Chapter 3: The True Essence of the Treatise on the Profound Principles by Mr. Zongxuan
The Patriarch does not speak of the eternal secret, but now I speak clearly
I only wish for future students to understand the profound meaning; the Dao does not travel in vain, it depends on people
Chapter 3: The True Essence Heaven and Earth cannot exist by themselves; it is the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji) that gives rise to Heaven and Earth. The Supreme Ultimate cannot move itself; it is the True Essence (Zhenjing) that moves the Supreme Ultimate. The True Essence is natural, divine and luminous, truly called the Void Emperor (Xuhuang), dwelling high in the Nine Clarity realms, it oversees the profound transformation, commanding all spirits. Through it, Heaven moves, and through it, Earth rests in peace. Silent and without action, all things are accomplished. Before the void, the utmost emptiness is unfathomable, and the primordial harmony is clear and upright. From this, it is planted; the divine and true transform independently, not only in the billions, looking up to the Supreme, all have their duties. In the Cinnabar Terrace and Jade Forest, they wander and rest; drinking cloud nectar and eating rosy clouds, their movement is not of the heart, their flight is not of wings. Listening does not use the ears, hearing the infinite. Seeing does not use the eyes, perceiving the boundless. These are without ancestor or lineage, without beginning or end, containing harmony and harboring compassion, mourning the mundane and grieving the ignorant. Pure and turbid bodies differ, the true and the mortal are not the same. Descending qi and dividing light, they give birth to humans among people; the wise and enlightened are broad-minded, achieving merit through helping others. Becoming rulers or leaders, they enable all things to connect. Thus passing through centuries, the profound merits are fully abundant, virtue spreading across heaven and earth, names recorded in the imperial palace. Then, moving away from the Northern Capital, marking the Southern Mansion, the Primordial True descends, becoming the master of form. When Yin qi falls, worldly dust naturally blocks it; refining the embryo and changing the substance, removing filth and decay, the spirit and form match perfectly, and in broad daylight, one rises lightly. This is called returning to my hometown, returning to my constant, having no boundary with the Dao, and who knows its direction. Rough Explanation Heaven and Earth did not exist originally; they were evolved by the Supreme Ultimate. The Supreme Ultimate does not evolve by itself; what evolves the Supreme Ultimate is the True Essence. The True Essence is a natural entity, divine and luminous, governing all transformations, hence it is said that the Void Emperor dwells high in the Nine Clarity, overseeing profound transformation and commanding all spirits. Heaven's nature is vigorous and moves it, Earth's nature is compliant and stabilizes it. Silent and without action, all things are accomplished. Before the void, the utmost emptiness is difficult to comprehend, originally harmonious, clear, and upright, from which evolution occurs. The divine and true transform independently, their number being immeasurable. All things revere it and are assigned roles by it. In the Cinnabar Terrace and Jade Forest, they flow and rest with it, drinking cloud and rosy clouds like nectar. Their movement is not due to the heart, and their flight and changes do not rely on wings. Listening to sounds does not require ears, yet one can hear everything. Not using eyes to look, yet one can perceive the finest details of things. They have no source, no beginning or end, containing great harmony and harboring compassion, grieving for the mundane and sorrowing for the ignorance of sentient beings. Pure and turbid are distinct, the true and the mortal are different. Qi moves and descends, dividing light to humans, making them wise and broad-minded, happy to help others. If they are rulers or elders, they can guide people out of confusion, making all things clear. Thus, what moves from the Northern Capital is marked in the Southern Mansion, and the Primordial True descends, becoming the主导 of the forms of all things. When Yin qi falls, obstacles arise in the worldly dust, so one needs to refine the embryo, eliminate the Yin substance, remove filth and decay, so that spirit and form can match. Once this happens, one can easily ascend in broad daylight. This is called returning to my hometown, returning to my constant, with no distinction from the Dao. Practical Cultivation Interpretation Taoism emphasizes the path of cultivation, but what is the principle of cultivation? For millennia, people have been unwilling to reveal the fundamental truth. Even with alchemical classics, matters are often described through symbols, and the fundamental principles are not clearly stated. Mr. Zongxuan's discourse is extremely important because the theoretical foundation of later alchemical internal cultivation was greatly influenced by it. How did Heaven and Earth come into being? Taoism believes they were evolved by the Supreme Ultimate dividing Yin and Yang. But why does the Supreme Ultimate divide Yin and Yang? There must be a force behind this, a force that can be seen as the primary motive force of the Big Bang, or the driving force behind the change from nothing to something in the creation of all things in the universe. Although it is said that the Dao follows nature, meaning it is natural and self-so, that is, "it is just the way it is." To understand with a more detailed example: Why is fire hot? Because it has extremely high energy, so matter moves rapidly, and this rapid motion can transmit energy to other matter. But why does matter move? According to relativity, all things in the world are moving because motion is a relative phenomenon. The concept of motion has an interesting aspect: if you feel it is moving, it is moving; if you feel it is not moving, it is not moving. For example, sitting on a chair, a person is not moving relative to the Earth, but the Earth is still rotating. Relative to the Sun or other celestial bodies, the person is still moving. Whether moving or not depends on what reference object you choose. If you choose the Earth as the reference, sitting still means not moving. If you choose the Sun as the reference, you must run at 3,000 kilometers per second in the opposite direction of Earth's rotation to be stationary relative to the Sun. For ordinary people, the reference object is usually not chosen by themselves, so people are often in a passive state. Why is the current universe like this? Why do these rules exist? Why does the universe evolve? In Mr. Zongxuan's discourse, it is believed that all of this is influenced by something called the True Essence behind it. This True Essence, in its manifestation as a transforming spirit in Taoism, is the Void Emperor, the highest deity. However, the highest deity of Taoism is different from other religions. The highest deity of Taoism is not active in a worldly sense, but here careful distinction is needed. Although the deity is personified as the Void Emperor, Taoism does not mean that the Void Emperor is personified in the human sense, i.e., one cannot understand the concept of the Void Emperor as a human-like god. Although in Taoist rituals and methods, the Void Emperor is everywhere, often personified or transformed into the Yuan Shi Tian Zun, Tai Shang Lao Jun, Shen Xiao Tian Wang, Lei Zu, or others, all of these are meanings after personification and deification, not the Void Emperor itself. The true body of the Void Emperor is extremely empty, vast, and inexhaustible. It does not exist, but this non-existence influences all existing things, including the generation and change of Heaven, Earth, and all things. The concept of emptiness exists in reality, and its application in Taoism has reached the extreme. This involves many core concepts and contents in Taoism, including the Five Arts of Taoism, which cannot do without it. The concept of emptiness and fullness has been discussed in detail elsewhere, so I will not elaborate here. As mentioned above, one manifestation of the True Essence is the Void Emperor. What are its properties, and can these properties be corroborated in the universe? Among the properties of the True Essence, most are easy to understand, but the phrase "containing harmony and harboring compassion, mourning the mundane and grieving the ignorant" is the most difficult to interpret. Why does the True Essence have the characteristic of "harboring compassion"? Where is it manifested? As everyone knows, Taoism is a religion, and religions have the function of encouraging goodness. Is this saying just for encouraging the world? The Dao De Jing says: Heaven and Earth are not benevolent, treating all things as straw dogs; the Sage is not benevolent, treating the common people as straw dogs. The rules between Heaven and Earth are cruel. Not to mention various natural disasters and climate changes on Earth, even if the basic rules of the universe, or even constants, changed slightly, Earth could not have formed, and life on Earth could not have emerged, let alone humans. Even after life emerged on Earth, resources were not as abundant as imagined. Because life needs to continue, due to insufficient resources, sentient beings kill each other and plunder resources. Generation after generation, for countless years, Earth is left with piles of bones. If the Heavenly Venerable is compassionate, why is the world like this? Many fellow Daoists or believers may have such doubts, and this doubt may not dare to be asked or spoken. Although the above discourse is true, Taoism is a pragmatic religion. Past masters emphasized the good side, not just for encouraging goodness. From a different perspective, looking from a broader vision, one can understand the aspect of harboring compassion. If Heaven and Earth really wanted to destroy all sentient beings, why let them appear and live in this world? It is precisely because the True Essence harbors compassion that everything in the world can appear, and sentient beings can emerge. The True Essence's harboring of compassion is manifested here. Therefore, although Heaven and Earth are cruel, there is always a ray of hope, and this ray of hope comes from the transformation of the True Essence. But similarly, although the True Essence harbors compassion, it also "mourns the mundane and grieves the ignorant." Sentient beings are ignorant and unclear, so the True Essence grieves; sentient beings are mixed with the qi of the red dust, not true in the mundane, so the True Essence suffers. The grief and pain here are not the grief and pain of mortals, but represent a kind of will. This is like parents who, for the good of their children, when the children do not listen, endure pain and whip them. The hardships people suffer are merely to temper people. The reason for being tempered is due to being ignorant in the mundane, i.e., not understanding the Great Dao, not being able to understand the heart of Heaven, and thus being whipped by Heaven and Earth. Therefore, those who practice the Dao should carefully experience the meaning of harboring compassion between Heaven and Earth. This meaning can penetrate up to the Nine Heavens and down to the Nine Netherworlds, inside and outside the Three Realms, with nothing not returning to it. In the worldly world, qi has Yin and Yang distinctions. Because the True Essence is above the Nine Heavens, it is extremely Yang without Yin. Only by eliminating Yin qi and eliminating stubborn and fierce qi, making Yang qi fill the whole body, can one better resonate with the True Essence. This is discussed in detail in the Chapter on Heavenly Endowment.