Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
The Taoist Golden Light Incantation comes from the Divine Incantations of the Three Caverns of the Most High in the Zhengtong Taoist Canon, so its pedigree is beyond question.
I. The Important Functions of the Golden Light Incantation
The Eight Great Incantations are used extremely widely. Morning liturgy, evening liturgy, scripture recitation, averting calamity, praying for blessings, releasing from distress, ascending the altar, drawing talismans, reciting spells, performing rites—all of these require the recitation of these eight incantations. The Golden Light Incantation in particular is not only widely used in Taoist liturgy and cultivation but is also used by many believers in daily life to seek safety and health.
The Golden Light Incantation is one of the Taoist Eight Great Incantations and the core incantation among them. It is an incantation that every Taoist priest must learn, and whose meaning he must understand, upon entering the Tao.
Taoists praise the Golden Light Incantation highly: “One scroll of the divine-light incantation, and forms and images appear in the void; recite the Golden Light Incantation, and the myriad spirits all fold their hands in salute.”
The Golden Light Incantation is an important part of the system of thunder rites, and it is an indispensable incantation for summoning and refining thunder.
The Golden Light Incantation purifies body and mind and guards against the intrusion of outer demons. Some people of the rivers and lakes practice this incantation in order to sense hidden dangers in their surroundings, and some ritual masters write this incantation in the palm of the hand and release numinous light and spread qi to expel evil and heal sickness for others. When entering the mountains, entering an ancient tomb, or passing a graveyard, or in other special surroundings, one can first recite this incantation in order to drive away evil and avoid defilement.
The Golden Light Incantation can awaken the One Qi of prior heaven within the body, sublimating and consolidating the Three Treasures of essence, qi, and spirit, steadying the spirit and settling the po soul, strengthening the will, and focusing the mind. For practitioners, the Golden Light Incantation can help in cultivating perfection, expelling evil, avoiding calamity, protecting the body, and securing divine protection; it can strengthen one's upright qi and protective power, and it carries great power.
People who recite the Golden Light Incantation over a long period usually experience positive changes in many respects: in body and mind, in their energy field, in their fortune, and in their circumstances. These changes appear mainly in the following dimensions:
1. Body and mind: clear and lucid, full of essence, qi, and spirit, with emotions and mind at peace. Through focused recitation, stray thoughts diminish and the mind is “gathered in,” which can effectively relieve anxiety, depression, palpitations, and other forms of emotional drain, making one steady, lucid, and calm. Harmonized qi and blood, raised yang qi: recitation combined with natural breathing helps harmonize the qi dynamics of the five zang organs and replenish the body's yang qi, improving yang deficiency, stagnation of qi and blood, and similar problems, so that one is full of energy, has a better complexion, and feels less heaviness in the body. Better sleep: once the mind is at peace, insomnia, excessive dreaming, and similar conditions improve markedly and sleep quality rises.
2. Energy field and protection: upright qi protects the body and resists negative energy, raising one's upright qi and energy field. Long-term recitation can cultivate a “vast and flowing upright qi,” making one's energy field balanced and calm, a built-in protective barrier that strengthens resistance to negative surroundings and negative energy and reduces anxiety about being “disturbed.” Warding off evil and protecting the body: on a psychological level, recitation strengthens one's courage and inner strength and dispels fear of the unknown (such as fear of the dark or of ghosts), calming the spirit and steadying the soul.
3. Fortune and circumstances: seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune, improving one's surroundings. Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: by improving one's inner nature and energy field, one's overall fortune rises; one meets events more calmly and can better defuse negative events in life, thus drawing good fortune and avoiding misfortune. Improving the energy field of one's surroundings: the peaceful, bright field produced during recitation gradually improves the energy field of one's home, helps family harmony, and reduces dark and evil qi.
4. Understanding and spiritual state: illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature, open-hearted and at ease. Illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature: persistent recitation over a long period helps break attachments and broaden one's outlook, so that one takes gain and loss lightly, keeps an inner clarity and openness, and reaches a peaceful state of being “lucid within and without.”
II. The Meaning of the Golden Light Incantation
The Golden Light Incantation
The mysterious source of heaven and earth, the root of the myriad qi. Having cultivated widely through a hundred million kalpas, I bear witness to my divine powers.
Within and beyond the Three Realms, the Tao alone is supreme. My body holds golden light, which covers and shines upon my person.
Looked at, it cannot be seen; listened to, it cannot be heard. It embraces heaven and earth and nourishes all living beings.
Recite and uphold it ten thousand times, and the body will shine with light. The Three Realms stand guard; the Five Emperors attend to welcome me.
The myriad spirits pay homage; thunder and lightning do my bidding. Ghosts and demons lose their nerve; sprites and goblins vanish from sight.
Within there is the thunderclap; the thunder gods hide their names. Profound wisdom penetrates through and through; the five qi rise and surge.
Golden light, appear swiftly, cover and protect this Perfected one.
I act by the command of Lord Lao the Most High: Swiftly, swiftly, as the law commands!
1. The Golden Light Incantation
Explanation: Golden light is the manifestation of the Tao, the divine light of the spirit. Gold signifies what is firm, strong, and indestructible. When a seeker of the Tao has broad and deep mysterious attainment, its radiance shows outwardly and is enough to drive away ghosts and goblins, cut down demonic qi, and command divine generals. Like a golden vessel, firm, strong, and unyielding, blazing and resplendent—this is why it is called golden light.
2. The Mysterious Source of Heaven and Earth, the Root of the Myriad Qi
Explanation: Heaven and earth are one yin and one yang; the mysterious is the Tao; the source is the root of all things and affairs.
So although the mysterious source may be called vast and boundless, it is nothing other than the transformations of heaven and earth and the manifestation of the Tao. The myriad qi encompass all things and affairs, the changes of heaven and earth; one should not get stuck on the root and source. It says that all the qi of heaven and earth are nothing but the gathering and dispersing of yin and yang; thus heaven and earth hold the root of the myriad qi.
3. Having Cultivated Widely Through Ten Thousand Kalpas, I Bear Witness to My Divine Powers
Explanation: “Widely” means broadly. “Cultivated” means cultivating and upholding, that is, the work of refining the mystery. “Ten thousand kalpas” speaks of how many great kalpas the cultivation passes through. For one who refines the mystery cultivates and serves at every moment, without end, as if accumulating cultivation over ten thousand kalpas. “Bear witness” means to prove; “divine powers” means spiritual illumination and numinous penetration. Divine powers are inherent in every person; ordinary people discard them, while the noble person preserves them. If a seeker of the Tao can cultivate and uphold through ten thousand kalpas, will not my divine powers be proven and expanded!
4. Within and Beyond the Three Realms, the Tao Alone Is Supreme
Explanation: The Three Realms usually refers to the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity; the three realms of the cosmos are the Ultimate of Nothingness (Wuji), the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji), and the Ultimate of Being;
The three realms of a human being are essence, qi, and spirit: within, the five zang organs and six fu organs; without, the hands and feet, ears and eyes, and so on. This speaks of heaven and humanity, within and without, the dharma realms above and below. “Alone” means solely; “the Tao” is the mysterious and wondrous Great Tao; “supreme” means that nothing surpasses it. For with the Tao, heaven and earth are established; with the Tao, people and things follow in order. Therefore it is called alone supreme.
5. My Body Holds Golden Light, Which Covers and Shines Upon My Person
Explanation: “Body” means the body of the Tao. “Golden light” is the qi of the golden mainstay. The Great Tao has no form or body, yet the body of the Tao contains and manifests golden light. When it takes a person as its body and golden light is present, it fills the inside and shines forth outside. “Covers” means shelters and protects; “shines upon” means shields with its light. “My person” is the body of the seeker of the Tao. For when a person sets his will on the Tao, the Tao is not far from him; the body is the Tao and the Tao is the body. This refers to golden light becoming complete after cultivation and surrounding the body of the Tao.
6. Looked At, It Cannot Be Seen; Listened To, It Cannot Be Heard
Explanation: “Looked at” means gazing. In the world only what has form can be seen; the Great Tao is by nature empty and subtle, so one looks and does not see it. “Listened to” means listening with the ears. In the world what has sound can be heard; the Great Tao is profoundly still, clear, and pure, so one listens and does not hear it.
Laozi said: “Looked at but not seen, it is called the invisible; listened to but not heard, it is called the inaudible.” This speaks of the practitioner's reaching the state of no-self, having left the six dusts and cut off the six senses.
7. It Embraces Heaven and Earth and Nourishes All Living Beings
Explanation: Nothing is greater than heaven and earth, yet they still have limits, while the Tao is limitless. “Embraces” means that, as the saying goes, the Tao penetrates heaven and earth and what lies beyond form. This speaks of the vastness of the body of the Tao. “Nourishes” means that beings receive its gestation and nurture. “All living beings” covers both humans and all creatures, and a person's ears, eyes, mouth, and limbs, the three primes and six receptacles, are also called living beings. This says that though the Great Tao has neither form nor sound, it contains heaven and covers earth, and all living beings rely on it for nourishment.
8. Receive and Uphold It Ten Thousand Times, and the Body Will Shine with Light
Explanation: One who receives and upholds this incantation receives it as something given by others and holds it in the heart. “Ten thousand times” means receiving and upholding it without slackening; “ten thousand” describes a great many. “The body” is the body of the one who receives and upholds it. “Light” is golden light; “shine” means to be manifest. It is like what the Great Learning calls “virtue adorns the person.”
9. The Three Realms Stand Guard; the Five Emperors Attend to Welcome Me
Explanation: For the Three Realms, see the explanation above. “Stand guard” means to honor and guard one's Tao. The Five Emperors are the Divine Lords of the five directions, who are the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. “Attend” means each attends to its duty. “Welcome” means that as one comes, the other receives, like a host welcoming a guest. This means that when the practitioner preserves the golden light of the body of the Tao, all above and below in the Three Realms, the Five Elders and the Five Emperors, will come to welcome him.
10. The Myriad Spirits Pay Homage; Thunder and Lightning Do My Bidding
Explanation: “The myriad spirits” are honored and numerous. In heaven they are the host of gods; in a human being they refer to the whole person. “Pay homage” means to gather together. For when the embryo congeals in the Purple Palace and all the parts of the body are complete, it is like the myriad spirits paying homage to the Supreme Emperor. “Do my bidding” means they obey its commands and nothing fails to reach them. Thunder and lightning are the yang qi of heaven, which can overawe the world. This says that every inhalation and exhalation of one cultivating the Tao is nothing but the movement of true yang. One can wield thunder and lightning with the force of ten thousand jun.
11. Ghosts and Demons Lose Their Nerve; Sprites and Goblins Vanish from Sight
Explanation: “Ghosts and demons” are those who turn their backs on the Tao. “Lose their nerve” means they dare not run wild. The human body also has its ghosts and demons; when the qi of the Tao is preserved, all entanglements cease, which is no different from their losing their nerve. “Sprites and goblins” are tree sprites and earth goblins. “Forget their form” means they lose their true form. This refers to sensual pleasures and the pursuit of wealth and profit; once one has entered the Tao, these thoughts no longer arise, which is no different from their forgetting their form. Once a practitioner of the Tao has realized the golden light, ghosts, goblins, and evil influences lose their nerve and reveal their original form.
12. Within There Is the Thunderclap; the Thunder Gods Hide Their Names
Explanation: “Within” means within the body of the Tao. “Thunderclap” is the sound of thunder. The power of the golden light is immense; with one shock, mountains and rivers tremble and all things stand in awe. The dignity of the Tao is also like this. The thunder gods are upright spirits of the One Qi of prior heaven. “Hide their names” means that the names of the thirty-six thunder gods are concealed. This says that though the Tao is dignified, its nature is at peace of itself; the thunder gods remain hidden and subdue the sprites and goblins.
13. Profound Wisdom Penetrates Through and Through; the Five Qi Rise and Surge
Explanation: “Profound” here means empty; “wisdom” means numinous. Numinous penetration runs through and through. The five qi are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth: the qi of the Five Phases shine upon one another, lighting one another so that there is nothing so small that it is not illuminated, nothing so hidden that it is not lit. The five qi are the qi of the Five Phases. “Rise and surge” describes the dazzling golden light and the upright qi of the Five Phases rising up.
14. Golden Light, Appear Swiftly, Cover and Protect This Perfected One
Explanation: “Appear swiftly” means to manifest at once when needed, as the saying goes, to bring it forth at the proper time. Golden light is originally hidden in the sea of one's nature; if today it appears swiftly, then what one has gained from ordinary practice is deep indeed. “Cover and protect” means golden light over the whole body. “Perfected one” is what the seeker of the Tao calls himself. To speak of a Perfected one means to shelter one's true nature, so as to be without shame in the way of being human. This says: divine light protects the body, golden light protects the law!
When reciting the Golden Light Incantation, keep body and mind pure, abstain from the five pungent foods, put aside stray thoughts, and concentrate on the recitation. You may first sit in seated meditation for a while and regulate your breathing. If you still cannot become calm and clear, you may silently recite the Incantation for Purifying the Heart for support, and then, with a rectified mind, recite and uphold the Golden Light Incantation, aloud or silently.
The effects of reciting the Golden Light Incantation accumulate day by day and month by month. One must keep a sincere heart and a persevering heart, without clinging to illusions or supernatural powers, to achieve the best results.