南嶽總勝集 3.9

3.9

薛季昌。漢州綿竹人。世皆宦族。季昌幼不好榮不茹葷。常布素酷於山水。一日遊請城。父母謂不遠而從之。遂南遊桃源。後遇正一先生於南嶽。受三洞祕籙。研窮真要。屢感高真密降。明皇詔每問道德。而談辯通博。上喜之。久乞回山上。命賦詩贈之序曰。練師志慕玄門。棲心南嶽。及登道錄。忽然來辭。願歸舊山。以守虛白。不違雅志。且重精修。若遇至人靈藥時。來城闕也。詩曰。洞府修真客衡陽。念舊居將成金闕。要願玉清書雲路。三天近松溪萬籟虛。猶宜傳祕訣來候。仙輿季昌住九真降聖觀。復華蓋舊隱修鍊丹成。一日忽謂弟子曰。祝融今夕有真之會。余被召當往。遂凌虛而去不復回。後建凌虛宮。

Xue Jichang was a man of Mianzhu in Hanzhou. For generations his family had been officials. From his youth, Jichang had no fondness for glory and did not eat meat, always wearing plain cloth and being passionate about mountains and waters. One day he went roaming to Qingcheng; his parents thought it was not far and allowed him to go. He then traveled south to Taoyuan. Later he met Master Zhengyi at Nanyue, receiving the secret registers of the Three Caverns and probing into the essentials of the Real, repeatedly evoking the secret descents of exalted Perfected. Emperor Minghuang summoned him and constantly inquired about Dao and virtue; his discourse was thorough and wide-ranging, and the Emperor was pleased with him. After some time, he begged to return to the mountain. The Emperor ordered a poem to be composed and presented to him, with a preface saying: “The Master of Training has his will set on the mysterious portal and his mind resting on Nanyue. When his name was entered into the Daoist registers, he suddenly came to bid farewell, wishing to return to his former mountain to preserve the empty white. Not disobeying his refined purpose, and valuing his diligent cultivation: when you encounter a perfected person and divine medicine, come back to the city ramparts and palace gates.” The poem said: / “The guest cultivating reality in grotto-palaces of Hengyang / Thinks of his former dwelling. / When about to accomplish the essentials of the Golden Palace, / He wishes for the Jade Clarity writings. / The cloud paths are close to the Three Heavens; / By the pine stream the myriad sounds are empty. / It is still fitting to transmit the secret formulas, / And come await the immortal carriage.” / Jichang dwelt at the Jiuzhen Jiangsheng Abbey, and returned to his former retreat at Huagai to compound the elixir, which was accomplished. One day he suddenly said to his disciples, “Tonight Zhurong has a gathering of the Perfected; I have been summoned and must go.” He then soared into the void and departed, never to return. Later, the Lingxu Palace was built.