Sayings of the Mountain Recluse
Compiled by Wang Zhijin (courtesy name Qiyunzi), a Taoist priest of the The Quanzhen Dao in the late Jin and early Yuan Dynasty, it was roughly completed in the Dingwei year (1247). Consisting of one scroll, it is included in the Tai Xuan Section of The Daozang.
This book is a record by Liu Gong, a disciple of Wang Zhijin, and compiled and arranged by Lun Zhihuan, containing more than ninety discourses of Wang Zhijin. It elaborates on the true merit and true conduct of cultivating the mind and nature in Quanzhen Daoism. Its doctrines are based on the Classic of Purity and Tranquility, and also incorporate the theories of mind and nature from Chan Buddhism: it states that those who cultivate the Dao must first understand their own fundamental duty. The so-called "own fundamental duty" refers to the single spark of intelligent mastery within one’s physical body, which is inherent from the The Dao and "remains pure and tranquil from ancient times to the present".
Sayings of the Mountain Recluse
Next, one must comprehend the teachings thoroughly, discard stubborn prejudices, recognize the illusory nature of all worldly attachments, and restore the original purity of the innate nature, so that the true master within becomes self-evident. Hence it is said: "A mind that does not chase after external things is called a peaceful mind; a mind that does not cling to external things is called an empty mind. A peaceful and empty mind is purity and tranquility, and purity and tranquility are the Dao."
It also states: "The minds of ordinary people refuse to cut off emotions and abandon attachments, cast away delusions and eliminate evil, and follow the fluctuations of external circumstances", thus falling into eternal perdition. One must shatter the stubborn mind to embody the original true spirit and attain enlightenment to unite with the Dao.
The essential of attaining the Dao lies in having no clinging mind toward external circumstances, remaining untainted and unattached, and keeping the mind unmoved amid all worldly affairs. "Affairs do not hinder the mind, and the mind does not hinder affairs"; responding to all things yet abiding in constant tranquility, one unites with the Dao.
The book also repeatedly speaks of samsara and karmic retribution, exhorting practitioners to constantly reflect on their own faults, not to boast of their abilities, to conceal their brilliance and hide their traces, to embrace poverty and uphold simplicity, and to "endure hardships for oneself and benefit others, accumulating merit and conduct in secrecy". It also includes several accounts of the words and deeds of Wang Chongyang, Ma Danyang and Qiu Chuji. This work is an important source for the study of Internal Alchemy and the doctrines of Quanzhen Daoism.
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