacities; the Hé Diagram, the Luò Writing, the hexagrams and lines; the numbers of the counting rods — none do not derive from this one root dividing into ten thousand branches.

Where Qi is distributed, Heaven is present. Where Qi is everywhere, Heaven is everywhere. The yang qi rises from zǐ to wǔ — one hundred eighty-two degrees and more. From the seven days of "Return" — the six dragons of latent, emerging, vigorous, leaping, flying, and excessive have their basis. The yin qi descends from wǔ to zǐ — one hundred eighty-two degrees and more. From the gradual treading of frost — the six hexagrams of Meeting, Retreat, Standstill, Contemplation, Stripping, and Earth have their subtlety.

When the yang qi rises and beings ride it to transform — kites soar to the sky, rats transform into bats. When the yin qi descends and beings ride it to transform — fish leap in the deep, sparrows transform into clams. The One Qi circulates, filling the cosmos — this is called "Heaven." At the moment of a person's birth, with the first cry, the Primordial Qi enters the body — this is called "Destiny." Governing the physical frame, it is called "Nature." Responding to the ten thousand changes, it is called "Heart." Stirred by the ten thousand affairs, giving rise to joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, love, hate, and desire — this is called "Feeling." Where the heart tends is called "Will." What the heart remembers is called "Intention."

All that flies, dives, moves, or grows receives this One Qi and lives — this is called "One Thread." Great, and nothing is left outside — this is "manifest." Fine, and nothing is left unpenetrated — this is "hidden." Pervading all that has form — this is "evident." Reaching through all that has shape — this is "subtle." Utterly true and without a master — this is "Sincerity." Filling Heaven and Earth — this is "the Great." Standing alone without leaning — this is "the Center." Giving to each thing according to its nature — this is "Harmony." Look and you do not see it; listen and you do not hear it; yet to every stirring it responds, and no call goes unanswered — this is "Spirit." Generating with the yang, destroying with the yin, shared by all things — this is the "Dao." To study the Dao and attain it in the heart — this is "attainment."

From the great cycles of Yuán, Huì, Yùn, and Shì, to spring and autumn, winter and summer, to the dark of the moon, the quarters, and the full, down to zǐ, wǔ, mǎo, and yǒu — all come down to one inhalation and one exhalation, matching the transformations of Heaven itself. This news — see it clearly, speak it truly. Investigate things and exhaust Principle; the inner sage and outer king; illuminating substance and reaching function. Extend it and stretch it, touch a kind and grow from it — and the work of the worthy is complete.

Yet all this is still the destiny of Qi-number, the nature of Qi-endowment, the origin of the human heart and the knowing spirit — not the original nature, not the nature bestowed from above, not the nature of human stillness at birth, not the nature of innate goodness, not the origin of the Heart of the Dao and the Primordial Spirit.

This Dao unites Heaven and humanity, with no gap between the manifest and the hidden. "Therefore the way of the noble one is rooted in one's own person, tested among the common people, examined against the Three Kings without error, set before Heaven and Earth without contradiction, presented to the spirits without doubt, and awaited for a hundred ages by a sage without confusion." Only then can one "establish the heart for Heaven and Earth, establish the destiny for all people, continue the lost learning of the sages past, and open the great peace for ten thousand ages."

If Heaven is understood as the source from which Nature comes, then the Three Teachings share one Heaven, and all things share one Heaven. If Heaven is not two, then there are not two. Know this, and "the Three Teachings returning to One" and "the ten thousand Dharmas returning to One" are not empty words.

Therefore it is said: "If the teachings do not return to One, they are not the Correct Teaching. If the Dharma does not return to One, it is deviant Dharma." This is the great body of Transformation itself. Therefore the sage, succeeding Heaven and establishing the Ultimate, proclaiming on behalf of Heaven — established rites to order, composed music to harmonize, punished to drive forward, rewarded to guide, corrected to unify, taught through learning, and led by personal example. Purging the errant heart, restoring the nature of Principle. Fathoming the spirit, reaching Transformation. Fulfilling the human and uniting with Heaven. This is the Dao by which the foolish aspire to the worthy, the worthy to the sage, and the sage to Heaven.

This instruction can be used to deliver the Confucians.

The Thirty-Ninth Instruction

Clever tricks and extravagant skills are what the sage-kings forbade. Therefore the ingenuity of Gōngshu and Mòdí did not earn a place among the sages and worthies. When Zǐgòng saw an old man carrying a jar to water his garden and suggested the lever-and-pulley method, the old man said: "I have heard that one who has clever devices must have a clever heart — and then simplicity is no longer whole."

The machines of the foreign lands today are not without their lightness and ingenuity, saving people limitless effort. But know: when people are at labor, they think — and from thinking, the good heart arises. When people are at leisure, they become dissolute — and from dissoluteness, the evil thought arises. Recently the telegraph lines in Jiangnan have been struck by lightning several times. Clearly, clever devices provoke Heaven's displeasure.

We who study must always take propriety and righteousness as our shield. Diligence compensates for clumsiness; frugality nourishes integrity; learning dispels ignorance; loyalty instructs others; sincerity reaches Heaven; the Dao saves the world. What the sage-kings forbade is what Heaven forbids. In simplicity and solidity, following Heaven and riding the times — naturally this world may be transformed into the age of Yao and Shun, and its people brought to benevolence and long life. Therefore clever tricks and extravagant skills are absolutely not permitted to be studied.

In ancient times, Chīyóu could conjure fog to cover the sky, but was slain by the Yellow Emperor in the end. The Yellow Turbans could ride their straw mats through the air, but could not escape capture by the Three Sworn Brothers. The Dao can turn back Heaven — evil cannot overcome the righteous. Why should we fear them?

The Fortieth Instruction

The student should know: our Dao reveals what the former sages left sealed and supplements what the former worthies left incomplete. Not only does it unite the Three Teachings — the Heaven of Principle truly transcends the Three Teachings. Not only does it encompass the ten thousand Dharmas — the Limitless is truly the ancestor of the ten thousand Dharmas.

When the Dao is great, the world cannot contain it. When the song is lofty, few can join in. Those who carry out this Dao should hold to the resolve of "withdrawing from the world unseen and feeling no regret." If one can truly enter this Dao, the world will naturally be transformed.

The Forty-First Instruction

The student should first read the Book of Changes and the Huangjijingshi. Once the beginning and end of Heaven and Earth and the transformations of all beings are clear in one's breast, one will not be led astray by heterodox teachings and side-gates.

The Forty-Second Instruction

The student must first thoroughly study and penetrate the Heaven of Principle and the Heaven of Qi — only then will one understand the origins of Principle-Nature and Qi-Nature. The One Thread of Heaven and humanity, and the precise destination where they meet and connect. Perfecting oneself and perfecting others, step by step on solid ground. Only then can one stand as a pillar in the middle of the current and hold back the waves that have already turned.

The Forty-Third Instruction

The student must study the three hexagrams of the Nine Heavens. Know that the pure yang of Qián tells us the constant motion of the fixed stars — and the root of the Qi-surplus is found. Know that the single yin within Lí tells us the next-swiftest motion of the sun. Know that the two yins and one yang of Kǎn tell us the moon moves slowest of all.

The swift one circles the earth once per day, and exceeds one degree. The next-swift one circles the earth once per day, but falls short of the fixed stars by one degree — after three hundred sixty-five and a quarter days, it meets again at the initial degree: this is the Qi-surplus. The slow one falls short of the fixed stars by thirteen degrees and seven-nineteenths per day — therefore the moon's heaven takes twenty-seven and a half days to meet with the sky, and twenty-nine and a half days to meet with the sun: this is the New-Moon-Void.

This is the division of the three hexagrams. For although the heavens are one circulating Qi, the higher and lighter-clearer move swiftly, and the lower and heavier-turbid move slowly — until at the Kūn of Earth, there is no movement at all. That the Nine Heavens and the Earth's four cardinal hexagrams divide into twelve lines is a secret of the calendar unrevealed in all of antiquity. Twelve lines mean twelve layers of heaven — and the non-deviation of the calendar is found within them. The science of the Calendar is a matter within our school. The student must not be ignorant of it.

The Forty-Fourth Instruction

A single point of numinous light is the essence of the Three Teachings. I fear only that those of the lower vehicle cannot see deeply enough. The student must first clearly elucidate: the true treasure and the false treasure and the half-true, half-false treasure; the true body and the false body and the half-true, half-false body; the road to the Heaven of the Limitless, the road to the Heaven of the Supreme Ultimate, and the road to Hell; the body that is constant and does not change, and the body that changes yet has constancy; and "Námó Guānshìyīn Púsà," and "Luminous Virtue," and "Principle-Nature."

When these are made clear, students will have no more doubts. Then further elucidate: "when occupied, guard against lustful thoughts" to tame the tiger; "when idle, guard against stray thoughts" to subdue the dragon. The Three Flowers gather of themselves; the Five Qis return to the court of themselves — the wonder of this! Elucidate it clearly and practice it truly, and every person becomes a Living Buddha.

The Forty-Fifth Instruction

Those who spread the Dao should each master a practical trade. Divination, medicine, geomancy, and the study of dwellings — all can sustain the body and fill the stomach, and so enable one to stay long in a distant land. "A long road tests the horse's strength; long days reveal the human heart." In time, the truth becomes clear of itself. If one has no means of livelihood and depends only on the contributions of the two collections — how can the work be sustained? Therefore, in opening the way, one must first have a plan for sustaining oneself. Only then can there be success.

The Forty-Sixth Instruction

A great man can bend and can stretch; true learning can be practiced anywhere. Fù Yuè was raised from among the builders of rammed walls. Jiāo Gé plied his trade among the fish and salt. Zǐxū begged for his food; the Grand Duke sold divinations — and both became generals and ministers. Let all students take heart from this.

The Forty-Seventh Instruction

The student should know: this work fulfills the unfulfilled vow of the Three Sages and completes the unfinished merit of all the Buddhas. This is nothing like the frontier-breaking that was all name and no substance. When one person is true, all are true. Carry forward the sages of the past; open the learning of the future. Gather the great completion of all the sages; break open the primordial vista. Restore the flourishing age of Yao and Shun; ascend the direct path to benevolence and long life. Merit that covers the cosmos; fame that reaches to distant lands. Bringing glory to the past and blessing to the future, the incense burning for ten thousand generations. The Dao accomplished in Heaven, the name remaining in the world — it is in this one stroke.

The Forty-Eighth Instruction

This Dao is the great matter of opening Heaven and gathering Heaven, the colossal record of tracing the origin and returning to the end — the true enterprise of becoming a sage, a worthy, an immortal, or a Buddha. Therefore, five hundred years ago, Heaven determined the register. Two hundred years ago, letters and messages were dispatched. Forty years ago, the frontier was broken and the seeds were sown.

In the age of dispatching letters, only scriptures were left behind — teaching people to chant and beat and recite, seeking the Dao on paper rather than transmitting it. In the frontier-breaking, the Dao was transmitted but not the true Dao. For decades the practitioners of the Dao ran to the ends of the earth. How many ruined their families? How many lost their lives? How many were exiled? Enduring slander and destruction, keeping vegetarian until their mouths were bitter, severing affection and cutting ties — how many tears were shed, how many sighs heaved! Hoping for clarity that never came, nearly accomplished but never complete, wanting to gather but unable to gather. The "Nine-Turn Golden Elixir" — so beautifully described! Yet the men trying to slay the White Tiger found the Tiger ever more fierce. The women trying to subdue the Red Dragon found the Dragon ever more coy. Men unmarried, women unwed — achievement unrealized, fame unbuilt. Neither the village ahead nor the inn behind.

When students saw that the Kǎn-Lí practice did not work, each burrowed into their own theories: fishing for the moon at the bottom of the sea, tapping bamboo to summon the turtle, strumming the zither to lure the phoenix, taking thirty hours to fix the black lead — going further wrong with every step. Add to this: spirit-writing in this place, channeling in that place; "gathering" here, "assembly" there — coaxing the men and women of the earth until their feet never touched the ground. This patriarch, that patriarch — and in the end, all of it nothing but painted cakes.

In this present age, the side-gates and petty daos, the heresies and deviant teachings, cause deeper harm than even Yáng Zhū and Mò Dí. This is precisely the moment when the seeker of the Dao arrives at "the mountains exhausted and waters spent, believing there is no road — when willows are dark and flowers bright, and another village appears."

Now I take the heart-method of the Three Sages and point directly to the true transmission: aligned with the "following Nature" of the Doctrine of the Mean, the "Luminous Virtue" of the Great Learning, the "Unity of Principle and Form" of the Diamond Sutra, the "Three Grades, One Principle" of the Heart-Seal Scripture, and the "exhausting Principle and fully realizing Nature to reach Destiny" of the Appended Commentary. The method of entry — I clarify it to the bottom. It enables those who behold it to become Buddhas, those who receive it to become immortals, those who cultivate it to become sages.

Investigating things and exhausting Principle — like Cook Ding carving the ox. Discerning right from wrong — like Bó Lè judging the horse. Distinguishing the Human Heart from the Heart of the Dao clearly — this is the first step of cultivating the true. Seeing the Heaven of Principle and the Heaven of Qi — this is the final destination of accomplishment.

The One Thread of true transmission has the division of the Pass of the Worthy and the Domain of the Sage. Fulfilling the human and uniting with Heaven has the distinction of the Heaven of Principle and the Heaven of Qi. The Unchanging, the Changing, the Exchanging — penetrating back to before Fuxi drew the first trigram. The Limitless, the Supreme Ultimate, the Imperial Ultimate — tracing back to before Pángu emerged.

Call the odd and the even to penetrate "Return" and "Meeting" — what need for the tortoise and the dragon to produce the Hé and Luò diagrams? Separate the yáng-soul and the yīn-soul into the old and the young — what need for the yarrow stalks to cast the hexagrams? The gradations of kin-to-kin and worthy-to-worthy — the establishing of rites did not begin with the Duke of Zhōu. One as the yáng pitch, two as the yīn pitch — the composing of music, why must it be Líng Lún? Prohibiting what has not yet occurred, applying what has already occurred — the Classic of Rites is the body of the law. The settled as the canon, the unsettled as history — the Thirteen Classics are the one source of the world.

What works, follow; what fails, reform — decreasing excess, increasing deficiency. The worthy upholds the canon; the sage exercises expedience — founding change, maintaining constancy. Principle is Non-Action; Qi has good and evil; Form involves fabrication. Principle does not change; Qi changes; Form exchanges. Principle gives birth to Qi; Qi gives birth to Form — at the Hour of Zǐ, Heaven opens. Form returns to Qi; Qi returns to Principle — at the Hour of Wǔ, the Dao is transmitted. Emperor yields to Sovereign, Sovereign to King, King to Hegemon — one root, ten thousand branches. Hegemon becomes King, King becomes Sovereign, Sovereign becomes Emperor — ten thousand branches, one root.

See it clearly, speak it truly, accomplish it — and you are a sage or worthy. See through it, let go, awaken thoroughly — and you become an immortal or Buddha. Guide the stagnant harbor, lead the dead river, return all to the sea of the Dao — merit equal to the Great Yǔ. Sweep away the heresies, break through the side-gates, together build the Heaven of Principle — a legacy surpassing the Second Sage.

This is the great method of the Gathering and the Fruition.

Ha ha! Laughing, laughing, ha ha! The four great continents are all one family.

And the forty-eight instructions are complete.

Colophon

The Forty-Eight Instructions of the Patriarch (祖師四十八訓) is a foundational doctrinal text of Yiguandao (一貫道), written by the fifteenth patriarch Wang Jueyi (王覺一, also known as Beihai Laoren 北海老人, "the Old Man of the North Sea") in the eighth year of the Guangxu reign (1882 CE) during the late Qing dynasty. It is the intellectual charter of the movement: a comprehensive exposition of the Dao as the unity underlying Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, covering cosmology, cultivation, organization, and the eschatological mission of the final age.

First translated from Classical Chinese for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. This is a Good Works Translation — an original rendering from source, not a reproduction of existing scholarship.

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

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Source Text: 祖師四十八訓

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.

第一條

　　吾人當知，斯道乃生天、生地、生人，生物之大體；成佛、成仙、成聖 、成賢之大用，會通三教，貫徹天人；有無顯微，體用合一，中邊本末，事 理兼該。是道也，以覆冒萬物而言，則謂之「天」。以主宰萬物而言，則謂之「帝」。以真實無妄而言，則謂之「誠」。以萬物共由而言，則謂之「道」。以無所不理，各得其理而言，則謂之「理」。在天謂之「天理」，在地謂之「地理」，在物謂之「物理」，在事謂之「事理」。是理也，以賦畀而言，謂之「命」。以稟受而言，謂之「性」。以應酬萬變言，謂之「心」。心之所之謂之「志」。心之所憶謂之「意」。感於萬事，而生喜、怒、哀、樂，謂之「情」。千名萬號，不可枚舉，究其本源，莫非「一理」之流露也。故無生真宰，把「理性」散將下來。何謂「理」之究竟？中庸云：「性即理也，理即五常也。」學者必先窮乎「理」，而後可以盡性，未有不明乎「理」，而能盡性者，未有不能盡性而能返本還原者。

第二條

　　凡傳「窮理盡性」之道者，必須尊師重道，謹嚴授受，方不致將前賢至 尊至貴之道統，自我而賤；後緒之繼承任重，自我而輕。

第三條

　　末後一著，乃千真之嫡派，萬聖之命脈也。見者成佛，修著成聖。必須 上根上器，大德之子，方能承受，無緣無份者，難使信受也。故曰「若是根薄緣分淺，難入龍華古道場。」不信者可不必強傳也。

第四條

　　無為正法，乃「色裡之真空，無中之妙有；豎窮三界，橫亙十方；迎之 不見其道，隨之不見其尾。」而造次第，有清淨法身，圓滿報身，千百億化身之分。清淨法身者，充實而有光輝，乃大人造詣之境也；本於地度。圓滿報身者，大而化之，聖人造詣之境也；本於宗動天之度。千百億化身者，聖而不可知，神人造詣之境也；本於至靜不動天之度。三次傳授，與之分清別濁，講明盡人合天之道，確有把柄。此所謂：「一法包含無量法，一門闢破萬般門。」高出一切，然後可以收復一切。不明是不足以掃千門而收萬教；三教歸一即萬法歸一也。

第五條

　　末後大道，乃發萬聖之未發，補萬賢之未備，道合三教，理貫人天，註 書立說，必須引經據典；合天、合地、合人、有理、有氣、有象、知理者， 可以制禮，而親親之殺，尊賢之等，方有條而不紊。知氣者，可以制樂，知 參天可以作六律；知兩地可以作六呂，而六律之隔八相生，五音之三分損益 ，有其源。而宮商角徵羽之五音與君臣民事物之五等，與夫十宮之周天，有 其本矣。再明伏羲之卦，本於天地：文王之卦本於伏羲。孔子交易，乃合天 地、伏羲、文王而一之。易未畫時，易既畫時，天地在易。未有不知天地而 知易，亦未有知易而不本於天地者。夫然後上推往古，下推將來，以一貫之 也。不明乎此，而註易經者，皆伏羲、文王、孔子之罪人也。

第六條

　　學者言過去、未來、現在，必以堯、舜、禹、湯、文王三代以上為過去 的道統，為傳道之春。此時五百年必有王者興，其間必有明世者，故曰：「九劫成道」。太上、釋迦、孔子為現在之傳統，由老子至今三千餘年；釋迦、孔子至今不足三千年，截長補短，合為三千年。其間分：正法一千年，相法一千年，末法一千年。現在之世為傳道之夏。

第七條

　　凡辦道者，必須通達元會運世之嫡傳，然後可講過去、未來；如不明乎 此，而妄談未來之事；是為自欺欺人，乃道中之罪人也。

第八條

　　無極天、太極天，乃理性、氣性之源。太極、兩儀、四象、八卦、六十四卦、三百八十四爻、萬有一千五百二十策，悉本於此。一本萬殊，萬殊一本；絲絲入扣，扣扣皆絲；如不明理、氣源流，而妄談性命者，皆孔、孟之罪人也。

第九條

　　凡傳道者，必須洞明：「窮理盡性」、「一合理相」、「三品一理」之 理，到底為何事？然後可以掌道、傳道。如不然，揠苗助長，上之得罪於聖賢，下之為害於將來；不同三教聖人，是為異端邪說。

第十條

　　斗牛官之說：有天上斗牛宮，有地下斗牛宮。道統之傳二花發西川鋪錦 繡，月明北海慶風雲。」花發西川者，乃道光初年，千元甲子，九紫當運。 西川乃天上「井、鬼、柳」之分，為離宮初度；地下之坤宮。為十二袁祖道 傳成都，正當九紫之運。故夏九姑娘通天：夏者、夏至也。九者、紫數也。 姑娘者、中女也。「離」乃先天乾位，後天姤位；故曰：「西乾」。袁祖為乾元之體，向後五年一爻，至金公為「剝」卦；至花根滿三十六，為六六之數，而陽盡陰純矣。故金祖之後，二女掌道，乃坤爻之偶數。自癸西至丁丑，五年六十月，坤爻已終。正當上元甲子，一自當運，青齊乃上天「女、虛」之分，地之艮宮。一陽生於子，三陽成於艮。北海者，一自坎也。故曰：月明北海慶風雲」。坎宮為地雷復，卦之「震、艮」，坤為先天之震，故曰：「東震」。西者、西川，東者、山東。

第十一條

　　當時有毀滅三教者，凡中國學人，必須將三教聖人之心法命脈；宏其中 ，肆其外，徹底講清，實踐深造。即佛門「南無」二字，可以闡明三易、一貫。學、庸、及九重天、天外天；本然、氣質、人心、道心。及仙經、道藏、十三經中蘊奧，無入不通；絲絲入扣，若合符節；方可會通三教，貫徹天人；理服天下，然後能重整三教之道統。如不明乎此，而妄稱三教者，皆小言破道之習也。

第十二條

　　凡學習者，必須認理認道，而鸞筆之事，有正有邪，多有為其誤者。

第十三條

　　學者必須認理，虛心求教明人，自然至流為邪妄。

第十四條

　　凡千門萬戶，認理來歸者；必須聽從掌道之分派，將其所有之事合盤交出。將道理、性理講通，方不至於差之毫厘，謬之千厘，自誤誤人之弊。然後因材器使，交於憑據；方成一團和氣，一道同風，庶幾與道有益無害。方為助天闡道，而為聖賢之亞流，仙佛之嫡派，光前裕後流芳萬古也。不依調度、偷道、盜道、妄傳、妄受者、誓願自己承當，與掌道者無干。

斯道乃三教合轍之秘，萬聖當歸之蘊。苟非上根利器，天資高，學力到，聞道早者，不能洞徹底裡。如孔聖之徒三千，身通六藝者七十二人，而一貫之道，顏、曾而外，知者落落。釋迦佛傳道西竺，說法四十九年，大小三百餘會，口吐五千四十八卷大藏經典，後來拈花示眾，一點禪機，惟摩訶迦葉，破顏一笑，靈山一笑，人天百萬，悉皆驚疑。由此觀之，「道」豈易傳之事哉！毫厘之差，千里之謬；以訛傳訛，愈傳愈訛，自誤誤人，其害有不可勝言者。如昔楊朱，墨翟，其文章志向，豈不與孔、孟齊肩並駕；只是理氣源頭，見之未悉；天、人開竅，知之未徹；即道行天下，摩頂放踵，難逃異諯之名。雖孝子賢孫百世，不能更改。嗚乎可畏也哉！庚辰條規，必傳授歸一者，恐學道稍有領會者，欲傳入「空色、有無、顯微、費隱，兩在測之際；範圍天地，曲成萬物之機。」不能窮源究委，焉能信手拈來，左右逢源。稍有訛傳，即誤善男信女；生死機關，性命大事；人己兩誤，九玄七祖皆受其累。吾非好勞慈逸，蓋恐他人不似我之盡心；是以傳道領袖，必吾親自拔取，庶幾免於訛謬也。

第十五條

　　財乃養命之源，易於起人貪心，貪心便成墮落。其及門之士，各方功資，必須分文報上；服食用度，自上領下，方為上下有序，財帛分明。若各方功資，不行交上，私自用費，以假公濟私論。

第十六條

　　佛有四種弟子，而比丘僧、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷，固同堂而受業。 周文二南之化，亦起自閨門。而修、齊、治、平之序，修身為齊家之本。而格物、致知、誠意正心，又為修身之本。凡同門道伴，其家人有願聞斯道者，大庭廣眾，同堂聽講，男左女右，勿許混雜。聽講畢，各歸各房，不准乾坤同室，不准坤道扶持；男女分清，各免嫌疑。如稍係戀念，便入墮落之途，人禽關頭，只爭一念。故孔子以勿視、聽、言、動。佛門以相，無人、無我、眾生、壽者。道門以常能遣其慾。而吾道以戒淫念、戒雜念，為降龍伏虎。詩三百，一言以蔽之，曰：「思無邪」。言雖不同，而義實一也。

第十七條

　　家有千口主事一人，一則理。國有三公莫知適從，二則亂。故五花十葉，必受命於當家一人，頂、保、引、證，恩執、眾生，受命於五花十葉，尊卑有等，上下有分，方可有條而不紊。如大小領袖，各自當家，不尊上命，是為混亂佛綱，公義責罰。

第十八條

　　事有常變，道有經權；開創、守成各有其宜。現今西乾道統，日就紊亂；三華以西為魔，西華以三華為魔，降至今日，三華之分，不知其凡幾；西華之分，亦不知為有凡幾，彼此爭論，一概成魔。故無皇聖中，降臨東震，倒掛金牌，更上換下，掃除一切有象，旁門小街，而同歸先天一貫，窮理盡性，至命大道。此「道」費隱兼該，顯微同源，明體達用，有序有條；非我親傳親授，不能泛應曲當。不能超出一切，焉能收服一切。再者十字手印憑據，他人未有全者；必吾親到方可服眾之心，釋眾之疑。故當時雖係收圓，實同開創，事無鉅細，必吾親自料理一番。迨至萬法歸一之後，分定然後制禮，此及通權達變之時，而非處常守成之時；仰眾悉知見諒，莫謂我攬權好事，予不得已也！

第十九條

　　聖賢學問，必本末兼該，體用並重。學有真實經濟，方可以處則獨善， 出則兼善。如：大禹之序疇，文王之翻卦，孔子之繫辭，邵子之經世，自風 后、太公、子房、武侯，以來原有一脈真傳；只是世風日下，學不歸真，其 學盡矣！今幸天不愛道，洩漏一線玄機；故性命工夫而外，制禮、作樂。易學、甲學、乙學、壬學、禽學、曆學，各有入門真法，學者必須各精一業，不必貪多，方可致用。然又必須誠實安分者，傳之方不致有遺害流毒，妄洩天秘之譴。

第二十條

　　現今千門萬戶，皆稱祖師，豈知真祖只有一個，餘皆烘名闡教，混度大 地人緣者。吾等逢人即度，其歸與不歸，無關輕重。自中洲會，燕南趙北， 江濱會，星盤已齊。今日逆水行舟者，無原人也。其各門之人，果係佛門棟 樑；必神差鬼使，預先有兆，見面聞風，爭先來歸。其不來者，必先前辦道 ，奢華枉費，敗壞倫常，名填黑籍者。末後大道，會三教而歸一，合萬法而 不二。得者成仙，見者成佛，修者成聖。【若是根薄緣份淺，難入龍華古道場。】不惟自己不進，反去阻隔他人有誤。無皇聖中，收圓大事，各人誓願，各人承當。【佛家一粒米，大如須彌山，誤了末後事，披毛戴角還。】

第二十一條

　　學道之人，必須仁義為本，忠信為先。在官者、忠於其職，靖恭爾位。 在野者、奉公守法。不許做宰殺、酒家、煙館、賭局、花柳敗類之絮，致玷 清規。至於三教聖人之道，雖係正事，然德修謗興，道高毀來；文王難免羑里之囚，孔子尚有陳、蔡之厄。故聖人云：「欲作精金美玉的人品，須從烈火中煉來；想成掀天揭地的事業，當自薄冰上履過。」不受苦中苦，難為人上人；不受魔難不成佛。「故天將降大任於是人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行拂亂其所為，然後動心忍性，增益其所不能。」古之修道者，皆然。今人何獨不然？疾風知勁草，板蕩識忠臣。歲寒然後知松柏之後凋也。長春真人曰：「為人誰不遭魔劫，不似西方荊棘多。」又曰：「道高一尺魔千丈，心猿全憑用力降。」存其心，養其性，所以事天地。夭壽不二，修身以俟之，所以立命也。

第二十二條

　　自十二袁祖、五老之後，各門雖高下不等，優劣各異，其無有真傳則一 也。其所傳者，不過取坎填離。開荒下手之法，其法真心用者：守上則虛火 上炎，不是取龔齒痛，就是眼目生災；守下則寒濕下注，不是涸冷沈寒，就 是遺精疝氣。大抵提太過，上實下虛，成戴陽之症，故後來取坎填離之功，亦不取用，不過只落得迷齋而已。然而開荒四十年來，領袖奔走天涯，割恩捨愛，傾家敗產，遭魔受難。繞得舖張中外，亦實可憐！現今 無皇親臨東震，傳此無上甚深微妙之法，實明心見性之嫡派，超生了死之捷徑；會三教而同歸一貫，合萬法而盡入中庸。理天、氣天，獨開千古之生面，人心、道心，確得萬聖之真宗。進步於百尺杆頭，上透三十三天；撒手於澗底崖畔，下照一十八獄。豎窮三界，橫五十方；真性充塞，周乎在在。千江有水千江月，月或有時而虧；萬里無雲萬里天，天或有時而蔽。真如佛性，雖視之弗見，聽之不聞；而實四維上下，有感斯道。「任他滄千萬變，無極真如鎮常存。」此乃末後一著：即一指躲閻羅之法眼。自達摩祖以來，即是此道。至慧能六祖得道有偈曰：「菩提本無樹，明鏡亦非台，本來無一物，何處惹塵埃。」又曰：「釋遊從此絕宗風，儒明得吾萬法通；末後三期開普渡，正心誠意合中庸。」至後來因開荒下種，故傳取坎填離。上乘法門，以待末後方傳，通天徹地，無、太、皇，三極一貫之道，方可三教歸一，萬法歸一，而成收圓結果之大事也。

第二十三條

　　太極、皇極之事，已有數家憑據；實不敢交給，恐生貪妄，致起爭端。故先交於五行、十地之位，待後事業做出，再侯上天定度，吾不敢妄加批評。

二十四條

　　現今憑據在吾掌握，當時之家，必須讓吾先當，才有統緒者。不如此，難言一道同風。待後事定，功成自有天人公論。吾即退老林泉，他人當家主事，亦所情願。但當時吾若縮首退步，讓於他人執掌，不惟天下人不肯來歸。即吾所度星盤中人，必不依從此理，勢之必然也。吾豈好為人師哉！

第二十五條

　　現今吾道四京通行，吾註之書，北、東、南、三京刊板，吾即不爭大小。吾門弟子，會通三教，貫徹天人者，指不勝屈，吾等豈肯輕拜他人為師。 吾之不辭當家者，順助天道也。高盧之險，吾豈不知，吾不得已也。

二十六條

　　手印合同，乃龍華三會之憑據，漢上雲城之路引，必歸吾道者，方可與 交。道不同不相為謀，吾來度他，他欲自外吾，奈何哉！

第二十七條

　　吾之傅道，一不換人三師，二不改人六師。吾不過講明大道，收圓了意 ，助人成功。軒轅黃帝曾拜七十二師，聖人云：「學無常師」，而各門中人 多聞太師王伯黨為此者謬矣！當初道統，原是 無生老中建立，至道光二十五年，收為瑤池金母，今日 無生老中，因金祖歸空，開荒事罷；故親臨「東震」，轉盤換象，安排收圓 大事，好救九二原人。凡辦道，吃的、穿的，所傳之道，所當之住，皆是 無生老中的，天地所賜的，如今 老中親自臨凡，救度原人，收圓證果。而學道之士，竟忘了無生寶地；安名 立號，依功定度，依因結果；高增菩提，永緒長生。嬰兒見娘，漂舟到岸； 孤客還鄉，一概忘卻。將 老中所命之人，以敵人待之，以親為仇，何不通之甚也！ 「上天難壞無生中，人間費盡古佛心。」古有其言，今竟有其事，可哀也哉！

第二十八條

　　所謂手印憑據者，為同門師友相認之識別也。現今千門萬戶，賢愚不等 ，淑慝各異，雖同名曰：「道」而「道」實有天淵之別。如無憑據合同，何 能辨別真偽？不但懼不肖者，詐騙財產；尤恐混入匪類，受其連累。孔門弟子，千秋萬古，皆成一家。現今吾道，遠近皆知；有此憑據，不但當時可以同道相親，彼此關照，即至日久年遠，師生道友之後人，亦執此相認。此吾之所以不避嫌疑，立此之相認憑據也。凡有此憑據者，即同道；無此憑據，又當別論。

第二十九條

　　凡學道者，當明師徒之大義：以及天、地、君、親、師五恩並重。故君 在臣無權，父在子無權，師在徒無權，今之為徒者，今日得道，明日即想權 歸於己。夫與君爭權，謂之奸臣。與父爭權，謂之逆子。與師爭權，謂之叛徒。夫學道之人，捨恩愛者，為成聖賢佛仙也。焉有不忠所事，而能成仙成佛成聖成賢者，眾各勉之。

第三十條

　　吾「道」乃三聖之嫡派，萬法之真宗。親奉 無皇聖中之敕旨，玉皇大帝之大帝之牒文。三曹會議，千真萬聖，搭手助道；一赦即登覺路，一指便通天界大無不包，細無不貫，知有無之同源，明事理之一致。守一、歸一、貫一、瞭若指掌。明心、存心、修心、顯若列眉。 註書立說，毫無纖塵，句句道破真空性，講道論德，確有的歸，言言透徹賦性天。闡理學、數學、象學之真宗。 千古獨開生面。剖不易、變易、交易之蘊奧，萬代可做法程。窮則獨善無愧。尚志達則兼善。乘時立功，存悲天憫人之心，挾補天濟人之道。而淺學無知之輩，縱以橫逆相加；吾以無心處之，道之將行也，歟命也！道之將廢也，歟命也。人不知而不慍，君子無入而自得焉！

第三十一條

　　乩筆之事，吾不敢不信，不敢全信。如若有不信，無生老中，命我之事，即閒言冷語，後來無不應驗。再如李老夫子所傳之易卦、太乙及參易變方，愈久愈信，其真若此者，豈可不信？至於老中在山東親命三極，而太極早歸，又換一太極；皇極雖有其人，亦未知是否？至今諸般大事，仍是我等承當，現今又出幾家太極、皇極。今吾左右為難。欲說皇極所用改天換地、未來卦爻是真，又不在情理。正與有不知過去、現在，而能知未來者。吾豈敢順一時之人情，誤大地之善信，惹後世之笑談，造彌天之大罪！吾欲待不信，又有乩筆之命，吾既不敢誤人，又豈敢誤神？吾有一法可辨真假，可定從違。李老夫子所傳經濟之學，吾未明之處， 懇求指示，如果乩筆之能明顯講出，即敢真信。再者，掌太極者，能傳太極之道。掌皇極者，能傳皇極之道。吾即認真合辦。如此，方可內不失己，外不失人，上不失神，下不誤世。

第三十二條

　　凡吾門學人，不准讀非聖之書，不准無用之學。明體者，當以金剛經、清靜經、大學、中庸、讀熟講通，自能於性命心源有益。達用者，當熟讀易經、河、洛；明卦爻之吉凶，知陰陽之消長，識五行之生剋，達奇正之變化，曉休咎之趨避，然後方有經濟，至於禮樂，政刑、諸子百家；十三經、二十一史、天文、地理之浩繁；各隨其材學，不求其多，當求其精；那怕千著會，只怕一著熟。

三十三條

　　諸家丹經，惟參同契，悟真篇，與一氣之流行，日月之盈虧，頗有見解 。而吾之三易深源、一貫探源，已賅括其義過之。如欲看來亦可，如欲不看亦可。其男女、龍虎、鉛汞、鼎爐、火藥之寓言；淺見者，多妄憶錯會，流入旁門。吾人既得末後一著，最上一乘之法；三教聖經，足可證驗。諸般丹經法不可用也。

第三十四條

　　丹經所言，九轉金丹者，因先天之乾坤，變後天之坎離，取坎中之陽， 陽為九，故曰：「九轉」。九轉即是還陽補離成乾，則曰「金」。日月會合，煉作混元一氣則為「丹」。故先天以乾坤，為性命。其曰：龍虎者，因先天之「離」居東，為青龍。天之「離」居南，為赤龍。先天之「坎」居西，為白虎。後天之「坎」居北，為黑虎。坎為中男，為嬰兒。離為中女，曰奼女。意能運使，曰黃婆。此東三，南二，中近五，之三家也。究其所以，不過以離坤為性，坎氣為命，神氣合一，即是性命雙修。儒家以凝神息命為入手，是修上一關，帶起下二關，無為唯近路也。道家以積精息念為入手，是修下一關，透出上二關，有為之遠路也。此為真水、真火九轉金丹，九轉還陽丹，九轉紫金丹，龍虎大丹，太乙還丹之真訣也。神為火，企為藥，陽升為「活子」。烹煉有地，採取有時，為「候」。小周天，本於日月盈虧。大周天，本於一氣之流行。日月象也，流行氣也，象為質性，氣為氣性，總是「天命之謂性，率性之謂道」。性即理之性，成陽降衷之性，人生而靜之性，證之中庸無聲無臭之天 。金剛經離一切相之佛性。清靜經空無所空之性。 故末後之道，悉本於三教聖經為入手，達乎理天，氣天為了手，方可以盡人合天，優入聖域。而後窮理盡性，窮神知化，大化聖神之造詣，次第，方可腳踏實地，為三教嫡派，萬世之標準也。

三十五條

　　道本一理，原無二教，因為人生之氣質有清有濁，根有利鈍，見有高下 ，識有明暗，學有深淺，師有真假，而三乘之法，正旁之別分矣。教者初見之時，當現身說法，彼以丹經入者，當與談真性命，真火藥，及降龍有法， 伏虎有術，築基煉己，溫養沐浴，脫胎神化有訣。講透一切，然後闢破一切，掃去一切，漸漸引入真如佛性，彼方心服口服。如不談彼之所有，彼滿腹意見，反以我道為不通也。

第三十六條

　　此深入佛海者，不可與之談有為之法，有象之法。若談有為，彼曰：「一切有為法，如夢幻泡影。」與之談有象，彼曰：「凡所有象，皆是虛妄。」必與之談「西來大意」，「音前薦取，語後當承；說話當人」，此三義，與之講明：過、現、未來，一合理相，真如佛性；自爾豎窮三界，橫亙十方，而超出威音那畔；為永劫常存，永不退轉之金剛體、般若性、菩提子、無上正等正覺之正法。知法相無相，妙無不無，卻有實在；方可高不入於頑空，下不流為執相。擔荷正法，大振宗風，而為通宗合教，辭理兼優，隨方演教，無量渡人，天人師表，大覺法王。再為之講明：「六字真言」，及「觀音」之大用，「常」「變」方可以渡佛門高僧。

三十七條

　　學人當知，道本無名，強名曰「道」。法本無為，強名曰「修」。金剛經曰：「無法可說，是名說法。法尚應拾，何況非法。無法可得，名阿羅漢。無行可行，名須萻菩提。一切聖賢皆以無為法而有差別。」佛法離一切相，不得真傳者，多入頑空而不達應作如觀之作用，一合理相之實體，無上正等正覺之究竟。故吾傳道，先指明真如佛性，諸法空相；通天徹地，不生不滅，不垢不淨，不增不減之實理。此「理」，人之本有，現現成成，因拘於氣稟，蔽於物慾，迷真逐妄，背覺合塵，忘其固有，流浪生死。故教以有事戒淫念，無事戒雜念之法；二念淨盡則神合虛空，超出三界外，不囿五行中，而為萬劫不壞之大覺金仙也。

第三十八條

　　與時文之儒，無兼通博覽之學者；切不可與之談仙經、釋典，成仙、作 佛之語。蓋自昌黎闢佛毀老以來，後之儒者，皆不達三聖同源之理。其著書之說，動以異端，歸之佛、老致令注下猶龍，沈冤莫伸；西山聖人，曲高和寡。更見緇衣、黃冠之輩，愈趨愈下，鮮有達者；末後之世，三教皆然。欲與時儒接訪，必須先自「天命之謂性」之天，理、氣分清。先講氣天一貫，鑿開天度，闡明化源；則天根月窟之來往，神鬼屈伸之消息。即升降而推兩儀，由兩儀兩分四象、八卦、六十四卦、三百六十五度四分度之一、之周轉。大化流行，上運星斗，下托大地，中貫萬類。「復」之一陽為奇，而參天之數生。「姤」之一陰為偶，而兩地之數顯。律、度、量、衡；河、洛、卦、爻。著策之數，莫不由此一本而分萬殊。氣之所布，即天之所在。氣無不在，即天無不在。陽氣上升，自子至午，一百八十二度有奇，由七日之復，而潛、現、乾、現、乾、躍、飛、亢之六龍有據矣。陰氣下降，自午至子，一百八十二度有奇，由履霜之漸，而姤、遯、否、觀、剝、坤之六卦有微矣。陽氣上升，乘氣而化者，則鳶幾戾天，鼠化為駕。陰氣下降，乘氣而化者，則魚躍於淵，雀化為蛤。一氣流行，充塞宇宙，謂之「天」。人生之時，囡地一聲，元氣入身，謂之「命」。主持形骸，謂之「性」。應酬萬變，謂之「心」。感於萬事，而生喜怒哀樂愛惡欲，謂之「情」。心之所之，謂之「志」。心之所憶，謂之「意」。飛潛動植，咸稟一氣而生，謂之「一貫」。大無不包，謂之「費」。細無不貫，謂之「隱」貫乎有象，謂之「顯」通乎有形，謂之「微」至真無宰，謂之「誠」塞滿乾坤，謂之「大」獨立不倚，謂之「中」因物付物，謂之「和」視之不見，聽之不聞，有感悉通，無求弗應，謂之「神」。陽生陰殺，萬物共由，謂之「道」學道而得於心，謂之「得」大而元會運世，次而春秋寒暑，再次而晦朔弦，以及子午卯西，都來一呼一吸，亦合用天造化。此箇消息，視得到，說得出；而格物窮理，內聖外王，明體達用，引而伸之，觸類而長之，賢人之能事畢矣！然此猶氣數之命，氣質之性，人心、識神之所自來；而非本然之性，降衷之性，人生而靜之性，性善之性，道心、元神之所自來。此道天人合一，顯微無間。「故君子之道，本諸身，微諸庶民，考諸三王而不謬，建諸天地而不悖，質諸鬼神而無疑，百世以俟聖人而不惑。方可為天地立心，為生民立命，為往聖繼絕學，為萬世開太平。如天為性之所自出，則三教一天，萬物一天；天無二則無二；知此則三教歸一，萬法歸一，非虛語矣！故曰：「教不歸一，便非正教；法不歸一，即是邪法。」此造化之大體也。故聖人繼天立極，代天宣化。則制禮以節之，作樂以和之，刑以驅之，賞以引之，正以一之，學以教之，行以率之。格其非心，復其理性。窮神達化，盡人合天。此由愚希賢，賢希聖，聖希天之道也。此條可以度儒。

第三十九條

　　奇技淫巧，聖王所禁；故公輸、墨翟之巧，不入聖賢之班。子貢見老者抱甕灌涯，子貢教以桔槔之法。老者曰：「吾聞有機事者，必有其心，則淳樸不完。」現今外洋機器非不輕巧，省人無限之力；而不知人生也，勞則思、思則善心生：逸則淫、淫則惡念生。最近江南電報，數遭雷打，可見奇巧之事，犯天之忌。吾等學人，總以禮義為干櫓。勤可補拙，儉可養廉，學可破愚，忠可教人，誠可通天，道可濟世；凡聖王所禁亦上天之禁。樸素渾堅，順天乘時；自可化斯世為唐虞，登斯民於仁壽。故奇技淫巧，概不准學。昔日蚩尤能造迷天大霧，終為黃帝之戳。黃巾能駕蓆靈難逃三義之擒。道可回天，邪不勝正，吾何畏彼哉？

第四十條

　　學者當知，吾道乃發前聖未發之秘，補前賢未補之蘊。不但會通三教，而理天實超三教之上。不但包含萬法，而無極實為萬法之祖。道大莫容，曲高和寡。辦此道者，當存遯世不見而不悔之志。果能入於其道，自然天下化成。

第四十一條

　　學人先讀易經，及皇極經世。於天地之始終，物類之變化。胸有成竹，方不為異說旁門所惑。

第四十二條

　　學者必先將理天、氣天，講熟參透，方知理性、氣性之來由。天人一貫，洞會交連之的歸。成己成人，步步腳踏實地。方可作砥柱於中流，挽狂瀾於既倒。

第四十三條

　　學者必將九重天之三卦：知「乾」之純陽，則知恆星之行健，而氣盈有 其根矣。知「離」之中含一陰，則知日輪之次健。知「坎」卦之二陰一陽，則知月行最遲。行健者，一日繞地一週，而過一度。次健者，一日繞地一週，而不及恆星一度；歷三百六十五日四分日之一，復會於初起之度，為氣盈。行遲者，每日不及恆星十三度，十九分度之七；故月輪天二十七日半，與天會。二十九日半，與日會，為朔虛。此三卦之分。蓋為天雖一氣流行，因高者輕清而行速；下者重濁而行遲，至地之坤，則不行矣。九重天與地之四正卦，分作十二爻者，千古曆法，未發之秘。十二爻則十二重天，而歲不差在其中矣。「曆法」一學門中之事，學者不可不知。

第四十四條

　　靈光一點，為三教之宗。只恐下乘之人，見地不到。學者必先將，真寶、假寶、半真半假之寶、及真體、假體、半真半假之體、無極天路、太極天路、地獄路、常而不變之身、變而有常之身、及「南無觀世音菩薩」，及「明德」、「理性」講清，而學人自不疑惑矣！再講明：有事戒淫念之伏虎，無事戒雜念之降龍；三華自聚，五氣自朝之妙，講明行真，則人人盡成活佛矣！

第四十五條

　　辦道各習一業，卜、筮、醫及地理、陽宅，皆可營身糊口，方能久住他 鄉。路遙識馬力，日久見人心，久而自明。若無一點生業，只靠兩盤費，如 何辦得過？故開道必須事有營身之計，方可有成。

第四十六條

　　大丈夫，能屈能伸，真學問，無地不可。傅說舉於版築之間，膠膈行於 魚鹽之中。子胥乞食，太公賣卜，俱成將相之業。學人其各免之。

第四十七條

　　學者知此事，乃了三聖未了之願，成諸佛未成之功。不比開荒之有名無 實。一人真則人人真，繼往聖，開來學；會群聖之大成，闢鴻濛之生面；挽 唐虞之盛世，登仁壽之直途。功蓋宇宙，名垂異域；光前裕後，香煙萬代； 道成天上，名留人間，在此一舉。

第四十八條

　　此道乃開天、收天之大事，原始、返終之鉅典。成聖、成賢、成仙、成佛之真業。故自五百年前，上天定就腳冊；二百年前，捎書傳信；四十年開荒下種。捎書傳信之世，只留經卷，教人敲打唱唸，紙上尋道，而不傳道。 開荒下種，傳道而不傳真道。數十年來，使辦道之士，奔走天涯；傾家者、不知凡幾？廢命者、不知凡幾，徒流者、不知凡幾？遭毀受謗，吃齋熬口；捨恩割愛，不知流了多少眼淚？不知發了許多嗟嘆！盼明不明，已成不成，想收不收。九轉金丹，分明說的好聽，只是男子斬白虎，而白虎愈見狂猖；女子降赤龍，而赤龍仍然妖嬌；男不婚，女不嫁，功不成，名不就。前不歸村，後不歸店。學者見坎離功夫不成；各自鑽研，海底撈月，敲竹喚鱉，鼓琴引鳳，三十時辰，定黑鉛，愈行愈錯。又兼此處飛鸞，彼處通慧；這裡收圓，那裡赴會。哄的大地男女，腳不粘地，此祖彼祖，到頭來盡成畫餅。當今之世，旁門小道，異端邪說；較之楊朱、墨翟，為害尤深。此正修行人，行到「山窮水盡疑無路，柳暗花明又一村。」吾今將三聖心法，直指真傳，與中庸之「率性」，大學之「明德」，金剛經之「一合理相」心印經之「三品一理」。繫辭傳之「窮理盡性以至於命」，下手之法，徹底澄清；能使見者成佛，得者成仙，修者成聖。格物窮理，如庖丁之解牛；辨事與非，若伯樂之相馬。人心、道心、辨得明，為修真下手之初程。理天、氣天、見得到 ，為成功了手之究竟。一貫真傳，有賢關、聖域之分；盡人合天，有理天、氣天之別。不易、變易、文易、徹羲皇未畫之前。無極、太極、皇極，推盤古未出之始。呼奇及偶通復姤，河洛不須龜龍？魂陽魄陰分老少，卦爻何勞蓍策？親親殺殺賢賢，制禮不自周公。一為律二為呂，作樂何必伶倫？禁未然、施已然，禮經乃律法之體。已定經、未定史，十三為世之一源。可則因，否則革，多損少益。賢守經，聖達權，創變守常。理無為，氣善惡，象則造作。理不易，氣變易，象則交易。理生氣，氣生象，子會開天。象還氣，氣還理，午會傳道。皇降帝、帝降王、王降伯、一本萬殊。伯變王、王變帝、帝變皇、萬殊一本。見得到、說得出、做得成，即是聖賢。看得破、解得脫、悟得徹，便成仙佛。導斷港、引絕河、同歸道海、功同神禹。掃異端、闢旁門、共造理天，業超亞聖。此收圓了意之大法也，哈哈笑、笑哈哈、四大部洲共一家。而四十八條完矣。

Source Colophon

Source: 善書圖書館 (Morality Books Library, taolibrary.com), category9/c901.htm. The Chinese text is presented as transmitted by the tradition. The site states: 歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通 — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate." The text is also available on Chinese Wikisource (zh.wikisource.org) and is in the public domain (Qing dynasty, author deceased over 100 years).

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