SGDY Inaugural Messages Complete Charter
Singapore Dao Yuan Founding Charter
Part I - The Primary Inaugural Address
1.1. The Opening - Descent from Mystic Mountain
老祖自妙山來
The Most Holy One descends from Mystic Mountain
Every planchette session in the Dao Yuan tradition opens with the formal declaration of the transmitting deity’s origin-place. 妙山 – Mystic Mountain – is the celestial abode of The Most Holy One, the transcendent locus from which the Primordial 炁 condenses into a point of contact with the human world. The descent (來) is not metaphorical but cosmologically real: the pre-cosmic dimension enters the post-cosmic through the medium of the planchette altar.
1.2. The Opening Poem – A Four-Dimensional Overture
旦柳昏虛紀季秋，天南天北氣相求，大道無邊南北混，不勞彈指到星洲。
At dawn the Willow Mansion, at dusk the Void Mansion - late autumn is marked. South heaven and north heaven seek each other's breath. The Great Dao has no boundary - south and north merge into undivided wholeness. Without labour, in a finger-snap, it arrives in Singapore.
This quatrain in the classical seven-character form (七言詩) performs four simultaneous acts in four lines:
- Line 1 (旦柳昏虛紀季秋): Cosmic dating. The lunar mansions 柳 (Willow, 22nd) and 虛 (Void, 11th) noted at dawn and dusk are traditional astronomical calendric markers for the ninth lunar month. The address is thereby anchored not merely in a calendar date but in a precise position within the rotating celestial framework – locating the founding within cosmic time, not merely human time.
- Line 2 (天南天北氣相求): The doctrine of qi-resonance (氣感). South heaven and north heaven seek each other’s vital breath. Singapore – southernmost point of the Dao Yuan network – is not peripheral but a cosmologically necessary pole. The word 求 (to seek) implies active reciprocity: Heaven reaches toward Singapore precisely as Singapore reaches toward Heaven.
- Line 3 (大道無邊南北混): The Dao without boundary. 混 (to merge, revert to undifferentiated unity) is drawn from: 有物混成，先天地生 (DaoDeJing ch. 25). The Great Dao dissolves all geographic, cultural, and sectarian distinctions. The founding in equatorial Singapore is not an extension of something northern and Chinese but the same undivided Dao manifesting with full force.
- Line 4 (不勞彈指到星洲): Effortless instantaneous arrival. 彈指 – a finger-snap – is a Buddhist term for the kṣaṇa (剎那), the indivisible instant of consciousness. The Most Holy One traverses cosmic distance without effort, demonstrating in the poem itself the effortless action (無為) expounded philosophically in the address that follows.
1.3. The Five-Movement Architecture of the Main Address
Key Details
The Five-Movement
Movement 1 - Greeting
Acknowledges the gathered disciples; identifies many as possessing 夙慧 (primordial wisdom carried across lifetimes); establishes the dual mission 渡己渡人 as 一以貫之 (the single thread running through all, from the Analects 4:15).
Movement 2 - 太上之道
The cosmological exposition of the Dao as self-generating, non-possessing, all-pervading source; drawn extensively from DaoDeJing chs. 2, 34, 51 and the Huainanzi 道论.
Movement 3 - 自然
Natural spontaneity as the operative norm: duckweed/tree, bird/beast, dragon/tiger couplets; the Sage as embodiment of Heaven-Earth’s self-so-ness; 涵道之所致 (‘the arriving of what the Dao harbours’).
Movement 4 - 道者一立
The Cosmogony of One: the five-tone/five-flavour/five-colour doctrine of infinite generation from minimal foundations; 有生於無，實出於虛; the single aperture/single gate ecumenical doctrine.
Movement 5 - 天者 vs 人者
The ethical contrast of pure primordial nature vs social artifice; the three Zhuangzi analogies (well-fish, summer insect, conventional scholar); the warning against institutional calcification; the qualification for access to the Dao.
1.3.1 — Movement 1: Primordial Wisdom, the Dual Mission, and the Unbroken Thread
今日星院成立與羣弟子相見，濟濟盈盈欣慰無量，羣弟子慕道而來，其中具夙慧者實繁有徒，從此進修，密益加密，玄之又玄，渡己渡人，一以貫之。
Today the Singapore Tao Yuan is established and I meet the community of disciples - numerous and full, limitless joy and comfort. The disciples have come drawn by the Dao; among them those possessing primordial wisdom are genuinely numerous. From this point of practice, the subtle deepens, mystery opens onto further mystery - ferrying oneself and ferrying others: a single thread running through all.
The observation that many disciples 具夙慧者實繁有徒 – ‘those possessing primordial wisdom are genuinely numerous’ – is a statement of considerable weight. 夙慧 denotes wisdom carried across lifetimes: the accumulated clarity of souls who have previously encountered and partially realised the Dao in prior existences. Their gathering at this founding moment is not coincidence but karmic ripening – the fruit of long spiritual effort maturing at the cosmically appointed time. This framing retrojects the Singapore Dao Yuan’s founding across multiple lifetimes of preparation and transforms the 1936 gathering into the culmination of a trans-historical spiritual trajectory.
The phrase 渡己渡人，一以貫之 – ‘ferrying oneself and ferrying others: a single thread running through all’ – appropriates the Confucian master-formula from the Analects (論語·里仁 4:15) where Confucius declares 吾道一以貫之. The Most Holy One’s statement at the founding moment signals the ecumenical intention encoded from the very first breath of the address: the Dao does not compete with others but encompasses and fulfils it. And the single thread – the one coherence – is precisely the integration of self-cultivation (渡己) with compassionate service to others (渡人).
1.3.2 — Movement 2: 太上之道 - The Way of the Supreme
太上之道，生萬物而不有，成化像而不宰，咐囑覆育而得于和，萬有不同而便于性潤于草木，浸於金石，獸胎不礙，鳥卵可乎。
The Way of the Supreme: it gives birth to the ten thousand things yet does not possess them; it completes their transformations yet does not govern them; through its charge, shelter, and nourishment, harmony is achieved - the ten thousand are different yet each is moistened according to its nature: nourishing grasses and trees, permeating metal and stone, not impeding the beast's womb, not hindering the bird's egg.
This is the heart of the message, with similarities from the DaoDeJing (chapters 2, 34, and 51) and the Huainanzi’s Daolun (道論) chapter. The term 生而不有 (‘produces but does not possess’) mirrors closely to DaoDeJing Ch 2 and 51. The Dao’s four negative-positive properties – generating without possessing, completing without dominating, nurturing without controlling, harmonising without coercing – are not merely abstractions but the template for the institution The Most Holy One is founding. As the Dao permeates without dominating, so the Dao Yuan must guide without coercing; as the Dao nourishes all equally, so The World Red Swastika Society must serve all without discrimination.
The natural phenomena mentioned – grasses, trees, metal, stone, beast-wombs, bird-eggs – culminates in the Huainanzi formula 涵道之所致 (‘the arriving of what the Dao harbours’). This is not metaphor but ontological claim: the Dao is the immanent generative ground of all natural process, not a deity standing apart. The human being is then located within this cosmos through the charioteer image:
人為萬物之靈，以天為蓋，以地為輿，以四時為馬，以陰陽為御。
Humanity is the Creative Intelligence of the ten thousand things: Heaven is its canopy, Earth is its carriage, the Four Seasons are its horses, Yin and Yang are its reins.
The charioteer image – humanity commanding the full apparatus of Heaven and Earth – frames the human condition not as alienation from nature but as unique integration within it. The human being rides the cosmos because the human being is, at its deepest, continuous with the Dao. The four elements of the cosmic chariot correspond precisely to the four-phase cosmological structure governing the Dao Yuan’s cultivation practice: the pre-cosmic source (Heaven-canopy), the post-cosmic manifestation (Earth-carriage), the cyclical rhythm of time (Four Seasons), and the dynamic alternation of yin and yang (the reins that govern direction and pace).
1.3.3 — Movement 3: 自然 - Natural Spontaneity
萍根於水，木根於土。鳥排虛而飛，獸蹠實而走。蛟龍水居，虎豹山處。自然之性也。兩木相摩而火生，燃金火相守，地之自然以妙其化裁，萬物即受自然之化裁而莫不翕然，又並不自知其所以然。
Duckweed roots in water; trees root in earth. Birds beat against emptiness and fly; beasts press upon solidity and run. The dragon-serpent dwells in water; the tiger and leopard dwell in mountains - this is natural nature (自然之性). Two pieces of wood rubbing together generate fire; metal-fire guard each other - Earth's self-so-ness wonders at its creative-ordering. The ten thousand things receive this natural creative-ordering and cannot but harmonise with it - and yet do not themselves know why.
The passage presents 自然 (self-so-ness, the condition of each thing being exactly what it inherently is without external compulsion) as the operative norm for cosmos and cultivator alike. The natural couplets are precisely paired: water-rooted duckweed / earth-rooted tree; emptiness-beating bird / solidity-pressing beast; water-dwelling dragon / mountain-dwelling tiger-and-leopard. Each being is perfectly suited to its medium. This is not resignation but the deepest freedom – which consists not in transcending one’s nature but in fully inhabiting it.
The兩木相摩而火生，燃金火相守 (‘two pieces of wood rubbing together generate fire; metal and fire guard each other’) extends the cosmological teaching to include the dynamic processes of the Five Phases: wood generating fire, metal and fire in mutual support. This is not merely a natural phenomenon but an illustration of the self-generating character of the Dao’s operation within the post-cosmic world. The fire that arises spontaneously from friction is 涵道之所致 – it requires no external igniter; the Dao’s own immanent creativity is sufficient.
The practical message intended for the Singapore Dao Yuan is precise: the institution should operate like the sage who 體天地之自然以妙其化裁 (’embodies the self-so-ness of Heaven and Earth’). The Yuan does not force transformation; it creates the conditions in which transformation naturally arises, as fire arises from the friction of wood. And like the ten thousand things that harmonise with the Sage’s creative-ordering 並不自知其所以然 (‘without knowing why’), the 9community’s transformative influence on Singapore society would work most effectively by operating below the threshold of conscious recognition – through the quiet accumulation of genuine virtue and compassionate service.
1.3.4 — Movement 4: 道者一立 - The Cosmogony of One
音之數不過五，而五音之變不可勝聽也。道者一立，而萬物育矣。有生於無，實出於虛。一 之理施於四海，一之解際乎天地，萬物之總皆閱一孔，百事之根皆出一門。
The tones number no more than five, yet the variations of the five tones are inexhaustible in hearing. When the One of the Dao is established, the ten thousand things are nourished. Being arises from non-being; the actual emerges from the empty. The principle of the One extends to the four seas; the understanding of the One reaches between Heaven and Earth. The totality of the ten thousand things passes through a single aperture; the root of all affairs issues from a single gate.
Three interlocking themes converge at this centrepiece of the address, with resonances to Huainanzi and DaoDeJing chapters 40 and 11:
- Infinite generation from minimal foundations: Five tones, five flavours, five colours each produce inexhaustible variety through combination. The principle is scalable to the cosmological level: from One Dao, all ten thousand things. From one Dao Yuan established in Singapore – one seed – an entire network. The five-fold pentadic structure (五音/五味/五色) is not incidental but precise: the same cosmological law that generates infinite music from five tones generates infinite humanitarian reach from one institution.
- 有生於無，實出於虛 – being from non-being: The direct transmission of DaoDeJing ch. 40 (天下萬物生於有，有生於無) and ch. 11 (on the usefulness of emptiness). Singapore’s apparent emptiness of ancient sacred history a commercial colonial port without sacred associations – is not a deficiency but the precise condition of maximum generativity. The Dao Yuan is born from nothing and therefore contains everything.
- 萬物之總皆閱一孔，百事之根皆出一門 – the single gate: the cosmological foundation of the five-religion synthesis. All phenomena, all traditions, all peoples pass through the same source. The Singapore Dao Yuan does not represent one tradition among others; it represents the single gate through which all may enter. This teaching, encoded in the founding address, would find institutional expression two decades later in the Malacca branch’s founding couplet: 合基釋儒回道各教一堂同參至諦.
1.3.5 — Movement 5: 天者 vs人者 - The Warning Against Calcification
天者純粹樸素，質直皓白，未始有與雜糅者也。人者鑿真尚巧，所以俯仰於世，而與俗交者也。井魚不可與語海，拘於隘也。夏蟲不可與語冰，拘於時也。近士不可與語至道，拘於俗，束於教也。知此者可與之言道，且可與之悟道。
Heaven: pure, unadorned, simple; direct, luminously white - never originally mixed with anything extraneous. The human: boring through the genuine in pursuit of cleverness; bowing and raising the head in the world - in commerce with convention. You cannot speak of the ocean to a fish in a well - it is confined by narrowness. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect - it is confined by time. You cannot speak of the Supreme Dao to the conventional scholar - confined by custom and bound by doctrine. One who knows this may be spoken to about the Dao, and may moreover be brought to awakening in the Dao.
The contrast between the heavenly (天者) and the human-as-socially-constituted (人者) is clear and precise: 純粹樸素，質直皓白，未始有與雜糅者也 – ‘pure, unadorned, simple, luminously white, never originally mixed with anything extraneous.’ This is the condition of the Dao itself and, before social conditioning, of the human nature at its source. The character 雜糅 (mixed with extraneous elements) captures the precise mechanism of spiritual degradation: not active corruption but the gradual adulteration of the pure by the impure through habitual contact with convention.
The three Zhuangzi analogies (秋水篇) are deployed at the founding of an institution – an act of radical self-criticism built into the charter itself. The Most Holy One is warning the Singapore Dao Yuan, at the very moment of its establishment, against the three forms of limitation most likely to constrain the institution: 隘 (narrowness of perspective), 時 (temporal confinement – the assumption that the current season’s conditions are permanent), and 拘於俗，束於教 (confinement by convention and binding by doctrine). The character 束 (to truss, to tie up) suggests something more actively constraining than mere habit – the deliberate binding that doctrinal systematisation can impose on living spiritual experience.
The qualification for access: 知此者可與之言道，且可與之悟道 -— ‘one who knows this may be spoken to about the Dao, and may moreover be brought to awakening in the Dao.’ The criterion is entirely internal: not doctrinal correctness, ritual expertise, or institutional seniority, but the willingness to remain genuinely open – free from the narrowness of the well-fish, the temporal limitation of the summer insect, and the doctrinal bondage of the conventional scholar.