Mind Transmission of Daoist Rites 道法心传
Paul PengShare
Mind Transmission of Daoist Rites
Written by Wang Weiyi, a Taoist priest of the Shenxiao School during the Yuan Dynasty.
One scroll, included in the Zhengyi Section of The Daozang.
This book is a collection of poems and essays by Wang Weiyi, consisting of two parts: Dao Fa Xin Chuan (Heart Transmission of Daoist Laws) and Dao Fa Jing Wei (Subtle Essence of Daoist Laws).
Both parts are preceded by the author’s preface dated the Jiawu year of the Zhiyuan reign (1294), summarizing his experience in cultivating and practicing the Thunder Arts.
The author holds that popular theories of the Thunder Arts such as “the one mysterious gate” and “primal qi” have missed the essential point. He claims to have observed the gathering and dispersing of wind and clouds, and changes in weather for thirty years, and only after guidance from a perfected person and inspiration from Master Mo Yueding did he attain the subtlety of Daoist laws.
The main text of Dao Fa Xin Chuan contains more than one hundred poems, mainly chanting the theories of Dao cultivation and essential formulas of the Thunder Arts. It emphasizes that breaking off worldly ties and purity of mind are the foundation of Dao cultivation, while mastering the changes of wind, thunder and meteorological phenomena outside, and concentrating spirit and gathering qi are the key to the Thunder Arts.
Dao Fa Jing Wei includes thirteen diagrams such as the “Diagram of Precepts for Practice” and “Diagram of Ten Thousand Laws Returning to the Heart”, with accompanying commentaries. Their contents also concern the theories of the Thunder Arts. For example, the “Diagram of Ten Thousand Laws Returning to the Heart” is a circle with the single character “Heart” inside. Below the diagram is a poem:
“Ten thousand laws arise from the heart;
Ten thousand laws cease from the heart.
Understand the place of arising and ceasing,
Only then is the matter of life and death decided.”
A short essay follows the diagram, stating that the heart is the master of the body and the root of all laws; cultivating the heart is cultivating the Dao, and cultivating the Dao is cultivating the heart. The other diagrams are similar in content.
At the end of the book are several Mantingfang lyrics by Wang Zhen, which also expound the theories of the Thunder Arts.
About the Author
Paul Peng
Paul Peng is a Zhengyi Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi — the ancestral home of the Celestial Masters' tradition. Ordained at 25 after a dream from the Celestial Master, he has practiced for 25 years under Master Zeng Guangliang. He is one of the curators of this store, which is officially authorized by Tianshi Fu. All items are consecrated at the temple by the resident priest team.
Read his full story →
