Way of Highest Clarity, 6.A-C
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6. pp. 161-210 ["part one of" (p. 162) = inner formulae of (p. 163)] "Central Scripture of the 9 Perfecteds" DZ 1376
p. 161 the 2 contiguous canonical texts
title |
DZ |
S^an-qin Tai-s^an Di-jun Jiu-z^en Z^on-jin (Highest-Clarity ‘Supreme Imperial-Lord’s 9-Perfecteds’ Central-Scripture’) |
1376 |
S^an-qin Tai-s^an Jiu-z^en Z^on-jin Jian-s^en S^en-dan Jue (Highest-Clarity ‘Supreme 9-Perfecteds’ Central-Scripture Divine-Cinnabar Life-Ascending Formula’) |
1377 |
p. 161 part two (= outer formulae) of the texts
"instructions for dragon-script (longwen ...) talismans and alchemical recipes. |
... alchemical recipes contained in the second version of the texts (DZ 1377), attributed to Zhang Daoling (2nd century C.E.), the first Celestial Master". |
p. 163 Praeface
"Highest Clarity Supreme Lord’s Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected, ... Transmitted by the Perfected Person of Supreme Vacuity and High Immortal of the Southern Peak, Master Redpine." |
pp. 164-167 biography of the Yellow Venerable Lord of the Centre
p. 164 |
"The Yellow Venerable Lord of the Center is the younger brother of the Heavenly Imperial Lord in [the Palace of] Supreme Great Subtlety. He was born in the second year of [the reign of] the Highest Sovereign of Clarity and Vacuity, at the beginning of the primal chaos. [fn. 5 : "when the primal chaos (hundun ...) was swirling"] ... When he was seven years old he spontaneously knew ... the methods of celestial immortals. Thus he had a superior understanding of subtle phenomena [p. 165, fn. 8 : "fine threads of fabric (miao lun ...)"], respectfully absorbed [the practice of] Mysterious Perfection [fn. 9 : "Mystery Perfection" on p. 117], ands reverently developed his numinous imagination. [fn. 10 : " "thoughts of the numinous world" (lingxiang ...)] ... He ... wore plain clothes and lived in an empty abode. |
p. 165 |
Over vast islands and dark depths, mysterious waves and cloudy cliffs, he [grasped] the reins [of his celestial chariot] and transcended the world ... . |
p. 166 |
He revolved a cooling wind around his subtle consciousness and wandered [through the earth] hidden in lofty mists. He touched the Mystery Prime beyond the heavens and circulated the nine [forms of] qi [fn. 17 : "the Method of the Nine Perfected"] and the cloudy fluids. He sent forth [cosmic] sounds in elegant waves, and condensed clear [qi] in a clear and swirling liquid. [Amid] strange sounds and faint echoes, clouds converged in eightfold layers, as he played [in the realm of] Great Beginning. He focused his mind on lofty emblems [fn. 19 : "The lofty emblems are the constellations of stars."], subtlely traversed the ten directions and sought out spirits in [the realm of] Abstruse Prime. He gathered the whirlwind [fn. 20 : "the whirlwind ... (duobiao ...) is ... "blending of the whirlwind" (huifeng hunhe ...) ... on page 214. ... "picking up the wind and twisting the hair" ... a whirling movement consonant with shamanistic practices."] and stirred the infinitesimal, submerging himself in purity and hiding in subtlety. |
p. 167 |
His eyes pierced the portals of the [realm of] Mystery Prime. His hands touched the courtyards of countless [heavenly] mansions. ... He floated freely with his deed of authority [fn. 22 : "document giving him authority over spirits."] through the secluded depths and bright vortices [of the cosmos]. He purified and changed his spirits ... to the numinous power of perfection. The sounds of the heavens were marvelous and rich, and he subtlely matched their mysterious impulses. Thereupon he received from on high the Imperial Lord’s Scripture of the Nine Perfected and the stanzas of the Eight Secret Sayings of the Dao. ... Upon receiving these texts he became a Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate." |
pp. 168-169 Yellow Venerable Lord; holy days; incantation on one’s fate-day
p. 168 |
"At the Supreme Ultimate there are four perfected. The Yellow Venerable Lord of the Center stands on the left and possesses the pendant of Dragon Mystery writing and the talisman of the spirit-tiger. On his belt he has a bell of flowing fold. In his hands he holds a scepter with purple flowers. On his head he wears a scarf of golden essence. or sometimes a drawn blossom cap. [His chariot] is drawn by flying dragons and he rides in the clouds of the Three Pure Ones." |
"On the third day of the third month, the fifth of the fifth, the ninth of the ninth and your fate day use east-flowing water to bathe and cleanse yourself with the qi of the five fragrances. Also bathe at midnight on the five jiazi days. ... On your fate day, ... recite this incantation : |
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p. 169 |
O Supreme Perfected on High, Luminous Essence of the Nine Numinous Powers, Five Spirits, the Imperial Lord and Supreme Unity : ... Make me into a flying immortal : On high may I ascend the Purple Court, And bathe in the Pool of Blossoms ... . O Peach Lord protect my life, Imperial Lord, restore my infancy. On high may I penetrate the great vacuity". |
pp. 170-172 conceiving an Embryo
p. 170 |
"In an embryo, ... yellow and white combine, the ethereal and solid [combine], cinnabar and purple [combine] ... . ... The four limits [of the cosmos] converge and combine; the nine palaces [in the brain] unite as one; the five spirits are incarnated in [the five organs] of the body. [The God of] Supreme Unity fixes the tally and register [of birth and death]." |
p. 171 |
"The human body has venerable spirits but their residence is inconstant. They come and go among the three [cinnabar] fields – upper, middle, lower. They revolve and change ... . They twist and turn, flourish and move ... . The great spirits are born from vacuity, ... transforming into brightly shining lights ... . They accumulate numinous power and receive qi ... . They are [the immortal person’s true] father and mother. When the nine spirit-souls of the Imperial Lord change form, suddenly they become ... venerable spirits. They have nine names and are known as the nine perfected lords. They are the melding together of the Imperial Lord and Supreme Unity". |
p. 172 |
"One name of this text is Inner Formulas of the Nine Perfected; another name is Supreme Highest Soaring Scripture; another is Foreign Country Liberating Item; another, Numinous Stanzas of the Divine Continent." |
pp. 173-190 the 9 Perfecteds : mergers of the Imperial Lord with the Supreme Unity to form "one great spirit" (2 spirits in the case of the 7th )
p. |
# |
title |
courtesy title |
bodily site |
color of qi |
173 |
1st |
Lord of Caelestial Essence |
Highest Hero of Soaring Birth |
heart |
purple |
176 |
2nd |
Lord of Enduring Jade |
Condensed Feathery Pearl |
throat, stomach |
white |
179 |
3rd |
Lord of Primordial Birth |
Child Mystery of Yellow Quiet |
blood |
yellow |
180 |
4th |
Great Lord of Azure Radiance |
Lad of the Wheel of Light |
liver |
azure |
182 |
5th |
Lord of Nourishing Light |
Master of the Great Storehouse |
spleen |
green |
184 |
6th |
Pure Jade Lord of Upper Prime |
South Central Lad of Lian |
lungs |
5-color |
185 |
7th |
Lords of Mystery Yan |
Gentlemen of Darkness |
2 kidneys |
blue |
187 |
8th |
Lord Bearing Effulgence |
Mystery Essence of the North Terrace |
gall-bladder |
5-color |
188 |
9th |
Highest Sovereign Lord of Imperial Glory |
Primordial Ancestor of the 1st Numinous Power |
"knots ... only fathers can unravel" |
p. 189 purple |
pp. 173-190 garb and cap worn, and talismans held, by the 9 Perfecteds
p. |
# |
garb |
cap |
talisman worn on left |
talisman worn of right |
174 |
1st |
vermilion |
crimson |
dragon script |
tigre writing |
176 |
2nd |
plain |
white |
p. 177 dragon script |
p. 177 golden perfection |
179 |
3rd |
yellow |
purple hibiscus |
tigre emblem |
dragon script |
181 |
4th |
azure |
jade-green |
tigre emblem |
dragon writ |
183 |
5th |
green |
waterlily |
jade numen |
awesome script |
184 |
6th |
dragon |
yellow blossom |
mystery book |
tigre writing |
185 |
7th |
purple |
rosy |
dragon |
phoinix writing |
187 |
8th |
brocade |
purple |
divine light |
jade perfection |
190 |
9th |
phoinix : purple, blue, azure, green |
decorated |
jade crystal |
tigre writing |
pp. 173-190 description of each of the 9 Perfecteds; method performed by human practitioner for each of the 9 Perfecteds
# |
description |
method |
1st |
p. 173 "It rushes up to the Mud Pill." |
p. 175 "Do not wait any longer". |
2nd |
p. 176 "He transforms ... in order to enter into the hundred bones and joints." |
p. 177 "fix your register in [the Palace of] Mystery Clarity." |
3rd |
p. 179 "Feathery garb is wrapped around your top." |
"bind tightly around openings in the [blood] vessels." |
4th |
p. 181 "Treasure of Perfection" |
"I attain perfection." |
5th |
p. 183 "The five numinous powers grasp their battle-axes. Seven flashes of lightning and nine claps of thunder!" |
p. 182 "it [one’s spleen] becomes the great storehouse." |
6th |
p. 184 "you [6th Perfected] hold the imperial registers ... the numinous tablets." |
one’s "coil" : "Inside and outside, [it should be] thick and bushy." |
7th |
p. 186 "Below, you record my name and title." [fn. 73 the 7th Perfected "is able to have the adept’s name and title inscribed in the registers of immortality."] |
"ascend to the Mystery Towers And travel through the Gate of Heaven." |
8th |
p. 187 "May the Peach Lord record the talisman." |
p. 188 "May I go north and be received by the Sovereign of Vacuity and come in a curtained carriage to the Three Primes." |
9th |
p. 188 the 9th Perfected "reverts his appearance to that of the paternal ancestor in order to descend from the high palace." |
p. 189 "the sun [illuminating] the appearance of the inside of your body." |
p. 178 "Those who do not have an astrological contract [fn. 59 : "That is, a spiritual covenant that will enable the adept to take up lodging in one of the stars, understood as the celestial residents of these spirits."] should not see it."
pp. 191-193 supplementary instructions
p. 191 |
"If your body has not yet ascended and harmonized its form fully with the morning star, then |
{cf. ascent of Quetzalcoatl’s heart into the sky to become the morning star; and S`akya-muni’s view of the morning star at the instant of his enlightenment as Buddha} |
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it is fitting that you hide your effulgence ... and, |
{Iesous Khristos withdrew his own radiance into his body while (after the crucifixion) he was coming down from heaven toward his 12 disciples, according to the Pistis Sophia} |
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temporarily, enter Great Yin. [fn. 79 "Great Yin is the underworld."] |
{cf. Christian doctrine of Khristos’s temporary descent into Limbo in order to preach to the souls residing therewithin} |
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As your body passes through the three bureaux [of the underworld], the officers will not punish [you]. Rather, |
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the Nine Perfected will summon your earth souls, |
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the Supreme Unity will preserve your bones, |
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the Three Primes will protect your qi and |
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Supreme Unity will assist you heaven souls. |
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Your bones and flesh will not decay, nor will your five viscera rot [in the grave]. You can be dead or alive; |
{cf. Kemetian "coming forth by day" by the dead, who though sleeping at night in the mummified corpse, during the day wander (invisibly) among the living} |
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you can be [in] yin or yang. You can leave vacuity and enter nonbeing and live in both heaven and earth." |
{yin = darkness of Kemetian nether world; yan = brightness of world of the living} |
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p. 192 |
"So subtle! How profound!" {quotation from Dao De Jin} |
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"the hundred spirits will bow down to you and the myriad ghosts will be at your service. |
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Even if you pass through the Great Yin, your body and bones will not decay and your five organs will spontaneously be regenerated. Count twenty-four years and then you will be reborn : ... you will be enlightened and awake. You will clearly remember the day of old when you entered the Great Yin. It will seem as though you slept but a single night. Joyously, you will already be outside your coffin. Brightly, you will already be sitting on the peaks of hills and mountains." {cf. "seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 17:9)} |
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p. 193 |
"when he closes his qi, he should make it sublime and when he emits qi, she should make it subtle. He will then leave vacuity and enter into nonbeing and live forever. This is where the Imperial Lord rests and what the Mystery Mother holds dear." |
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James Miller : The Way of Highest Clarity. Three Pines Pr, Magdalena (NM), 2008.