清靜經 (Qīng Jìng Jīng) Scripture of Serenity
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老君曰 大道無形 生育天地 大道無情 運行日月 大道無名 長養萬物
Lao Zi said: The great Dao has no form, gave rise to Heaven and Earth. The great Dao has no sentiment, and it operates the sun and the moon. The great Dao has no name, nurtures all living beings.吾不知其名 強名曰道
I know not its name, make do to call it Dao.夫道者 有清有濁 有動有靜
Alas the Dao, has clarity and turbidity, has movement and stillness.天清地濁 天動地靜 男清女濁 男動女靜 降本流末 而生萬物
The sky is clear; the Earth is turbid; The sky is moving, the Earth is still; The male is clear, the female is turbid; The male is moving, the female is still. Deriving from the fundamentals, showing in the phenomena.清者濁之源 動者靜之基 人能常清靜 天地悉皆歸
Clarity is the source of turbidity; Movement is the base of stillness. If a person can be constantly serene, Heaven and Earth shall all come into him.夫人神好清 而心擾之 人心好靜 而欲牽之
One’s mind desires purity, yet the heart disturbs it. One’s heart desires quietness, yet desires lure it.若能常遣其欲而心自靜 澄其心 而神自清 自然六欲不生 三毒消滅
If (one) can expel one’s desires, the heart will be calm by itself; can clear up one’s heart, the mind will be clean. Then naturally, the six desires 1 do not arise, the three poisons 2 are extinguished.所以不能者 為心未澄 欲未遣也
The reason one cannot is that the heart has not been cleared, the desires have not been expelled.能遣之者 內觀其心 心無其心 外觀其形 形無其形 遠觀其物 物無其物
One that can expel them, looking inwards to one’s own heart, the heart has no heart; looking outward to one’s form, the form has no form; looking from a distance to its substance, the substance has no substance.三者既悟 惟見於空 觀空亦空 空無所空
Once those three are realized 3, what is manifested is only the emptiness; to look at the emptiness, one also sees emptiness; in emptiness there is no emptiness.所空既無 無無亦無 無無既無 湛然常寂
For the emptiness is nothing, not having nothing is also nothing. For not having nothing is nothing; it is crystal-like constant silence.寂無所寂 欲豈能生 欲既不生 即是真靜
In silence, there is not even silence; how can desires arise? When no desires arise, it is true quietness.真常應物 真常得性 常應常靜 常清靜矣
With the true constant to respond to things, with the true constant to acquire one’s nature. Constant response and constant calmness is the constant serenity.如此清靜 漸入真道 既入真道 名為得道
Serene, as such, gradually enters the true Dao. For having entered the true Dao, it is called acquiring the Dao.雖名得道 實無所得 為化眾生 名為得道
Although called acquiring the Dao, in fact, nothing is acquired. To educate the sentient beings 3, call it acquiring the Dao.能悟之者 可傳聖道
Those who can comprehend it, can spread the sacred Dao.老君曰 上士無爭 下士好爭 上德不德 下德執德
Lao Zi said: the high people have no fights, the low people like to fight. The high virtue has no virtue; the low virtue is obsessed with virtue.執著之者 不名道德 眾生所以不得真道者 為有妄心
One that is obsessed with it, cannot be called virtue. The reason people do not obtain the true Dao, is having an arrogant heart.既有妄心 即驚其神 既驚其神 即著萬物
Having an arrogant heart disturbs the mind; having the mind disturbed, one is attached to all things.既著萬物 即生貪求 既生貪求 即是煩惱
Having been attached to all things, gives rise to lust and pursuit. Having lust and pursuit arise, is exactly agony.煩惱妄想 憂苦身心 便遭濁辱 流浪生死 常沉苦海 永失真道
Agony and delusion, torture body and mind, therefore (one) gets contaminated, wandering between life and death, constantly in the ocean of pain, forever having lost the true Dao.真常之道 悟者自得 得悟道者 常清靜矣
True constant Dao, those who comprehend obtain it by themselves. Those who get to comprehend are in constant serenity.Footnotes:
- 六欲, the six desires – 眼耳鼻舌身意, eyes (seeing), ears (hearing), nose (smell), tongue (taste), body (comfort), mind (emotion).
- 三毒, the three poisons, also referred to as 三尸, the three corpses, in Daoism refers to 上尸好華飾, the upper corpse loves beautiful decorations (greed for visual appearance), 中尸好滋味, the middle corpse loves taste (greed for the enjoyment of food and drink), 下尸好淫慾, the lower corpse loves excessive lust (greed for erotic enjoyment).
- 悟, to realize something, or to come to comprehend something. An alternative interpretation is that the character should be 無, meaning to not exist.
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Thank you for this one @rugway
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