The Secret Essentials of the Shangqing Scripture
The author of The Secret Essentials of the Shangqing Scripture is unknown.
Judging from its content and writing style, it seems to have been written by Taoist priests of the Shangqing School during the Sui and Tang dynasties. It is included in the "Zhengyi Section" of the Taoist Canon.
This text mainly quotes Taoist classics such as The Chapter on Dao Nature (Volume 4 of The Scripture of the Fundamental Origin), The Shangqing Scripture, The Scripture of the Divine Birth from the Nine Heavens, and The Secret Formula for Ascending to Immortality, and discusses the essentials of Taoist cultivation. It contains short treatises on topics including precepts and registers, the thirty-six volumes of revered scriptures, the belief that every person is guarded by divine beings, and the nature of Dao.
The author holds the view that "teaching people to cultivate the mind is cultivating the Dao, and teaching people to cultivate the Dao is cultivating the mind". When the mind is cultivated, one aligns with the Dao; when aligned with the Dao, one achieves longevity.
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