Sages and Saints Part XVI:
广成子
Guangcheng Zi
Life accounts of Guangcheng Zi, a famous Daoist sage, are to be found in the Strange Traces of Immortals and Buddhas 仙佛奇蹤 and Biographies of Spirit Immortals 神仙传, the latter’s translation is provided below:
广成子者，古之仙人也。居崆峒山石室之中。黄帝闻而造焉，曰：“敢问至道之要。”广成子曰：“尔治天下，云不待簇而飞，草木不待黄而落，奚足以语至道哉？”黄帝退而闲居三月，复往见之。广成子方北首而卧，黄帝膝行而前，再拜，请问治身之道。广成子蹶然而起曰：“至哉！子之问也，至道之精，窈窈冥冥，至道之极，昏昏默默，无视无听，抱神以静，形将自正；必静必清，无劳尔形，无摇而精，乃可长生。慎内闭外，多知为败。我守其一，以处其和。故千二百岁而形未尝衰。得吾道者，上为皇；入吾道者，下为王。吾将去汝，适无何之乡，入无穷之门，游无极之野，与日月齐光，与天地为常，人其尽死，而我独存焉。”
In regards to Guangcheng Zi, he was an ancient immortal. He lived on Mount Kongtong in the Shishi Cave. The Yellow Emperor heard about him and visited, when he asked: ‘May I dare to ask about the essentials of the utmost dao?’ Guangcheng Zi replied: ‘You govern all underneath the heavens, yet the clouds do not wait to gather before they fly, and the grasses and trees do not wait to turn yellow before they fall [to the ground], how could you be worthy of being conveyed the utmost dao?’
The Yellow Emperor retreated and stayed home idle for three months, and once more set out to see him. Guangcheng Zi was lying down with his head facing the north, the Yellow Emperor advanced forward on his knees, and once again kowtowed, requesting to hear the dao of ruling the body.
Guangcheng Zi arose abruptly and said: ‘This is perfect, for what you, sir, have just asked! The essence of the utmost dao is obscure, dusky, dark and deep. The mechanism of the utmost dao is hazy, faint, silent and still. It can neither be seen nor heard. If one embraces the spirit by tranquility, one’s form will by itself become upright. One absolutely needs to be tranquil and pure. Do not toil your physical form, do not agitate your essence, thereupon you will have a long life. Be cautious on the inside and shut off the outside; too much knowledge [will lead to] losses. I safeguard this oneness, so that I can reside in this harmony. That is the reason why I have yet to experience aging and decline in one thousand two hundred years.
For those who obtain my dao, above, they become sovereigns; for those who enter my dao, below, they become kings. I will now leave you, finding comfort in a village of nothingness, entering the gate of the inexhaustible], wandering the open field of the boundless, being equally radiant as the sun and the moon, and existing in constancy as the heavens and the earth. In the end, humans will die, but I alone will continue to exist.
Post-Scriptum: This article will be published as part of the endnotes for a book, entitled ‘’The Dragon Gate’s Core Teachings’ 龙门心法 by Dragon Gate Patriarch and former abbot of the White Cloud Monastery in Beijing, Wang Changyue 王常月. Vol. 1 of two volumes is set to be released by Christmas this year, including a commentary by Master Li from Five Immortals Temple.
