Records of the Mysterious Pearl 玄珠录

Written by Wang Xuanlan, a Taoist priest of the Tang Dynasty, and compiled by his disciple Wang Daxiao. It was roughly completed during the reigns of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian.

In two volumes, it is included in the Taixuan Section of The Daozang.

Records of the Mysterious Pearl

The book compiles more than 120 sayings of Wang Xuanlan, mainly discussing philosophical issues such as the relationship between the Dao and things, emptiness and existence, mind and nature, with the ultimate purpose of cultivating the mind to embody the Dao. His doctrines were influenced by the Scripture of the Sea and Sky and incorporated many Buddhist theories into Taoism. For example, when discussing the relationship between the Dao and things, the author stated that the Dao is omnipresent yet absent everywhere; things are neither real nor false, yet both real and false. The expressible Dao and the eternal Dao are interdependent in generation and extinction, yet they have no actual generation or extinction. The Dao generates all things just like stamping clay with a seal: there are no inherent characters in the clay, yet the characters on the original seal remain intact, and the characters in the clay are identical to those on the seal. Hence it is known that: "The Dao can pervade all things, and things themselves are the Dao; since things are subject to generation and extinction, the Dao also undergoes generation and extinction." The book also states: "All dharmas have no inherent nature; they transform into forms and natures along with combination and separation." Because dharmas have no inherent nature, they can change infinitely, yet they never depart from forms and natures. Therefore, the Dao-nature and the nature of all dharmas and beings are neither the same nor different, both identical and separate. The Dao is empty yet not empty; emptiness can respond to all things. Beings are empty because they have no inherent nature, yet they can constantly correspond to the Dao. Hence it is said: Beings are born from the Dao, yet beings are not the Dao. "Precisely because they are not the Dao, cultivation and practice are necessary."

"The Dao-nature and the nature of beings are both invisible; it is precisely because of their invisibility that they can be identical with the supreme mystery." From this dialectical relationship between the Dao and all things and beings, the author demonstrated that beings must cultivate the Dao and are also capable of attaining it. The book also discusses the relationship between mind and things as well as the way of cultivating the mind. It states that all things are inseparable from the mind-consciousness; within the mind-consciousness, the mind has no inherent nature yet can respond to all dharmas and generate all knowledge. Seeking the mind is like peeling a banana plant: peeling until there is no more skin and no mind is left, one attains the true mind. To realize that the true mind is originally mindless, yet it can respond to things and generate knowledge even in its mindlessness, is to attain the way of liberation. Hence it is said: "When the mind arises, all dharmas arise; when the mind ceases, all dharmas cease. If one attains the samadhi of no-mind, there is neither generation nor extinction." It also states: "Do not let the mind wander aimlessly, do not force the mind to abide in nothingness; in this state, without restraint or coercion, let it be and attain freedom—this is the correct practice." The so-called correct practice refers to the essential method of cultivating the mind and stabilizing nature advocated by the Chongxuan School of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty.