Lord Lao said: The Great Tao has no form, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no feelings, yet it moves the sun and moon. The Great Tao has no name, yet it nurtures the myriad things. I do not know its name; forced to name it, I call it the Tao. The Tao has the clear and the turbid, the moving and the still. Heaven is clear and earth is turbid; heaven moves and earth is still. The male is clear and the female turbid; the male moves and the female is still. Descending from the root and flowing out to the branches, it gives rise to the myriad things. The clear is the source of the turbid; movement is the foundation of stillness. If people can remain constantly clear and still, heaven and earth will all return to them.
The human spirit loves clarity, but the mind disturbs it. The human mind loves stillness, but desires pull at it. If you can constantly dispel your desires, the mind becomes still of itself; settle the mind, and the spirit becomes clear of itself. Then, naturally, the six desires do not arise and the three poisons are extinguished. Those who cannot do this have not yet settled the mind or dispelled desire. For those who can dispel it: looking inward at the mind, the mind has no mind; looking outward at the body, the body has no body; looking afar at things, things have no things. Once these three are understood, one sees only emptiness. Contemplating emptiness, emptiness too is empty; emptiness has nothing to empty. When what is emptied is no more, even the nothing of nothing is no more. When the nothing of nothing is no more, there is profound and constant stillness. When stillness has nothing to be still, how could desire arise? When desire no longer arises, that is true stillness. True constancy responds to things; true constancy attains one's nature. Constantly responding, constantly still—this is constant clarity and stillness. Being clear and still in this way, one gradually enters the true Tao. Having entered the true Tao, this is called attaining the Tao. 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.
Lord Lao said: The superior person does not contend; the inferior person loves contention. Superior virtue does not hold itself as virtue; inferior virtue clings to virtue. Those who cling cannot be said to have the Tao and its virtue. The reason beings do not attain the true Tao is that they have deluded minds. With a deluded mind, the spirit is startled. With the spirit startled, one clings to the myriad things. Clinging to the myriad things, one gives rise to craving. With craving comes vexation. Vexation and deluded thoughts trouble body and mind. Then one meets only defilement and disgrace, drifts through birth and death, sinks forever in the sea of suffering, and loses the true Tao for good. The true and constant Tao is attained by those who awaken to it; those who awaken to the Tao remain constantly clear and still.
The Immortal Elder Ge said: I attained the true Tao, and I once recited this scripture ten thousand times. This scripture is practiced by the heavenly beings and is not transmitted to people of lesser capacity. I received it long ago from the Divine Lord of Eastern Florescence (Donghua Dijun), who received it from the Divine Lord of the Golden Gate, who received it from the Queen Mother of the West. The Queen Mother of the West passed it on by word of mouth alone and never wrote it down. Now, in this world, I have written it down. Superior people who awaken to it ascend to become heavenly officials; middling people who cultivate it take their place among the immortals of the Southern Palace; lesser people who obtain it enjoy long life in this world. They roam the Three Realms and ascend through the Golden Gate.
Perfected Zuoxuan said: A student of the Tao who recites and upholds this scripture will be guarded by the good spirits of the ten heavens. Then jade talismans protect the spirit and golden liquor refines the body. Body and spirit both become wondrous, and one merges with the Tao in truth.
Perfected Zhengyi said: In a household that keeps this scripture and understands it, calamities will not intrude, and the sages will guard its gate. The spirit will ascend to the upper realms to pay homage to the Most Honored. When merit is complete and virtue achieved, one moves the Divine Lords to respond. Reciting it without falling back, one's body will soar on purple clouds.