Detailed Introduction
The Scripture of Constant Clarity and Stillness (full title: "The Scripture of Constant Clarity and Stillness as Spoken by the Supreme Lord Lao"), commonly known as the Qingjing Jing, is generally shortened to its brief name. In little more than 400 characters it distills the core of Taoist cultivation -- "clarity, stillness, and non-action" (qingjing wuwei). In the Taoist temples of Taiwan it is the most basic of the texts recited at morning and evening liturgy.
Core Philosophy
The Qingjing Jing opens: "The Great Tao has no form, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth; the Great Tao has no feeling, yet it moves the sun and moon; the Great Tao has no name, yet it nourishes all things." It names three marks of the Tao -- formless, without feeling, and nameless -- and yet it gives birth to heaven and earth, turns the sun and moon, and nurtures all living things. One who cultivates the Tao should take after that clear and still nature: "Looking inward at one's heart, there is no heart; looking outward at one's form, there is no form; looking far at things, there are no things. Having realized these three, one perceives only emptiness." Look inward, and you see that heart, form, and phenomena are all, at root, empty and still, and the state of clarity and stillness has arrived.
The scripture then puts its finger on the trouble: "The reason sentient beings cannot attain the True Tao is that they possess deluded minds." The root of every affliction is this deluded mind -- its false discrimination and attachment. Only when one can "banish desire, and the mind naturally becomes still; clarify the mind, and the spirit naturally becomes clear" does it follow that "naturally the six desires do not arise and the three poisons are extinguished," reaching at last "constant response, constant stillness, constant clarity and stillness."
Methods of Recitation
- Daily practice: recite once each morning and once each evening, about five to ten minutes; before you begin, burn incense and bow three times to the Three Pure Ones.
- Tempo and intonation: keep it slow and solemn. Taoist scripture recitation has its own distinctive rhythm and tonal pattern ("dao qiang," or Taoist chant), and each ritual altar carries its own characteristic style.
- Seated meditation: after reciting, sit quietly for a period to taste the state those two words -- clarity, stillness -- point to.
- Scripture copying: as Buddhists copy the Heart Sutra, Taoist devotees copy the Qingjing Jing as a form of cultivation of their own.
Comparison with the Buddhist Heart Sutra
What is striking is how close the Taoist Qingjing Jing and the Buddhist Heart Sutra sit -- in length, in function, and in their core philosophy:
- Length: the Qingjing Jing runs about 400 characters, the Heart Sutra about 260 -- both short, essential core scriptures.
- Function: both are daily recitation texts meant to settle the mind.
- Core concepts: the Qingjing Jing speaks of "emptiness" and "clarity and stillness," the Heart Sutra of "emptiness" and "freedom from hindrance" -- different roads to the same destination.
That likeness mirrors the deep tradition of Buddhist-Taoist synthesis in Chinese religious culture.
Practice in Taiwan
Taoist temples across Taiwan (such as Zhinan Temple in Taipei, the Altar of Heaven in Tainan, and Lecheng Temple in Taichung) recite the Qingjing Jing during morning and evening services. Many Taoist devotees make it their daily practice: a recitation at dawn to settle the mind, another at nightfall to cleanse the day's afflictions. In Taiwanese folk religion it is also treated as a kind of protective scripture -- a small booklet carried on the body, or the text engraved on a protective amulet, believed to ward off evil and keep one safe.