Tàishàng xuányī zhēnrén shuō miàotōng zhuǎnshén rùdìng jīng 太上玄一真人說妙通轉神入定經
Scripture of Entering Samādhi of Marvelous Perception and the Transformation of the Spirit, Spoken by the Perfected of the Most High Mysterious One
About the work
The third part of the three-juàn Fǎlún jīng 法輪經 of the original Língbǎo corpus (the opening is DZ 346 Zhēnyī quànjiè fǎlún miàojīng = KR5b0030; see also DZ 348 and DZ 455). Transmitted in the Dàozàng in a composite juàn with DZ 346 and DZ 348.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source. The text opens directly with the Dào’s exposition of miàotōng zhuǎnshén rùdìng and carries no author preface or transmission colophon.
Abstract
Dated to the Six Dynasties — within the original late-4th- / early-5th-century Língbǎo stratum — by Schipper (Taoist Canon 1: 228–229, DZ 347). This fragment is the concluding chapter of the Fǎlún jīng and constitutes the third zhenren’s revelation to Gě Xuán on Mount Tiāntái.
The substance of the chapter is an enumeration of forty-five commemorations (niàn 念) designed to direct the mind toward concentration on good deeds and universal salvation, demonstrably modelled on Mahāyāna Buddhist smṛti lists (Zürcher, “Buddhist Influence,” 112). The text closes with the standard transmission instructions — necessary pledges of precious objects — and a passage on the merits accruing from recitation of the scripture, which enables the disciple to surmount all dangers and to become an immortal in the Palace of the Grand Bourne (Tàijí gōng 太極宮). Together with DZ 346, 348, and 455, this text corresponds to number 14 of the canonical Língbǎo corpus list.
Translations and research
- Zürcher, Erik. “Buddhist Influence on Early Taoism.” T’oung Pao 66 (1980): 84–147, at 112.
- Ōfuchi Ninji 大淵忍爾. “On Ku Ling-pao Ching.” Acta Asiatica 27 (1974): 33–56.
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 1:228–229 (DZ 347).