A Spirit-Writing Teaching by Ji Gong (濟公)
One Golden Thread (一條金線, Yītiáo Jīnxiàn) is a comprehensive Yiguandao (一貫道) catechism delivered through planchette divination (鸞訓) by Ji Gong — the Living Buddha, the Crazy Monk, the beloved folk saint — under three of his many names. The golden thread (金線) is the central metaphor of Yiguandao theology: the invisible line of transmission through which the Dao descends from heaven to earth, passing from patriarch to patriarch, connecting the Eternal Mother to her children. This text IS the thread made word.
Across fifteen chapters, Ji Gong teaches the complete path: what the Dao is, why it descended, how the transmitting Master proves his mandate, what cultivation requires of the self, the family, and society, the relationship between the living and the dead, the meaning of the planchette altar itself, and the final fruit of cultivation. Three speakers appear — the Drunkard Hermit of the Lake (湖隱酒狂), the Living Buddha Ji Gong (活佛濟公), and the Mad One of the Southern Screen (南屏濟顛) — all names for the same immortal saint. A fourth speaker, the Wondrous Numinous Heavenly Lord (靈妙天尊), takes the brush for one section. Between each speaker's session, a palindrome poem (廻文) marks the transition — verses that can be read both forwards and backwards in Chinese.
The Chinese source text is from taolibrary.com (善書圖書館), Category 52 (一貫道經典二), which states: "歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通" — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate." This is the first English translation. A Good Works Translation — translated from Chinese for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Gospel register.
I. What Is the Dao?
The Drunkard Hermit of the Lake takes the planchette.
Sincerity of purpose stirs the vault of heaven.
Looking far ahead, the road stretches on and on.
Hurrying, the mind moves toward new horizons —
urgently, the heart recalls the old village.
Dew congeals, the wind blows, the moon drifts down.
Clouds scatter, the mist clears, the setting sun glows.
The days grow longer as spring turns to evening.
Green, green the leaves — the willow tips turn gold.
(Palindrome)
I am the Drunkard Hermit of the Lake. By decree I come to the altar, bow before the Lord, and leave these chapters of instruction. Ha ha!
The great Dao has no form —
its creation threads through all things.
Passed down as a secret treasure,
cultivated, the sage is made.
The Dao is Principle. The truth of the Infinite. The origin of heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things. Therefore all matters without exception have their principle, and all things are born from the Dao.
Tracing back to the Age of Yin, when humanity was born, and all creatures were brought forth after — this is the One Root scattering into ten thousand branches. When Fuxi descended into the world and first drew the single stroke that opened heaven, humankind began to understand the ancestral source of the Dao. Through the Two Emperors and Three Kings, the subtle teaching was transmitted in succession. The three great sages received the Heavenly Mandate in turn, each illuminating the sacred Way, each vowing to guide the children of the Buddha back to the ancestral home.
Now, at the end of this final age, the Dao and the world-cycle unfold together. Truly this is the ten thousand branches returning to the One Root.
Yet the Dao is also a road. To walk, one must have a road. Without a road, no step can be taken. How pitiful that living beings bury themselves in sensory pleasures, lose their original bright spirit, and sink endlessly into the sea of suffering.
I wish all my disciples would deeply embody the meaning of the Dao, conduct their affairs in accordance with heavenly principle and conscience, follow the straight road forward, fulfill the human way, and thereby align with the heavenly Way.
But sacred teaching is adapted to each person. Because each person's roots differ, the teaching likewise differs — hence the division into three vehicles. Were it not for this Third Period, this age of universal salvation through the Dao's transmission, the supreme vehicle would not easily be heard. The sudden teaching, the true Dharma — those who receive it have deep and weighty karmic affinity. Embody your original nature constantly. Nourish your virtue. When the Dao is complete and the fruit is ripe, you transcend the ordinary and enter the sacred.
Ha ha!
One principle flows forth — ten thousand fathoms of newness.
Living energy, vivid and stirring, warns those lost at the ford.
The east wind drifts in and blows across all things.
Insects and grasses and trees all feel the grace of spring.
Along the bank, willows wind the turning road.
In the clear pool, fish leap through to heaven's truth.
The empty valley lies still — few human tracks.
In the mountain forest, serene, the birds cry out.
The pine-wind rustles and startles the crane from its dream.
A curtain of moonlight mirrors the mind of meditation.
The four seasons show only spring at its best —
at such a time, cherish the passing light.
Gold once lost is easily found again.
Youth once past has nowhere to be sought.
All things from the beginning follow heaven's command.
The Dao threads through all things — Principle is supreme.
True emptiness, non-action, contains the wondrous within.
It nurtures all beings — the Dao bestows its grace.
The sacred Way, though formless in its essence,
has form and image that all spring from its root.
Trees grow lush in dense abundance,
but if the root is dead, the tree cannot endure.
Fish swim living and lively in the water,
but when the water dries, the fish must lose their lives.
Humanity has within it a true sovereign.
The Lord bestowed the spirit-light — wisdom deep and bright.
How many follow their nature and walk the great Way?
How lamentable that fools remain lost in their hearts.
They have lost the root, forgotten the source — the waves roll on.
They plunge into the sea of suffering, sinking deeper still.
Within your body lies the Dao — who awakens to it?
These errors have caused the Eternal Mother endless grief.
The true Dao stirs the sleeping, descending by heaven's decree.
The three assemblies of Buddha-children all share in its grace.
Remember: the vows you swore before the Buddhas still stand.
Only by fulfilling them can the great aspiration unfold.
At every moment, hold the Dao and follow your nature forward.
Do not chase sensory pleasures and dim the soul.
All worldly things are but the golden millet dream.
How can a sojourner in this dust endure forever?
Having received the point, know your nature, know the reason why.
Bright virtue — every person has it — draw near to the people.
Transform the ancient rites, restore the way of Yao and Shun.
One Way, one wind — everywhere, spring.
The Dao is vast and Principle is subtle — words cannot exhaust them.
The wise embody them, awaken to the sacred sound.
All mystery arises from within the Dao itself.
Only the worthy can search these depths with care.
Your teacher has briefly explained this much.
Disciples: follow the Dao and do not chase illusions.
II. Why the Dao Descended
The lost lamb wanders a dead-end road.
The crags are steep — no way out.
Show it the true shortcut,
and the bodhi-nature returns of itself.
The reason the Dao descended in this age is truly this: the Eternal Mother, in her compassion for her children, saw that her remaining souls had long been lost in this world of dust, driven round and round through birth and death, ever turning on the wheel. She grieved that her good and faithful ones had all lost the bright and luminous nature of their spirits, that they clung to appearances and forgot the source to which they were meant to return. She considered the magnitude of their transgressions, reaching to heaven, and saw that catastrophe and ruin had spread across the earth. All living beings, day after day, drowned in water and burned in fire — truly pitiable.
By the grace of the Eternal Mother, the wondrous truth of the Heavenly Way was transmitted to meet the turning of the cosmic cycle and accomplish the great work of gathering all souls home. The fool lies drunk in the sea of suffering, but by good fortune encounters the great vessel of universal salvation. If only one can embody the true purpose of the Dao's descent, build merit and establish virtue — then one may repay karmic debts and dissolve old grievances, and never again sink into the abyss.
Ha ha!
The dust of battle rolls and rolls — calamity returns again.
Looking far at the human world, swords and spears are drawn.
The great earth, rivers and mountains — who is the master here?
The people can barely survive — clouds of sorrow press low.
The trials of the eighty-one are suffering without end.
Three disasters, eight calamities spread across the world.
All things lie desolate and broken.
The Dao and its virtue are lost — little kindness remains.
A world like Peach Blossom Spring, where Qin's chaos cannot reach —
where today can such peace be found?
Seeing the state of this world stirs the heart.
My breast is full of bitter feeling, hard to name.
My grieving heart would weep, but the tears will not come.
How laughable that the blind and dull remain without a sound.
The human world deserves to be called a living hell.
To enjoy a moment's ease — ten thousand times impossible.
Heavy taxes, costly grain — the common people suffer.
Rice precious as pearls, firewood dear as jade — everywhere the same.
All living beings chase the phantom world.
Busy, busy — not willing to pause for even half a moment.
Drunk and deluded, how deeply sunk — how pitiful!
The blind riding blind horses, still galloping on.
The spirit, in a foreign land, a stranger among strangers,
suffers turn after turn of the wheel — how wounding!
Read the times, seize the moment — wake from the spring dream.
Be swift of foot — the other shore holds joy without end.
The gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall.
Therefore, align with what is right and respond to what comes.
Heaven spreads wide its virtue of cherishing life.
And so the golden thread descends — the road of the Dao is open.
The Master himself was sent to transform all beings.
In the dark road, a bright lamp shines.
Having been bathed in heaven's grace and the Teacher's compassion,
this fortune across three lifetimes is no light matter.
Do not despair or abandon yourself — be brave.
Embody heaven's true intent and carry it out.
Now that the true purpose of the Dao's descent is clear,
fulfill the human and align with heaven — embody the truth.
Cultivate thus, and you aspire to the sages.
Why worry that the world will not find peace?
I wish my worthy disciples would diligently reflect.
Know that this auspicious hour does not come easily.
Sun and moon shuttle back and forth, morning turns to dusk.
Not an inch of light stands still.
Each of you has spirit — rouse it now.
The great responsibility must be accomplished by yourself.
III. The Proof of the Transmitting Master
Descending in response to the age, he falls into the red dust.
Bearing the mandate, he delivers heaven and earth.
The proof of the enlightened Master's virtue —
those who awaken are the ones who truly hear.
Since ancient times, many have cultivated the Dao, yet those who received the true transmission are exceedingly rare. This is because the enlightened Master is so difficult to encounter. The enlightened Master is one who inherits the Dao lineage and descends in response to the age to save the world. Your teacher personally received the Heavenly Mandate, descended in reverse incarnation to the mortal realm, and manifested as the Patriarch of the Bow and String — pointing directly to the original nature, awakening the original self, and delivering all beings as his fundamental vow.
In this final age, he bears the heavy responsibility of gathering all three realms. He inherits heaven's virtue and spreads it universally. His radiance illuminates the three worlds. Not only do living beings depend on this to escape their suffering — even the true immortals of the breath-heaven and the ghosts of the underworld manifest among the living, earnestly requesting deliverance. Moreover, the heavenly design was revealed long ago: those who have received the Teacher's grace — it cannot be fully told in writing.
The transmitting Master is no empty talk. The very proof that one receives transcendence over life and death confirms the Master's truth.
Ha ha!
The sea of sin is vast and vast — wave linked to wave.
The Crazy Monk steers hither the ship of rescue.
Heaven's compassion alone can hold the rudder steady.
He cries the call of universal salvation — "Return to your homeland!"
Were it not by heaven's mandate and heaven's mission,
through how many storms would the boat have already capsized?
The final gathering — this is the day of emergence.
And so heaven's envoy, the Teacher, descends to the mortal world.
The Confucian classics and sacred texts all prophesied this.
Nowhere do they fail to match the ancient predictions.
All Buddhas, all Patriarchs assist the Dao together.
Heaven's mandate, immortals and saints shoulder the Teacher's burden.
He elucidates the Dao and grants the gift of the flying planchette.
Wonder upon wonder, mystery within mystery.
The worldly paths number in the thousands and ten thousands,
but all acknowledge the Patriarch of the Bow and String who gathers the harvest.
True Dao, true mandate, true person — he carries it out.
One point from the enlightened Master — at once you transcend.
First, subsidiary teachings were sent to lead people to goodness.
The final move settles all three realms.
Ten thousand teachings return to one — the true face revealed.
Hand in hand, they go to greet the Mother — what boundless joy.
Heaven's truth gathers the harvest, and the sacred names are hung.
What was foretold is now fulfilled — Principle does not shift.
Reviewing the old to know the new, one may serve as teacher.
Inheriting the Dao lineage — how can this be empty talk?
Those of great virtue must receive the mandate.
From heaven itself it is proclaimed — grace is wide.
A hundred generations await the sage without doubt.
Penetrate the true design and you can know heaven.
We fulfill the vows the ancient saints left unfulfilled.
We carry out heaven's work — and heaven assists us.
Disciples bow sincerely every day,
but only the true Heavenly Mandate can bear this weight.
If you can deeply reflect and embody this,
you will know you are not the same as common folk.
Embody the true meaning, know the true face.
The true Dao, the true Principle — transmitted through all ages.
In the final age, the Heavenly Way spreads far and wide.
The three realms, all without exception, are bathed in the Buddha-light.
No matter how far your cultivation has gone,
without receiving the one point, it is all in vain.
Immortals and ghosts alike are delivered in one body.
All return to the root, escaping the furnace of suffering.
Such sacred virtue, bestowed on all three realms —
how can the cultivator's heart not be devoted?
Engrave this on your heart and carry it always.
Drink the water and remember the source — embody the true transmission.
True Dao, true trials — do not let your heart be fearful.
With one heart and shared virtue, follow the natural way.
Discern clearly whether the Master is true or false,
and cultivating this great Way will not be difficult.
True and false, false and true — it rests on your own faith.
It all depends on yourself — reflect and participate.
Your teacher speaks a few words — may you receive and awaken.
The deep and subtle places — embody the true mystery.
I set down the jade brush at these few lines and bow.
I take my leave of the Heavenly Chariot and return to the Southern Screen.
Ha ha! Withdraw.
(Palindrome)
Reflect and participate — within the essence, refine still further.
The far-reaching transformation prepares for building merit.
Nine-tiered lotus, tier upon tier, unfolds its blessings.
The ten perfections, place by place, are spiritually clear.
Words of the sage are transmitted — honor the Teacher's virtue.
Nature and life are heaven's gift — revere the Lord's brightness.
Going forward, one must truly establish one's resolve.
The mystery of embodying the Dao — awaken and purify the heart.
IV. The Aspirations of Cultivating the Dao
The Living Buddha Ji Gong takes the planchette.
First, give rise to the vow with sincere faith.
Embody its meaning through earnest practice.
Repay the Buddha's grace with true devotion.
Carry it out — and build extraordinary merit.
All living beings — each has their own aspiration. Since you are a person who cultivates the Dao, you should carry a heart that cultivates the Dao. Considering that you received your mandate from heaven, you must carry it out here in the human world. Rectify yourself and perfect others. You must complete your own mission, consistent from beginning to end. May you fulfill the achievement of this lifetime.
How pitiful that living beings suffer in misery beyond the power of watching. By rare fortune, you encountered this extraordinary chance and boarded the shore of the Dao. I cannot bear to enjoy the Buddha's compassionate protection alone. May every person escape the sea of suffering. May each one board the vessel of compassion. The ninety-six billion, all in one boat, crossing together — returning to the root, restoring the source.
Set forth your vows and advance. Establish your resolve and do not waver. From beginning to end, consistent and whole. Fulfill the vows you swore before the Buddhas. Perfect yourself, perfect others. Return the spirit to its home.
When you arrive at the Dragon-Flower Assembly, the Buddha-children gathered together, you behold the Mother's face, you ease the Mother's heart. By your merit, your station is determined. You bring glory to your lineage. You honor your ancestors and shelter your descendants. Your aspiration is fulfilled. Only then can you say: the Dao is accomplished in heaven, and the name endures on earth.
Ha ha!
By good fortune, born in the Third Period, you have boarded the far shore.
Heaven's grace, deeply received — the Teacher's virtue is vast.
Transcending life and death, escaping the sea of suffering,
never again to fall into the six paths of the wheel.
A drop of water received from another —
repay it with a gushing spring, to show your utmost sincerity.
With compassionate heart, the saving heart never wearies.
Wading through the world to deliver others, waking the deaf and blind.
Why fear the wind that combs and the rain that washes?
Why fear carrying the moon and wearing the stars?
May the vow be deep and vast — to save the great thousands.
May all the Buddha-children at last return to the ancestral home.
Those who achieved the Dao — the immortals, Buddhas, and saints —
why do their names stand forever in the cosmos?
Because they had the unyielding, unshakeable will
and the power to embody the vow and carry it out.
A person without aspiration is a boat without a rudder —
swaying east and west, unable to find its level.
Set forth your vow, and heaven beholds it.
The immortals and Buddhas secretly assist you to great accomplishment.
Looking far at the world of dust, at the deluded children —
still they lie deep in their thick and heavy dreams.
All beings are drunk; I alone am awake.
All the world is muddy; I alone am clear.
At this time, if you still refuse to open your sleeping eyes,
I fear that when you wake, it will already be dawn.
Better to embody the Teacher's will and act in time,
fulfill your duty and deliver the lost.
Unite knowing and doing — fulfill the heart's vow.
Let word and deed accord — carry utmost sincerity.
Though they say what is past cannot be mended,
know that the future can still be pursued.
If truly you embody the Teacher's intent like this,
the Teacher's heart rejoices and assists your accomplishment.
All that is my duty is also your duty.
All that I should carry out, you all should carry out.
Speaking only with the mouth produces no result.
When words and deeds diverge, how can the Dao be achieved?
Deliver the world with pure sincerity and earnest effort,
and in the future you will become a little Crazy Monk yourself.
V. Cultivation and the Self
Cultivation cannot be apart from the body.
Forging iron cannot be apart from the anvil.
When heaven and humanity become one thread,
the Dao's supreme honor is revealed.
The Doctrine of the Mean says: "The Dao is that from which one cannot depart for even a single moment." It also says: "Cultivate the self through the Dao."
Humanity is the most spiritual of all things, and this is because the five virtues are complete within us. If we do not follow our nature and walk the Dao, then we waste this human life. But if we can borrow this body to practice the Way, there will surely be blessings in abundance. Stir the heart toward evil, and there will surely be misfortune in abundance. With the Dao, the heart is correct and the self is cultivated. Without the Dao, the family is shattered and the person destroyed.
All worthy disciples — since you are children of the Dao who have received the Way, you must especially establish yourself and practice the Dao. Though you endure hardship for a time, you will surely gain everlasting joy. But if you stumble for a careless moment and fall into a crooked path, chasing the current and drowning always in the sea of desire — the regret will last a thousand ages. The future outcome is beyond imagining.
Better to embody the Teacher's instructions, establish yourself, and practice the Dao. Then you will not have wasted this extraordinary chance.
Ha ha!
Heaven and earth are empty, all things are empty.
A human life, faint and small, lodges within the cosmos.
How many brushes with the dust of the world draw compassionate tears.
The lost child still will not open their eyes.
Morning and evening, toiling in the streets —
see how fame and fortune are a prison-cage.
How laughable the fool who enters the trap.
Who is like my Teacher, who has seen through everything?
Everywhere, following conditions, passing the months and years.
No attachment, no hindrance, the mind at ease.
Meeting what comes, settling where one is — the joy is boundless.
Not a single worry hangs upon the chest.
Make no waves upon the world,
and no ice or embers will lodge within the heart.
When the water is muddy, wash my feet.
When the water is clear, rinse my tassels.
Following conditions, following the lot, following the occasion — delivering all.
Not carrying the mortal world's slightest startlement.
If anyone learns from me to see through it all,
I guarantee your lotus seat can be attained.
In all things, embody the Dao within.
Rectify yourself, perfect others, and transform the lost.
The Dao is not far from people — people distance themselves.
Deep in the thicket of pleasures, they bury the bright spirit.
Your own radiance — the true heavenly nature —
is veiled by material desire, layer upon layer.
But now you have received the enlightened Master's point.
You must awaken and hold fast to the true emptiness.
Guard the square inch with utmost sincerity.
Sweep away all falsehood and pretense.
A pole planted casts a shadow — how clear and obvious.
As night follows day, the shadow follows the form.
Heaven observes and scrutinizes all — nothing escapes.
Cultivate the self, discipline the self, embody the Dao and walk it.
When you understand this truth, embody it with all your heart.
Do not waste this rare chance — build merit swiftly.
An auspicious hour is hard to meet and easy to lose.
A human life is easily spent and hard to come again.
If the great and good season passes empty and void,
then comes the time of nothing but drifting tears.
The Teacher tells you these compassionate words — disciples, understand them deeply.
Know them and carry them out — do not let go.
The self and the Dao are bound together in the weightiest bond.
Borrow the false to cultivate the true — let the heavenly nature shine.
If in this life you do not save this very body,
then in what year, what month, will you escape the red dust?
Take good care of yourself — the great vessel helps.
With single-pointed spirit, from beginning to end — see it through.
VI. Cultivation and the Family
In recent times, storms have risen.
Family affairs — disordered, how?
If everyone dwelt within the Dao,
the home would be a nest of peace.
The red dust rolls and rolls. The sea of sin is vast and vast. Everywhere, calamity reduces lives to ashes. In every home, affairs lie in disarray. Fathers and sons are not close. Husbands and wives are not in harmony. When you seek the true cause, it is all because the Dao has been lost.
If you wish for the family's fortune to prosper, for high and low to live in harmony, you must teach them with propriety and align them with the Dao. Let the old be at ease and the young be sheltered. Understand the substance and apply the function. Let one person in the household become the standard-bearer, advancing all — and soon every person will become a model, carrying out the good together. The family will glow with auspicious signs.
I hope my worthy disciples will not carry the title of cultivation in vain. Embody the substance of cultivation. Then the sacred work will continue without end.
Ha ha!
The road of the world is steep and rugged, how blazing hot, how bitter cold.
Day by day it slides downhill — most pitiful.
In every matter, confusion and turmoil — the people suffer.
The ancient virtue is extinguished — little order remains.
The winds of Europe and the rains of America dazzle the eye.
Who keeps the Dao and its virtue fastened to the heart?
They have thrown away the ancient rites three times over,
chasing the false, abandoning the truth — drowning in the vast ocean.
The immortals and Buddhas go everywhere to rescue the human heart.
Great compassion, broad and vast, delivers the ten directions.
But the lost ones will not turn their heads.
The sages and Buddhas labor in vain.
Filial piety, fraternal respect, loyalty, trustworthiness — who can understand them?
The ways of the world, the feelings of people — who sees them clearly?
They know only how to covet fame and scheme for profit,
chasing false reputation and swallowing conscience whole.
The heart is venomous as a scorpion — yielding to no one.
They stake their lives to fight and seize, betraying the eternal truth.
Brothers in the same household raise the sword against each other —
how pitiful, even siblings at war within the walls.
The ancient way is lost, the human bonds dissolved.
And so within the family, catastrophe arises.
Where malice gathers, the family declines and falls.
Where harmony gathers, the family shines with blessings.
If everyone could embody the Dao in their cultivation,
why worry that the family will not be at peace?
The heavenly way and the human way must both be fulfilled.
Do not lose the root — be a worthy person.
Within the home, practice warmth, goodness, respect, frugality, and yielding.
Let the human bonds bring joy and gladness.
In all matters, endure within endurance.
Do not let your temper have its violent way.
When you can bear it, bear it then yourself.
Wash the heart, cleanse the thoughts, let wisdom's nature shine.
Disciples, deeply embody the true meaning and carry it out.
Then you will not have failed this single chapter of instruction.
I speak no more at this point and take my leave.
I set down the brush, depart the altar, and return to the heavenly hall.
Ha ha! Withdraw.
(Palindrome)
Misty clouds arise — how many hills lie clear.
Long I sit, idly blowing a small flute across the breeze.
When the mystery is grasped, one constantly embodies the Way.
When self and other both are gone, what joy remains.
Listen closely to the stream — the great river sounds far off.
The moon sets, the rosy clouds float — the night air is clear.
Surrender all worldly feeling — then the poem turns wondrous.
Gentle, unbroken, the harmony — one note of the warbler.
VII. Cultivation and Society
The Mad One of the Southern Screen takes the planchette.
All things gather and assemble.
The only wish: that society find peace.
Conduct your affairs by heavenly principle.
The method of the Dao — embody naturalness.
Society is the place where human beings live and gather together. Because no person can live alone, we must come and go with one another. Therefore the courtesies of dealing with people and handling affairs are indispensable. Without the constraint of the Dao and its virtue, conscience is extinguished, the ruinous wind blazes high — just like the evil customs of today. All covet fame and scheme for profit, intriguing and scheming, each harboring unfathomable motives. And there is yet another kind who care nothing for their reputation, knowing only the pursuit of profit. As a result, the order of society is thrown into chaos. They regard the law of cause and effect as superstition. They treat the study of the Dao and its virtue as decadence. And so they brew the catastrophe that reduces all beings to ashes. How deeply lamentable.
To rescue this condition, one must promote the Dao and its virtue. Therefore Mencius said: "When the world is drowning, rescue it with the Dao." How true are these words!
Now, by the grace of Heaven's love of life, the golden thread descends universally to stem the ruinous tide, restore the ancient rites, transform evil into good, transform the foolish into the wise. Extend and fill this to the fullest — then all under heaven is uplifted. The order of society, without being governed, settles into peace of its own accord.
But today's people mostly regard cultivation as useless to the world. Little do they know that it is precisely the essential element of society. I hope all will reflect once more. Then they will know that these words are not in error.
Ha ha!
Study the past, observe the present — the wheat and tares divide.
The state of the world evolves and changes — ever sinking, sinking.
The ruinous wind brews an unprecedented catastrophe.
Nowhere in the human world is free from groaning.
Faster and faster the slide downhill — the ancient way is lost.
The human heart turns perverse and cruel, spinning like a wheel.
The coming and going create sins that reach to heaven.
Ruin spreads across the land — where can one find safety?
Every land lies desolate — suffering without limit.
Those struck by catastrophe are all the ones whose number has come.
The way of the world has declined this far already.
Nations in disorder, people in despair — all nursing broken hearts.
The Eternal Mother sent down the Dao to deliver the faithful.
She transforms the Buddha-children back to the village of joy.
The wind of this age is not what it was before.
The gap between past and present is like heaven and earth.
Those who have not confirmed the Dao for themselves
let slander and gossip flow as they please.
Clever words and a pleasing face — all disorder virtue.
A human face with a beast's heart — the spirit-root betrayed.
I hope all worthy disciples who have received the Dao
will embody the meaning of the Way deeply in their affairs.
Loyalty and forgiveness as the heart, compassion as the root.
What you would not want for yourself, do not impose on others.
The sacred Dao universally delivers — one wind transforms all.
Discipline the self, restore propriety, and all returns to goodness.
It is not the Dao that makes people great — people make the Dao great.
Embody heaven, practice virtue, and be sincere throughout.
With one compassionate heart, hold the tender feeling.
Practice the Dao, deliver the world, transform the lost at the ford.
I cannot bear that living beings suffer in catastrophe.
Everywhere, proclaim and transform — rescue the human heart.
When the Dao is in the world, all share peace and joy.
Society naturally becomes an everlasting spring.
In the old days of Tang and Yu, the people were at ease —
all because Yao and Shun were rulers who possessed the Dao.
Those who cannot penetrate the true Way
can never find their everlasting spring.
Those with resolve — marshal your spirit now.
Proclaim and spread the sacred Dao throughout heaven and earth.
The great Dao, in its substance and function, contains all goodness.
Nothing is too subtle — search these depths with care.
I wish my disciples, with utmost sincerity, would stem the mad tide.
The vessel of compassion goes everywhere, delivering the worthy and true.
Your own responsibility — do not abandon it.
With diligent heart and earnest effort, assist the Teacher.
VIII. Cultivation and the Immortals
Immortals and Buddhas are the bright spirits themselves.
Sent by heaven to assist the Dao's spread.
The fool still lies dreaming,
never recognizing what lies within.
At this time when heaven opens its literary destiny and secretly draws the worthy — this is the period when the enlightened Master receives the command and descends into the world in reverse incarnation. He dispatches all the immortals and Buddhas of heaven to assist the Dao, to jointly settle the three realms. Hence the practice of the flying planchette was established, manifesting everywhere, startling the lost multitude awake, displaying transformations at every hour. The immortals and Buddhas — their bitter purpose in saving the world! But the deluded disciple treats the Buddha as superstition. Truly pitiable.
Worthy disciples — since you have penetrated the true meaning of the immortals and Buddhas, you should know: the spirit's attention and regard cannot be measured or conceived. You are at all times under the observation of the immortals and Buddhas. Since you have made cultivation your own business, first you must revere heaven and earth, honor the spirits and the luminous. You must not profane anything before the Buddhas. The slightest carelessness, even for a moment, will hinder the progress of the Dao's work.
Ha ha!
Non-action, true Principle — wondrous and profound.
Heaven is originally without words, but borrows human words.
The virtue of the immortals and Buddhas — how mighty it is!
Subtle, wondrous, penetrating, all-encompassing.
In this final gathering, on the day of harvest,
heaven's mandate and the Buddha-ancestors jointly assist the work.
Everywhere they manifest to warn the lost.
Throughout history they endure the world's dust for the sake of heaven and earth.
The immortals and Buddhas save the world without wearying.
But the fool — how many can truly see through it?
Heaven's grace and compassion bestow sacred virtue.
The morning bell and evening drum shake the Southern World.
All because living beings are trapped in the sea of suffering —
a thousand Buddhas, ten thousand ancestors bestow their tender mercy.
With great voice and urgent cry, they summon the faithful.
"Do not linger beneath the great locust tree on the southern bank!"
Now is the time to carry out the Eternal Mother's work.
The immortals and Buddhas assist in every place.
The Heavenly Mandate that was transmitted is no small matter.
With sincere heart, bravely and swiftly step forward.
At every moment, carry the sincere thought.
Let faith be unmoved and the Dao-mind firm.
A sincere heart — the immortals and Buddhas observe it themselves.
Not an inch of merit will betray your heart's field.
I admonish you, worthy and true — you must awaken.
The Court of Principle and its laws are deeply strict.
Do you know of the Department of Laws, my disciples?
Lord Guan's rewards and penalties are entirely impartial.
The slightest arrogance and you bear the consequence.
Inviting demons and drawing trials — empty self-pity.
With united heart and utmost effort, fulfill your vows swiftly.
Do not disappoint the warm heart of the immortals and Buddhas.
The worthy and talented have aspirations — let them unfold.
Honor the Teacher, treasure the Dao — do not turn them upside down.
Diligent and cautious, seek perfection.
Then no demons or trials will come to your door.
The immortals and Buddhas test you in every place.
The immortals and Buddhas assist you in every place.
The immortals and Buddhas are present everywhere and nowhere.
Their mystery cannot be seen with mortal eyes.
Embody the Teacher's good counsel and walk the great Way.
Do not fail this period's encounter with the extraordinary.
IX. Cultivation and the Departed
Fulfill filial piety and fraternal devotion completely.
Pull the departed spirits from the pit of suffering.
Know that their karmic debts
still require you to repay them.
The proverb says: "The tree desires stillness, but the wind does not cease. The child wishes to honor the parents, but they do not remain."
When you consider the grace of father and mother — limitless and vast — though Mount Tai is high and the ocean is deep, they cannot compare.
To serve one's parents with morning and evening attentiveness, to serve them in life according to propriety — this is filial piety of the physical body. Yet the physical body has a limited span. How can it endure forever? Therefore the Confucian sage said: "Be careful at the end, pursue the far." And the Buddha-ancestor taught: "When one child achieves the Dao, nine generations of ancestors ascend to heaven." Both speak of filial devotion to the departed.
Now, by heaven's grace and vast compassion, the Heavenly Way is proclaimed universally, pardoning even the ghosts of the underworld. All three realms are delivered together. By heaven's mercy, those disciples who have built merit are permitted to elevate and deliver the departed spirits. But the deluded fool does not understand that elevating the departed is a great matter, and treats it as something vague and distant. As a result, the departed souls cannot find peace in the Buddha's court.
Worthy disciples, you must also understand deeply: the karmic debts of the departed rest solely upon the one who performs the elevation. If you do not build extraordinary merit and cultivate great virtue, then you cannot fully accomplish the task of filial devotion.
Ha ha!
Water has its source; trees have their roots.
All things have their origin; events have their cause.
Filial piety and fraternal respect are the foundation of being human.
When the foundation is established, the Dao is born — even spirits and gods are moved.
The crow feeds its parent in return — it knows the meaning of devotion.
The lamb kneels to nurse — it shows the filial heart.
In the heart, the five virtues crown all things.
Losing filial piety, losing fraternal respect — what difference from the beasts?
Serve and honor your parents with a filial heart.
Follow the parents' wishes and be a worthy and true person.
But this physical body cannot endure forever.
In the blink of an eye, it returns to emptiness, chasing the floating clouds.
Serve in life with propriety. Bury with propriety.
Sacrifice with propriety — let the heart be pure.
Paper ashes fluttering and dancing — what use in the end?
Empty weeping, blood tears filling the breast.
In life, there is wine — all should drink it then.
After death, how can you taste another drop?
Though the physical form returns to the void,
the true spirit, undimmed, endures forever.
Children wise and virtuous cannot take the parent's place in death.
The only thing is to deliver them by chanting the scriptures.
Now the Eternal Mother opens her compassionate gate.
She grants the departed souls permission to seek the sacred sound.
Those in the human world who practice the Dao for the faithful —
build merit, elevate spirits, deliver the departed souls.
Filial devotion to the nature-spirit — this is the great filial piety.
Such a thing is truly rare to hear.
Though it is said that elevation returns the spirit to the source,
know that the departed's transgressions rest upon their bodies still.
To build extraordinary merit is the hero's task.
Then the departed in the Buddha's court may rest at ease.
Your station in heaven is determined here on earth.
Heaven's tests, the world's trials — they judge the false from true.
Ask yourself: the responsibility is this heavy.
All the more reason to advance with vigor and repay the Teacher's grace.
The departed's rise or fall depends on you alone.
Build merit and establish virtue — it is born from human effort.
If truly you advance without retreating,
the departed will surely sing for joy.
Worthy disciples, attend to filial devotion and fraternal respect fully.
Do not waste the good season's precious time.
Continue the ancestor's craft, carry on their will.
Cultivate and perfect your virtue, perpetuate the good.
Set the example yourself and perfect all others.
Do not abandon yourself, do not procrastinate.
Fulfill your vow with speed — run toward the future.
Do not let the departed sink into perdition.
Do not disappoint the departed who wait in the Buddha's court.
Do not let the departed harbor a grieving heart.
Fulfill your filial devotion to the utmost completion.
Then you will not have failed the name of one who cultivates the Dao.
The Teacher ceases writing here. I bow and take my leave.
I return to the Buddha's gate.
Ha ha! Withdraw.
(Palindrome)
Return to the homeland — the time has come to turn the wheel.
Bestow virtue on heaven and earth — for this reason, return.
The crow shivers, perched in the tree — lost in distant smoke.
The wild goose shivers, flying through the sky — floating clouds remain.
Flowers fall in haste — still month after month.
Water flows on and on — still year after year.
Born from principle within — hold fast to wisdom's nature.
This good season, this encounter — fortune has its bond.
X. The Rules of Cultivation
The Mad One of the Southern Screen resumes.
The Buddha's rules are the precepts.
Do not treat them as a children's game.
Ask yourself: what is your vow?
Do not violate the will of heaven.
The Dao has its rules, as a family has its family rules. Without the compass and the square, one cannot form the circle and the rectangle. Therefore, all children of the Dao must observe every rule of the Buddha: honoring the Teacher, treasuring the Dao, respecting those who came before, taking these as the standard. At all times, keep the heart low, the bearing humble, gentle and warm. Extinguish the demonic fire. Do not hold onto resentment. Then you will naturally nourish your virtue and restore the bright spirit.
But if you do not honor and practice these rules, you cannot achieve the Dao or fulfill your vow.
Ha ha!
Great virtue, vast and long, the magnanimous spirit endures.
Boundless grace and kindness are given to the worthy.
Heaven does not withhold the treasure — the true Dao descends,
transmitted to the Buddha-children to return to the homeland.
Those with affinity swiftly board the shore of bodhi.
Those without it chase the waves and drown in the vast sea.
Having received the Dao, you must cultivate accordingly.
Honor the rules of the Buddha — do not be arrogant.
A thousand tricks and ten thousand skills — Gongshu the craftsman —
yet he still required the compass and the square to define the circle.
The Dao of Yao and Shun was perfectly good and perfectly beautiful.
They ruled by benevolence — it can be studied.
Worthy disciples, you bear the duty of carrying out the Dao.
First, set the example — follow the sage-kings.
Observe the rules of the Buddha — do not act recklessly.
Know that the great vow is your own to shoulder.
Before the Buddhas, you set down your vow — your forehead touched the earth.
In person, carry it out with endurance — bear with the Compassionate Mother.
To abandon the path halfway yields no result.
How could the name endure through all the ages?
Assisting the Dao should be like a river, long and flowing.
A gushing spring surges forth — but can it last?
Burn the midnight oil, press forward in cultivation.
From beginning to end, constant and enduring — awaken the blind.
Disciples, do not take your vow lightly.
At every moment, be careful — do not be reckless.
One careless slip invites slander.
How grievous, how pitiful, how wounding.
Better to follow the rules and advance step by step,
avoiding demons and trials, gaining peace and well-being.
Heaven does not fail those who love the Dao.
Speak with care, act with prudence — and be bathed in the Buddha's light.
The immortals and Buddhas bestow their compassion everywhere,
cultivating and shaping you to become pillars and beams.
The Teacher has given these words of counsel — disciples, guard them yourself.
The deep meaning rests in your own careful thought.
XI. The Trials of Cultivation
True Dao, true trials — true demons.
See through them and aspire to be an immortal or Buddha.
Endure every suffering within suffering,
and the Dao once achieved — what joy!
Those who cultivate the truth, just when their courage is at its fiercest, will often encounter trials and tribulations. Know that this is the wondrous working of the Lord. Heaven tests, the world examines. Demons of the shadow, trials of the light. All to judge whether the cultivator is true or false. Adversity to test wisdom. Hardship to prove utmost sincerity.
Know this: if heaven sent no demons and no trials, who among cultivators would yield their place to another?
The proverb says: "Without enduring the demon, one cannot become a Buddha. Without enduring the trial, one cannot arrive."
If you can meet adversity with acceptance, take all things as they come in their own circumstances, and hold your will unbent — then, first, you repay the karmic debts of accumulated lifetimes; second, you restore the bright clarity of your original nature. I hope you will take good care of yourselves. The road ahead holds boundless light.
But if, when facing trials, you cannot endure them — then one misstep becomes the eternal regret of a thousand ages. When that time comes, empty repentance will be of no use.
Ha ha!
The mortal cultivates — the Dao can be achieved.
But what if, facing the demon, the resolve is not true?
Heaven nourishes all things according to their nature.
What is cultivated is lifted; what is abandoned collapses.
When heaven lays great responsibility upon a person,
it first embitters the heart and exhausts the body,
starves the flesh and empties the purse,
disrupts every action to increase what cannot yet be done.
When wrongly accused, show no anger.
When the blow falls suddenly, show no alarm.
Fine jade, polished and carved, becomes a vessel.
Gold, smelted and refined, grows ever more pure.
The immortals and Buddhas and saints of the past —
adversity upon adversity, they endured, layer upon layer.
King Wen was imprisoned at Youli for seven years.
Confucius starved between the states of Chen and Cai.
The indignity of crawling between the legs — Han Xin bore it.
Picking up the shoe at the bridge — Zhang Liang went through it.
Guan Yu and Yue Fei suffered under Cao and Qin.
Yet to this day, their sacred names are known throughout the world.
The gentleman's will: can be great, can be small.
The true man's ability: can bend, can stretch.
Meeting what comes, settling where one is — joy in every place.
Delighting in heaven, knowing the command — at ease and at peace.
Mount Tai does not refuse the soil it gathers.
Stand in your own place and walk — and be called worthy.
A bowl of rice, a gourd of water — know the heavenly mandate.
Arm bent for a pillow — the joy is in the midst.
The petty person takes risks and always meets with danger.
The gentleman endures poverty but is never truly poor.
When you understand that the true Dao brings true trials,
in the future you will surely achieve the great Way.
I say no more at this point.
May you meet the demon with a calm and level heart.
XII. How to Repay Karmic Debts
The bones of the dead are piled like mountains.
Cause and effect cycle round again.
If you wish to dissolve the debt of grievance,
virtue must come first.
Since the dawn of human existence, some sixty thousand years and more, the wheel of birth and death has turned and changed without ceasing. Cause and effect cycle round, good and evil meet their match. How pitiful that the deluded crave and grasp and struggle, accumulating the debts and grievances of lifetime after lifetime.
To dissolve those debts, one must repay them through virtue. By the fortune of the Third Period's final age, the Heavenly Way has opened wide its universal salvation. Building merit and establishing virtue — this is precisely the auspicious time. Do not waste this extraordinary chance. You must be swift of foot and brave. Do not fear the thorns. Know that only when the karmic debts are paid in full can you escape suffering and return to the source.
Ha ha!
The two wheels shuttle back and forth — never resting.
Sun and moon rush and rush — year after year.
In the Age of Yin, humanity fell into the post-heaven realm.
Chasing the false, abandoning the truth — trapped in the deep abyss.
Birth and death, the wheel revolving, so many changes.
The four births, the six paths — there is a cycle.
Drunk in life, dead in dreams — how pitiful.
Cast-off bones like mountains — how deeply sorrowful.
Every person still walks in the midnight dream.
None have embodied the nature that threads heaven and humanity.
The sea of desire is vast and vast — when will it reach the shore?
Forever following the waves — when will peace come?
Deeper and deeper the delusion — no boundary in sight.
Without a wondrous method, how can there be rest?
By the grace of the Eternal Mother, the golden thread descends,
drawing back the remaining souls to return to the garden of home.
Receive the Dao and settle the suffering of birth and death.
Practice the Dao and never again turn the wheel.
The rolling wilderness is heaped with corpses everywhere.
The towering mountains of bone rise past the peaks.
Lifetime upon lifetime, the debts and transgressions number in the thousands and ten thousands.
At this time, if they are not resolved, how can you return to the source?
To dissolve the karmic debt, build merit and virtue.
With virtue, dissolve the debts — correct the crooked and restore the straight.
Commit no evil. Carry out all good.
Heaven will naturally add its compassion and its leniency.
Let them slander. Let them revile. Do not retreat.
Let them labor you. Let them burden you. Do not weary of it.
Single-minded, utmost sincerity — the heart does not shift.
Extraordinary merit and great achievement — you yourself will share in them.
But if you wait until the season has passed, regret comes too late.
Better to step forward now, while there is time.
Resolve the debts, fulfill the vows — run toward them with swift feet.
Build well the nine-tiered lotus.
A single body, clear and pure, unstained by anything.
Do not invite new debts of grievance to your door.
The debt of life, the debt of property — all must be resolved.
Set yourself forward and do not delay.
The Teacher writes this much and judges no further.
I bow and take my leave — returning to the Southern Screen.
Ha ha! Withdraw.
(Palindrome)
Clear perception — right now — save, deliver, heaven, cross the mortal.
Awakened realization — this day — the deluded person's road is narrow.
Through, through the day — forever transcend, transcend the realm of joy.
Drunk, drunk the night — deep, deep the sea of suffering.
Sincerity is brightness, brightness is sincerity.
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.
Awakened nature, naturally, pure principle — grasp it.
Concentrated Dao, sacred spirit, the true sovereign.
XIII. The Process of Cultivation
The Wondrous Numinous Heavenly Lord takes the planchette.
By good fortune, born in the Third Period,
you received the point — the spirit shines bright.
Cultivate, build extraordinary merit.
The achievement of the Dao has its process.
Those who cultivated the truth in ancient times entered mountains and hid in caves, wandering far to seek the enlightened Master. They passed through a thousand hardships and ten thousand sufferings. Even then, only when their merit was full and their fruit was ripe did they finally encounter the Master, who pointed directly to the Mysterious Pass. This is what is meant by "first cultivate, then receive."
Among those who achieved the Dao — the sages, the immortals, the Buddhas — every one had a process of cultivation. If one cannot endure every trial and tribulation, if one cannot build merit and establish virtue, then to fantasize about becoming an immortal or a Buddha — such a person has never existed.
But in this age, by heaven's generous grace, the sacred Dao is universally proclaimed. First you receive, then you cultivate. The karmic fortune of this encounter is truly the depth and weight of your spiritual root.
Yet each person's circumstances differ, and the method of cultivation likewise differs. Some give of their wealth. Some give of the Dharma. You must recognize clearly what is called for. When you encounter clusters of trials, you must all the more subdue the body and the mind. When at last your merit is full and your fruit is ripe, look back and reflect. From receiving the Dao to achieving the Dao, from disbelief to true faith, from a small vow to a great vow — only then do you realize that the process of cultivation in this one lifetime was just so.
Ha ha!
The true Dao comes to deliver all under heaven and earth.
Its boundless light bathes the faithful.
The journey of ten thousand miles stretches without limit.
The brightness lies only in your own running forward.
Every person who walks the Dao has a process.
Only at the achievement do you know the true and wondrous mystery.
To cultivate the heavenly Way, the will must be steady.
Half-believing, half-doubting — you shatter the spirit.
Ascend the peak, reach the summit, and know the new.
At every turn, the manifestation is not the same.
Keep the mind attentive and you will naturally understand.
Only then do you know: the Heavenly Way is wondrous without bound.
Especially the ordinary person, whose wisdom-eye is clouded —
who has not yet been able to grasp this true explanation.
With a patient heart, with persevering nature, run toward the future.
Step by step, the road is level — the joy comes naturally.
Though the circumstances shift and change,
know that heaven's will is to test the worthy.
When the worst has passed, good fortune will naturally turn.
Having passed through hardship, there is sweetness.
The past immortals, Buddhas, and saints —
history can serve as your guiding rod in every case.
Hold fast to the principle and proclaim heaven's word.
On no account let this good fortune slip away.
Be cautious, be brave, add effort upon effort.
Then you will ease the Eternal Mother's grief.
When at last the Dao is achieved and you return to the true fruit,
recall the many hardships of cultivation.
Receiving the Dao and not believing — then coming to believe.
Measuring your strength, then pouring out your strength — the great vow fulfilled.
From the low to the high, from the near to the far —
the mastery was not attained by accident.
The foundation of an everlasting enterprise is created now.
Honor the Teacher, embody the teachings, aspire to the sages.
XIV. The True Meaning of the Planchette Altar
The immortals and Buddhas send down their wondrous meaning.
The flying planchette warns the foolish and the lost.
See through it to the true compassion,
and the Dao's miraculous nature shines all the more.
The Dao is ultimate Principle — without form, without appearance. Heaven is originally without words — without sound, without scent. How pitiable that everyone has fallen into the post-heaven realm, where the material and the temperamental obscure the bright spirit. The innate true nature — one has it and does not know that one has it.
Considering again that the cosmic cycle demands it, the Lord urgently hopes that the ninety-six billion will all return together. But many among the foolish still do not awaken. To warn the foolish and stir the deluded, the practice of planchette divination was established. Heaven borrows human power; humans rely on heaven's accomplishment. This is the Eternal Mother's compassion, the immortals' and Buddhas' wondrous design.
But alas, the people of the world — their cleverness surpasses all. They know only their own self-satisfied wisdom. They do not embody the bitter purpose of heaven. They do not know the profound wonder of the Heavenly Way. They consider it a heterodox practice. Little do they know how deep their own foolishness runs.
Moreover, the planchette mediums are all youths of limited education. Were it not for the power of the Buddhas, how could the poems and verses and songs pour forth without end? How could the predictions come true, one after another? Those who cannot reflect on this are truly of narrow vision.
Ha ha!
The living beings of the Southern World still dream thick and deep.
They crave sensory pleasures and dim the bright spirit.
Observing the human world — the old ways are gone.
The Dao, virtue, benevolence, righteousness — all withered and fallen.
Heaven cannot bear that the good should perish entirely.
And so the flying planchette was set, to deliver the lost.
The planchette altar has its source — and there is a difference.
The prior heaven and the later heaven are not the same.
The prior-heaven planchette altar was established in response to the age,
assisting the Dao's spread, illuminating the true tradition.
Everywhere delivering people to understand the true Principle.
At every hour, transforming the world, restoring the wind of goodness.
In the final gathering, the three realms are jointly settled.
The immortals and Buddhas borrow this to show their miraculous power.
The bitter purpose of the immortals and Buddhas — purify your heart and embody it.
Their boundless compassion is for the sake of all beings.
Assisting and settling the final move of this last act —
the later-heaven planchette, its rights and wrongs, I will not evaluate.
So long as the sincere heart can be stirred,
at no time and in no place is there not communication.
The later-heaven planchette altar leads people to goodness.
It speaks entirely of cause and effect and worldly feeling.
It can judge fortune and misfortune, disaster and blessing.
But the profound and sacred Principle — it cannot fully illuminate.
In sum, the purposes of the two are different.
Disciples, embody this and you will know clearly of your own accord.
Apply the heart, embody it, and know the weight of things.
Do not let appearances blind the true spirit.
The deluded treat this as magic and sorcery.
Truly laughable, how deeply lost they are.
The true design, the divine wonder, can only be found through reflection.
Heaven and humanity as one thread — all spirits in accord.
The divine Way establishes teaching in response to the age.
Borrowing the appearance to illuminate Principle — delivering all beings.
The Heavenly Way is originally without form or appearance.
It speaks only of true Principle — is it empty or not empty?
Do not look at the flying planchette and see only borrowed images.
Know that within it, the Principle is boundless.
Originally, heaven would not permit the planchette to be set.
But the immortals and Buddhas pleaded, so that they might assist the Dao's spread.
The Eternal Mother's compassion reaches beyond all measure.
Truly she had no choice — all for the sake of her children's spirits.
Lost children, awaken and turn your heads back swiftly.
Study and investigate in earnest — embody the true feeling.
XV. The Fruit of Cultivation
The Dao achieved — a beautiful name for all eternity.
It honors the parents and brings glory to the gate.
The suffering of birth and death is resolved.
Never again to turn upon the wheel.
The Confucian sage said: "Root and branch, beginning and end." The Buddha said: "Cause and effect, round and round." Both speak the same Principle.
Having planted the cause of cultivating the Dao at this time, the fruit of cultivation — I imagine the disciples can already anticipate it. In this final gathering, the true Dao is universally proclaimed. The Buddha-children of the three realms all share in heaven's grace. Yet having received the Dao, you must cultivate accordingly.
If in this life you can build merit and establish virtue, fulfill your vows and dissolve your grievances, and endure through a thousand demons and ten thousand trials — then when the Dao is achieved in heaven, you will know the true flavor of cultivation. The Eternal Mother does not fail the bright spirit. By your merit, your station is determined. Nine generations of ancestors ascend to heaven. You escape forever from the suffering of the wheel of birth and death. You dwell eternally in the realm of supreme joy. The happiness truly has no bound.
But if you cannot see it through from beginning to end and abandon the path midway — when that time comes, drifting with no place to rest, do not blame your Teacher for lacking compassion.
Ha ha!
The Principle of heaven follows its course, embodying the utmost impartiality.
Each inch of merit, each inch of fruit — rewards and penalties are clear.
Worthy disciples, diligently plant at this time.
In the future, the harvest will naturally be abundant.
Do not fear the suffering that lies before your eyes.
At every moment, serve the Dao and carry utmost sincerity.
The path of cultivation — through every demon, every trial —
boundless glory awaits on the far side.
When merit is full and the fruit is ripe — what happiness!
To honor your parents, bring glory to the ancestors — joy without end.
The benevolent one faces the difficulty first, gains the reward after.
The one with resolve labors first, achieves after.
Great virtue, vast transformation, illuminates the cosmos.
Through all the ages, the fragrant name stands as an enduring beauty.
Transform the civilized and the distant, restore the sacred Way.
All the people shine with brightness — the age becomes harmonious.
By heaven's mandate, the words of thoughtful peace are spoken.
Reaching high and low, throughout the four directions.
The sacred enterprise shines bright — rivers and mountains are still.
Everywhere, the same spring celebrates the rising peace.
All who walk the road sing and praise the beautiful virtue.
Together bathed in heaven's grace, transformed into the Great Harmony.
Seek much blessing of your own — and be forever worthy of the mandate.
The world at ease — all things, abundant.
But may every person gather in one joy.
May the sea of suffering be transformed into a city of lotus.
The fruit of cultivation is truly good.
My only fear is that the disciples will not carry it out.
From ancient times to the present — the immortals, the Buddhas, the saints —
the principle of the three great teachings threads through the red dust.
Though the path of the Dao encounters demons and trials,
in the end, it cannot betray the bitter purpose.
The glorious estate of emperors — all have turned to ruin.
But the fruit of the Dao endures, never changing.
If at this time the disciples do not cultivate,
when the time has passed, I fear regret will be of no avail.
Disciples, each of you, carry a great aspiration.
You must be swift of foot and run toward the future.
Your own responsibility — each one is weighty and great.
To disregard it is to make the ten thousand things empty.
The Teacher has poured out this instruction with a compassionate heart.
One golden thread — completed.
May it be printed and sent to every place,
to benefit all who cultivate the Dao, transforming the spirit-root.
I speak no more at this point. I take my leave.
I set down the brush, depart the altar, and return to the Southern Screen.
The words are simple, the meaning is deep — reflect on them well.
Do not disappoint the Teacher's bitter purpose in this heart.
Ha ha! Withdraw.
End of One Golden Thread — 一條金線終
Colophon
One Golden Thread (一條金線) is a Yiguandao (一貫道) catechism in fifteen chapters, delivered through planchette divination (扶鸞) by Ji Gong — the Living Buddha, the Crazy Monk, China's most beloved folk saint. The text covers the complete arc of Yiguandao spiritual life: what the Dao is, why it descended to this age, the proof of the transmitting Master, cultivation in relation to the self, the family, society, the immortals, and the departed, the rules and trials of practice, the resolution of karmic debts, the process and fruit of the path, and the meaning of the planchette altar itself.
Three speakers take the planchette across the fifteen chapters, all manifestations of Ji Gong: the Drunkard Hermit of the Lake (湖隱酒狂, Chapters I-III), the Living Buddha Ji Gong (活佛濟公, Chapters IV-VI), and the Mad One of the Southern Screen (南屏濟顛, Chapters VII-XII). A fourth speaker, the Wondrous Numinous Heavenly Lord (靈妙天尊), takes the brush for Chapters XIII-XIV, with Ji Gong returning for the final chapter. Between each speaker's session, a palindrome poem (廻文) marks the transition — verses that can be read both forwards and backwards in Chinese, a display of the planchette's miraculous nature.
The golden thread (金線) is the central metaphor of Yiguandao — the invisible line of transmission through which the Dao descends from heaven to earth, connecting the Eternal Mother to her lost children through an unbroken chain of patriarchs. This text is the thread made word.
First English translation. A Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated from Chinese by Tulku Ming (明, Yiguandao Translator). Gospel register.
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Source Text: 一條金線
Chinese source text from taolibrary.com (善書圖書館), Category 52 (一貫道經典二). The site states: "歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通" — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate." Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
甲申年二初一日鸞訓
誠意啟化感穹蒼
遠望遙遙路途長
怱怱意遷新境遇
急急心懷舊村莊
凝露吹風飄落月
散雲淨霞映暮陽
增長時光春轉晚
青青樹葉柳梢黃
(廻文)
吾乃
湖
隱
酒
狂
奉
諭
來至佛堂
參謁
上帝
再留訓章
哈合
目
錄
一、
何
謂
道……………………………………………………2
二、
降道之原因…………………………………………………2
三、
傳道明師之印証……………………………………………3
四、
修道之志願…………………………………………………4
五、
修道與自身之關係…………………………………………4
六、
修道與家庭之關係…………………………………………5
七、
修道與社會之關係…………………………………………5
八、
修道與仙佛之關係…………………………………………6
九、
修道與亡靈之關係…………………………………………7
十、
修道奉行之佛規……………………………………………7
十一、
修道之魔難…………………………………………………8
十二、
怎樣消還冤孽債……………………………………………8
十三、
修道之過程…………………………………………………9
十四、
鸞壇之真意…………………………………………………10
十五、
修道之結果…………………………………………………10
一、
何
謂
道
大道本無形
造化貫萬情
傳遞為秘寶
修持聖賢成
道者理也
無極之真
天地萬物之始也
故事事莫不有理
物物皆由道生
溯自寅會生人
繼育萬物
此一本散於萬殊也
羲皇降世
首倡一畫開天
人間始明道宗
至二帝三王
繼傳奧旨
三教聖人遞傳天命
闡揚聖道
願化佛子
盡歸故宗
值此末運收束
道劫並展
實乃萬殊歸於一本也
然道猶路也
人行必有路
無路才步難行
惟嘆眾生
埋沒聲色 迷失本來靈明
常沉苦海
願我契眾
深體道義
處事合乎天理良心
循正路而前進
盡其人道
以合天道
惟聖教因人而設
因人夙根不同
而教之亦異
遂有三乘之分別
若非三期
道承普渡之運
上乘大法
豈易聞之
頓教真法
得者緣份深厚
時體本來
涵養德性
道成果就
則超凡入聖矣
哈哈
一理流行萬丈新
生機栩栩警迷津
東風飄來吹萬物
昆虫草木感春恩
沿岸柳繞廻寰路
清池魚躍透天真
空谷寂靜人跡少
山林幽雅鳥喧音
松聲颯颯驚鶴夢
月色一簾映禪心
四時惟顯春好處
值此猶當惜光陰
黃金失了容易得
韶華過去無處尋
諸事從來由天命
道通萬類理為尊
真空無為含妙有
養育群生道賜恩
聖道雖云無形象
形象皆是道為根
樹木茂盛叢叢長
倘若根枯樹難存
魚游水中活潑潑
有朝水涸魚喪身
為人本有真主宰
帝賜靈光智慧深
幾個率性行大道
堪嘆愚人竟迷心
失根忘本波浪滾
趨入苦海水沉淪
處身有道誰覺悟
致惹皇娘總傷心
真道啟迷應運降
三曹佛子俱沾恩
當知誓願佛前立
了願方能大志伸
時時抱道率性進
休迷聲色昧靈魂
世俗盡是黃梁夢 寄塵焉能久長存
得點知性知所以
明德人人在親民
克化古禮復堯舜
一道同風處處春
道大理微難言盡
智者體會悟聖音
玄妙盡由道中蘊
惟憑賢良細參尋
為師略將此解釋
契眾循道勿迷真
二、
降道之原因
羔羊困迷途
崎嶇無出路
指爾真捷徑
菩提復自如
夫應時降道之原因
實乃
皇娘憫兒之真意
念餘蘊久迷塵寰
促生死
總轉輪廻
嘆善信
皆迷靈
明之性
貪形象
竟忘歸宿之源
思及大罪彌天
致惹災煞遍地
芸芸眾生
終日墜於水深火熱之中
實堪憐憫
幸
皇娘賜傳天道之妙諦
以應運數
完成收圓之大事
愚夫沉醉於苦海
幸遇慈般之普渡
若能體會降道之真意
行功立德
庶可消孽了冤
不致永墜沉淪矣 哈哈
征塵滾滾劫頻仍
遙望人間動刀兵
大地山川誰是主
民不聊生愁雲濃
八一劫煞苦不盡
三災八難遍界中
萬物荒蕪甚零落
道德淪亡少仁風
避秦之亂桃源境
而今何處享太平
觀此世態心感動
滿懷苦衷總難明
淒心欲哭竟無淚
堪笑愚盲竟無聲
人間實稱活地獄
欲享安逸萬不能
重稅納粮黎民苦
米珠薪桂處處同
芸芸眾生迷幻境
營營未肯片刻停
昏迷沉醉堪可嘆
盲人瞎馬尚馳行
性在異鄉為異客
屢遭輪轉令傷情
順時察機醒春夢
捷足彼岸樂無窮
君子不立岩牆下
所以正命應事更
上天廣施好生德
故垂金線道路通
親差為師眾生化
黑暗途中顯明燈
得沾天恩與師憫
三生有幸本非輕
休自暴棄當英勇
體天真意而奉行
旣明降道真宗旨
盡人合天體真情
如此修持希賢聖
何愁大地不安寧
願我賢契勤體會
當曉良辰不易逢
日月穿梭朝轉暮
分寸光陰不停留
各有精神須振作
偉大責任要自成
三、
傳道明師之印証
應運落紅塵
荷命渡乾坤
印証明師德
悟者是知音
自古修道者多矣
然能得受真傳者極稀
良以明師之難逢也
明師者
係奉承道統
應運救世而降
為師親領
天命
倒裝臨凡
化身弓長
以直指本性
了悟本來
渡化眾生為本願
當今末刼
更荷普渡三曹之重任
承天德而普化
光明遍照三界
不但眾生賴此出苦
卽便氣天真仙
地府鬼魂
各皆顯化於人間
懇求濟渡
況天機早已預洩
得沾師恩者
非筆下可能盡叙也
傳道明師
豈可作為虛談
實能得到超生了死之証者
更可推及明師之真也 哈哈
孽海茫茫波浪連
瘋僧駕來救生船
天慈方能掌舵穩
疾呼普渡故鄉還
若非奉天承運濟
幾經風波舟早翻
末會本是出頭日
故天欽差師降凡
儒經聖典皆註過
無處不應古預言
諸佛諸祖同助道
天命仙真助師肩
闡道又賜飛鸞演
種種玄妙妙中玄
世間道教千千萬
公認弓長辦收圓
真道真命真人辦
明師一點卽超凡
先差道教引人善
末後一着整三盤
萬教歸一明真面
携手朝親樂陶然
天真收圓掛聖號
先說後應理不遷
溫故知新可為師
繼承道統豈虛談
有大德者必受命
自天申之恩惠寬
百世俟聖而不惑
悟透真機可知天
咱了前聖末了願
咱辦天事天助咱
契眾終日誠叩拜
有真天命方能担
契能深自加體會
自與俗子不一般
體會真意知真面
真道真理古今傳
末劫天道大普展
三曹普遍佛光沾
任憑修道功夫遠
不求指點是枉然
仙人鬼魂同濟渡
一體返本脫熬煎
如此聖德三曹施
修者豈可心不專
銘心刻骨時懷抱
飲水思源體真傳
真道真考休心懼
同心共德順自然
辨明明師真與偽
修此大道方不難
真假假真由自信
全憑自己加悟參
師事數語契領悟
深微之處體真玄
批此數機止玉管 辭叩
天駕返屏山
哈哈退
參悟當中精益精
遠化預備齊建功
蓮品九層層献瑞
德全十處處靈通
言人聖傳親師德
性命天賜欽帝明
前行實要當立志
玄妙體道悟心清
(廻文) 吾乃
四、
修道之志願
啟信首發願
體意當實踐
誠格佛恩報
奉行奇功建
芸芸眾生
人各有志
旣為修道之人
當懷修道之心
念自受命於上天
卽當行於人間
正己成人
必要完成自己之任務
始終貫一
惟願實現此生之成績
嘆眾生塗炭慘不忍睹
幸遇奇緣
得登道岸
不忍獨沾佛恩之慈佑
願人人脫苦海
化個個登慈航
九六同舟共濟
以期返本還源
發願進步
立志不移
全始全終
了佛前之誓願
成己成人
還靈性之歸宿
待至龍華
佛子集聚
得朝娘容
得慰娘心
憑功定果
光耀門楣
顯祖蔭孫
達志如願
始能道成天上
名留人間也
哈哈
幸生三期彼岸登
天恩深沐師德宏
超生了死脫苦海
永不墮入六道中
受人點水之恩澤
報以湧泉表至誠
婆心濟心不言倦
涉身渡眾啟瞶聾
何畏櫛風與沐雨
何畏戴月與披星
願立深洪大千濟
以期佛子盡歸宗
成道仙佛與神聖
因何名標宇宙中
因有堅忍不拔志
更能體願而奉行
人若無志舟無舵
東搖西擺難定平
發願存心蒼天表
仙佛暗佑大功成
遙觀塵寰迷昧子
猶然沉沉睡夢濃
眾生皆醉吾獨醒
舉世皆濁吾獨清
此時不肯睜睡眼
惟恐醒來已天明
莫如體師順時辦
盡任荷職渡迷蒙
知行合一了心願
言行相顧抱忠誠
雖云事往不可諫
當曉未來可追踪
果然如此體師意
師心歡樂助成功
凡我之職皆爾職
凡我應行眾應行
盡講口頭無結果
言行相違道怎成
渡世純然誠懇辦
將來成個小瘋僧
五、
修道與自身之關係
修道不離身
打鐵不離砧
天人成一貫
始顯道至尊
中庸云
道也者
不可須臾離也
又云
修身以道
人為萬物之靈
蓋因五德兼全之故耳
若不率性行道
則虛度人生
若能借身行道
必有餘慶
興心作惡
必有餘殃
有道則心正身修
無道則家破人亡
諸賢契旣為
得道佛子
尤當立身行道
雖受一時之苦
定得永世之樂
倘一時不慎
墜入邪途
追逐潮流
常沉慾海
致懷恨千古
將來結果不堪設想
莫如體師遵訓
立身行道
方不負此奇緣也
哈哈
天地空空物空空
人生渺渺寄宇中
幾觸塵緣垂慈淚
迷子總是眼不睜
朝暮勞碌街頭客
看來名利是牢籠
可笑愚夫入圈套
誰似吾師盡悟清
到處隨緣延歲月
無罣無碍意從容
隨遇而安無窮樂
毫無煩惱掛在胸
不作風波於世上
那有冰炭在心中
水之濁兮濯我足
水之清兮滌我纓
就緣就份隨機度
不担凡塵半點驚
有人學俺看得透
保爾蓮台可能登
事事須向道中體
正已成人化迷蒙
道不遠人人自遠
聲色叢中埋英靈
自身光明真天性
物慾氣禀竟層層
於今旣受名師點
總當覺悟守真空
必誠其意方寸守
掃除一切虛偽情
立竿見影甚明顯
如夜繼日影隨形
上天鑒察無不至
修身克己體道行
明此真情切切體
勿錯奇緣速建功
良辰難遇而易失
人生易過而難逢
大好佳期空空度
屆時空有淚飄零
師告慈言徒深悟
知而奉行勿放鬆
自身與道關係重
借假修真天性明
今時不向此身度
何年何月脫塵紅
好自為之佛盤助
精神一貫澈始終
六、
修道與家庭之關係
近世起風波
家事亂如何
果能皆處道
自成安樂窩
紅塵滾滾
孽海茫茫
處處劫煞塗炭
家家事務蕭條
以致父子不親
夫婦不順
究其真意
皆因失道之故耳
欲家道興隆
尊卑和睦
須教之以禮
齊之以道
老安少懷
明體達用
一人作家中之標桿
促而進之
人人竟成模範
兼善奉行
家庭兆瑞
希我賢契
勿空荷修道之名
當處修道之實
自能聖業綿綿矣
哈哈
世路崎嶇甚炎涼
日趨下流最堪傷
事事混淆人民苦
古德泯滅少綱常
歐風美雨迷人眼
誰將道德掛心腸
盡將古禮抛三舍
迷真逐妄墮汪洋
仙佛到處人心挽
慈悲廣大渡十方
奈何迷人不回首
聖賢仙佛空着忙
孝悌忠信誰能懂
世事人情誰明詳
只知貪名與圖利
沽名釣譽喪天良
心如蝎毒不相讓
捨命爭奪昧真常
同室操戈堪可嘆
致於手足尚鬩牆
失却古道人倫喪
以致家庭起災殃
戾氣結焉家衰敗
和氣萃焉家呈祥
人人能體道修持
何愁家庭不安康
天道人道皆當盡
勿失根本作賢良
處家溫良恭儉讓
人倫歡樂喜氣揚
事情尤當忍中耐
勿任氣性逞剛强
能自忍時當自忍
洗心滌慮慧性光
契眾深體真意辦
方不負此訓一章
語此不評辭
駕
放筆離壇返天堂
哈哈退
烟雲起處幾山晴
久坐閒吹短笛橫
玄妙悟時常體道
我人亡後幾怡情
泉流細聽長江遠
月落霞浮夜氣清
捐盡俗情詩妙絕
綿綿韶和一聲鶯 (廻文) 吾乃
活佛濟公
奉
諭
來至壇庭
參叩
駕
再留訓情
哈哈
七、
修道與社會之關係
萬物齊集聚
惟願社會安
處事依天理
道法體自然
社會者
人類生活共同集居之處也
因人不能單獨生活
必須互相來往
故待人接物之酬酢
必不可少
若無道德之約束
則良心泯滅
頹風高熾
卽如今日之惡習
盡貪名圖利
鈎心鬥角
各懷不測
更有一等不顧名譽者
只知惟利是圖
以致社會秩序紊亂
視因果之事為迷信
以道德學說為腐敗
以致釀成眾生塗炭之造劫
良可惜也
欲援救之
必須提倡道德
故孟子云
天下溺援之以道
誠哉斯言
今感皇天好生之德
普垂金線
以挽頹風
重復古禮
化惡為善
化愚為賢
擴而充之
則兼善天下
社會之秩序
不治自平
奈今世人
多認修道為與世無補
豈知正是社會之要素
望群眾再思,之
方知言之不謬也
哈哈
考古察今良莠分
世態演變總沉沉
頹風釀成空前劫
人間無處不呻吟
愈趨愈下失古道
人心乖戾轉如輪
來往造成彌天罪
劫煞遍地怎安身
各地荒蕪無窮苦
遭劫盡是在數人
世道衰微已如此
國亂民愁盡傷心
皇娘降道渡善信
化歸佛子達樂村
斯世之風非同昔
相隔天淵古今分
對道未能印相準
謗言流語任胡云
巧言令色皆亂德
人面獸心昧靈根
惟望得道賢契眾
處事體會道義深
忠恕為懷慈悲本
己不欲者勿施人
聖道普渡同風化
克己復禮盡歸仁
非道宏人人宏道
體天行德切率真
一片婆心存惻隱
行道渡世化迷津
不忍眾生遭劫苦
到處宣化挽人心
處世有道同安樂
社會自然永如春
昔時唐虞民安泰
皆因堯舜有道君
不能體透真道者
何能安樂永長春
有志切將精神振
闡佈聖道貫乾坤
大道體用兼萬善
無微不至細參尋
願契精誠狂瀾挽
慈航到處渡賢真
自己責任休放棄
勤心努力助師尊
八、
修道與仙佛之關係
仙佛本明靈
天差助道宏
愚人猶夢寐
未識內中情
當此天開文運
暗釣賢良之際
明師奉命
倒裝降世之期
差諸天仙佛
打幫助道
共整三盤
故有飛鸞之設
到處顯化
驚醒迷群
時時顯化
仙佛救世之苦衷
奈迷徒以佛為迷信
實堪悲也
契眾旣能究悟仙佛之真意
當曉神之格思
不可度思
無時不在仙佛鑒臨之下
旣以修道為己務
首要敬天地
禮神明
不可瀆犯佛前
稍有一時不慎
卽有碍道務之進步也
哈哈
無為真理妙而玄
天本無言借人言
仙佛之德其盛矣
微妙玄通盡包含
當此末會收圓日
天命佛祖共助盤
各地顯化警迷子
歷受塵苦為乾坤
仙佛救世終不倦
愚夫孰能盡悟穿
天恩慈悲施聖德
晨鐘暮鼓震南閻
只為眾生苦海陷
千佛萬祖施慈憐
大聲疾呼善信喚
大槐南畔勿留連
今時辦理皇娘事
仙佛無處不助肩
天命傳來非小可
誠心勇躍速向前
時時刻刻懷誠念
信心不移道念堅
誠心自有仙佛鑒
分寸不負汝心田
囑爾賢真當覺悟
理天法律甚森嚴
弟子知否法律部
桓侯賞罰槪不偏
稍有放肆則担過
招魔惹考空自憐
齊心竭力速了願
勿負仙佛熱心田
賢才有志志當展
尊師重道勿倒顛
兢兢業業求完善
自無考魔到身邊
仙佛無處不考騐
仙佛無處不助肩
仙佛無在無不在
玄妙非可俗眼觀 體師良言行大道
不負此期遇奇緣
九、
修道與亡靈之關係
孝悌盡完全
拔靈出苦淵
當曉彼孽債
還要汝清還
諺云
［樹欲靜而風不止
子欲養而親不待］
思及父母之恩
無限遠大
雖泰山之高
滄海之深
不能比倫也
為人晨昏定省
生事之以禮
不過盡孝於色身
然色身壽數有限
豈能悠久不滅
故儒聖有云
［慎終追遠］
佛祖有謂一子成道
九祖升天
皆盡孝於亡靈之意
當此天慈宏恩
天道普闡
赦乎幽冥鬼魂
三曹齊渡
恩准行功之佛子
超拔亡靈
嘆迷夫不知超拔事大
竟作渺茫
以致亡靈難安佛院
契眾更當深曉
亡靈之孽愆
惟賴拔薦人承還
倘不建奇功
培偉德
則不能完全完成盡孝之任務也
哈哈
水有源泉木有根
萬物有本事有因
孝悌乃為人之本
本立道生鬼神欽
烏鴉反哺知孝意
羔羊跪乳表孝心
心有五德萬物首
失孝失悌何如禽
侍奉父母孝心盡
順親心懷作賢真
然此色身難悠久
轉瞬歸空逐浮雲
生事以禮葬以禮
祭之厶禮表心純
紙灰飛舞終何用
空泣血淚滿胸襟
人生有酒皆當醉
死後何能再沾唇
形象雖然歸幻盡
真靈不昧永長存
兒女賢惠難替死
只有超度誦經文
於今皇娘開慈憫
恩准亡靈求聖音
人間行道諸善信
行功超拔度靈魂
盡孝於性孝乃大
如此事情真罕聞
雖云拔薦靈返本
當知亡靈罪在身
建立奇功是英雄
佛院亡靈得安心
天上果位人間定
天考人騐判偽真
自問責任如此重
尤要精進報師恩
亡靈升降皆在己
建功立德本由人
果能前進無退縮
亡靈定能樂吟吟
賢契打點孝悌盡
勿失佳期好光陰
克紹箕裘承先志
聿修厥德繼善因
以身作則成人眾
勿自暴棄勿因循
速了誓願前程奔
勿使亡靈墜沉淪
勿負亡靈佛院盼 勿使亡靈含怨心
盡孝當至完善處
方不負稱修道人
師訓此處不再判
辭叩
帝駕返佛門
哈哈退
家回返時應轉盤
德施天地故歸還
鴉寒棲樹迷烟遠
雁冷飛空浮雲殘
花落促然仍月月
水流如是復年年
發自理中守慧性
佳期此逢幸有緣 (廻文)
吾乃
南屏濟顛
奉
勅旨
來至東園
進佛堂
參叩
上帝
再留訓言
哈哈
十、
修道奉行之佛規
佛規為戒律
勿作兒童戲
自問願如何
勿違上天意
道有佛規
猶家有家規
不以規矩不能成方圓
是故修道佛子
定守一切之佛規
以尊師重道
恭敬前人為準繩
時時低心下氣
謙恭和靄
滅除魔火
休存嗔念
自能涵養德性
復回靈明
倘不尊而行之
不能成道了願也
哈哈
大德敦化浩然長
無量恩惠賜賢良
天不惜寶真道降
傳於佛子歸故鄉
有緣捷登菩提岸
無份逐浪墜汪洋
得道尤當遵道辦
奉行佛規勿張狂
千巧萬能公輸子
須用規矩定圓方
堯舜之道盡美善
施用仁政可平章
賢契身荷辦道任
首當作則法聖王
遵守佛規勿妄動
須知大願自承當
佛前表願頭觸地
躬身實踐忍親娘
半途而廢無結果
焉能萬世永留芳
助道當效長流水
瀑泉湧發豈能長
焚膏繼晷精進辦
始終悠久啟迷盲
契眾勿將願輕視
時刻小心勿顛狂
偶一不慎招毀謗
悲哉可惜又可傷
莫如循規蹈矩進
免魔身考得安康
上天不負樂道者
謹言慎行沾佛光
仙佛處處加慈憫
栽培造就作棟樑
師示箴言徒自守
深意惟在自細想
十一、
修道之魔難
真道真考魔
識透希仙佛
受盡苦中苦
成道樂如何
修真之士
正當猛勇
每有遭受魔難者
當知此乃上帝之妙用也
天考人騐
陰魔陽考
為判修道之真偽
逆事以騐智慧
逆境以考至誠
當曉上天若無考魔降
修道誰肯讓人先
諺云
不受魔不成佛
不受考
成不了
如能逆來順受
事事隨其境遇
一志不彎
一則可消累世之孽債
二則能復自性之靈明
惟望好自為之
前程自有無限光明
如遇魔難不能忍受
則一失足終成千古恨
屆時空悔亦屬枉然矣
哈哈
凡夫修持道能成
惟恐受魔志不貞
天之生物因材篤
栽者培之覆者傾
天降大任於人也
苦其心志勞身形
餓其體膚空乏身
行拂亂為增不能
無故加之而不怒
猝然臨之而不驚
美玉琢磨才成器
黃金鍛鍊愈粹精
昔日修道仙佛聖
逆事逆境受層層
文王羑里囚七載
孔子絕粮陳蔡中
胯下之辱韓信受
圯橋納履張良經
關岳遭受曹秦難
於今中外傳聖名
可大可小君子志
能屈能伸丈夫能
隨遇而安處處樂
樂天知命自從容
泰山不擇土壤脈
素位而行稱賢英
簞食瓢飲知天命
曲肱而枕樂在中
小人行險終遭險
君子固窮未必窮
能明真道真考騐
將來自能大道成
判此卽不多下囑
願契遇魔心氣平
十二、
怎樣消還冤孽債
生死骨如山
因果復循環
欲消冤孽債
還當德為先
蓋人自有生以來
迄今六萬餘載
生死輪廻
轉變不息
因果循環
善惡相報
嘆迷人妄貪妄爭
遂積下累世之冤愆
欲消冤愆
當以德還之
幸值三期末運
天道大開普渡
行功立德
正當佳期
勿錯此時奇緣
須要捷足英勇
勿畏荆棘
當曉冤孽償清
方能脫苦還源也
哈哈
兩輪穿梭總未閑
日月促促年復年
寅會生人後天落
迷真逐妄困深淵
生死輪廻多轉變
四生六道有循環
醉生夢死堪可嘆
脫骨如山甚堪憐
人人猶在三更夢
未體自性貫人天
慾海茫茫何時岸
總隨波浪幾時安
愈迷愈深無止境
不設妙法怎安然
幸遇皇娘垂金線
引回餘蘊返家園
得道了却生死苦
行道不再轉輪圈
莽莽橫尸遍地滿
峨峩積骨過崇山
累世罪孽千千萬
此時不了怎還源
欲了孽債功德建
以德消孽正補偏
諸惡不作奉諸善
上天自加慈悲寬
任毀任謗休退縮
任勞任怨不憚煩
專一至誠心不移
奇功偉績己能沾
若待時過悔已晚
莫如今時早向前
了冤了願捷足奔
好好建築九品蓮
一身清靜無所染
不惹冤孽到身邊
命債賬債俱應了
躬身進步勿遲延
師批此處不多判
辭叩
駕返屏山
哈哈退
清認當濟天渡擺
覺悟今人迷路窄
通日永超超樂境
醉夜深沉沉苦海
誠則明矣明則誠
色卽空兮空卽色
明性自然純理悟
凝道聖靈真主宰
(廻文)
吾乃
靈妙天尊
奉
命
來至佛堂
進佛屋
參叩
上帝
再為示言
哈哈
十三、
修道之過程
幸生三期中
得點性靈明
修持奇功建
成道有過程
昔日修真者
入山藏洞
遍訪明師
經歷千辛萬苦
還得功圓果滿
方遇明師
直指玄關
所謂先修而後得者也
在成道之聖賢仙佛
皆有修道之過程
若不能忍受一切之魔難
不能行功立德
妄想成仙佛者
未之有也 值此天恩寬厚
聖道普渡
先得而後修
機緣幸遇
實乃根基之深厚也
然各人之環境不同
而修道之方法亦異
或財施
或法施
須要認清題目
遇有叢叢之魔難
更要降伏身心
待自功果圓滿
回首再悟
由得道至成道
由不信至真信
由小願至大願
方覺一生修道之過程
乃如是也
哈哈
真道傳來渡坤乾
無限光明善信沾
鵬程萬里無限遠
光明惟在自奔前
行道過程人人有
成道始知真妙玄
欲修天道志當穩
半信手疑打靈殘
登峰造極知新意
處處現象不一般
存心留意自然曉
始知天道妙無邊
尤其俗人迷慧眼
究未能明此真詮
忍心耐性前程奔
步步平坦樂陶然
雖遭境遇多轉變
當知天意騐良賢
否極自有泰運轉
歷盡苦難有香甜
過去仙佛與神聖
歷史盡可作標桿
抱定宗旨代天宣
千萬勿失此良緣
慎中英勇加努力
方慰皇娘不悲酸
待自成道歸正果
回憶修道種種難
得道不信而生信
量力竭力大願還
由卑而高近達遠
功夫用到豈偶然
永世基業由今創
尊師體訓希聖賢
十四、
鸞壇之真意
仙佛垂妙意
飛鸞警愚迷
識透真慈憫
更顯道神奇
道本至理
無形無象
天本無言
無聲無臭
堪歎人人落於後天
氣禀物慾
蒙蔽靈明
固有之有真性
有而不知其有矣
復念天運使然
上帝急盼九六同歸
諸多愚人
猶有不悟者
欲警其愚
欲啟其迷
遂有飛鸞宣化之設
天借人力
人賴天成
此乃
皇娘之慈悲
仙佛之妙意也
惜乎世人
智慧過之
只知自作聰明
不體皇天之苦衷
不知天道之奧妙
自認為異端
殊不知自愚之甚也
況鸞手皆係童年
學識有限
若非佛力
何能詩詞歌賦之叠出無窮
何能先說後應之靈騐
不能體會於斯
實乃管見也
哈哈
南閻眾生夢尚濃
貪戀聲色昧靈明
觀察人間風不古
道德仁義盡凋零
天不忍善同歸盡
故設飛鸞渡迷蒙
鸞壇本來原有異
先天後天有不同
先天鸞壇應時設
助道宏展闡真宗
處處渡人明真理
時時化世復仁風
末後收圓三曹整
仙佛借此顯奇能
仙佛苦衷當淨體
無量慈悲為眾生
助理末後一着事
後天是非槪不評
只要誠心能感動
無時不慈處處通
後天鸞壇引人善
盡論因果與俗情
吉凶禍福能批判
奧妙聖理難盡明
總之先後宗旨異
契眾體會自知清
用心體會曉輕重
勿被形象昧真靈
迷人以此為法術
實堪可笑太迷蒙
真機神妙由參悟
天人一貫悉合靈
神道設教應時設
借象明理渡眾生
天道本來無形象
只論真理空非空
勿觀飛鸞借象化
當曉內蘊理無窮
天本不允飛鸞設
仙佛叩懇助道宏
皇娘恩憫無量遠
實不得已為蘊靈
迷子覺悟速回首
實加研究體真情
十五、
修道之結果
成道美名垂
顯親耀門楣
了却生死苦
永不轉輪廻
儒聖有云
本末終始
佛云
因果循環
皆一理也
今時旣種修道之因
其修道之結果
想契眾卽能料到也
時值末會
真道普化
三曹佛子
均沾天恩
然得道卽當修道
今時能行功立德
了願消冤歷盡千魔萬難
待自道成天上
方顯修道之滋味
皇娘不負英靈
憑功定果
而能九祖升天
永脫生死輪廻之苦
永居極樂之境
其樂實無疆也
然不能全始全終
半途而自廢者
屆時飄零無宿
勿怨為師之不慈也
哈哈
天理循循體至公
寸功寸果賞罰清
賢契今時勤種植
將來收獲自然豐
莫畏眼前諸般苦
時時奉道抱至誠
修道歷盡魔與難
無限光榮後邊逢
功圓果滿何等幸
顯親耀祖樂無窮
仁者先難而後獲
志者先勞而後成
大德敦化光宇宙
萬古流芳標美名
克化華夷復聖道
百姓昭明變時雍
欽命文思安安語
格於上下四表中
聖業昭昭山河靜
處處同春慶昇平
行路皆歌頌美德
共沐天恩化大同
自求多福永配命
世界安逸萬象豐
但願人人同聚樂
苦海化作蓮花城
修道自有好結果
惟恐契眾不奉行
古往今來仙佛聖
三教宗旨貫塵紅
行道雖遭魔與難
終究不能負苦衷
帝業錦綉皆轉敗
惟道結果永弗更
此時契眾不修持
屆時後悔恐不能
契眾各自懷大志
然當捷足奔前程
自荷責任皆重大
置若罔聞萬事空
為師訓此均體會
勿貝為師心熱誠 知而不行怎圓滿
名符其實是賢能
真功建立有真果
稍有虛偽卽迷蒙
師垂訓諭婆心化
一條金線造完成
但願刊印各地送
裨益修道化靈根
語此不判辭
聖駕
放筆離壇返南屏
言淺意深當參悟
不負師心此苦衷
哈哈退
一 條 金 線 終
Source Colophon
Chinese source text from taolibrary.com (善書圖書館), Category 52 (一貫道經典二), URL: https://taolibrary.com/category/category52/c52036.htm. Fetched 2026-04-03. Encoding: UTF-16 (converted to UTF-8). The site displays: "歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通" — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate."
The text was received through planchette divination (扶鸞/鸞訓) in the year Jiashen (甲申) on the first day of the second month. The planchette speakers identify themselves as Ji Gong under three of his many names, plus the Wondrous Numinous Heavenly Lord (靈妙天尊). The text was compiled and published for free distribution by the Yiguandao community.
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