Eva Wong on the Jade Emperor / the three pure ones and Alchemical Daoism

Here is an excerpt from Eva Wong’s history of Taoism, from the point of view of discussing important Daoist religious deities, etc. It is not comprehensive, and does not include the alchemical concepts of free will etc.

Note to Max: This does NOT seem to be in agreement with Alve Olson’s view that above the Jade Emperor’s realm is the buddhist realm of “Anuttarasamyaksambodhi”:

“The Great Deities:

The following great deities are listed in order of importance recognized by taoist religious communities. First come the Earlier Heaven Deities:

T’ai Shang Lao-Chun: is Lao-Tzu deified. The name was first used in the Ling-Pao scriptures of the third century CE and was quickly adopted by orthodox religious Daoism. T’ai Shang Lao-Chun is the embodiment of the Dao and the incarnation of the primordial origin, the undifferentiated vapor, and the source of life. Thus he is sometimes called the Emperor of the Undifferentiated Realm (Hun-Yuan Huang-Ti).

The Three Pure Ones:(San-Ch’ing) are the three emanations of the T’ai-Shang Lao-Chun. They are the celestial lords of the Three Pure Realms: Jade Pure (Yu-Ching), Great Pure (T’ai-Ching), and High Pure (Shang-Ch’ing). The Jade Pure Realm is the domain of the Celestial Lord of the Limitless; The Great Pure Realm is the domain of the Celestial Lord of the Sacred Spirit; The High Pure Realm is the domain of the Celestial Lord of Virtue.

The Three Pure Realms represent three levels of Taoist immortality and enlightenment. The Jade Pure Realm is the Realm of Wu Ji. It is the highest level of immortality, and to rise to this realm is to attain complete union with the Dao. The great Pure Realm is the next level of immortality; it is the realm of T’ai-Chi, and to rise to this realm is to exist in a state where subject and object are differentiated but are integral parts of the Dao. The third realm, the High Pure, is the realm of Bagua, and to attain this level of immortality is to live a long life on earth in harmony with nature and humanity.

The Three Pure Ones have a special meaning for practitioners of internal alchemy. They represent the pristine and original pure state of the three internal energies. All people are endowed with these energies in their mother’s womb. The Jade Pure is original spiritual energy (shen), the great pure is the original vital or breath energy (Qi), and the High Pure is the original generative energy (Jing). The three pristine energies emerge when the yin and yang energies of the male and female copulate. the goal of internal alchemy is to refine and transform internal energies into the pristine form given to us when we were conceived.”