Scripture of Concentration and Observation (Dingguan jing)洞玄灵宝定观经

Also known as

Dingguan jing (Scripture of Concentration and Observation), Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Dingguan jing (Scripture of Concentration and Observation)

Author / transmission

Anonymous

Period

Tang · Probably composed during the Tang dynasty; its thought is close to that of the Zuowang lun, and one view holds it to be the very text on which the Zuowang lun is based.

Canon division

Dongxuan Section, Benwen Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongxuan Section, Original Texts category; also collected in Yunji qiqian, scroll 17 (with the commentary of Lengxuzi)

Category

Daoist Philosophy

Fascicles

One Fascicle (Juan)

Synopsis

The Dingguan jing (Scripture of Concentration and Observation) takes the two characters ding (concentration) and guan (observation) as its guiding thread, teaching that the practitioner should "only extinguish the moving mind, not the illuminating mind; only congeal the empty mind, not fix the dwelling mind." One first uses concentration to gather in the scattered mind, then uses observation to break through attachment, passing through seven stages (the mind attains concentration; chronic illness is dissolved; one returns to youth; life is extended by a thousand years; form is refined into qi; qi is refined into spirit; spirit is refined and merges with the Dao) to attain the Dao. The text is short and concise, combining the Buddhist practice of śamatha-vipaśyanā (zhiguan) with the Daoist doctrine of refining form and qi, and is a representative text of Tang-dynasty Daoist theory on the cultivation of mind and nature, mutually illuminating with Sima Chengzhen's Treatise on Sitting in Oblivion (Zuowang lun). The version collected in the Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds (Yunji qiqian) carries the commentary of Lengxuzi. The Quanzhen school ranks it alongside the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness (Qingjing jing) and the Scripture of Inner Observation (Neiguan jing) as introductory texts for quiet cultivation.

Key Ideas

• Extinguishing the moving mind, not the illuminating mind
• Concentration and observation applied together
• The seven stages to attaining the Dao
• Unity of śamatha-vipaśyanā and the refinement of form

Structure

One scroll; the main text is short, with an appended commentary.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Yunji qiqian edition (with Lengxuzi's commentary)

Commentaries

• Commentary by Lengxuzi

Translations

• English translation by Livia Kohn (appendix to Seven Steps to the Tao)

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT search
• Wikipedia: Zuowang lun

Related scriptures

Related figures