The Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Zhenyi Quanjie Falun Miaojing 太上洞玄灵宝真一劝戒法轮妙经

The Supreme Mysterious Grotto Lingbao Scripture of the Wonderful Dharma Wheel of True Unity for Exhortation and Precepts (Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Zhenyi QuanJie Falun Miaojing), one of the ancient Taoist Lingbao Scriptures, was probably compiled in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty to the early Southern Dynasties (c. 4th–5th centuries CE).

It was already recorded in Lu Xiujing’s Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures (Lingbao Jingmu). The original text consists of one scroll, including a preface and three main sections. In the current Daozang (Taoist Canon), it is divided into four separate texts, classified under the Dongxuan Bu (Section of the Mysterious Grotto), Benwen Lei (Category of Original Texts), and Jielü Lei (Category of Precepts and Rules). Additionally, six fragmentary manuscript copies of this scripture from the Sui and Tang dynasties are preserved among the Dunhuang manuscripts.

According to textual research in Onishi Noboru’s A Catalog of Taoist Scriptures from Dunhuang, the order and content of each section are as follows:

① The Supreme Mysterious Grotto Lingbao Scripture of the Wonderful Dharma Wheel of True Unity for Exhortation and Precepts (classified under Dongxuan Bu, Benwen Lei). This section serves as the general preface to the entire scripture, claiming that the Supreme Dao dispatched the Three True Persons of Xuanyi to descend and transmit the essential secrets of the classics to Ge Xuan, the Left Immortal Lord of Taiji.

② The Supreme True Person of Xuanyi’s Scripture of the Dharma Wheel for Exhortation (classified under Dongxuan Bu, Benwen Lei). This is the classic transmitted by the first True Person of Xuanyi. It asserts that one’s wealth and nobility in the present life are all the fruits of good deeds and meritorious aspirations in past lives. If one can endure poverty, accumulate virtue and perform meritorious deeds, cultivate blessed fields, and rejoice in the Three Jewels (the Dao, the Scripture, the Master) in this life, they will receive the reward of wealth and nobility in the next life, or directly attain the rank of High Immortal or True Person.

③ The Supreme True Person of Xuanyi’s Scripture of Exhortation on the Three Paths and Five Miseries (classified under Dongxuan Bu, Jielü Lei). This is the classic transmitted by the second True Person of Xuanyi. It proclaims that all the sufferings of the soul and spirit in one’s present life are karmic retributions for committing evils such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and slander, as well as violating precepts in past lives. Evil deeds committed in this life will also bring retribution in the next. It exhorts people to practice the Dao, accumulate good deeds, resolve karmic obstacles from past evils, escape the Three Paths (Hell, Hungry Ghosts, Beasts) and Five Miseries, ascend to the various heavens, and ultimately attain immortality.

④ The Supreme True Person of Xuanyi’s Scripture of Wonderful Penetration, Transforming the Spirit, and Entering Samadhi (classified under Dongxuan Bu, Benwen Lei). This is the classic transmitted by the third True Person of Xuanyi. It exhorts Taoist practitioners: "One must contemplate meritorious deeds, extensively cultivate blessed fields, fulfill merits and perfect virtue, practice wonderful penetration, transform the spirit, and enter samadhi to attain supreme truth." The scripture lists forty-five contemplations (si nian), covering all aspects of a Taoist’s life—such as cultivating immortality, revering teachers, preaching scriptures, holding retreat ceremonies, daily life, and interacting with nature and the mortal world. One must practice these contemplations with sincere devotion to transform the spirit, enter samadhi, and achieve wonderful penetration. This constitutes a Taoist method of visualization meditation (cun si).

All the above sections are purportedly narrated by the Three True Persons of Xuanyi. Their core purpose is to make people understand the cycle of transmigration through three lifetimes and the karmic retribution for good and evil, exhorting them to contemplate good deeds, accumulate virtue, practice the Dao, and uphold precepts.

Hence, this scripture is also known as The Supreme Scripture of the Wonderful Dharma Wheel of Exhortation on Sins and Blessings by the Three True Persons of Xuanyi.