Spirit Source Avenue Song
Cao Daochong (Cao Xiangu)
What I tell you, my lords, is that the root of life has always been in the true breath. The body is immortal, empty or not empty, and the spirit reflects the heavens and contains the countenance of all things.
The wonderful man of Taiji has obtained it, and he who has obtained it should hold on to it carefully and not lose it. The palace is empty and the gods reside there, and the spirit palace is tormented by the dried-up blood.
One sorrow, one joy, one worry, one indulgence, one toil, one weakness. Morning injury, evening loss, one is unaware, loss and chaos, the spirit has no foundation.
Gradually fading away, gradually wasting away, one exhausts one's essence and one's spirit. One only knows that one is practicing meditation and sitting in meditation, but one can be like this in the holy, but not in the mortal.
One's sprout is tender and fragile, one must be reserved, one's root is unaware and can easily change. One must not be impatient and one must not remove the thorns, one has not heard of beautiful crops growing in the barren fields.
Nine years of hard work are enough to bring the fire to full strength. Responding to things without the mind is quickening. The mind without a mind is the true mind. Forgetting the two, movement and stillness, is leaving desire behind.
The spirit is the nature, the breath is the destiny. The spirit does not stray, the breath settles down. Originally, which is closer to the two? If you lose it, what will be the foundation?
Mixing into one and forgetting one is the same as the primordial energy coming and going. Piercing gold and splitting stone is not difficult. Sitting and dying is still a flash.
This way is easy to understand, but hard to practice. When you practice it, you forget what you are doing. Don't mistake holding your breath for real work. Counting your breaths according to a chart is not the way.
Compared to the past, letting go of external dust and toil, internally, what is the difference between lingering thoughts? Just look at an infant in the womb, how could it understand the calculation of the mind?
Concentrating on the breath causes the spirit to remain soft, and the true breath comes and goes leisurely. It stretches endlessly and returns to the original destiny, not drawing from the spiritual spring, but flowing all by itself.
Thirty-six thousand is the great achievement, the yin and yang seasons are within. Steaming and melting the meridians and transforming the muscles and bones, everywhere is bright and unobstructed.
The three Pengs walked out of the mansion of the corpse in the yin, and all nations came to pay homage to the palace of the red emperor. I ask where the true man comes from, from the beginning the yuan was only in the spirit realm.
In the past, the clouds and mists deeply concealed it, today we meet and the dao eyes open. This is not achieved overnight, it is my true nature, not a technique.
It is as firm as gold and jade in the cold of winter, repelling the demons of the dark and adding to one's wisdom. It is the result of concentration after a period of emptiness, and it is the quiet country of Huahu.
At first, what is the foundation of everything? When you arrive at the place of inaction, you can do anything. You must remove the illusions in your thoughts, and hold on to your spirit in your dreams.
Not moving is the key, not being square or round is the way. Yuanhe internal cultivation is the way to truth, external breathing is never-ending.
If the vital energy does not rest, the spirit cannot be at peace. If the wood is rotten, the branches and leaves will dry up. Forget about tears, saliva, and blood. The source is always the same.
This thing has never had a fixed position. It changes at any time according to the mind. Sweat is the body's response to heat; tears are the body's response to sadness.
Essence is the body's response to thoughts in the kidneys; mucus is the body's response to wind in the nose. The vital energy circulates vertically and horizontally throughout the body, and at the end it does not come from the divine water.
Few know the miraculous water, which nourishes all things with its true energy. But if you know how to be content and carefree, you can fast and keep your words to a minimum.
It is like a sweet, milky nectar, quenching your hunger and thirst and revealing the true essence. At times you will be full of achievements and feel carefree, but at the beginning you will be diligent in your cooking.
You will be diligent in your work, but not in your leisure time, when you should just nourish your inner spirit. But the heart won't let you be idle, and it is all up to you to control it.
I am suffering even more in my present suffering, alone and quiet in my wooden food and grass clothes. I know in my heart that I cannot walk the great path, and fame and fortune are a serious illness.
It is better to work hard in leisure than to calmly cultivate great calm. Although it is said that the form and the spirit are difficult to achieve together, one cannot achieve the destiny before the nature.
If one does not pursue fame and profit, and cuts off all human connections, one will be fine. The decisive factor is in the person, why does one dwell?
What if I am famous and wealthy? My writings are not the most precious. I have no interest in wealth and clothing. What good is hoarding up gold and jade?
Craftsmanship, writing, and poetry can hinder the path of cultivation. They are like mist and smoke, drifting along with the falling flowers and drifting snow.
They are ethereal and leisurely, but they cannot bring rain and dew. What is more important, fame or cultivation? I have spent half of my life being too conformist.
Recently, I have cultivated my spiritual energy, but it is restless and full of suffering. It is a pity that a good foundation has no owner for a golden palace or jade hall.
I urge the owner to live there for a long time, but it is useless to keep it idle. It is difficult to hold onto the wonderful from the nothing, and you must cherish your mother when you raise your baby.
Keep your eloquence hidden and be wise, and gather your spirit to be foolish. Be determined and resolute, and let the future take its course; the great path will not disappoint you.
(According to the Ming Dynasty “Zhengtong Daozang” (Authentic Daoist Canon), compiled by Dong Yichun, “Qunxian Yaoyu Zanji” (Compilation of the Essential Teachings of the Immortals), vol. 2, the original title is “Wenyi Cao Xiangu Daodaoge (Song of the Dao of the Immortal Taoist Priestess Cao)).
    According to the lectures on the “Wuzhen Chapter” by Xia Zongyu, a Southern Song dynasty neidan master, and the “Commentary on the Zhouyi Shentong Qi” by Yu Yan, a Daoist scholar from the late Song and early Yuan dynasties, both of which quote from the “Song of the Dao of the Spiritual Source”, the name of the song in the original text by Dong is missing or does not contain the words “Song of the Dao of the Spiritual Source”.
    Cao Xiangu, whose real name was Xiyun, was later given the name Daochong by Emperor Huizong of the Southern Song Dynasty, and was successively given the titles Master Qingxu Wenyi, Mr. Daozhen Renzhen, and Mr. Xiyuan Guanmiao. (See Song Zheng'ang's “Xiyuan Guanmiao Mr. Memorial Hall Record” in Volume 11 of “Baijing Yizhi Zhi” compiled by Li Lian of the Ming Dynasty.)

灵源大道歌
曹道冲（曹仙姑）
我为诸君说端的，命蒂从来在真息。照体长生空不空，灵鉴涵天容万物。
太极布妙人得一，得一善持谨勿失。宫室虚闲神自居，灵府煎熬枯血液。
一悲一喜一思虑，一纵一劳形蠹弊。朝伤暮损迷不知，丧乱精神无所据。
细细消磨渐渐衰，用竭元和神乃去。只道行禅坐亦禅，圣可如斯凡不然。
萌芽脆嫩须含蓄，根识昏迷易变迁。磋跎不解去荆棘，未闻美稼出荒田。
九年功满火候足，应物无心神化速。无心心即是真心，动静两忘为离欲。
神是性兮气是命，神不外驰气自定。本来二物更谁亲，失却将何为本柄？
混合为一复忘一，可与元化同出没。透金贯石不为难，坐脱立亡犹倏忽。
此道易知不易行，行忘所行道乃毕。莫将闭息为真务，数息按图俱未是。
比来放下外尘劳，内有萦心两何异。但看婴儿处胎时，岂解有心潜筭计。
专气致柔神久留，往来真息自悠悠。绵延迤逦归元命，不汲灵泉常自流。
三万六千为大功，阴阳节候在其中。蒸融关脉变筋骨，处处光明无不通。
三彭走出阴尸宅，万国来朝赤帝宫。借问真人何处来，从前元只在灵台。
昔年云雾深遮蔽，今日相逢道眼开。此非一朝与一夕，是我本真不是术。
岁寒坚确如金石，战退阴魔加慧力。皆由虚淡复精专，便是华胥清静国。
初将何事立根基，到无为处无不为。念中境象须除拨，梦里精神牢执持。
不动不静为大要，不方不圆为至道。元和内炼即成真，呼吸外求终未了。
元气不住神不安，蠹木无根枝叶干。休论涕唾与精血，达本穷源总一般。
此物何曾有定位，随时变化因心意。在体感热即为汗，在眼感悲即为泪。
在肾感念即为精，在鼻感风即为涕。纵横流转润一身，到头不出于神水。
神水难言识者稀，资生一切由真气。但知恬淡无思虑，斋戒宁心节言语。
一味醍醐甘露浆，饥渴消除见真素。他时功满自逍遥，初日炼烹实勤苦。
勤苦之中又不勤，闲闲只要养元神。奈何心使闲不得，到此纵擒全在人。
我今苦中苦更苦，木食草衣孤又静。心知大道不能行，名迹与身为大病。
比如闲处用工夫，争似泰然修大定。形神虽曰两难全，了命未能先了性。
不去奔名与逐利，绝了人情总无事。决烈在人何住滞，在我更教谁制御。
掀天声价又如何，倚马文章非足贵。荣华衣食总无心，积玉堆金复何济。
工巧文章与词赋，多能碍却修行路。恰如薄雾与轻烟，闲傍落花随柳絮。
缥缈幽闲天地间，到了不能成雨露。名与身兮竟孰亲，半生岁月太因循。
比来修炼赖神气，神气不安空苦辛。可怜一个好基址，金殿玉堂无主人。
劝得主人长久住，置在虚闲无用处。无中妙有执持难，解养婴儿须惜母。
缄藏俊辩黜聪明，收卷精神作愚鲁。坚心一志任前程，大道于人终不负。
（据明《正统道藏》所收董漌醇编《群仙要语纂集》卷下，原题《文逸曹仙姑大道歌》）
    按，南宋内丹大家夏夏宗禹《悟真篇讲义》、宋末元初道教学者俞琰《周易参同契发挥》所引，均称《灵源大道歌》，董本歌名中省略或缺载“灵源”二字。
    曹仙姑，本名希蕴，后宋徽宗赐名道冲，又先后赐号清虚文逸大师、道真仁静先生、希元观妙先生。（见明代李濂编《汴京遗迹志》卷十一所收宋郑昂撰《希元观妙先生祠堂记》）