Essential Teachings of Longmen Sect 龙门心法
Paul PengEssential Teachings of Longmen Sect
Also known as The Altar Scripture of the Green Garden.
Transmitted by Wang Changyue of the Qing Dynasty, revised by his grand‑disciple Zhan Tailin, and expanded by Tang Qingshan.
Wang Changyue was the Seventh‑Generation Precept Master of the The Quanzhen Dao Longmen Lineage.
This text records the “mind essentials” that Wang Changyue taught to Shao Shoushan, Zhan Shouchun, and others when he gave precepts in Nanjing in the second year of the Kangxi reign.
Essential Teachings of Longmen Sect
Postscripts by Shao Shoushan and Zhan Shouchun appear at the end, indicating the text was compiled and edited by the two; another view holds it was compiled by Shi Shouping.
The book is divided into two volumes.
The upper volume opens with True Words of the Mind Essentials, followed by ten chapters:
Taking Refuge in the Three Treasures,
Repenting of Sins and Karmic Obstacles,
Cutting Off Hindrances,
Severing the Source of Attachment,
Pure and Strict Precepts,
Enduring Humiliation and Subduing the Mind,
Purifying Body and Mind,
Seeking a Teacher and Inquiring of the Dao,
Equal Maintenance of Concentration and Wisdom,
Examining Practice and Cultivating Truth.
The lower volume contains ten chapters:
Repaying Kindness and Eliminating Calamities,
Resolving to Aspire and Vow,
Verifying Effects and Results,
Preserving Life and Prolonging Life,
Expounding the Teaching and Spreading the Dao,
Saving and Transcending All Beings,
Wisdom and Light,
Marvelous Function of Spiritual Powers,
Enlightenment of Birth and Death,
Perfection of Merit and Virtue.
During the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, an additional chapter Penetrating the Primordial Mechanism was appended at the end, and the title was changed to The Altar Scripture of the Green Garden.
It was included in The Hidden Chamber Library of Ancient Books compiled by Min Xiaogen.
Originally, only handwritten copies survived at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing.
A woodblock edition was first published in the tenth year of the Tongzhi reign.
It is now included in the Doctrines and Teachings category of Extra‑Canonical Taoist Texts.
