The Supreme Scripture of Wisdom for Eliminating Demons of Dongzhen as Spoken by the Supreme Lord
It is one of the early classics of the Shangqing School.
Zhen Gao (True Instructions) states that this scripture had not been revealed to the world, while The Supreme Secret Essentials (Volumes 18 and 47) quotes from it. Therefore, this scripture should have been compiled during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
The original book had seven volumes, but the version in the Taoist Canon today is combined into five volumes and included in the "Zhengyi Section".
There is also one surviving fragmentary Dunhuang manuscript (S5840) of this scripture.
The entire book is divided into five sections:
- Volume 1 is The Section of Mysterious Essence and Lofty Spirit of the True Elixir for Eliminating Demons. It lists the names and prescriptions of various immortal elixirs, stating that if Taoist practitioners recite immortal scriptures and take immortal elixirs, they can "drive away evil spirits, cure illnesses, expel harmful essences, and eliminate disasters".
- Volume 2 is The Section of Entering Concentration. It describes the origin and cultivation methods of "the Hidden Text of the Divine Tiger on the Eight Arts of Wisdom for Destroying Demons by the Supreme Lord", claiming that if practitioners recite the scriptures of eliminating demons and wisdom, and wear the two talismans of "Golden Tiger" and "Divine Tiger", they can make "thousands of evil spirits hide away".
- Volume 3 is The Section of Upholding the One. It discusses the theories and methods of upholding and preserving the spirit, as well as the difference between wisdom and non-wisdom.
- Volume 4 is The Section of Proving Sainthood.
- Volume 5 is The Section of Transformation. It talks about the karmic causes and effects of cultivating the Dao, accumulating good deeds, proving sainthood, and achieving transformation.
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