Daoism Series 39:
龍門心法
The Dragon Gate’s Core Methods [chapter 1 excerpt]
The following excerpt is from the first chapter ‘Taking Refuge in the Three Treasures’皈依三寶 of The Dragon Gate’s Core Methods (Purple Cloud Press forthcoming) by Wang Changyue (?-1680), a very influential Daoist during the Qing Dynasty and a pivotal figure in the institutionalization and dissemination of the Complete Realization School of Daoism and the Dragon Gate sect in particular.
三寶者，道經師也。道本虛空，無形無名，非經不可以明道。道在經中，幽深微妙，非師不能得其理。若不皈依三寶，必致輪迴邪道，顛倒沉迷。凡修真學道之士，志心皈命者，須作難遭之想。
The three treasures are the dao, the scriptures, and the teachers. As the dao is fundamentally the void, it is formless and nameless. Thus, if there were no scriptures, you would not be able to have a clear understanding of the dao. The dao presented within the scriptures is serene, subtle, marvelous, and hidden in the depths. Thus, if there were no teachers, you would not be able to obtain its principles. If you do not take refuge in the three treasures, it is inevitable that you will be reborn on a crooked path, and will be turned upside down and submerged in confusion. All adepts who cultivate the truth and study the dao, and all who devote their hearts and take refuge in their life-destiny, must raise the thought that it is difficult to encounter [the three treasures].
第一皈依，無上道寶，當願眾生，常侍天尊，求脫輪迴。第二皈依，無上經寶，當願眾生，生生世世，得聞正法。第三皈依無上師寶，當願眾生，學最上乘，不落邪見。
The first refuge is the treasure of the unsurpassable dao. You should wish that all living beings constantly serve the heavenly worthies and seek to break free from the wheel of return. The second refuge is the treasure of the unsurpassable scriptures. You should wish that all living beings are able to listen to the correct dharma through life after life and generation after generation. The third refuge is the treasure of the unsurpassable teachers. One should wish for all living beings to study the highest vehicle and not fall into evil views.
此三皈依，乃昔之聖賢，度人入道，第一步上升之路，第一重入德之門。成仙成道，成聖成賢，莫不從此三皈依起首。何以故？蓋性命生死，大事因緣，微細秘密，難可見聞。最上一乘，解脫妙法，若非真師，垂慈開示，引誘靈機，安能頓悟大乘正宗，漸入虛無妙道，而不致墮落邪見，錯入旁門耶？
By these three refuges, the sages and worthy ones of former times delivered people [by enabling them] to enter the dao. This is the first step on the path to ascension and the first level when one has passed through the gate into virtue. Among those who have attained immortality, the dao, worthiness and sagehood, there has not been one who did not begin with these three refuges. Why is this? It is because it is difficult to see or hear about the causal interrelationships of the great matters of life and death, of inner nature and life-destiny, and their subtleties and secrets. With this highest vehicle and marvelous method of liberation, were there not true teachers to bequeath the instructions out of compassion, drawing out and guiding the divine mechanism, how could one suddenly awaken to the correct and principal goal of the great vehicle, or gradually enter into nothingness and the marvelous dao, without falling into evil views and erroneously entering through sidedoors.
Post-Scriptum:
Another excerpt can be viewed here:
https://purplecloudinstitute.com/daoism-series-36-he…/
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