Alchemical Verses of a Master 洞玄金玉集

Composed by Ma Yu in the Jin Dynasty.

Ten scrolls in total, it is included in the Taiping Section of the The Daozang.

As a collection of poems and ci-poems by Quanzhen master Ma Yu, it contains more than 900 such works, all written after he renounced secular life to embrace the Dao. It reflects his deeds of abandoning his family for the Dao, practicing and propagating the Dao in Shandong and Shaanxi, as well as his religious thoughts. Most of the poems and ci-poems are works of dedication and response; the recipients include not only Taoist priests and priestesses, but also scholars, government officials, physicians, merchants, blacksmiths and people from all other social classes.

Alchemical Verses of a Master

Its contents all propagate the doctrines of Quanzhen Dao, exhorting people to realize the transience of life and the inevitability of samsara, to see through fame and fortune, to renounce wine, lust, wealth and anger, to abandon love and family, and to learn the Dao in pursuit of immortality. It also teaches people to let go of anger and endure humiliation, to embrace poverty and uphold simplicity, and to practice compassion to deliver all beings. It advocates the harmony of the three teachings, and urges monks and Taoists who slander each other to "cease their mutual opposition".

The way of cultivating immortality expounded in the book centers on the cultivation of nature and life in Internal Alchemy (Neidan). For the cultivation of nature, it holds that one should seek to illuminate the mind and perceive nature through purity and non-action; for internal alchemy, the essential is to nurture Qi and preserve the spirit wholeheartedly. As it is written: "Purify your mind and heart, keep them ever bright and clear, pierce through all worldly attachments, reach the state of no birth and no extinction—this innate spark of primordial clarity shall shine bright like the autumn moon." The poetic conception is elegant and recitable.