Mantra of the Profound Mystery · 玄蕴咒

✦ Sacred Text · Chinese & English ✦

云篆太虚，浩劫之初。
乍遐乍迩，或沉或浮。
五方徘徊，一丈之余。
天真皇人，按笔乃书。
以演洞章，字方一丈。
八角垂芒，光芒照耀。
文彩焕发，洞照八方。
急急如律令。

Cloud-scripts upon the Great Void,
born at the beginning of the boundless kalpa.
Now far, now near,
now sinking, now floating.
They wander through the Five Directions,
each character spanning a zhang in size.
The Imperial Man of Heaven
takes up his brush and writes.
He performs the Chapter of the Cavern —
each character a zhang square.
Eight corners radiate with light;
brilliance shines upon all.
Literary splendor blazes forth,
illuminating the Eight Directions.
Swiftly, as the law commands!

✧ Spiritual Purpose ✧

The Mantra of the Profound Mystery (玄蕴咒) invokes the primordial cosmic scripture — divine writing that existed before the world was formed. According to Taoist cosmology, the sacred scriptures were first manifested as luminous cloud-scripts (云篆) floating in the primordial void, later transcribed by the Imperial Man of Heaven (天真皇人) for the benefit of sentient beings. This mantra is recited before reading or chanting Taoist scriptures to attune the practitioner to the transcendent origin of the text. It opens the practitioner's inner eye to perceive the deeper, hidden meanings (玄蕴) within sacred writings, connecting daily study to the cosmic revelation of the Tao itself.