Offertory Words for the Teaching Text

　　The Ultimate Realm took shape in the winter of 1942, and its first draft was completed in Hsu-huang [Majestic Emptiness] Cave (虛皇古洞) beneath White Cloud Peak, at a place called Da-shang-fang (大上方) on China’s sacred Hua Mountain. The way it came to be written is described in this book’s “Overview”.

　　新境界一書，孕育於民國三十一年壬午之冬，草成於西嶽華山大上方白雲峰下虛皇古洞，其中經過，誠如本書緒論內敘述：

　　“Five days before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 7, 1937, I resigned from office and took my wife and children into seclusion on Hua Mountain. Thenceforth I reveled in detachment and tranquility, keeping daily company with Heaven and being close to Nature. When the mood came, I would chant old poems, and sing loudly with the high cliff—my superior companions. Among mists and sunset clouds I would pore over books or foster my ch’i, and visit back and forth to talk of mysteries with sacred beings. In the cloud-covered back-country, secluded in an ancient cave, I reached up to pristine cosmic ch’i and bridged the culture of Heaven and man; below I received it all into my body, a vessel of stillness, and elucidated the truth of cosmos…”

　　「……爰於民國廿六年七月二日蘆溝橋事變，對日本抗戰前五日，本人辭官攜眷，潛居華岳，從茲淡泊寧靜，日與天遊－與大自然接觸，興來彈古調，高伴洪崖笑，煙霞中讀書養氣，聖凡間往來談論，白雲深處，古洞靜幽，上接清虛之炁，溝通天人文化，下貫涵靜之體，闡明宇宙真理……」

　　I recall the spring of 1939, when the Lord of Heaven descended in the wreathing clouds and swirling ch’i near Majestic Emptiness Cave at the Wondrous Precinct of Ch’ing-hsu [Pristine Emptiness(清虛妙境)], urging me to devote myself to the study of Heaven and mankind, and become enlightened to the cosmic realm. In summer of the following year, the Lord of Heaven indicated to me the great Tao of the cosmos, whereby sacred and mundane are equal, and Heaven and man are one. In the autumn of 1941, I was called upon to formulate new and timely religious thought, to show that mind and matter are a unity with dual function, and that sacred and mundane are equal. Also, Ch’ing-hsu Chen-jen (清虛真人, the Pristine True One) and Ch’ung-jen Chiao-chu (崇仁教主, the Benevolent Hierarch) were assigned to take charge of Heaven-man communication. Through the physical, corporeal mediumship of [my son] Wei-sheng, natural marvels of the cosmos were revealed. After many sessions of Heaven-man communication, the results were fairly gratifying. Thereupon a systematic inquiry was begun. The main points gained through bonding and harmonizing force were integrated with contemporary natural and social sciences by myself and my student Mr. Huang Wei-tao. Principles of religious philosophy through the ages, both Eastern and Western, were added in fitting measure, and a summary was drafted. Then, joint academic research between Heaven and man was pursued with the cooperation of Ch’ing-hsu Chen-jen and Ch’ung-jen Chiao-chu. Three months of frequent reworking were required to produce an initial outline, which was divided into two main parts: “A Natural View of Matter” and “A Human View of Spirit”. Then came careful revision by Huang Wei-tao, and each chapter was emerged out of dialogue with the non-physical spirit realm. Three of us–myself, my son and my disciple, worked day and night here in the cloud-hidden mountains. After sometime more than a year, A New System of Religious Philosophy was completed in winter of the year 1942.

　　回憶民國廿八年己卯之春，煙霞繚繞，炁氣絪縕，　天帝降臨清虛妙境虛皇古洞，諄諄詔諭極初窮究天人之學，參悟宇宙境界。翌年庚辰之夏，復蒙　天帝昭示聖凡平等、天人大同宇宙大道。民國三十年辛巳之秋，又奉昭示創訂心物一元二用、聖凡平等適應時代需要之新宗教思想，並命清虛真人、崇仁教主專司天人親和，與維生兒有形軀體媒介貫通，透露宇宙自然奧妙。迭經配合溝通，相當理想，遂即開始作有系統之追求，以親和所得要點經極初與黃子維道融會現代自然科學、社會科學原理，參酌中外古今宗教哲理，擬訂提要，再與清虛真人、崇仁教主天天作學術性之天人研討，費時三月，幾經斟酌，初步綱領產生，分為「物質之自然觀」及「精神之人生觀」兩大主要部門，復經黃子維道悉心整編，隨時與無形靈界分章商討，父子師徒三人於白雲深處，朝於斯夕於斯，經歷年餘，新宗教哲學思想體系終于壬午之冬全部完成。

　　On Celestmas: Celestial Inspection Day (巡天節) in 1942, the Lord of Heaven appeared at Wondrous Precinct of Ch’ing-hsu, and was extremely gratified by the offering of this study into Heaven-man cooperation. The theories of this book are positive, optimistic, aspiring and engaged. Their purpose is to achieve understanding of a new realm of human life and the cosmos, to explore a new domain of thought in mankind’s struggle to survive. Thus instructions were given to name the book A New System of Religious Philosophy, or The Ultimate Realm. It was promptly put into print for the public, and treated as a teaching text by the T’ien-jen Church(天人教, Church of Heaven and man).

　　時值壬午巡天節，　天帝降臨清虛妙境，對呈獻此一天人合作研究成果極為嘉許。由于本書立論積極向上，樂觀奮鬥，旨在使人認識宇宙人生新境界，啟發人類開拓生存競爭思想領域，所以奉命名本書為「新宗教哲學思想體系」，亦名「新境界」，著即付梓公世，並許為天人教教義。

　　The first edition of this book came out in 1944 in Hsi-an (西安) City with the title A New System of Religious Philosophy. The next year saw the surrender of Japan and return of the capital to Nanking. I brought my family out of the mountains and returned south. Afterwards, on the eve of withdrawal from Shanghai, the whole family crossed eastwards to Taiwan on May 1949. Since atheists might avoid religious, subjective ideas, the second edition of this book was renamed The Ultimate Realm to let them accept it more readily, and come to understand a new realm of human life and the cosmos.

　　本書以「新宗教哲學思想體系」為名于卅三年在西安市初版發行。翌年日本投降，抗戰勝利還都，極初挈眷下山南歸，旋於上海撤守前夕，卅八年五月舉家東渡來臺，為使無神論者避免宗教主觀觀念的影響，便於接受，進而瞭解宇宙人生的新境界，本書故于再版時易名為「新境界」。

　　In the forty years since this book’s completion, with the unfolding of destiny, everything in the world has undergone tremendous change. The world has gone from the Atomic Age to the Space Age, while the opposition between the two superpowers America and the Soviet Union poses a threat of all-out nuclear war. The final cataclysm of our world is imminent.

　　溯自本書完成，業經四十年，世界一切的一切，因氣運的推移，均在發生極大的變化。世界已由原子時代進入太空時代，且在美蘇兩超強對抗下，瀕臨核子決戰，末劫之來已是無可逃避。

　　At this critical juncture, there was no further need to promulgate the T’ien-jen Church. To save the pitiable creatures of this world and avert the epoch-ending destruction of nuclear war, I had no choice but to make a heartfelt plea to the Lord of Heaven, who has been supreme in this universe since time immemorial, to revive the T’ienti Teachings, while I proceed to spread His teachings without prior approval. This will be the great good fortune of the world’s people! The Lord of Heaven compassionately sent down these instructions:

　　時機緊迫，天人教在人間已無興昌之必要，為拯救天下蒼生化延核戰毀滅劫難，極初惟有懇切哀求無始以來之大宇宙主宰　天帝復興天帝教，一面擅專傳佈天帝教。蒼生有幸，　天帝慈悲下詔：

　　“In as much as these are the end times, the T’ienti Teachings are permitted to appear once more on earth, to resume the transmission of the Tao. The request made by the hierarch of the [onetime] T’ien-jen Church will be honored: out of respect for the transmission of the Tao, the Hierarch [over the Lord of Universe Church] will be the Church’s original Founder, the Lord of Heaven. Also, no office of hierarch will be established on earth. The leader of the [onetime] T’ien-jen Church is hereby named as the First-Appointed Master Emissary on earth, to be the vanguard and lay the foundation of the Lord of Universe Church.

　　「念茲末劫，特准天帝教重現地上，繼開道統，並接受天人教主之請，遵奉道統，教主當為　立教始祖　天帝，人間不設教主，特派天人教主為駐人間首任首席使者，為帝教作先鋒，奠定人間教基。」

　　The Teachings are the root that will give life to the Lord of Universe Church through a myriad generations. The key thread running through this book is the Lord’s true Tao. It is to be hoped that people in this world will live by it, as they move toward spiritual regeneration and moral reclamation. If people’s hearts can be inwardly moved by transforming influence, the end of the world can be dispelled before it takes physical form. This book, The Ultimate Realm, is offered to the Lord of Heaven as a teaching text for the Lord of Universe Church. All fellow-strivers should honor it and continue to study it closely. Resolve to strive unremittingly and follow Truth.

　　教義為帝教永垂萬禩之本，本書綱領為　天帝真道，希望世人奉行，邁向精神的重建，道德的重整，人心能于不知不覺間潛移默化，世界末劫得能消弭於無形。謹以本書－新境界奉獻于　天帝為帝教教義，凡我同奮咸應遵奉，繼續精研，矢奮不渝，真理是從。

　　　　Respectfully offered up by
　　　　Lee Yü-chieh, the Old Man Han-ching,
　　　　on September 28, 1981, at age 81.

　　涵靜老人極初李玉階敬獻
　　　　中華民國七十年九月二十八日
　　　　辛酉九月初一日時年八十一歲