9 Mandates And 27 Precepts

This list of mandates and precepts is a summary of the teachings contained in the Daodejing according to the Zhang family wisdom holders of Tianshidao. These mandates and precepts are the heart teachings of Chinese Daoism. They assume that the Daodejing contains the framework for a Daoist religious life: a life at one with Da and, therefore, fundamentally non-compulsive. The guidance in this text is based on the notion that human nature and Nature itself are undifferentiated (Daode).

The nine mandates and twenty-seven precepts offered below are a manual for human behavior; a life not resisting Nature, in harmony with Dao. What is the end result of such a life? Natural longevity¹ and completion of one's Fate.²

9 Mandates
27 Precepts
Commentary on the 27 Precepts
Footnotes

9 Mandates

The Mandate of Simplicity: Do Not Be Pretentious

Make no effort to be anything but what you are. This is the root of authenticity.

Speak simply. Do not express false commitment. Do not make false claims concerning your spiritual or worldly experience. Authenticity means avoiding the extreme false views of self-cherishing and self-hate. Avoid speaking intentional lies, fabrications, and exaggerations. Avoid gossip and flowery speech.

This first mandate of the Xiang Er is about being real. From Laozi’s point of view, being real means staying natural, staying relaxed-remaining in our natural condition. Simply stated, everything else is pretense.

This first mandate also demands an end to the dualism of formal and informal practice (non-conceptual meditation [zuowang] and day-to-day con-duct, respectively). We are asked to relax into what is so-of-itself: the constant and nameless Dao.

What is the path that continuously reveals the real (Da)? In Laozi’s real world, we have a composite nature³ and a natural condition.⁴ Daoist cultivation reveals that we are not a hardened singular entity, but a bundle of loosely tied components. No one or all of these components constitute an abiding self.

The Mandate of Weakness: Be Soft

Flexibility and adaptation are the best ways to clear up one’s Fate and live out one’s allotted years. Rigidity and habitual conduct establishes, maintains, and reconstructs Fate. Weakness reminds us to be considerate and subordinate to the Way. Excessive strength produces recklessness and insensitivity that, in turn, supports false views. In cultivation, avoid the notions of power, strength, and arrogance, which are all derived from the false view of separation from Dao.

The second mandate says not to pretend to need, create, or maintain the delusive citadel of a hardened, abiding self. In fact, our weakness, from Laozi’s perspective, is a natural blessing. If we do not struggle against our weak nature (de), we will inevitably feel the embrace of reality (Dao). If we do not struggle to become hardened and solid, our naturally soft/gentle actions (wuwei) automatically “disentangle Fate” and untie our thought-chains. No Fate/no self means we are free of the past and future.

To be soft is also a profoundly insightful instruction on the practice of meditation. Though it is certain that the detailed posture of meditation practice⁵ is important, this mandate suggests that the posture is “found,” not “made.” Holding a rigid posture or enduring an uncomfortable position, in meditation or otherwise, is not really part of Laozi’s method. Instead, we are invited to find a soft common pose that expresses the inherent weakness of our unstructured, composite, transitory body. Within this “give in” posture is found the gate of authentic experience, a direct appreciation of Dao without the subject/object perspective. “Soft pose” also refers to relaxing and opening up the distinction between formal (meditation) and informal (daily life) practice.

The Mandate of Modesty: Be Like a Polite Guest

We are guests in the house of the Dao. In this case, the Daoist Adept is the guest, and the host family is the Dao. Honor all customs of the host family (Daoism) and wait to be invited into action.

The image here is likened to a new bride in ancient times relinquishing her identity from her blood family and melting into the customs and lineage of her husband’s family. Observe and learn from listening. The modesty spoken of here is not in search of confidence or security, but finds modesty itself as a meaningful expression of our nature. This third mandate is about following, not demanding; subordinating, not taking charge. Modesty for Laozi is best understood as an energetic state, not a moral posture.

The desire to maintain the false notion of an abiding self, no matter how polite or heroic, is full of anticipation (false views) and anxiety (conflicting emotions). Desire is an energetic state of anticipatory intensity (pretension, preconception, presumption). Tension creates energy predisposed to entanglement and waste. Immodesty is an energetic state linked to chains of thought that simply produce more worlds of thought and fantasy.

Laozi’s modesty (wuwei) is a different energetic state. It is energy predisposed to sink, withdraw, and cooperate with everything arising around it. It is free of pretension, preconception, and presumption. It is not preoccupied with safety because it does not fear losing its false views. Like water, the Laozi-inspired Chinese Daoists follow Da by following their inherently modest natures rather than their brilliant concepts and powerful intentions. Chinese Daoists do not claim to have accomplished anything, because their experience tells them otherwise.

The Mandate of Humility: Avoid Pride and Fame

To be proud of or take credit for your accomplishments is a false view. Laozi often says to leave no mark. Depart when finished, do not wait for reward. Making no effort to create notoriety or fame is using Heaven and Earth as models. “The pride of success contains the seeds of calamity,” says Laozi. When we see clearly, we know that all accomplishments are derived from countless co-factors, not a single action or individual hero. Fame is slavery.

All the mandates above tell us that the so-called “world” is not what it seems. It is a phantom reflection of the false construction of an abiding self. The false notion of self is also the basis of pride and fame. Laozi does not recommend a heroic renunciation of a fantastic external world, but instead suggests we simply relax into things-as-they-are. The world Laozi asks us to renounce is that of our thought-chains: the world we create with projected energy and false views in which we act out the turmoil of conflicting emotions.

If we endeavor to “make our mark” and celebrate our accomplishments with pride in a world of smoke and mirrors, Laozi warns us repeatedly that we will miss the immortal wisdom inherent in life itself. When humility and modesty arise, we can assume we are withdrawing from the false to the real.

What do we find when modesty and humility mature? Read on.

The Mandate of Serenity: Be Calm

All of the meditative and liturgical practices of the early Daoists gently point toward stillness as our natural state. Not the forced quiet of dualistic stillness, but the inspired action that arises from stillness and resolves back into still-ness. Observe that all true action arises from and returns to stillness all by itself. Without stillness, we do not feel the natural inspiration behind action, which is self-resolving (wuwei).

When the mandates above appear in our lives, they are not the result of personal discipline and strength. Rather, they are the face of a basic serenity that is the common ground of our being. Laozi tells us that “calm” is not the result of conquests, treaties, or self-discipline. It is our true and basic nature.

This fifth mandate is the declaration of our natural relationship to the huge space and patience that exist in and all around our imagined smallness. The appreciation of serenity is an appreciation of the totality of things, of the openness in which all things naturally arise of themselves.

The profound sense of equanimity, serenity, and calm that comes from formal practice is impersonal in nature. Comfortable with humility and rooted in calm, our true nature reveals itself to be generous.

What does generosity mean? The modern world, seemingly choked with secularized Christian morals and sensibilities and all its publicized unevenness, is very confused by the terms “kindness,” “generosity,” and “compassion.” For those unwilling to reflect on their own contributions to the inequities around them, there is a guilt-inspired need to discover a convenient way to “give back” at the end of a path of “taking.” Such a mindless path is inherently “problematic,” a problem seeking a solution. Laozi’s generosity is not.

The Mandate of Kindness: Be Generous

Practice good deeds. Be helpful to others. Give freely, without judgment of who needs what. Generosity is returning what belongs to the Dao, to the Dao. Avoid the notion of “worthiness.” Generosity is a state of being, not a business deal. Be ready to help, even if it is with the gi of a smile. Kindness here is not sentimental or mandated by morality, but, as with serenity, kindness is both a dimension of our nature, and Nature itself. Wuweidao is kindness.

The most important kind of kindness to be found is that which naturally arises in our ordinary actions. Self-criticism and hyper-analysis disable our basic goodness. The most important application of goodness is, in fact, the kindness one applies to one’s own life. All acts of kindness that precede the discovery of self-kindness and self-respect are, from Laozi’s point of view, inau-thentic. Most activities called “generous” by the world are a form of commerce: a form of payback or debt. When acts of kindness are seen as a complete circle, we experience this sixth mandate.

Humility and the serenity inherent in our nature may at first be hard to find and hold due to our practiced qi patterns of selfishness (self-building). We must learn to kindly accept our failures and include them in comple-tion, in fruition. Fruition is not the end of mistakes; it is the ability to kindly accept ourselves as we actually are without falling back into self-building and indulgence.

Authentic compassion is a refined tool for qi calibration, not a generic attitude or sentiment. Energetically, it is found in a relaxed qi state, and certainly not in wanting or trying to be “good.” Desire is antithetical to relaxation.

The Mandate of Desirelessness: Be Empty

Desire is the excessive concentration of gi that hardens false relationships to externals. Desire arises from inattentiveness to the moment and false evaluations of objects (the world). This kind of fullness brings loss. Desirelessness conserves and softens qi. Emptiness invites what is lacking.

Laozi tells us that desire is congested gi: an unnecessary concentration of energy turned outward toward fantasy. When we lack reflection, it is common to assume that we suffer from some sense of deficiency. This false view of deficiency creates a “fix-it” way of life. Without reflection (qi directed inward), we are likely to presume the existence and solidity of an abiding self and then try to improve it.

Being without desire is not the absence or control of wanting. It is related to the direct experience of emptiness. What is an experience of emptiness? It is experiencing the circle of kindness and the acceptance of Fate called wuwei. If we respect and accept our actions/fate, there is nothing left to reject. If there is no rejection, there is no desire. Emptiness is the open field and the content of our experience at the same time. Laozi calls it luminosity.

The Mandate of Restraint: Cease with Sufficiency

The wisdom that arises from meditation and Daoist liturgy is best defined as sensitivity to the true satisfaction of the natural appetite that unites us with Dao. The opposite is to dissipate qi through the strenuous satiation of unspecified desires. When you are done — be done. Stop before you are full. To cease with sufficiency expresses profound wisdom.

It has long been a poetic Chinese image that Daoist immortals swim through countless Universes mischievously participating in the flow of Do (Nature). Is wuwei inaction? Is it the action we know? It is action without the thought-chains of self-building. How is wuwei different from ordinary action? Laozi tells us it is like the action of Heaven and Earth: action that arises spontaneously and is, in some calm and generous sense, completely unnoticeable. The restraint in Heaven and Earth is that they do not “appear” in the world they create and uphold. Laozi says that we are also like this.

The eighth mandate is to act like Heaven and Earth. Be like Heaven: creative by nature, not by intention. Be like Earth: supportive by nature, not by intention.

To cease with sufficiency is also a teaching about the Daoist way of dying: ending without death by exhaustion. Ceasing with sufficiency is a key to transmogrification, and takes away the false view of death as an absolute finality. When we cease with sufficiency, we conserve the qi that gives us the experience of a seamless interconnectedness with beings/things (Dao). This is Laozi’s immortality.

The Mandate of Non-Aggression: Relax

Observe the Dao (One) in all things, and aggression dissolves. All aggression is based upon a hardened insistence on dualism, separateness. In truth, all is One. Aggression is without true cause or effect. Softness is not naïveté, but the wisdom of true innocence. The child that clings to its mother (Da) is not stupid.

Both a primary mandate and a summary of all mandates, the ninth mandate defines life’s inherent spiritual path (wuwei) as a path of complete relaxation and trust. A real life, a spiritual path, is not so much about what you should do or aggressively create as it is about what you have observed, accepted, and embraced. Wuwei is not magical transformation or special action that follows a set of spiritual controls or external prohibitions. Wuwei is a simple, honest appreciation of things-as-they-are. Relax into a non-aggressive embrace of what is.

The 27 Precepts

The following precepts are part of the Xiang Er Commentary on Laozi's Daodejing that was authored and maintained by the Zhang family. Though the conduct here continues the Nine Mandates theme about being' "real" rather than being "right," the precepts sound a lot like advice from a mentor. A greater understanding of Laozi-inspired Daoist conduct arises when we recognize that these precepts are not "should-dos." Laozi's wuwei is the conduct that naturally arises when our View, Cultivation, and Fruition lose the fracturing concepts of dualism. Zhengyidao⁷ is not just a particular Chinese historical path. We can say it is all paths that are non-dual.

The word "precept" means a rule or commandment that makes us part of a group or signifies a path we take. These precepts are a way in which we can experience the "Daoist Body," a kind of unity with the momentum created by the practitioners of the past. That same momentum is also Nature itself, the way-things-are.

This unity, this reality, is sometimes called "yang ming"⁸ or "non-dual spirit." This non-dual spirit is shared by all practitioners who view life itself (Da) as a natural invitation to great completion (fruition). In reality, no alternative exists. Holding the View of natural completion, we can let go of the negative feelings that come from conceptual bad times and relax the craving for positive feelings that come from conceptual good times. The path is then laid out as follows.

Delight in observance and cultivation. Do not find pleasure in deviance.

If you wish to cultivate the Way according to Zhengyidao, you should delight in the opportunity and privilege of doing so. Enjoy your observances and practice. Do not mistake deviance⁹ for pleasure. This pleasure, like conflicting emotions, is based on ignorance and produces calamity and exhaustion, and, ultimately, premature death.¹⁰

Stay focused in your studies. Avoid erroneous, non-orthodox texts.

This repeats the warning in Precept 05. Texts that are “erroneous” are inspired by a shamanic sense of power and charismatic spiritual accomplishments that are fragile in their uniqueness (and thus not orthodox). Even Daoist texts that are not orthodox in origin may be erroneous. Working only with orthodoxy is generally meant to give a “strong and broad basis.”

Be asocial. Avoid coveting or seeking glory.

This is related to Mandate 07 on desirelessness. In our spiritual development, there are opportunities to be sidetracked, even addicted, to glory-the external socio-political acknowledgment of one’s “luminosity.” Daodejing Chapter 26/60 relates that tolerance leads to impartiality, impartiality to leadership, and leadership is close to Heaven. Do not be motivated by glory, reward, or mundane leadership.

Disregard name. Do not to seek fame.

Keep your focus on inner, unnamable accomplishments. Make no effort to accomplish or maintain lasting fame.

Take refuge within. Do not to be deceived by your ears, eyes, or mouth.

Remember that the limits of the senses contribute to false views of reality and conflicting emotions. Rely on Dao, not on what is seen, heard, touched, or tasted. Rely on the Unknowable, not what is knowable through the senses.

Practice humility. Place yourself below others.

The truth is there is no true measure of human hierarchy. The best advice is to assume a humble position.

Embrace the real. Avoid the drama of anger.

Emotions are a constant, gentle, and natural flow of responses to the changing face of Da. Accepting the naturalness of emotion is not an attachment to emotional drama or passion. Embrace the real. The histrionic display of emotions is the result of inattention to the real.

Be cautious and considerate in all undertakings
to avoid conflicting emotions.

Using caution, patience, and wisdom, one avoids the false views that create conflicting emotions. What is this wisdom? To be considerate is to take the position of no preference or expectation. If you have no preference or expecta-tion, you easily avoid conflicting emotions.

Demonstrate simplicity. Avoid trendy, fancy clothes and delectable foods.

Do not worship luxury. In clothing, attention should be paid to simplicity, practicality, and sturdiness over style. In food, harmony, nutrition, and digest-ibility take precedence over rarity, purity, and taste.

Be calm. Avoid emotionality (qi overflow).

Being calm and equanimous is neither naive nor insensitive. “Calm” is a wise and capable response to the changing face of the Dao. Dramatically expressing conflicting emotions arises from false views and leads to a wasteful cycle of qi. When we overflow with emotion, we create qi deficiency, which in turn yields false views of reality. This pattern is antithetical to cultivating the Way.

Be unattached. Avoid the strain of both poverty and wealth.

The entire world knows the strain of poverty. But the strain of wealth is the same. Do not be attached to either one. Make no excessive fuss over poverty and make no effort to be wealthy.

Conserve your jing and qi.¹¹

Jing and qi are not mysterious. They are produced by eating, drinking, resting and exercise, and are simply the “fuel” that is used in the activity and movement of ordinary life. Jing and qi are wasted when used inefficiently by having blind desire as their guardian and governor. How do you know if you are wasting jing and qi? You feel exhausted and troubled by false views of reality and conflicting emotions. Frugality in “spending” jing and qi cultivates wisdom.

Be law-abiding. Do not commit wrongful acts.

Follow the consensus laws of your society. Avoid notoriety. Reputation, good or bad, is an entanglement.

Be realistic about commitment. Avoid being too strict in observances.

Do not worship austerity. Limit limitations. Do not practice galling limitations or take pleasure in excessively strict observances. Realistic commitment is strong yet gentle.

Trust in the Dao. Do not petition or worship gods, spirits, and ghosts.

Do not hold the false view that gods, spirits, and ghosts can offer advantages if you subordinate to them with prayers and offerings. This is practicing false views of reality. This also goes for any doctrine, idea, cult, or political party. Worship is spiritual extremism.

Be open. Avoid being obstinate.

This refers to Mandate 02. Openness facilitates “riding” the changing face of Dao. Inflexibility, rigidity, and being obstinate bring on premature death. Be instead like a newborn baby.

Practice selflessness. Avoid egotism and harsh certainty.

Harsh certainty and self-importance are bullyish false views. Selflessness is simply true and does not necessitate martyrdom or extremism.

Practice impartiality. Avoid contention (arguing right and wrong).

Even if you believe others to hold false views, do not use argument to persuade them. Avoid argumentative evangelism.

Be honest. Make no false claims.
Do not contribute to the fame of the powerful.

Do not exaggerate your accomplishments, spiritual or worldly. Do not pander to the powerful or campaign on their behalf. Do not exaggerate anyone’s talent. Do not take political office.

Practice peacefulness. Do not delight in arms or armed conflict.

Do not collect or play with rare or sharp weapons. Refuse conscription when possible. Avoid war, and if you are forced to participate, do not celebrate victory (the death of others).

Guard your Original¹² qi.

Injuring your Original qi is the result of habitually wasting everyday jing and qi. Wounding the original qi shortens the allotted years established at birth (Fate). Guarding the Original qi is the discipline that efficiently makes, circulates, and uses ordinary jing/qi, and is practically experienced through care in diet, exercise, and rest.

Eat only what you need. Do not relish sacrificial meat.

The wording of this precept prohibits consumption of meat containing red blood. Older religions sacrificed animals, which were bled slowly and the meat roasted as part of the ceremony. The origin of this precept’s taboo was to avoid partaking in the blood sacrifices made in the “old religions,” in the cults of “lesser gods.” Though we are not sure this precept actually mandates vegetari-anism, choosing not to eat meat would certainly be an avoidance of “relishing death/sacrifice.”

Do not be attached to "worldly measure."
Do not envy the achievement and fame of others.

Success in the world-honor and fame-are like dew. Do not be moved by such ephemeral accomplishments.

Practice Zhengyidao. Do not practice false methods.
Do not take the Dao lightly.

Cultivating Zhengyidao requires commitment. “Methods” are all methods other than Zhengyidao. Making this specific spiritual choice is not a negative judgment of other teachings, but an expression of clarity concerning our commitment to Daoist orthodoxy. “Taking the Dao lightly” refers to sampling, gen-eralizing, and universalizing the teachings of Dao. Again, it is not a judgment. Do not presume to know the value or importance of eclecticism, but commit to concentrate on the specific, good-knowing advice of the View and Method of Zhengyidao.

Diligently study and practice the View and Method of Zhengyidao.
Do not neglect or ignore the Zhengyidao.

Be consistent and committed in your study (View) and practice (Method).

Be cautious and careful. Do not act recklessly.

The View that freedom inspires reckless qi wastefulness, and/or justifies abandon, is false. Cultivate true freedom according to Zhengyidao and you will easily avoid recklessness.

Be sensitive to your actions and speech. Do not kill or speak of killing.

Killing is simply the antithesis of Daoist Methods. Even speaking of it is counterproductive to Fruition. In modern times, perhaps we should add, “Do not watch killing as a form of entertainment (drama).”

Commentary on the 27 Precepts

Precept 1 Delight in observance and cultivation. Do not find pleasure in deviance. In this case, yang ming is delighting in the natural observance and non-dual cultivation of Dao according to de. It is important from time to time to recall how pervasive this teaching is, and yet how unusual it is to have the opportunity to hear/see it. This recollection is tantamount to being self-respecting. This yang ming kind of self-respect is vital. The warning is to cultivate Da without Precept 21 being too strict, excessively restrained, or enthusiastic, as this associates practice with common, conceptual negativity like urgency, struggle, and obli-gation. True cultivators do not let heavy-handedness ruin their relationship to the teachings/practice.

Expressing self-respect¹³ is to Precept 2 conserve your jing and qi. In this case, yang ming is enjoying the natural condition (appetite and sufficiency). This precept refers to informal and formal practices and the natural regulation of our appetites for practice, food, drink, companions, and ideas. It is about observing the regenerative cycle of alchemy. This is what is meant by Laozi’s reminder, “return is the (natural bi-directional) movement of Dao.”

Precept 3 Guard your original qi. Ancestral qi is the regenerative cycle pattern, the “ancestral past.” Taken together, Precepts 2 and 3 describe the “precious within:” jing and qi.

Precept 8 Do not act (spend jing/qi) recklessly and be Precept 20 law-abiding. Self-respect as conservation is not merely a matter of self-consciousness or a mental attitude. It is manifest in Precept 14 respecting others. As yang ming or freedom reveals itself in our lives, we delight in it. The warning is not to squander it recklessly (contrary to our modern sense of “rights” and “freedom”).

The natural way to practice this yang ming conservation is to Precept 4 take and eat only what you need. Our self-existing natural appetite needs no guidelines. When we relax into the natural condition, all appetites arise of themselves and we are not Precept 13 deceived by our senses. The senses are all natural expressions of shen-our true nature. “Deception” is a negative concept and not the true nature of our senses.

The Daoist definition of a “spiritual life” is our life’s totality. Spiritual matters are neither problematically “spiritual” nor “worldly.” To reveal our inner preciousness¹⁴ is to [os] be unattached to worldly measure and Precept 11 seek no glory or Precept 12 fame. There is nothing gained by cultivating ambition or dwelling in comparison. The power and glory of the world are not true distrac-tions, but fleeting mirages. Negativity breeds negativity, so we are warned that worldly fame and glory leads us on to pride, and pride to exaggeration and Precept 26 false claims. This is how a mountain of thought-chains encumbers life with a belief in an abiding self—the ultimate expression of negativity.

Not cultivating ambition (self) or dwelling in comparison, it is easy to be focused. Precept 6 Practice Zhengyidao and do not take the Dao lightly; Precept 10 stay focused and Precept 7 diligent. What is worthy of practice, focus and diligence is our natural spiritual appetite (yang ming). This worthy dao is something that is truly “within”-what we are calling “natural condition.” It is not a sideline or a hobby. It is not “what you believe in.” It is what is real (true-of-itself).

What is Zhengyidao? Is it a correct spiritual club? No. The warning is that concept is a worldly measure. A correct spiritual club is, in a sense, taking Dao lightly. Being prejudiced or sectarian is taking Dao lightly. A true cultivator of Dao authenticates his/her experience without resorting to the “world” (outer certifications) or the “club” (enrollment, investiture, or ordination). Based on the Daodejing, this precept is non-sectarian.

Precept 15 Embrace the real. Precept 17 Be simple. Here yang ming is simply holding to the real, natural condition (wuwei), like a child to its Mother. It is simple, easy, and natural because we do not need to create dualistic concepts to make it true. We do not need to think, “I have a happy life.” Embracing the real is embracing Fate (known and unknown), the Daoist life of natural Precept 18 calm. All of our experience, embraced as real, is the Do we delight in. The warning is that the great demons, the dualistic concepts that distract us from Daist cultivation, are negative feelings.

What are negative feelings (Precept 16 conflicting emotions)? They are the result of false views. When we think something is bad or negative, it is because we are clinging to how we think or want things to be, the way things “ought to be.” When we cling to thinking, wanting, and fantasizing, we temporarily lose touch with things-as-they-are. A Daoist embraces the real because s/he is confident that “things-as-they-are” is the true path and the way it looks or feels, for “better” or for “worse,” is not particularly important.

Yang ming is the non-dual spirit beyond the ordinary positive/ negative emotions. It is not about clinging to positive thoughts or denying negativ-ity, Precept 25 argument, or insensitivity.¹⁵ A true cultivator of Dao knows that all appearances pass.¹⁶ S/he is Precept 19 unattached, Precept 23 open, and Precept 27 peaceful. To be detached¹⁷ is to relax our positive and negative feelings and know that they are temporary and unreal. Progress that we make and setbacks that befall us, like Precept 24 egotism, are concepts-fleeting mirages. Both may be let go. Reality is not characterized by negative/ positive feelings. Natural progress, the dao according to Dao, is not dualistic — it is real. All our experience embraced as real is the Dao we truly delight in.

In this sort of cultivation, our relationship with the Universe is played out as-it-is. We have relationships to others, but we do not rely on them. We Precept 22 do not petition or worship gods, spirits, or ghosts. Instead, we are ready and willing to engage in the flow of Dao as it arises before us: the natural condition.

Footnotes

living out one's years allotted by fate
avoiding living as a ghost by returning to the Source at the moment of death
yin/yang, 5 spirits, etc. that, taken together, make up a human being
body/energy/spirit, hun/po, character, nature, and fate
_zuowang/jindan_
cause and effect
Zhengyidao may be translated as "orthodox," or the "Way of Pure Form-Oneness." Tianshidao became Zhengyidao.
literally, "bright yang"
false views and broken commitments
death before your fated time is up
Jing and qi are not really separate, and could also be written as "jing/qi."
yuan, ancestral
also a yang ming
the preciousness of natural condition-shen (de)
avoiding or ignoring negativity, respectively
return
non-dual