《太上元始天尊说金光明经》

At this time, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, together with the assembly, ascended the jeweled thrones to expound the scriptural teachings, surveying all the various sufferings endured by living beings in the world. Some had contracted epidemic illness, and their eyesight had grown dim; although the sun, moon, and stars—the Three Luminaries—all shone upon them, they could not see, as if they were blind. This was because they did not revere the Three Treasures of the Daoist teaching: the Dao (the Way), the Jing (scripture/classic), and the Master. Others suffered wrongs, enmities, and transgressions and were entangled by curses, so that both eyes grew clouded and they could not see things clearly.

At this time, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy opened the vast gate of compassion and expedient means, took pity on the people, and expounded this scripture in order to save living beings. If good men and good women encounter this scripture that delivers the people of the world, they should at once bathe in fragrant water, establish a ritual space—a place for holding ceremonies of scripture recitation—recite this scripture repeatedly, and make offerings with faith and reverence. In this way, the twelve youths will come to protect them: the Golden Light Youth, the Sunlight Youth, the Moonlight Youth, the Light-Opening Youth, the Starlight Youth, the Bright Light Youth, the Radiant Light Youth, the Pure Light Youth, the Dao-Eye Youth, the Dharma-Realm Youth, the Perfect Light Youth, and the Wisdom Light Youth.

The scripture says that these twelve youths are able to eliminate calamities. If someone’s eyes are dim and vision is obstructed, that person should quickly recite this scripture and will then obtain release and salvation; sight will become bright and unobstructed, and immortal perfected beings will offer protection, causing every kind of evil to disperse and causing the lurking corpses, stale Qi (vital energy), and the ghosts of deviant essence (Jing) to withdraw. Good men and good women who have faith in this scripture may recover from illness and have bright, clear eyes; the karmic obstructions formed by past causes and conditions, as well as the faults and transgressions of the present life, can also be eliminated. They will receive the protection of the host of sages and together behold the light.

The scripture declares that the numinous responses of this scripture are subtle and wondrous, beyond conception. Those who slight this scripture will bring calamity upon the seven generations of ancestors—the forebears of the family line—and will also implicate themselves. The Primordial Heavenly Worthy, the host of immortals and sages, the celestial immortals and terrestrial immortals, and the officials of the Three Realms, upon hearing the wondrous teaching, all rejoiced, received it in faith, and practiced in accordance with the instruction.

After the Scripture of the Golden Light Spoken by the Supreme Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Taishang Yuanshi Tianzun Shuo Jin Guangming Jing) had been fully expounded, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, together with the host of immortals and sages, the celestial immortals and earthly immortals, and the officials and subordinate officers of the Three Realms, upon hearing this wondrous teaching, were all filled with great joy, received it in faith, and practiced it accordingly.

In the original text the closing formula “Here ends the Scripture of the Golden Light Spoken by the Supreme Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning” appears twice, yet at the end there is also a note reading “the meaning of the text is unfinished; sentences are suspected to have been lost.” This means that although the scripture is marked as concluded, the wording itself seems not yet to have come to an end, and some sentences may have dropped out.