Assembly, since ancient times, the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas saw through all conditioned things in the world: all that has form is empty and false. So they wished to leave the world and transcend the ordinary, to awaken to birth and death; they went deep into the mountain forests, forgetting their bodies and giving up their lives, to seek the ultimate Tao.
Assembly, you know only the name of sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, but not their reality. You all have the wish to become sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, but not their resolve. You all want to realize the fruit of sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, but do not cultivate their causes. You all want to reach the rank of sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, but never make their vows. Therefore you can speak it but cannot practice it, only because your mouth is clear but your mind is not. That the Tao is not understood is because people do not meet one who understands the Tao. That the Tao is not practiced is because people do not find one who practices the Tao. So you are called Taoist priests, but when have you known the subtleties of a Taoist? You are called Quanzhen (Complete Perfection), but who practices the reality of complete perfection? No wonder our school is in decline and the Tao of the patriarchs is withering. Today, since you have taken refuge in the Three Treasures and received and upheld the precepts, you can be said to have found one who understands the Tao. But only if you follow my true words and go and do the deeds of sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas are you called ones who practice the Tao.
Assembly, before they attained the Tao, the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas were ordinary people just like you; they did not have an extra eye or an additional hand. It is only because they could make a resolve, determined to seek the method of leaving the world and to understand the mechanism of birth and death. This resolve made them a hundred times loftier and a thousand times broader than ordinary people. Though their bodies were ordinary, their minds already possessed the sage’s substance. But the sages were not empty: when they said they wanted to leave the world, they truly did in their hearts the deeds of leaving the world. That is why they are called those with the power of the great hero, who keep a heart of great compassion, the great man, the teacher of heavenly beings and humans—all simply because they made a resolve that was not ordinary, and so what they did was not small. Blazing and thunderous, the sword of wisdom across the shoulder, eyebrows raised and lightning flashing; majestic and awe-inspiring, the knife of the precepts level with the neck, eyes open wide and thunder rolling. The outer paths grow cold at heart and all flee far away; heterodox winds tremble with fear and all wish to take refuge. They ascend high onto the ninefold lotus terrace and rise straight to the precious throne of the King of the Law. The sounds of the words from their mouths are, to all who hear them, the pure sounds of the Law, pouring clarified butter on the crown of every heavenly being and human. From their bodies come the wondrous sounds of Brahma qi, and all who see them receive universal liberation, so that for countless multitudes butter and cream become a river. After attaining the Tao, their great resolve accomplished, they made great vows again, not clinging to the notion of a self, the notion of others, the notion of living beings, or the notion of a lifespan. They did not wish to save only themselves, but wished only to save others. With the method by which they saved themselves they universally saved living beings, yet did not use the mind of saving themselves to rebuke living beings. They took the mind of the common people as their mind. “The common people” is another name for living beings, and living beings are my own kind. With the method of our kind, they rescued people of our kind. Unless living beings are saved, they do not wish to attain the Tao. The Classic of Clarity and Stillness (Qingjing Jing) says: “Though it is called attaining the Tao, in truth nothing is attained. It is called attaining the Tao in order to transform all beings. Those who awaken to this may transmit the sacred Tao.”
Assembly, sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas are no different from other people. The difference lies only in two words: public and private. The sage is simply impartial, fair, upright, and great, acting for others and not for himself; the ordinary person is simply selfish, biased, crooked, and cunning, acting for himself and not for others. Sages and worthies are clear, bright, calm, and still; ordinary people are turbid, dark, restless, and agitated. The sage uses firmness within to govern himself and softness without to win others over; the ordinary person uses softness within to excuse himself and firmness without to blame others. The sage does not know the wrongs of others; the ordinary person recognizes only his own rightness. The more honor the sage attains, the more he thinks of disgrace; the more disgrace the ordinary person meets, the more he dreams of honor. Before the sage has died, he first understands the mechanism after death; when death is before the ordinary person’s eyes, he still thinks only of making a living. The sage, wanting the method of leaving the world, uses worldly ways to refine the mind: as a son he is fully filial, as a subject fully loyal. The ordinary person not only does not know the method of leaving the world—he does not even know the ways of the world; how can he be loyal to the sovereign and filial to his parents? Pity the benighted, unawakened living beings who know neither the ways of the world nor the method of leaving the world. All day they live drunk and die dreaming, live in vain and die for nothing, born in the morning and dead by evening, living blind and dying blind. They let the spark of true nature sink for ten thousand kalpas, not knowing they are upside down, turning over and back again, changing heads and faces, endlessly in the cycle of rebirth. Who knows on what day they will ever get their heads out?
Assembly, since you have received the precepts, you have gotten your heads out. Having gotten your heads out, you can get out of suffering. Getting out of suffering, you can leave the world. Assembly, to get out of suffering, first bear suffering; without bearing suffering it is hard to get out of it. You must follow the true words of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, not covet their empty names. You must make the resolve of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, not merely speak their words. You must cultivate the causes of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, not look forward to their fruits. You must plant the roots of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, and naturally you will have their rewards. You must accumulate the virtue of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, and naturally you will attain their Tao. You must do the deeds of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, and naturally you will achieve their bodies. If your deeds do not match your words and your words exceed the reality, you are an ordinary person who makes no progress. As for the Tao of the sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, can it be practiced by people so lacking in resolve?
Assembly! You must make a great resolve and a great vow; only then can you leave the world!
Assembly, hear me pronounce the verses on making a resolve and the hymn on making vows:
Precept disciples, listen to me with utmost sincerity: by making a resolve you can escape birth and death.
First you must bear suffering to govern body and mind; when bitterness ends, sweetness comes, and from death one returns to life.
Resolve in your own mind to remove the dust; turn worldly ways and ordinary feelings around.
Grasp the handle of the Dipper in reverse and stand lofty, unmoving on the white jade terrace of true emptiness.
I do not wish for contrived action and become an outer path; I do not wish for non-action and be deluded by strange teachings.
Neither nothing nor something, I wish for central harmony; neither being nor non-being, I cultivate awakened illumination.
I resolve not to be turned by circumstances; though circumstances be perilous, the mind is not disturbed.
If one can turn circumstances with the heart method, the light of wisdom arises and the lamp never goes out.
I resolve not to be moved by affairs and things; moved by them, one leaks the true mechanism.
Once power falls into others’ hands, the turning wheel is theirs, and regret comes too late.
I resolve not to be obstructed by affairs or principle, by clinging, stagnation, lingering, or attachment to forms.
When principle is clear and affairs penetrated, obstructions become empty; liberated in true emptiness, illusions dissolve.
I resolve not to follow the ears in listening to sounds; when the ear faculty listens inward, one sees the true source.
Guard the essence against leaking through the ears and deluding the true nature; to endure insult, first stop up your hearing.
I resolve not to follow the eyes in looking at forms; holding the light and shining it inward, the empty room gives birth to brightness.
Guard the spirit against leaking through the eyes and losing the primordial spirit; when the eyes do not see, the mind is not touched.
I resolve not to follow the mouth in uttering words; speaking little accords with the Tao and returns to naturalness.
Teaching the Law without sound, the teaching is complete; without speech and without words, the qi flows on unbroken of itself.
I resolve not to follow the tongue in tasting flavors; taking lives and killing living things brings boundless sin.
Jasper ointment, jade liquor, and golden nectar—the divine water and sweet spring give birth to wisdom.
I resolve not to follow the nose in smelling fragrances; when the human mind stirs thoughts, the true and constant is ruined.
Once freed into heavenly fragrance, each has the incense of the heart to offer to the heavens.
I resolve not to follow the body in moving about wildly; I will always keep dignified deportment and learn gravity.
Let no filth ruin the spiritual root; keep the substance of the Tao upright and solemn, never unrestrained.
I resolve not to follow the mind in its contact with things; flaring into anger and wrath has no good cause.
Subdue the mind and act in accord with principle; understand this mind and seek the elusive and evasive.
I resolve not to change with the intention; I will keep a sincere intention constant, mindful at every moment.
The mind with no second thought, the intention with nothing else; watchful when alone, preserving sincerity, returning to a single vow.
I resolve not to be dragged by the ties of attachment; the ties of attachment drag and bind like tangled ropes.
You must cut the ties of attachment at the root; only by cutting off love can one escape bonds and entanglements.
I resolve not to follow wild and base companions; the hearts of base and wild companions do not last.
They make people lose their thoughts of the Tao and their true heart; how can one walk together with those who ruin the teaching?
I resolve not to be misled by blind masters; the mind dwells neither on the six senses nor on the six dusts.
Relying on no single method, one sees the true mechanism; outer paths and side doors cannot save the self.
I resolve first to receive the Precepts of Initial Perfection; if one can keep the ten precepts, the mind is not ruined.
Subduing the mind and keeping the rules, one is not deluded from the true, diligent in the four dignified deportments without slackening.
I resolve to go on to receive the Precepts of the Central Ultimate; with secret conduct and subtle work, I contemplate in freedom.
The physical body is liberated and the body of the Law accomplished; realizing the three bodies, one transcends beyond the kalpas.
I resolve to repay kindness with earnest thoughts; the four great kindnesses are deep and must be settled.
One who can repay deep kindness with his own life, as filial son and loyal subject, delights heaven and earth.
I resolve to cultivate myself by first removing the false; I dare not feign deafness or imitate the mute.
With a true heart and real intention, deceiving no one; with even a little falsehood, one becomes an ox, a donkey, or a horse.
I resolve to cut off killing, stealing, and lust; wine, women, wealth, and temper; greed, delusion, and anger.
The six desires, the seven emotions, and the karma of the three poisons shall never again arise to delude my own mind.
I resolve not to cultivate the middle or lower vehicles, which never leave the reward of blessings and fall back within the circle.
The Tao of clarity and stillness and of liberation of the Great Vehicle—the one highest vehicle—my resolve and vow will accomplish.
I resolve to practice austerely without my mind falling back, extinguishing a thousand faults and ten thousand sins.
When sins are extinguished and blessings arise, the nature becomes clear of itself; when blessings and virtue accumulate deep, great wisdom is born.
I resolve on taking refuge in precepts, concentration, and wisdom, the supreme gate of the Law, without obstruction or cover.
Unscreened and unhindered, great light; neither defiled nor pure, without fear.
Without birth and without death, the method of leaving the world; without increase and without decrease, beyond compare.
Without action, without form, with nothing to be said—utmost, most honored, and most precious.
Transcending the Three Realms, rising to the Three Pure Ones; in the all-pervading Brahma qi, ascending the precious throne.
I resolve on taking refuge in the Primordial Worthy; may the Treasures of the Tao, the Scriptures, and the Masters behold the heart of this subject.
This subject’s heart resolves to transcend the kalpas of dust, awakening body and mind so as not to turn on the wheel.
With utmost sincerity I make a vow: may we from today resolve to remove all emptiness and deceit.
May I give body and life to empty space, my mind and thoughts in true suchness, not false or deluded.
May I learn the method of the one highest vehicle; may my mind cling to no form at all.
With the six senses pure and the six dusts empty, reverently following the Emperor’s scripture, I first cut off obstructions.
May I dissolve feelings and consciousness and awaken to the true source, not losing the utmost treasure to demons.
May I make my mind and thoughts equal to emptiness and nothingness, not letting nature and life drift with the waves.
May I understand birth and death and transcend the world; the realm of the Law is vast and the body of the Law great.
When the body of the Law is perfect, the realm of the Law is empty; the realm of the Law in true emptiness is greatly unhindered.
May I save myself out of birth and death; saving myself and saving others, with no this or that.
I wish only to save all people universally, all living beings as myself.
May my vow be firm and reach perfection; may I obtain the true mechanism and be able to turn it in reverse.
Though knife and axe wound the body, the body does not shrink; though water sweeps it away and fire burns it, the mind does not soften.
The three calamities, the eight hardships, and the five sufferings—I wish only to bear them, never resisting.
Nine demons, ten trials, and the calamities of the hundred and six—no goblin or demon can block the way.
May it be that though the body decays, the nature does not; though the power of vows is exhausted, the resolve does not fail.
Even in death I will not forget the heart that made the vow; through ten thousand kalpas and a thousand lives, never slackening.
Even if I sink into the Unremitting Hell, fixed karma cannot be escaped, and I will not shrink back.
May I, with endurance of insult and a suffering heart, bear in full the roots of sin and evil I myself have made.
May I understand the nature sunk in delusion since beginningless time; may I enter boundless great stillness and concentration.
May I give my liver and gall to others as alms; may I enter the great bright mirror without screen.
May I rescue living beings with compassionate thoughts; may I become a good doctor to heal the world’s ills.
May I cross the sea of suffering steering the precious raft, universally receiving living beings out of the illusory realm.
Heaven, earth, and all things—all true; the ancestral qi of the Primordial—all spirit.
I wish only that by the Tao of sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas, all alike be liberated and leave the ordinary dust.
Assembly, go and each think it over; it is to your advantage to cultivate early. Time flies like an arrow, and the days and months like a shuttle. Since you left home until now, you have let the years slip by and wasted your time, until your hair is like frost, your skin wrinkled, your teeth gradually falling out, your bones soft and sinews stiff, so that your feet cannot walk far; your blood depleted, so that your strength cannot bear weight. When essence dries up and the kidneys fail, both eyes lose their light; when the spirit is weary and the mind confused, wisdom does not arise; when the po soul grows strong and the hun soul wanes, both ears gradually cease to hear. Assembly, the physical body has its day of death; only early or late differs. Deaf ears and dim eyes, a dry mouth and parched tongue, loose and falling teeth, withered beard and white hair, stiff sinews and bones, numb hands and feet, shortened resolve, a mind turned to ashes—all of these are invitations sent by King Yama, respectfully awaiting your early arrival. Do not keep only the heart of an old woman, the business sense of a bean-curd seller, the understanding of a child, and the thoughts of a beast, looking only to the present and giving no thought to the next life. If today, at this very hour, the ghosts came to seize you, you would have no choice but to go. Could you hide from them? Why not see through it a little, get free early, and at the final moment let go and depart? Only then will you be seen as a true man, one with resolve and ability. Otherwise, muttering and mumbling, drifting and wavering, you will surely end up in hell! Assembly, only by making a resolve can one leave the world; without resolve and vows it is ten thousand times harder. Whoever can resolve on cultivating perfection in the true Tao will have great power and spiritual abilities, no idle matter.
Assembly:
Spiritual practice without resolve is like a puppet show.
When the gongs and drums of the stage fall silent, see where you will go.