The Scripture of Ascent to the Mysterious 太上洞玄灵宝升玄内教经

The author is unknown. It was probably compiled during the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Ancient China. Sandong Fengdao Kejie (Precepts for Worshiping the Dao in the Three Caverns) records that this scripture originally consisted of ten volumes. The surviving version in the Daozang is only a commentary on the "Zhonghe Pin (Neutrality Section)" from the seventh volume. In addition, according to the catalog Dunhuang Daojing Mulu Bian (Compilation of Catalogues of Taoist Scriptures from Dunhuang) by Onoda Shunji, there are eighteen incomplete Tang Dynasty manuscripts of the Shengxuan Jing among the Dunhuang relics. Furthermore, numerous lost passages of this scripture are preserved in more than twenty Buddhist and Taoist classics such as Wushang Miyao (Supreme Secret Essentials) and Dadao Tongxuan Yao (Essentials of the Great Dao Penetrating Mystery). Toshihiro Yamada of Japan compiled Gaoben Shengxuan Jing (Draft Version of the Shengxuan Jing) based on these sources, restoring part of the original structure of the scripture.

The Scripture of Ascent to the Mysterious

As an important Taoist work of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this scripture is falsely attributed to dialogues between the Supreme Dao Lord, the Great Master Shansheng, the Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, and the immortal Dou Ziming, expounding Taoist doctrines and the essence of the Shengxuan inner teaching. After each section of discourse, a verse is appended. Its content is extensive, covering various aspects such as entering the Dao and observing precepts, transmitting scriptures and tallys, studying and teaching scriptures, accumulating blessings and doing good deeds, dispelling disasters and atoning for sins, and seeking immortality and longevity—with the ultimate core lying in embodying the Dao and ascending to mystery. The scripture states: "This scripture contains multiple meanings, integrating insights from numerous scriptures and standing as the foremost." The author holds that immortality practices such as taking elixirs to refine the body, visualizing spirits, and reciting mantras are all external teachings of Hinayana, ultimately unable to elevate one to formlessness and unity with the Dao in virtue. Only by contemplating the Dao in one’s heart, eliminating emotions and desires, can one attain the wonderful secret of becoming a perfected one and the essential method of entering the Dao. Hence, it is said: "The so-called inner teaching refers to the true and wonderful art originating from the heart; attaining the Dao through doing good does not come from external sources." It also states: "However, cultivating life and nourishing nature, with inner firmness controlling oneself, prevents evil from entering. When evil cannot enter, true qi remains unperturbed; when true qi is unperturbed, one becomes a true person." The essence of embodying the Dao and ascending to mystery lies in distinguishing the true Dao, recognizing that the true nature of the Dao transcends existence and non-existence, being neither identical nor distinct, and that all phenomena in the world are illusory, with no true reality. Thus, one upholds the Dao, contemplates truth, stabilizes the mind and calms the spirit, and remains unaffected by the falsehoods of the world. The scripture asserts: "The true Dao—there is no non-existence in it, no existence; no birth, no extinction; no departure, no arrival; no worthiness, no holiness; no unity, no difference. Those who can awaken to these dualities—have they not embodied it?" This awakening to dualities is what later Taoism refers to as the Chongxuan Dao (Twofold Mystery Dao). This scripture exerted a profound influence on Taoism during the Sui and Tang dynasties. Suishu·Jingji Zhi (Book of Sui·Treatise on Literature and Records) notes that the scriptures taught by Taoists during the transition from Sui to Tang "were based on the Laozi first, followed by the Zhuangzi and works like the Lingbao Shengxuan." Additionally, the Benji Jing (Scripture of the Original Boundary) compiled by Taoists Liu Jinxi and Li Zhongqing of the Sui and Tang dynasties also took the Shengxuan Jing as its foundation.