The Xinyin Jing 心印经 The Scripture of the Mind Seal

The full title of Xinyin Jing is Gaoshang Yuhuang Xinyin Miaojing (The Wondrous Scripture of the Mind Seal of the Supreme Jade Emperor). It mainly expounds Taoist cultivation methods, focusing on the esoteric essentials of refining the "Three Treasures"—essence (jing), energy (qi), and spirit (shen)—in internal alchemy. The scripture holds that "the three supreme medicines are spirit, energy, and essence." It emphasizes that every person possesses essence; when essence unites with spirit, spirit unites with energy, and energy unites with the primordial truth, one can attain immortality through refining and nourishing one’s own essence, energy, and spirit.

The author of Xinyin Jing is unknown. The entire text, consisting of one scroll, is composed of 50 four-character rhyming couplets.

The scripture begins by stating, "the three supreme medicines are spirit, energy, and essence," clarifying that essence, energy, and spirit are the "three supreme medicines" within the human body, which serve as the "medicinals" for cultivating internal alchemy. It then describes the mental state during the cultivation process as "dim and indistinct, profound and obscure." Practitioners of the Tao take "abiding in nothingness and guarding existence" as the key, enabling the primordial medicine to be "accomplished in an instant." Through the method of "circulating the wind to blend (essence, energy, and spirit)," one refines the great elixir in a hundred days; after twelve years, one attains the Tao and ascends to immortality. From this, "once attained, it is eternally attained; the body naturally becomes light, filled with great harmony, and the bones exude the cold luster of jade." Even more, one can "let the spirit enter stone, let the spirit fly with the form, enter water without drowning, and enter fire without burning." Freed from the constraints of nature, one "realizes the Tao and becomes an immortal."

The scripture also reveals the relationship between spirit, energy, essence, and form: "Spirit arises dependent on form; essence abounds dependent on energy." Finally, it states, "Recite and uphold it ten thousand times, and the wonderful principles will naturally become clear," emphasizing that one should not only "recite" (read aloud) the scripture but, more importantly, "uphold" (practice) it.

Xinyin Jing is shorter than Qingjing Jing (The Scripture of Purity and Stillness), yet it holds equal importance. Taoists believe that Qingjing Jing expounds the cultivation of nature (xing), while Xinyin Jing focuses on the cultivation of life (ming). The two scriptures, complementing each other like pearls and jade, form the great method of cultivating both nature and life in Taoism.

Taoism includes it as one of the scriptures for daily recitation, incorporating it into Zaotan Gongke Jing (The Scripture of Morning Altar Practices). Quanzhen Taoists must also recite and study it when receiving the Initial Truth Precepts. Thus, Xinyin Jing occupies an extremely important position in Taoist cultivation.