Laojun’s Classic of Serene Clarity 太上老君说常清静妙经

Abbreviated as The Scripture of Constant Purity and Tranquility. The author is unknown. It was probably compiled during the Tang Dynasty.

It was recorded as one volume in the Secret Catalogue of the Southern Song Dynasty and Tongzhi·Yiwen Lue (Comprehensive Records of Literature and Arts). The surviving version is included in the Ben Wen (Original Text) category of the Dong Shen Section in The Daozang.

Laojun’s Classic of Serene Clarity

With fewer than 400 characters, the scripture states: "If one can always remain pure and tranquil, heaven and earth will all return to him. Man’s spirit delights in purity but is disturbed by the mind; the mind delights in tranquility but is dragged by desires. If one can always dispel desires, the mind will naturally become tranquil; if one can clarify the mind, the spirit will naturally become pure." Its main purport is based on purity and tranquility, urging people to clarify their minds, dispel desires, embrace emptiness, impermanence and stillness, and even reach the state of being still without any attachment to stillness, thus uniting one’s essence with the Dao. Its theories are derived from the Chongxuan (Double Mystery) philosophy of Taoism in the Sui and Tang dynasties. This scripture exerted a profound influence on later Taoism; Du Guangting of the late Tang Dynasty, Bai Yuchan of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Quanzhen Taoist priests of the Jin and Yuan dynasties such as Hou Shanyuan, Li Daochun and Wang Daoyuan all wrote annotations for it.

The Quanzhen Dao regards reciting and studying this scripture as a daily compulsory practice for Taoist priests.