《太上洞玄灵宝业报因缘经》Vol. 3

Good deeds naturally manifest as fragrance. Another minister left home to become a renunciant and recited scripture (jing) for eighty-nine years, and a phoenix descended and issued marvelous sounds from its mouth. In the past, a man recited scripture at home, day and night without rest. After forty-three years, lotus blossoms grew in his courtyard, and within the flowers appeared sweet fruits and delicacies of every kind. Another man cultivated the Dao (the Way) and recited the true scriptures in the mountains. After six years, the Dragon King descended and brought him clothing and food. A woman entered the mountains to study the Dao and recited this scripture. After three years, a white tiger came to guard her scripture hall.

Another woman recited scripture at home, and for twenty years her clothing and food were naturally sufficient. A Daoist priest lived in the mountains, sitting in quiet meditation and reciting this scripture alone. For nine years, two phoenixes often attended him, bringing incense and lamps and providing for his daily needs. Another Daoist recited scripture at home for twenty-three years, and a man from the heavens descended to provide him with food and clothing. A female Daoist priest (nüguan) entered the mountains to cultivate the Dao and recited this scripture for twenty-one years. Heavenly maidens came to protect her and supplied her with food and clothing.

A king observed fasting and precepts, paid homage, and burned incense for thirty-three years, and the Perfected of Long Life bestowed on him an elixir that granted him limitless life. A queen observed fasting, paid homage, kept precepts, and burned incense for fifty years, and the Green-Waisted Jade Maiden, a goddess of the immortal realm, welcomed her into the clouds. A prince observed fasting and precepts, paid homage, and burned incense for seventy-three years, and the Golden Flower Youth gave him the immortal fungus (the legendary lingzhi herb of immortality). A minister observed fasting, paid homage, kept precepts, and burned incense for eighteen years, and a spirit tortoise carried medicine to him. A Daoist observed prolonged fasting and precepts, paid homage, and burned incense for eighty-three years, and the Heavenly King recommended him for ascent into the clouds. A female Daoist priest observed prolonged fasting and precepts, scattered flowers, and burned incense for one hundred and one years, and the Jade Maidens of the Five Thearchs welcomed her into the Golden Flower realm. A man observed fasting, paid homage, and burned incense and lamps for ninety-three years, and the earth spirits (diqi) came to guard him. A woman observed fasting, paid homage, scattered flowers, and burned incense for ninety-eight years, and the divine officials of the Three Realms came to welcome her.

A king built Daoist abbeys, had people take up religious life, copied scriptures, sculpted divine images, and widely performed acts of merit. Sixteen years later, the Five Thearchs descended and bestowed upon him golden fungus, phoenixes, luan birds, cranes, qilin, and other rare creatures, along with sweet dew, sweet springs, lingzhi fungus, and sacred herbs. These auspicious signs spread across the suburbs of the capital. A queen gave broadly in charity, entered a spiritual abbey to take up the Daoist life, observed fasting and burned incense, and set up banners, canopies, and other offerings, sowing abundant blessings. Three years later, her white hair turned black and her appearance returned to that of a youth. She also bore noble and wise children, who inherited the throne and were benevolent and virtuous.

A worthy person made various kinds of ritual robes and offered them to Daoist renunciants. For eight years, the five grains were abundant, and all their wishes were fulfilled. Another worthy person often provided vegetarian meals to Daoists and scholars, and for six years, food and clothing were plentiful. A man and a woman often donated their wealth to the permanent property of the monastery (changzhu, the community property used for daily maintenance of a Daoist establishment), supporting the Three Treasures of the ten directions (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha). After twenty-four years, the five grains grew naturally, and heavenly silkworms descended with white silk. A woman relieved the poor and redeemed living beings destined for slaughter, extending compassion for twenty-seven years, and a Jade Maiden welcomed her into the clouds. A woman supplied Daoist renunciants with robes and food for thirty-nine years, and heaven bestowed gold upon her. A woman sewed banners, divine images, and Daoist robes, observed fasting, and prepared offerings without regard for hardship. After forty years, precious jade (yuying) fell from heaven.

A worthy person cast bells and chimes and sent them to a spiritual abbey for use in worship. Twenty-five years later, gold grew from the earth, and his lifespan was extended. Another worthy person often gave the five grains to the permanent property of the monastery for use as seed, and for eleven years his food and clothing were naturally abundant. A worthy person often cleaned and adorned the divine images in a mysterious altar and numinous abbey (a hall dedicated to Daoist deities), repaired scriptures and teaching texts, and offered incense and flowers. For seventeen years, his household prospered. Another worthy person funded the copying of scriptures and teaching texts, and for eighteen years he was intelligent and wise, and his descendants flourished.

Examples like these are only a broad listing of key points, offered to instruct later generations. As for the Golden Register of the Mysterious Capital on Responses and Merit (a canon recording Daoist merit and its responses), even if one were to exhaust countless eons in explaining it, it could never be fully told.

Master Daoist Teaching (Daojun) says: Those who sculpt images of the gods and copy the scriptures obtain noble status in this life, having been born in a past life as members of the family of a Heavenly King. Those who build Daoist temples and lead others into the Dao attain eminence and wealth in this life, having been born as kings in a past life. Those who practice recitation and liturgy are protected by benevolent spirits in this life, having been born in a past life as people of great intelligence. Those who keep vegetarian fasts and worship are at peace and happy in this life, having been born in a past life as the wealthy. Those who uphold the precepts and burn incense in reverence are respected and protected by the heavens in this life, having been born in a past life with handsome features and sound bodies.

Those who give alms of scriptures and images see their household prosper in this life, having been born in a past life as people of wealth and rank. Those who give vegetarian meals have sufficient food and clothing in this life, having been born in a past life as people of good appearance. Those who relieve poverty escape calamity in this life, having been born in a past life as people of high station. Those who refrain from eating the flesh of living beings suffer less illness in this life, having been born in a past life as the long-lived. Those who do not indulge in drinking have spirits watching over them in this life, having been born in a past life as people of loyalty and steadfastness. Those who abstain from "hun xin" (meats with a rank, fishy odor, and pungent foods) have fragrance about their bodies in this life, having been born in a past life as people of purity. Those who release living beings and ransom lives avoid violent misfortune in this life, having been born in a past life as people of reverence. Those who support renunciants (Daoist priests who have left home to cultivate the Dao) are esteemed by others in this life, having been born in a past life as people of distinction. Those who teach and transform others are honored with courtesy in this life, having been born in a past life as people who left home to cultivate the Dao.

Merit and retribution are like an echo answering a sound or a shadow following a form; regardless of the magnitude or nature of good and evil, there is ultimately no error.

Ordinary people are foolish and deluded. They do not understand karmic conditions and fate, do not believe in the retribution of sin and blessing, auspicious and inauspicious outcomes, and do not know that their present lives arise from the accumulation of merit in past lives. They fail to see that life is brief, the body is illusory, and every thought is in constant, impermanent change. Yet they indulge their greed, killing, stealing, committing sexual misconduct, and dissipating themselves, eating the flesh of living beings, speaking malice and falsehood, slandering the scriptures and teachings, hoarding wealth, and still imagine they might live a thousand years.

They commit countless sins while their eyes are open, and once their eyes close they fall into hell and suffer within the cycle of rebirth. Day after day they create sin, never repent, and will not give rise to a single good thought or cultivate merit for their past, present, and future lives. They do not plant good causes for their own future, but dwell only on their children and grandchildren, worrying that they will be unable to make a living. When a person's breath suddenly ceases, relatives weep for a while and then turn to worrying about their children; how could they still remember the kindness with which their parents raised them? From beginningless time, people have passed this habit down from generation to generation, never awakening to it. It is truly foolish.

Seeing that you, generation after generation, inherit this ignorance and never become aware of it, I have therefore explained sin, merit, and the causes and conditions of fate, hoping you will escape the river of suffering and desire. Yet living beings still drift and sink in the sea of bitterness.

This world is called "Qi Xian Wan Li Tian Jing" (the Realm of Abandoned Worthies), also known as the "World of Mixed Retribution" and the "Heaven of Attachment to Desire." Beings born here have brief lives; their gathering dissolves in an instant, like a flash of lightning. The place is full of filth and stench, and people must pass through birth, aging, sickness, and death, and also suffer pain, hunger, cold, heat, and humidity, as well as harms from water and fire, weapons, demons and spirits, bandits, poisonous winds, and malignant diseases. Death follows every thought and never pauses for a moment. The sum of such suffering is truly beyond counting.

The affairs before our eyes already entangle us, and people cannot even perceive this. How then would they believe in the realms of the heavens, the blessed lands of immortals, or the states of eternal life and effortless non-action (wuwei)? I see that human life is as fleeting as a mayfly, the dwelling place as narrow as a single hair, the filth of residence worse than a privy, and what we call happiness no different from the worms in dung. Even so, people remain unaware of this and constantly commit evil deeds. Is this not deeply lamentable?

I observe the lives of all beings in the world, and they are as brief as the mayfly's. The places where they dwell are so narrow that they cannot compare even to the tip of a hair, and the environment they inhabit is so foul that it is dirtier than a privy. What, then, is the so-called joy of the world, and how does it differ from the worms that live in dung and dirt? Yet beings remain unaware of this, and they continue to create evil karma without end. Is this not a cause for grief?

End of Scroll Seven of the Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Yebao Yinyuan Jing (Scripture of the Causes and Retributions of Karma of the Most High Dongxuan Numinous Treasure)

Scroll Eight of the Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Yebao Yinyuan Jing

Chapter Nineteen: Shengshen Pin (Chapter on the Generation of Life and Spirits)

The Perfected, great in compassion and sorrow and universal in aiding all beings, asked the Most High Lord of the Dao about karmic retribution and causal conditions, meaning the relationship between the deeds accumulated in past lives and what one encounters in this life. The Most High Lord of the Dao said:

"By means of the primordial qi (yuanqi) of the Dao, the originating qi of the Way, I opened heaven and earth, divided yin and yang, set in motion the transformations of causal conditions, and brought forth the myriad things. I distributed the spirits and the primordial qi and nourished the people of the world. From beginning to end I arrange the transformations of birth and death without pause, and I nourish all things with the qi of primordial harmony (yuanhe). You mortals, which of you can recognize the principle in this? Now I shall analyze these causal conditions for you, so that in the future you may comprehend the root of life."

Human beings first receive their bodies from the void and natural spontaneity. Yin and yang qi revolve and transform, condensing into essential qi (jing). The primordial qi of the father produces the spirit-consciousness (shenshi), and the primordial qi of the mother forms the body. Receiving the Way of Heaven and conforming to the contours of the earth, male and female, yin and yang, unite to conceive life. Through the joining of the causal conditions of the two parents, the child receives bone and flesh from them. Each person inherits the karma of past lives and meets the causal conditions of this life. The human body takes its pattern from heaven and earth, embraces the images of the sun and moon, and within it yin and yang change and the spirit-consciousness comes and goes.

Among all things, human beings are the most honored. Therefore, when life first enters the womb, the three primordial qi gather in secret, and the qi of the Nine Heavens also circulates in the subtle depths. In the first month the placenta forms, and the qi of the Heaven of Boundless Measure of Uda (Yudan Wuliang Tian) enters the fetus. In the second month the fetal body forms, and the qi of the Heaven of Boundless Longevity and Supreme Goodness of Chanshan (Shangshang Chanshan Wuliang Shou Tian) enters the fetus. In the third month the hun and po souls are complete, and the qi of the Heaven of Fanjian Xuyan (Fanjian Xuyan Tian) enters the fetus. In the fourth month the po soul takes shape, and the qi of the Heaven of Stillness and Dousha (Jiran Doushu Tian) enters the fetus. In the fifth month the five viscera form, and the qi of the Heaven of Joyful Non-Arrogance of Boluonimi (Boluonimi Bujiao Le Tian) enters the fetus. In the sixth month the six bowels form, and the qi of the Heaven of Responsive Sound of Dongxuan Huaying (Dongxuan Huaying Sheng Tian) enters the fetus. In the seventh month the bodily orifices become clear, and the qi of the Heaven of Spiritual Transformation and Brahma Assistance (Linghua Fanfu Tian) enters the fetus. In the eighth month the form and substance of the body become more complete, and the qi of the Heaven of Lofty Emptiness and Clear Brightness (Gaoxu Qingming Tian) enters the fetus. In the ninth month the spirits descend, and the qi of the Heaven of No Thought, No Bond, and No Attachment (Wuxiang Wujie Wu'ai Tian) enters the fetus.

There are ten thousand eight hundred heavenly spirits and ten thousand eight hundred bodily spirits. Combining the inner and the outer, thirty-six thousand spirits take form at the same time. They dwell as if in golden pavilions and jade towers, behind purple doors and azure gates, distributing spiritual nature and transformations, encircling the body and responding within and without. When sound and consciousness are complete, in the tenth month the infant is born.

While in the womb, a person is nourished by the three primordial qi (sanyuan), the qi that constitutes and sustains life, and the nine qi spread and transform day and night without cease. The former consciousness is thereby transformed and takes on the present body. When first in the womb, a person still knows the good and evil causal conditions of past lives and can perceive where this life came from. Once they begin to take in turbid and impure things, they gradually forget.

The human head is round, symbolizing heaven, and the feet are square, symbolizing earth. The left eye symbolizes the sun and the right eye the moon. The hair symbolizes the stars, and the eyebrows symbolize the Canopy (Huagai), the celestial constellation. The nose symbolizes the Heavenly Gate, the mouth the Earthly Door, and the ears the Heavenly Windows. The crown of the head symbolizes Mount Kunlun, and the neck symbolizes the Heavenly Pillar. The five viscera symbolize the five sacred mountains, and the four limbs symbolize the four seas. The skin, joints, blood vessels, and articulations are all formed in accordance with the forms of heaven and earth, and the body contains yin and yang qi.

The spirits within the body each have their duties. The brain is called Niwan (Mud Pellet), governed by the Grand One Lord (Taiyi Dijun). The heart is called the Crimson Palace (Jiangong), where the Director of Life (Siming) manages the endowment of life. The liver is called the Azure Palace (Qinggong), where Wuying governs the hun soul. The lungs are called the White Palace (Sugong), where Bai Yuan governs the po soul. The kidneys are called the Dark Palace (Xuangong), where Taokang receives the essential qi. The spleen is called the Yellow Court (Huangting), where the Yellow Emperor transforms and nurtures the numinous qi.

The lesser yang qi transforms into the wood essence of Jupiter (Suixing) and enters the body to become the liver, where the three hun souls dwell. Its essential qi rises to the eyes, where nine attendants guard and nine thousand spirits are stationed. The liver has seven lobes, governs the hair, and nourishes the skin.

The greater yang qi transforms into the fire essence of Mars (Yinghuo) and enters the body to become the heart, where the Fire Spirit dwells. Its essential qi rises to the tongue, where three attendants guard and three thousand spirits are stationed. The heart has three lobes, seven apertures, and three hairs, and its shape is like a lotus. It governs the warmth of spirit qi and nourishes and protects the hundred spirits.

The lesser yin qi transforms into the metal essence of Venus (Taibai) and enters the body to become the lungs, where the seven po souls dwell. Its essential qi rises to the nose, where seven attendants guard and seven thousand spirits are stationed. The lungs have eight lobes, govern the teeth, and protect the sinews and bones.

The greater yin qi transforms into the water essence of Mercury (Chenxing) and enters the body to become the kidneys. On the left side of the kidneys are the Jade Youth, and on the right the Jade Maiden, the places where essential qi is generated and transformed. Its essential qi rises to the ears, where five attendants guard and five thousand spirits are stationed. The kidneys are two in number, shaped like half-moons, govern the seminal fluid, and nourish the blood and marrow.

The primordial yellow qi transforms into the earth essence of Saturn (Zhenxing) and enters the body to become the spleen, the place where intention and will arise. Its essential qi rises to the mouth, where twelve attendants guard and twelve thousand spirits are stationed. The spleen is five cun long, governs the flesh, and nourishes the four limbs.

The spirits circulate throughout the body and give rise to the hundred spirits. Each has its name, and they go out and in among the heavens, their transformations unfathomable and their comings and goings unceasing. If a person comprehends these principles, they can attain longevity. Reciting and holding these teachings in mind, whether walking or sitting still, can nourish the body, dispel calamities, and subdue all manner of demons and spirits."

The spirit of the hair is called Dark Radiance; the spirit at the crown of the head is called Heaven-Communing; the spirit before the forehead is called Vermilion Yang, and the spirit at the back of the head is called Dark Obscurity. The spirit on the left side of the head is called Green Radiance, and the one on the right is called White Insignia. The spirit of the forehead is called Celestial Court. The spirit of the left eyebrow is called Jadeite Youth, and the spirit of the right eyebrow is called Feathered Youth. The spirit of the left eye is called Sunlight, and the spirit of the right eye is called Moonlight. The spirit of the left cheek is called Jade Gate, and the spirit of the right cheek is called Jade Ridge. The spirit of the left nostril is called Yang-Communing, and the spirit of the right nostril is called Yin-Communing. The spirit on the left side of the mouth is called Life Youth, and the one on the right is called Celestial Grain. The spirit of the teeth is called Jade Pass; the spirit of the left teeth is called Celestial Bell, and the spirit of the right teeth is called Celestial Chime. The spirit of the tongue is called Vermilion Youth. The spirit of the upper lip is called Pavilion Canopy, and the spirit of the lower lip is called Quiet Palanquin. The spirit of the left jaw is called Yellow Father, and the spirit of the right jaw is called Yellow Mother.

The spirit on the left side of the neck is called Heaven-Communicating, and the one on the right is called Rising Peace. The spirit of the left shoulder is called Distant Mountain, and the spirit of the right shoulder is called Distant Security. The spirit of the left elbow is called Flying Dragon, and the spirit of the right elbow is called Crouching Tiger. The spirit of the left hand is called Celestial Attendant, and the spirit of the right hand is called Celestial Groom. The spirit of the left fingers is called Armored Soldiers, and the spirit of the right fingers is called Repeller of Evil. The spirit of the left armpit is called Supporting the Trunk, and the spirit of the right armpit is called Supporting the Blade. The spirit of the left ribs is called Guarding the Border, and the spirit of the right ribs is called Preventing Wrongdoing. The spirit on the left side of the waist is called Open Passage, and the one on the right is called Swaying Pavilion. The spirit of the left thigh is called Dark Prison, and the spirit of the right thigh is called Dark Mountain. The spirit of the left knee is called Turning Life, and the spirit of the right knee is called Curved Pavilion. The spirit of the left calf is called Celestial Pillar, and the spirit of the right calf is called Celestial Pass. The spirit of the left foot is called Wheel of Emptiness, and the spirit of the right foot is called Moving the Void. The spirit of the left ankle is called Hidden Fox, and the spirit of the right ankle is called Crouching Wolf.

The spirit of the chest is called Celestial Field; the spirit of the abdomen is called Embracing the Numinous; the spirit of the genitals is called Pivot Pass; the spirit of the buttocks is called Hidden Pass; the spirit of the back is called Purple Chamber; the spirit of the spine is called Communing Peace; and the spirit of the navel is called Central Peace. The spirit of the skin is called Enveloping All, the spirit of the muscles is called Guarding Against Wrong, and the spirit of the bones is called Inner Attendant.

Each of these body spirits is seven inches tall and shaped like an infant. Within the human body, they draw in breath and become divine beings, keeping the flow of Qi and blood unobstructed and their transformations natural, in harmony with the virtue of Heaven and Earth. They enter and leave the human body, reporting good deeds and restraining evil ones above, without pause day or night. Body spirits refers to the Daoist conception that divine beings dwell within the body to protect and govern it. By naming the spirits of each body part, the scripture describes them as filling the entire body and moving ceaselessly.

Before a person is born, nothing exists for them. Once born, they take on the form of Heaven and Earth, containing Yin and exhaling Yang within their bodies, while their lifespan is fixed by Heaven. Human nature accords with Heaven and Earth, and divine spirits enter and leave the human body, recording good deeds and restraining evil, day and night without pause.

Heaven allots each person a lifespan of 43,200 days—that is, 120 years. Each day counts as one tally, and a person’s allotted lifespan is recorded among the heavens. I often command the celestial emperors to summon the Five Emperors, the Three Realms, the Four Offices, the Southern and Northern Dippers, the Ten Heavenly Generals, the Nine Earth Messengers, the Seven Divine Youths, the deities of the Eight Divisions, and other spirits. They travel through the human world, examining people’s sins and blessings, and the good and ill fortune of men and women.

I also dispatch the High Saints and Venerable Ones, the Perfected of Wondrous Practice, the celestial, flying, divine, and terrestrial immortals, along with the Five Sacred Peaks and Four Great Rivers—important mountains and rivers beyond the sun and moon—the sun, moon, and stars, the Three Officials and Nine Offices, and the twenty-four thousand numinous bureaus, the celestial institutions whose officials oversee affairs at every level. Bearing ceremonial standards and Fulu (talismans and registers), they travel through the sky to conduct their inspections. They report every three days, submit memorials every seven days, and compile their findings every hundred days, without the briefest pause.

If someone diligently does good, the celestial youths, together with the Lords of Destiny and Record, the divine officials who oversee lifespans and records of merit and fault, will extend that person’s life, dispel calamities, and provide abundant food and clothing. If someone commits crimes and accumulates evil, the celestial emperors will command the Six Heavenly Demon Kings to seize that person’s soul and deliver it to the Three Officials for judgment. To die before one’s allotted lifespan is over is the result of committing crimes; to live until that lifespan runs its course is the outcome of accumulated good deeds.

Thus, when someone is about to die, the Earth Office reports the matter to the heavens. The heavens consult their registers to verify the person’s name and determine the date of death. They then order the officials of the Three Realms, together with the Four Offices and Five Emperors, to collect the soul and cut off its vitality.

When ordinary people encounter illness, legal punishment and misfortune, calamities, lawsuits and imprisonment, or such hardships as floods, fires, and weapons, these are all examinations and punishments administered by the Underworld Bureau—the authorities below who oversee judgment and penalty. In such circumstances, they may widely perform good deeds and cultivate blessings and De; establish a purification retreat and uphold precepts; recite scriptures and cultivate the Dao; burn incense and scatter flowers; expound and read scriptures; bow in worship and repent; make offerings with sincere intent; release living creatures to redeem lives; aid the poor; help those in danger escape their plight; copy scriptures and create images of the gods; observe the precepts and repent of their faults; and bow in gratitude to the gods of the ten directions.

They should also first make an image of the Heavenly Worthy Who Relieves Suffering, then prepare sacred banners for overcoming adversity, protecting life, extending longevity, renewing life, and warding off calamities. They should copy this scripture, recite it day and night, and bow to the gods of Heaven to express their gratitude and seek pardon. The ritual should continue for three days, seven days, or even a hundred days. During this time, they may give away household possessions and valuables, fields and homes, servants, fine silks and brocades, carriages, horses and precious playthings, splendid clothing, utensils, and curtains. They should also kneel and bow before the gods of Heaven, confess their faults, and express repentance. In this way, the Three Officials—the divine authorities who govern the realms of Heaven, Earth, and Water—will release their souls, extend their lives, and increase their years, allowing them to be reborn.

When a person’s allotted lifespan is nearly exhausted and death can no longer be averted, as the deceased leaves the body and returns to the Great Yin (the underworld), relatives should make vows and confess on their behalf, and give away clothing, bedding, and possessions. They should also undertake precepts and confession for the deceased. The merit thereby gained is immense and beyond measure.

From the day of death through the seventh day, relatives should commission scriptures and images, hold purification feasts and perform ritual practice, bow and recite scriptures, burn incense and light lamps, release living creatures to spare their lives, and provide relief to the poor. They should continue the rites of deliverance for the deceased day and night, so that the deceased may ascend to Heaven. For from the final moments of life until seven days after death, celestial youths, the Four Offices and Five Emperors, and officials of the Three Realms all come to inspect the deceased, review their sins and blessings, and report to the celestial authorities. The scripture also says that the Celestial Worthy sends seven divine youths to examine the deceased’s good and evil deeds once more and record where they are to go: those who did good may ascend to Heaven, and their blessings will extend to their descendants, bringing peace and good fortune to their living relatives and purity to their household. Those who did evil, however, will suffer punishment for their sins, and calamities will reach the living, bringing all manner of distress, including death, illness, hardship, lawsuits, and disputes. Their family members will be troubled in spirit, and things will go badly. For this reason, the first seven days after death are the most urgent time to perform rites of deliverance for the deceased.

Thereafter, every seven days, the divine youths bring the deceased’s soul back to their home to examine their sins and blessings. After seven sets of seven days, or forty-nine days, the Five-Day Generals seize the deceased’s soul, while the Nine Earth Envoys come to seize their corporeal spirit. The scripture says that the generals wish to raise the deceased to Heaven, while the envoys seek to take them into the earth. Every five days, they calculate the deceased’s sins and blessings: those with greater virtue ascend to Heaven, while those burdened with greater sin fall into Hell. Two deities who oversee good and evil conduct an examination every ten days and determine the deceased’s sins and blessings. Therefore, from the first and second seven-day periods after death through the seventh and the hundredth day, relatives should perform rites of deliverance so that the deceased may be reborn in a favorable place and find peace. This is considered the most important form of merit.

The scripture sets out practices that increase with each passing day. At the time of death and during the first seven-day period, commission one image of the Heavenly Worthy Who Saves from Suffering, copy one volume of this scripture, make one spirit banner (a banner used in ritual observances), and light seven lamps. By the second seven-day period, commission two images, copy two volumes, make two spirit banners, and light fourteen lamps. Continue increasing the numbers in this way every seven days: by the seventh seven-day period, the total should be seven images, seven copied volumes, seven spirit banners, and forty-nine lamps. Then continue increasing the number according to the days elapsed. By the hundredth day, commission one hundred images, copy one hundred volumes, perform one hundred scripture-turnings (recitations or ritual turns of the scripture), make one hundred spirit banners, and light seven hundred lamps.

Whatever the number of scriptures, images, spirit banners, and lamps prepared, seven is the basic unit. Poor households may do as much as their means allow. The scripture concludes that these meritorious rites may continue for up to seven hundred days.

The Daoist Lord says: The so-called “Seven Divine Youths” are formed from the vital essence of the Northern Dipper in heaven. When a person is still in the womb, in the seventh month of gestation, the Seven Divine Youths descend into the body. They open and illuminate the seven apertures—the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and mouth—and enter the person’s name in the Northern Dipper.

In order, they are named Tianpeng, Tiannei, Tianchong, Tianfu, Tianqin, Tianxin, and Tianzhu. Each youth rides a Flying Cloud Seven Radiance Chariot and wears five-colored robes. At their sides are youths, immortals, and troops from the ten directions, each numbering seven hundred million myriad. They often move about in the human world and can divide themselves to teach and transform people. They vary in stature and appearance, and may be male or female. Holding talismans and keeping registers, they determine people’s sins and blessings, and the causes and conditions of their good and evil deeds. Their records are exact and meticulous, without the slightest error. Whoever understands this principle can live forever without dying.

The Dao Lord said: “There are also eight divine youths.

“The first is the Youth of Golden Radiance, whose divine name is Celestial Origin. He governs the emperor, the crown prince, the consorts, and the ancestral temple. He also governs changes of dynasty, the enthronement or replacement of rulers, the offering of counsel and correction of faults, tribute and taxation, property and treasures, carriages, horses, and clothing, palaces and gardens, ponds, terraces, and pavilions, as well as ranks and stipends, appointments and summonses, and travel and exchanges.

“The second is the Youth of Yellow Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Maiden. She governs dwellings and tombs, the six domestic animals and crops, granaries and households, men and women, the length of life and illness. She also governs construction in wood and earth, as well as mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys.

“The third is the Youth of Clear Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Might. He governs carriages, boats, and roads, trees and forests, flowers and fruit, as well as thunder and lightning, wind and rain.

“The fourth is the Youth of Bright Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Birth. He governs wells and gates, ditches and latrines. He also governs filth and impurity, as well as boastful and false words and actions that are detached from reality.

“The fifth is the Youth of Cinnabar Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Light. He governs prisons and confinement, documents and official affairs, labor and childbirth, bloodshed and fire.

“The sixth is the Youth of Dark Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Communion. He governs the reckoning, extension, and shortening of one’s lifespan; strange spirits and ghosts; curses and prayers; and all ghosts and deities.

“The seventh is the Youth of Purple Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Completion. He governs departed souls, souls separated from the body, wandering corpse demons, and the dead. He also governs falling into hell and sinking into suffering.

“The eighth is the Youth of Pure Spirit, whose divine name is Celestial Prosperity. He governs parents and children, relations between spouses, and childbirth.

“These eight divine youths sometimes arrive with wind, rain, clouds, and thunder, riding dragons and driving tigers as they enter and leave the human world, observing people’s good and evil deeds. Good deeds bring auspicious responses; evil deeds bring inauspicious ones. Everything comes according to its own causes and conditions, and in the end nothing goes awry. If you men and women recite this scripture, the eight divine youths will come to protect you, bestow blessings, avert calamities, and erase transgressions. Their power is beyond comprehension.”

The Dao Lord said: After people are born, they encounter different forms of good and evil. Good deeds bring good fortune; evil deeds bring danger. These outcomes follow each person’s causes and conditions, and in the end there is no error. Men and women, if you read and recite this scripture, the Eight Divine Youths will come to protect you, bestow blessings, avert calamities, and erase transgressions. Their efficacy is beyond imagining.

The Dao Lord said: Everyone born human comes bearing the karmic consequences of deeds done in a previous life. Thus, each person’s endowment of Shen and Qi, and the body that takes shape, arise from their own causes and conditions. Sin and merit, good fortune and misfortune, are likewise determined entirely by the karma each person has made. That is why people differ in the length of their lives, their rank and status, whether their circumstances go smoothly or poorly, their appearance, whether they are poor or wealthy, and whether they are clever or dull. The same is true of birds, beasts, insects, fish, chickens, dogs, plants, and trees. Each of you should reflect carefully on this.

The Dao Lord said: Human life is hard to attain. Once it is lost, who knows how many kalpas may pass before it can be attained again? For this reason, I have always urged you earnestly to practice purification and abstinence, follow the Way and recite scriptures, bow and offer incense, light lamps and give alms, make vows and repent, aid living beings, deliver the dead, sculpt images of the deities, copy scriptures, establish Daoist temples, guide people to enter the Dao, and undertake other skillful practices. Through these means, you can accumulate merit for the lives to come on behalf of all beings. Do I urge you in this way to gain something for myself?

The Dao Lord said: After the king of Miaofan died long ago, the palace summoned 360 Daoist priests to perform repentance rites and confer precepts for him. All his possessions—clothing, toys, bedding, curtains, gold and silver, carriages and horses, jeweled canopies, silk fabrics, utensils, and servants—were donated to the female and male Daoists at the Lingguan and Xuantan temples. Their sincere practice moved Heaven, and all the celestial beings rejoiced. I then sent the Perfected One Haosheng in a three-wheeled phoenix carriage, accompanied by immortal youths and jade maidens, to welcome the king into the Pool of Fire Refinement, an immortal realm where the body is refined and transformed, so that his true form could be tempered. Three years later, he was reborn in the royal palace; fourteen years after that, he regained the throne. He spread the Daoist aspiration widely, performed great acts of merit, and lived for seven hundred years. I then sent the Perfected One Xuantong, seated on a lotus throne and riding a flying-cloud carriage, to welcome him to Fangzhu Palace to study scriptures and teachings. He later lived to the age of eight thousand and now serves as an attendant youth of Qinghua.

After the king of Tonghua died, he had summoned 46,000 Daoist priests to recite scriptures and practice the Dao, make images and copy scriptures, save people and establish temples, burn incense and scatter flowers, and carry out the Five Refinements for Generating Spirit. One hundred days later, I sent the Perfected One Huaming, the Eight Winds Envoys, and the Thunder and Lightning Generals to welcome the king at night and escort him in a cloud-dragon carriage to Nanchang Palace, where he continued studying scriptures and teachings. After ten thousand years, he became the Perfected One of Flaming Light and took charge of the Pool of Fire.

Long ago, when a virtuous man was near death, his family invited Daoist priests and female Daoists to perform repentance rites and confer precepts for him. Through the power of this scripture, the deceased was reborn into a virtuous family without passing through the hells.

There was also a woman who died. Her parents and relatives made images, copied scriptures, fashioned banners and flower canopies, lit many lamps and candles, recited this scripture, and held purification rites and practiced the Dao. They visualized through the night and kept up their practice day and night without slackening. They also made donations, released living creatures, aided the poor, helped people through calamities, and burned incense and scattered flowers. A hundred years later, I sent the Commissioner of Destiny, the deity who governs lifespans and the registers of fate, to restore her soul, and she returned home. Afterward, she performed great acts of merit, made offerings to the Three Treasures—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—sought instruction from Daoist priests, and received and upheld the true scriptures. She lived for three hundred years. I then sent the Perfected One Huaming to guide her onward and refine her body with wind and fire, transforming her into a man. She entered Mount Jinhua, took immortal elixirs, cultivated great merit, made offerings to the Three Treasures, sought instruction from Daoist priests, and received and upheld the true scriptures. After more than seventy thousand years, she ascended to the Western Numinous Palace and became a supreme teacher of the Dao.

The Eighth Scroll of the Scripture of Karmic Retribution and Causal Conditions of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern Mystery of the Most High ends here.

The Ninth Scroll of the Scripture of Karmic Retribution and Causal Conditions of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern Mystery of the Most High

Chapter Twenty: Broad Salvation

The Perfected One of Great Compassion and Great Mercy, who Universally Aids All, said, “The Celestial Worthy has explained the causal relations between sin and blessing, skillfully using expedient methods to teach and deliver living beings. The principles involved are profound and subtle, beyond comprehension and expression. Yet the departed souls in the hells endure endless suffering, with pain too great to bear. Even after they have been rescued, they still fear falling back into the depths, suffering torment through countless kalpas, with no end to their anguish and distress. I earnestly ask the Celestial Worthy to extend compassion widely and reveal the essential methods of cultivation once more, so that departed souls may ascend soon. May beings of past and future lives alike benefit, and may these teachings become a refuge and guide for men and women as they pass through the trials of the kalpas.”

At that time, the Most High Lord Dao said, “I explain to all of you living beings the origins of causal conditions and the retribution for sin and blessing in the hope that people throughout the world will understand the roots of their former lives. I set forth many methods of cultivation to guide men and women to practice them, so that everyone may benefit and these teachings may become a refuge and guide for living beings as they pass through the trials of the kalpas.”

The Most High Lord of the Dao said: “For the sake of all beings, I have explained the origins of their karmic conditions and clarified sin and merit, hoping that people throughout the world will understand the roots of their past lives. I have opened the Dharma gates wide, guiding men and women, according to their respective karma, out of dark prisons and the cycle of birth and death. People of every capacity can thus gradually or suddenly attain liberation. You now wish to hear concise methods of cultivation so that you may rise swiftly. Men and women alike should listen carefully, settle body and mind, and receive this wondrous Dao.

At birth, all people receive the same primordial Qi. After birth, their fates come under the governance of the Three Origins: the Upper, Middle, and Lower. The length of one’s life, good and ill fortune, wealth and rank or poverty and low status, as well as karmic conditions, sin and merit, good and evil, and life and death, all follow from causes rooted in the past and each receives its corresponding recompense. A person’s fate follows their karma without the slightest disorder, like a shadow following the body or an echo answering a sound.

The Three Origins are the Upper, Middle, and Lower. The Upper Origin falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when the Celestial Official records people’s affairs. The Middle Origin falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when the Earth Official records them. The Lower Origin falls on the fifteenth day of the tenth month, when the Water Official records them. At these times, the heavenly sages of the Three Realms and Ten Directions, perfected beings of wondrous practice, jade youths and maidens, the Five Emperors and Four Offices, youths who record good and evil, and countless other spirits all gather at the Palace of Primordial Yang in the Mysterious Capital. Before the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, they examine the registers of life and death, sin and merit, and karmic conditions for men and women. The suffering souls confined in the Ninefold Netherworld and the palaces beneath the waters also come to be examined, so that good and evil may each be made clear.

At this time, if a virtuous man or woman gives rise to a spontaneous Daoist aspiration and gathers flowers and fruit, precious garments, jewels, ornaments, incense, medicines, pure food, fine silk, and other offerings, they may hold a grand offering ceremony in the Mysterious Capital. They should arrange solemn offerings and images of towers and pavilions, which may be built with one or two tiers, or even a hundred or a thousand, modeled on the Mysterious Capital, Jade Capital, the famous mountains of the Five Sacred Peaks, and the forms of towers, terraces, halls, and palaces, all finely adorned as offerings. Then they should scatter flowers, burn incense, circumambulate, preach and recite, light lamps, release living creatures, sing and praise, give alms and make vows, repent and plead for mercy, and bow in worship to dispel sin, cultivating without pause through day and night. I will then dispatch the Perfected Ones of the Ten Heavens, the emperors of the heavens, flying celestial spirit kings, the Four Offices of the Three Realms, and countless jade youths and maidens. They will descend through the air bearing ceremonial insignia and Fulu, and hasten together to the ritual altar to remove their karmic burdens and protect the people. They will bring peace to the realm and well-being to men and women, with abundant blessings arriving together and evil no longer occurring. The suffering souls in the hells will also be liberated at the same time and enabled to be reborn in the heavens, where they will enjoy pure, untroubled happiness. Peace will prevail throughout the world, and the blessings received will be immeasurable.”

The Dao Lord said: Long ago, in the first year of Chiming, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, I accompanied the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, the highest deity honored in Daoism, to the Temple of Origin and Longevity in the Land of Faithful Practice, in the World Where Blessings Gather. There we held a grand assembly to expound the Dao. The Heavenly Emperors, immortals, perfected sages, and countless beings from the ten directions, along with dragons and ghosts, all came to listen to the profound teachings of the Dao.

The Heavenly King of Benevolence in the East made nine hundred nine-tiered treasure platters of the Mysterious Capital. They were all adorned with green pearls and jades, precious metals, brocades, gauzes, flowers, fruits, and nets of incense. Banners, standards, jeweled canopies, garments, tents, carriages, food, and vessels were all in shades of green. Clouds of color, immortal cranes, phoenixes, vermilion birds, and celestial musicians filled the eastern sky and came to make offerings at the assembly.

The Heavenly King of Kindness and Harmony in the southeast made one hundred and twenty twelve-tiered treasure platters, with all their decorations and offerings in deep blue. Clouds, cranes, phoenixes, vermilion birds, divine dragons, and musicians accompanied them as offerings. The Heavenly King of Ritual and Instruction in the south made three hundred three-tiered treasure platters, with offerings and decorations all in red, accompanied by immortal birds and celestial musicians. The Heavenly King of Dignified Authority in the southwest made one hundred and twenty twelve-tiered treasure platters, all adorned with red gems, textiles, flowers, fruits, incense, and vessels. A band of flying immortals also accompanied them as offerings.

The Heavenly King of Righteous Deliberation in the west made seven hundred seven-tiered treasure platters. All the gems, textiles, flowers, fruits, incense, and various vessels were bright white, and immortal birds and musicians accompanied them. The Heavenly King of Transformative Order in the northwest made one hundred and twenty twelve-tiered treasure platters, with offerings and decorations all in pale blue, accompanied by a celestial orchestra. The Heavenly King of Wisdom and Virtue in the north made five hundred five-tiered treasure platters, with every item in dark black, accompanied by a band of immortals. The Heavenly King of Accumulated Wisdom in the northeast made one hundred and twenty twelve-tiered treasure platters, with decorations and offerings all in green, accompanied by immortal birds and celestial musicians.

The Heavenly Kings of countless realms above each made three hundred and sixty thousand thirty-six-tiered treasure platters, all adorned with purple gems, textiles, flowers, fruits, incense, and vessels. Bands of divine dragons and others filled the sky and came together to make offerings. The Heavenly King Who Bears Virtue in the realms below made two hundred and forty thousand twenty-four-tiered treasure platters, all adorned with yellow gems, textiles, flowers, fruits, incense, and vessels. Immortal birds and celestial musicians filled the eight directions and came to make offerings.

Some of the Mysterious Capital treasure platters brought from the ten directions took the form of the Jade Capital of the Mysterious Capital, a heavenly palace, or of the Five Sacred Mountains. Others became cloud-borne pavilions, dragons and phoenixes dancing together, jeweled terraces, flower trees, lotus blossoms, and numinous fungi. Their carvings were exquisite, their pearls and jades joined together, and they seemed to have formed naturally as they encircled the assembly. The visitors from each direction also brought precious garments, silks and brocades, rare incense and medicines, vessels and curios, flowers and fruits, rice and wheat, carriages and horses, bedding, estates, gardens, and ponds, displaying and arranging them all around the gathering. The kings, queens, ministers, consorts, and countless men and women of every realm came together bearing incense, flowers, banners, standards, and jeweled canopies as offerings.

The assembly lasted five days and nights. Its brilliant radiance shone across the heavens; the scene was unprecedented and beyond imagining. Then the Celestial Worthy displayed his miraculous powers, transforming the assembly grounds and the realms in every direction until they were like crystal: transparent within and without, and uniform in color. The men and women of each realm likewise appeared with the same features. Near and distant sights were clearly visible, with all things equal and without distinction. The Three Realms and ten directions all received blessings, and beings rejoiced without measure. Punishments in the Nine Depths ceased, and the five kinds of suffering were eased. The realms were peaceful, and the people were happy.

The Dao Lord said: In ancient times, the king of the Kingdom of Qishan did not uphold proper moral instruction. He wantonly killed his people, spent his days hunting and seeking pleasure, showed no concern for the poor, and unjustly persecuted and harmed the good. He undertook vast building projects, constructing many palaces, indulged himself, and committed every kind of unlawful act. For thirteen years, the people resented him and rose in rebellion. The king was killed, and his soul fell into the Three Paths of Suffering—hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the animal realm—where he endured every kind of torment. For the next fifty-eight years, he suffered ceaselessly, day and night.

His son inherited the throne. Knowing his father’s misdeeds, he cultivated himself and practiced compassion and frugality widely, bringing peace to the people and stability to the realm. He paid reverence and burned incense, and often observed purification fasts, cultivating himself through pure food and cleansing body and mind. Each New Year’s Day, he sowed fields of merit on a broad scale by accumulating blessings through good deeds. He held Daoist rites and expounded the scriptures, lit lamps and made vows, copied scriptures and fashioned divine images, built Daoist temples, and guided people into the Dao. He also gave alms and released living creatures, and gathered offerings such as flowers and fruit, fragrant incense, medicinal herbs, precious objects, and fine fabrics, along with ritual implements, pure food, rice, wheat, and cloth of various colors. He made a precious Xuan Du offering tray and presented offerings to the Heavenly Worthy, the various true sages and worthies, Daoist priests, renunciants, and countless other beings. After nine years of accumulating merit and continuing his cultivation, he finally escaped from hell and was reborn in the heavens.

The text further says that the Sagely and Benevolent King, the queen, Daoist priests, renunciants, and countless other beings likewise escaped from hell and ascended to heaven through nine years of meritorious cultivation.

The virtuous king, queen, royal consorts and princesses, ministers of state, and the men and women of the realm, including worthy scholars and Daoist priests, regularly made seven-treasure platters on the Three Yuan days—the festivals of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Yuan. They decorated them with fine incense, pure food, and various silks, then adorned them in many layers with precious objects, sometimes as many as a hundred or a thousand layers, or even beyond measure. They carried the platters to numinous Daoist temples and altars, and to sacred sites in famous mountains, setting them wherever they went as offerings to the Heavenly Worthies, Immortals, and Sages of the ten directions and three realms, across the past, future, and present. Afterwards, everyone together dedicated the merit, scattered flowers, burned incense, bowed and recited, observed fasting and precepts, expounded the Mahayana teachings, gave alms and aid, and released and protected living creatures. They kept this up for a long time without slackening.

For eighteen years, men and women were alike in their fine, upright appearance. No one died young or met a violent end. The heavenly beings and the people rejoiced, and clothing and food were naturally abundant.

The king of Zhenghua and the queen regularly burned incense and scattered flowers themselves on the Three Yuan days. They performed ritual processions, expounded scriptures and recited them, bowed and made vows, confessed their transgressions, and prayed for blessings. They drew on all the gold, silver, and precious objects in the realm to make a nine-tiered treasure platter and establish the Great Offering of the Mysterious Capital, a grand Daoist offering rite of three hundred and sixty parts. They also prepared incense and flowers, jeweled canopies, curtains, carriages, banners, and various musical instruments, arranging them all around. In the main hall and palace courtyards, they set up altars on a grand scale and invited Daoist priests to establish seats adorned with a hundred treasures. There they expounded the Mahayana teachings and prayed with devotion day and night, making offerings to the Heavenly Worthies.

Thus the realm was at peace and the people were joyful. The souls of the dead in the unseen world were delivered and all ascended to the Hall of Blessings. Men and women lived in comfort and enjoyed long lives.

The king and ministers of the Kingdom of Pingle, along with the empress, consorts, princesses, and people throughout the land, would set up a hundred tall altars in the palace on the first day of each of the Three Yuan festivals—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Yuan. They invited Daoist priests and female Daoists to expound the Great Vehicle scriptures of the Three Caverns, the Daoist scriptural system encompassing the scriptures and teachings of Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen. They held purification rites, performed Daoist rites and repentance ceremonies, gave alms, released living creatures, copied scriptures, cast divine images, established Daoist temples, and guided people into the Dao. They also built and carefully adorned 1,200 precious offering platforms, each with thirty-six tiers, symbolizing the levels of the Daoist heavens, and used them for offerings.

On the first day of each Three Yuan festival, they amassed blessings and De on a great scale, seeking stability for the state and peace for its people; harmony between Heaven and Earth; timely wind and rain; and abundant harvests of the five grains. They sought to enable their seven generations of paternal ancestors to ascend to Heaven, and to spare the souls of the dead in the Ninefold Darkness from judgment. They prayed for prosperity among men and women and peace throughout the realm.

Long ago, there was a virtuous person who regularly held the Great Offering at the Mysterious Capital during the Three Yuan festivals for the nine generations of his maternal ancestors, his seven generations of paternal ancestors, his parents, himself, his relatives on both sides, and all sentient beings. With sincere devotion, he gave what he could in money and goods, incense, oil, lamps and candles, food and drink, and fresh flowers and fruit, making offerings to the Celestial Worthies and Daoist priests. After doing so for eight years, his ancestors of nine generations ascended to Heaven. In this life, he enjoyed peace and comfort, a long life, and abundant food and clothing.

There was also a woman who regularly held the Great Offering at the Mysterious Capital, praying for blessings for all sentient beings. For twenty years, light shone from her body, and divine beings from the Three Realms—the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm—attended her at her gate.

There was also a Daoist priest who held the Great Offering at the Mysterious Capital for the king, the people, all things, all beings past and present, and all beings throughout the world. He made offerings to the heavens and Daoist priests, and also rescued the souls of the dead in the Three Paths of Suffering: hell, the hungry ghosts, and the animals. After persevering for fourteen years, he ascended to Heaven in broad daylight.

There is another class of Daoist priests who often urge male and female devotees to gather all kinds of fresh flowers and fruits, foods of every flavor, fine clothing, precious treasures, and everyday utensils as offerings for their ancestors throughout the generations, for the people and all living beings, and for rulers and kings. They also prepare banners, floral decorations, tall poles adorned with streamers, and canopies, and fashion an offering called the “Seven-Treasure Mountain Tray for the Great Offering at the Mysterious Capital.” On the first day of the first lunar month each year, they use these offerings to honor the Celestial Worthies and the assembled saints, performing bows, confessions and repentance, scattering flowers, and burning incense. After doing this for thirty-two years, they can become perfected beings of the Four Brahma Heavens.

The Daoist Lord said: In Mount Wuxiang in the Land of Qingming, there are thirty-six thousand Daoist priests. Each year, on the day Beginning of Summer, they begin a period of secluded cultivation. They burn incense, perform ritual practice—reciting scriptures and bowing in accordance with the rites—make offerings of reverence and repentance, and expound the scriptures and their teachings.

The Lord of the Dao said: In the Wuxiang Mountains of the Kingdom of Qingming, there are thirty-six thousand Daoist priests. Each year, on the day Summer Begins, they withdraw into quiet seclusion—temporarily leaving everyday affairs to devote themselves to cultivation. They burn incense and practice the Dao, bow in repentance, expound and recite scriptures, observe vegetarian discipline and keep the precepts. They urge men and women to cultivate goodness, guide celestial beings and humans toward deliverance, and perform good deeds without pause, day or night. They pray for peace in the kingdom, deliver beings caught in the cycle of birth and death, and build bridges far and wide to make travel easier for everyone.

The king, queen, consorts, ministers who assist in governing, and men and women throughout the kingdom all set their minds on cultivating the Dao and support the priests according to their means. They offer food, incense and medicines, utensils, fine clothing, carriages and horses, silks and brocades, gold, silver, pearls and jade, grain and fruit, bedding and curtains, fields and gardens, and servants. With reverence, they provide for the priests’ secluded practice, hoping to accumulate merit and increase their blessings. The priests, in turn, frequently explain the scriptures and precepts to the people, and how karmic consequences of wrongdoing and good fortune arise from causes and conditions.

The priests also teach that the human body is made of impure substances, and that the Four Great Elements—the earth, water, fire, and wind that compose the body—are insubstantial, changing from moment to moment, impermanent and unstable. If people continually commit evil through the three forms of action—body, speech, and mind—and the six faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, they gradually become stained by sin and pass through the cycle of birth and death. Beings may fall into the Three Evil Paths—hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the animal realm—and the Ninefold Dark Hells, where they endure every kind of torment: swallowing fire and eating charcoal, being boiled in scalding liquid, treading on mountains of knives and climbing trees of swords, being crushed, ground, pounded, and pierced; having their eyes pecked by iron birds, their tongues plowed by iron plows, being beaten by ox-headed demons, and pinned beneath iron staffs. Their bodies ooze pus and blood and rot as they sink into the dark mire of the hells, carry stones to fill rivers, and suffer punishment day and night. Once they have fallen there, even after ten thousand kalpas they can scarcely escape.

Beings endure these torments through the karmic conditions they have created themselves. At times, too, the karmic conditions of parents and descendants entangle them, affecting one another across generations. If virtuous men and women resolve to do good and regularly cultivate merit on behalf of their ancestors through the generations, their living parents and relatives, and the souls of the dead, hungry ghosts, animals, prisoners, elderly, sick, and all beings who suffer the Five Torments or have fallen into the Three Evil Paths, they may hold a Great Offering of the Mysterious Capital, an extensive Zhaijiao purification rite with offerings. They may erect a hundred high platforms, expound Mahayana scriptures, copy scriptures, paint and sculpt divine images, establish Daoist temples, and lead people into the Dao. They may also offer their own bodies in service, leave home to cultivate the Dao, release captive animals, or observe vegetarian discipline and keep the precepts over a long period. In accordance with the merit each has cultivated, all beings can ascend to the heavens.

The priests expound the scriptures and the Dharma day and night, instructing the people of the kingdom. After one hundred and five days, on the day of the Zhongyuan Festival, they hold a grand ritual assembly: expounding the scriptures and the Dharma, transmitting and receiving precepts, bowing in repentance, and delivering beings far and wide. Men and women throughout the kingdom open their hearts to goodness and offer fine clothing, ritual implements, incense burners, bathing vessels, tables, walking sticks, sitting cushions, fine incense, effective medicines, objects for display, towels, boxes, cases, and dining utensils to the Celestial Worthy. They also make offerings to the assembly of immortals, the perfected ones, and the Daoist priests.

These merits extend to prisoners, hungry ghosts, and all beings in the Three Evil Paths, enabling them all to escape suffering. The kingdom is thereby at peace, and its people live in happiness. Each of the thirty-six thousand priests gains a lifespan of ten thousand years, and together they ascend to Jia Yi Heaven, where they become perfected beings of the Four Brahma Heavens. The king of Qingming rises to become the King of Fandu Heaven, the queen ascends as a celestial woman of the Four Brahma Heavens, and the ministers who served as his assistants all enter Gonghua Heaven. There they continue to study the scriptures and the Dharma and enjoy boundless blessings.

The Dao Lord said: I speak of these things to show you a concise method of cultivation, so that men and women of the future, and all living beings, may seek liberation and cultivate blessings for this life and the next, so long as they sincerely turn toward the Orthodox Way and entrust their lives to it. If, on the great festival days of the Three Primordial Festivals—the Upper, Middle, and Lower Primordial Festivals—they hold the Great Offering at the Dark Metropolis, a Daoist rite in which offerings are made to the Heavenly Worthies, and make offerings to the Heavenly Worthies and Daoist priests, practice the Way, bow in reverence, and recite scriptures, then even the slightest arising of a good intention, joined with sincere prayer and steadfast perseverance, can bring immeasurable and wondrous blessings across the three ages of past, present, and future.

Chapter Twenty-One: Verification

The Dao Lord told Puji: If good men and good women resolve to produce scriptures, cast divine images, establish Daoist temples, guide others into the Way, give alms, observe fasting, keep the precepts, and cultivate with vigor, patience, and serenity, then whatever they do—great or small, a provisional measure or a genuine practice, deep or shallow, brief or long—will bring a true response and many signs of verification, provided they act with sincerity. They must not make a great show of their deeds while lacking genuine cultivation within. If they seek only an empty reputation and lack sincerity, then even if they practice the Way and recite scriptures, burn incense and bow, live in the mountains or withdraw to a chamber, abstain from grains and food, rescue people from danger, aid the poor, or cultivate the Real and study the Way, the slightest lack of sincerity will prevent them from making a spiritual connection.

Long ago, a man named Liu Huangmin was extremely wealthy. He had scriptures copied and divine images made, offered incense and bowed in reverence, and invited Daoist priests to observe fasting and recite scriptures. But he was not sincere within; he only wanted to gain a reputation. A hundred years later, after his death, he became a phoenix. Sixty years after that, he was reborn as a human being, still wealthy, and again performed good deeds and accumulated virtue on a great scale. Thirty years later, he attained release from the corpse, a Daoist means of bodily liberation and becoming an immortal, and entered the Palace of Azure Florescence.

Huang Anshi entered the mountains to study the Dao. He recited scriptures and bowed in worship in a stone chamber, but his mind was not focused; all he wanted was to ascend to heaven. After forty years, he transformed into a wild goose. Ninety years later, he was reborn as a woman of refined appearance. She loved the Way of the immortals, and her sincere dedication to cultivation moved the gods. After fifty years of practice, the Jade Maiden of Nightlight, a female immortal who appears at night, descended and taught her the Lingbao Five-Sprout Method, a Lingbao cultivation practice. She practiced it for thirteen years, then ascended in broad daylight to the Heaven of Yellow Zeng, one of the celestial realms. She became a celestial maiden and has remained so for seven thousand years.

Wang Ziqi abstained from the five grains and lived alone in a remote mountain, but practiced no other forms of the Way. After sixty years, he transformed into a blue-green stone. Thirty years later, thunder and lightning split the stone open, revealing a dragon inside. The scripture gives two accounts of what happened to the dragon. One says it became a celestial maiden and has remained so for seven thousand years. The other says it went directly to Mount Jintang and stayed for eight years in a room where Daoist priests practiced scripture and ritual methods. After hearing the priests recite scriptures and observe precepts, it was reborn into the family of King Qingfan, where it accumulated many merits. Twenty-four years later, the Perfected of Donghua, a title of an immortal, secretly bestowed a divine elixir upon it. After taking the elixir, it lived for three hundred years. It remained steadfast in its pursuit of the Dao, later met a Daoist priest, and received this scripture from him. After sixteen years of practice, it ascended in broad daylight and became the Great Ultimate Immortal King.

Han Yuanshou sat quietly in an inner chamber to meditate and cultivate. He recited scriptures, but his attention wandered. One day, a heavenly fire destroyed the house, and the scriptures flew up to heaven. Over the next ninety years, Yuanshou transformed into a tree spirit.

Li Zhengxuan was originally a hunter. While hunting in the mountains, he met a Daoist priest who was cultivating the Way and sincerely devoted himself to serving him. For thirty years, he practiced diligently and never wavered. The text then continues: “The Daoist priest said the house was to be burned, and the scriptures flew up to heaven. Over ninety years, Yuanshou transformed into a tree spirit.” This passage repeats Han Yuanshou’s account above.

Li Zhengxuan was originally a hunter. While hunting in the mountains, he met a Daoist who was cultivating the Dao. Li devoted himself to serving him and followed him to study the Dao. For thirty years, Li Zhengxuan worked diligently and never slackened. The Daoist asked him, “Do you wish to live forever?” Li Zhengxuan bowed until his forehead touched the ground and replied, “Even birds and beasts cling to life. I wish to prolong my years, serve you for the rest of my life, and never complain or grow lax.” The Daoist said, “You need only bow before this withered tree at the foot of the mountain; you will surely gain something.” Li Zhengxuan bowed before the tree day and night. Thirteen years later, it blossomed, shining with extraordinary radiance. Knowing that Li’s resolve was sincere, the Daoist transmitted this scripture to him. For the next thirty years, Li Zhengxuan was able to fly through the air.

Zhong Qiling went into the mountains to study the Dao and remained devoted and sincere for a hundred years. A heavenly demon (a demonic obstacle that tests those cultivating the Dao) descended to tempt him, taking the form of a hungry tiger that charged straight into his hut. Zhong Qiling offered it his foot. Seeing that his resolve was unshakable, the demon returned to its original form. His name was entered in the registers of the Immortal Bureau, and the Perfected Ones of the Five Emperors (venerable deities associated with the five directions) descended to transmit this scripture to him. For the next seventeen years, he could transform at will and enter Mount Penglai.

An Duming recited scriptures in the mountains for thirty-seven years. The Perfected One of the Central Yellow transformed into a hunter and offered him a venomous snake. An Duming gladly accepted it, and the snake immediately turned into a golden mushroom (a legendary elixir). Moved by the calmness of his spirit and mind, the Perfected One of the Central Yellow had him swallow it. Golden light shone from An Duming’s whole body. For five hundred years, he traveled among the Five Sacred Mountains, later becoming the Left Immortal Lord of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate).

Zhou Huihua delighted in giving alms and aiding the poor, laboring tirelessly. The Perfected Zhi Guan, a Daoist who had attained the Way, disguised himself as an ordinary person and begged him for food. Huihua took great pity on him and gave him ten times more food than usual. Later, the Perfected One feigned illness and lay weak and emaciated in Huihua’s home. He remained bedridden for three hundred days, giving off an unusually foul stench. Huihua never showed any sign of disgust. One night, the Perfected One said to him, “I know your heart is utterly sincere. I came here only to guide you toward liberation.” Huihua bowed in thanks and said, “I am merely an ordinary person, without understanding. I am grateful for your kindness and guidance, and hope I may live longer.” The Perfected One then bestowed a divine elixir on him. After Huihua took it, his life was extended to eight thousand years. He practiced this scripture and has now become an Immortal of the Western Florescence.

Zhang Yanguang supported Daoist practitioners for seventy-three years, steadfastly and without the slightest slackening. The Perfected One Who Responds to the World, who manifests in accordance with worldly circumstances, disguised himself as a Daoist practitioner. Thin and haggard, with filthy, foul-smelling clothes, he came to ask for lodging. He then feigned illness and died seven days later; before long, his body began to decay. Yanguang grieved intensely, more deeply than he would have mourned a member of his own family. The Perfected One Who Responds to the World recognized his sincere heart, brought him back to life, and transmitted this scripture to him. As a result, Yanguang never aged or died. He lived in the world for two hundred years, then entered Mount Fulai.

Qiu Baoxiang cultivated the Dao on Mount Tongbai for three hundred and sixty years and had already gained the benefits of longevity. One day, the Wheel-Circling Celestial Boy, a Daoist immortal youth, disguised himself as a hunter and came to ask for lodging. During the night, he set fire to Baoxiang’s dwelling and burned it down. Baoxiang remained completely composed. The Celestial Boy then taught him the method of liberation and transformation, a practice for transforming the body and transcending the mundane world. Later, Baoxiang ascended into the air in a single day and entered the Violet Empyrean, the celestial realm.

Zhao Changming was a Daoist of Daye Mountain. He had once entered Haiyu Mountain to study the Dao for more than seven hundred years. One day, mountain spirits, powerful deities, and all kinds of demons came to test him. Some took the form of immortals, others of Confucian scholars; they would suddenly fly through the air, then suddenly crouch on the ground, changing in countless ways. Zhao Changming said, “You mountain spirits and little ghosts dare to offend me!” and pointed a scripture at them. The spirits at once revealed their true forms and bowed respectfully with their hands clasped. Zhao Changming then explained the Daoist teachings to them and passed on the precepts.

Three hundred years later, the mountain spirits and the others had become benevolent deities. They brought flowers and fruit to offer Zhao Changming, recounted the causes and conditions of their former encounter, and asked to receive the precepts and teachings again. Zhao Changming performed a rite of repentance for them and bestowed the precepts. Afterward, they were reborn as a girl in a wealthy family in the Kingdom of Pure Brahma. She was dignified in appearance, intelligent and wise, and devoted to scriptures and teachings. She performed many good works and later became a female Daoist priest. She diligently recited the scriptures and precepts for forty-seven years, until the Jade Maiden of Golden Florescence, a Daoist immortal, descended and transmitted this scripture to her. Later, she entered Earth’s Lung Mountain to cultivate the Dao. After attaining the Dao and cultivating for thirty thousand years, she became the True Consort of the Supreme Ultimate, a revered Daoist deity.

When perfected beings who have attained the Dao descend to test cultivators, they may sometimes pretend to be poor and lowly, or appear hungry, cold, gravely ill, or physically disabled. Sometimes they take the form of beggars; they may also appear as worthy sages, heavenly demons, or spirits and monsters. They change in countless ways to test those who cultivate the Dao. Only after confirming that their intentions are sincere do they begin to guide them toward deliverance. Therefore, all men and women who cultivate the Dao in the future should be discerning and cautious.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Gathering Causes

Puji asked, “Living beings are countless, and their understanding and views differ. They have different reasons for doing good or evil, and their capacities also vary. If all ten sets of scriptures and teachings were expounded, people might lack the wisdom and ability to comprehend them. But if only the One Vehicle—the single, all-encompassing fundamental teaching—were expounded, it might be difficult for people truly to understand it and enter into it. I do not know what choice would be appropriate, or what principle underlies this.”

The Lord of the Dao said, “Guide beings according to their individual capacities. Different methods can all help them receive the teaching and be transformed. Once you understand the essentials and can explain the principles clearly, what cannot be accomplished as long as the method suits the person?”

Puji said, “I truly would like to hear these concise and essential principles.”

The Lord of the Dao said, “Guide beings who delight in killing and harming others by the way of compassion; guide those who steal and rob by the way of keeping to their proper bounds and acting with integrity; guide those who indulge in illicit sexual conduct by the way of chastity; guide the miserly and greedy by the way of giving; guide those quick to anger and strife by the way of joy and kindness; guide the ignorant and confused with flexible, skillful methods; guide those whose speech is ornate but empty by the way of simplicity and uprightness; guide those who lie and deceive by the way of honesty and goodness; guide those who speak viciously and curse others by having them recite the scriptures; guide those who stir up trouble and insult others by having them praise others; guide those who drink alcohol and eat meat by the way of fasting and abstinence; guide those who slander and defame by explaining the true principles; guide the arrogant who look down on others by the way of bowing in reverence; guide the forceful and boastfully brave by the way of gentleness and humility; guide those who do not believe in karmic retribution for wrongdoing and virtue, or in destiny from past lives, by explaining the principle of causes and conditions; guide those attached to existence and nonexistence by the principle of the Middle Way; guide those attached to distinctions between self and other, right and wrong, by the principle of equality; guide those who crave what is corrupt and act impurely by the way of purity; guide the obstinate who refuse to change by explaining the cycles of transformation; guide those who constantly busy themselves with restless activity by the way of Wuwei (non-action); guide those who cling rigidly to convention and refuse to adapt by the way of harmonious understanding and unobstructed insight; guide the impatient and competitive, whose hearts are unsettled, by the way of calming and stilling the mind; guide those weighed down by sorrow and grief, and those in low spirits, by the way of freedom and ease; and guide those beset by troubles they cannot resolve by the way of liberation. Regularly use these twenty-four methods to guide beings and bring them peace and joy—is that not concise and essential?”

Puji said, “This explanation is already quite concise, yet it still seems to contain too much. In the past, the Celestial Worthy taught the equality of forms, using the principle of formlessness to guide living beings. Could this not have been explained even more concisely?”

The Dao Lord said, “In the past, ‘formlessness as form’ was used to bring living beings equally into the One Vehicle—the sole fundamental truth. Now, ‘form as form’ is being taught so that all things may return to equality.”

Puji said, “If there is formlessness, by what means can all enter the One Vehicle? And if there is form now, how can all things be made equal?”

The Dao Lord said, “Formlessness brings living beings into the One Vehicle because it clings to no form. Form brings all things to equality because the forms it manifests will in time perish.”

Puji said, “With form, forms still exist; if they exist, how can they be equal? With formlessness, there are no forms; if there are none, by what means can all return to one place?”

The Dao Lord said, “Originally, formlessness was taken as form. Thus there was no distinction, and all could return to the One Vehicle. The forms that appear will eventually perish; because they perish, all things can be equal.”

Puji said, “One could also guide and transform living beings through ‘non-encompassing.’ Why speak further about the reason for guiding and transforming them?”

The Dao Lord said, “Originally, I guided and transformed living beings through the Way of non-encompassing. The living beings had not yet understood, so I spoke of ‘guiding and transforming’ them. If they had already understood, there would be no reason to speak of guiding and transforming them.”

Chapter Twenty-Three: Generation and Transformation

The Dao Lord says: Before Heaven and Earth were divided, the world was a vast, murky chaos, deep and dark, without fixed form. The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, a revered deity in Daoism, set Heaven and Earth in motion and brought about their separation through the wondrous power of creation. Clear Qi rose and gathered to form Heaven; turbid Qi sank and congealed to form Earth. The essence of Yang Qi became the sun, and the essence of Yin Qi became the moon. The essences of the sun and moon then became the stars and harmonious Qi. Harmonious Qi formed human beings; thinner Qi formed beasts; abundant Qi formed birds; and creatures that took shape by attaching themselves to spirit Qi formed insects.

The kinds of beings passed into and mingled with one another, multiplying in succession, each according to its own causes and conditions. They received corresponding karmic consequences in accordance with the deeds they had done and the effects of those deeds, and their fortunes rose and fell accordingly. Thus some were foolish and others clever, some dull and others perceptive; some large and others small, some turbid and others clear; some long-lived and others short-lived, some ugly and others well-formed. All beings took on different forms, each formed by receiving the Dao.

Beings also devoured one another. The strong oppressed the weak, while deception and conflict over possessions arose continually, and sin and blessing appeared side by side. Good deeds bring blessings; evil deeds incur punishment. Out of compassion for the people, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning has taught and transformed the human world ever since Heaven and Earth were first opened. He has done so through countless kalpas—periods of immeasurable length—numberless as grains of sand. The opening of Heaven and Earth and the creation of Yin and Yang were all brought about by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning.

In the time of the Dragon-Han era, a remote age of cosmic tribulation in Daoist tradition, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning descended into the world to teach living beings. He was called “Formless,” sheltered the myriad kinds of life, and delivered living beings from suffering.

During the Longhan era, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning descended into the world to teach and transform people. He was called “Formless” and protected all living beings, delivering people from suffering. In the Yanchang era, he shaped the affairs of the world and was also called “Nameless.” He taught in every region and aided living beings in the human and heavenly realms. At the time of Chibeng Kaiming, he was called “Brahma Form.” He descended to save all things, extending his compassion widely to deliver them. When Kaihuang governed the cycles of tribulation, he was called “Emperor of the Void.” He brought forth all kinds of life and nurtured the myriad things of Heaven and Earth. In the era of the Supreme Sovereign, he was known collectively as “Primordial Beginning,” teaching and governing all the heavens.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning sets the cycles of tribulation in motion, making them turn and begin again, like the endless return of the seasons. He changes along with all things and bears hundreds and thousands of names. At times he appears as an ordinary person, at times as a sage; sometimes wise, sometimes foolish. He rides the clouds and travels on Qi, wearing yellow-brown robes and a dark cap, or perhaps a dragon-patterned robe with a tiger-patterned sash. Sometimes his face is like jade and his bearing like gold; sometimes his form is large, sometimes small. He can come and go freely, bring forth and transform all things, and protect living beings. The minds of ordinary people are clouded—who can see through his transformations? I have now received the Mandate of Heaven and govern the wheel of the Dharma. I follow the teachings of the scriptures and dare not disobey them. You, men and women who cultivate the Dao, should also practice with all your hearts, nurturing all things and protecting living beings.

Puji asked, “The Celestial Worthy has spoken many times of cycles of tribulation, but I still do not know how many years there are in a single tribulation. How many tribulations has the Celestial Worthy passed through since attaining the Dao?”

The Dao Lord said, “‘Kalpa’ is the name for the great changes experienced by Heaven and Earth. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds: great kalpas and minor kalpas.

“A great kalpa occurs when the eighteen heavens of the Three Realms above and the thirty-six layers of the Nine Earths below are struck by calamities such as floods, fires, and storms. Heaven and Earth are consumed by fire and swept away; none of the beings within them survive. All around is dark, without light or form. Those who practice the great teachings of the Three Caverns and study the Dao until they realize the truth are met by dragon chariots and carried up to the Realm of Brahma, a pure immortal land. Those who practice various lesser teachings and heterodox paths, and cannot enter the Great Vehicle, sink with the calamity and are reduced to ashes.

“A minor kalpa refers to the constant change of all things with form, which cannot endure forever. Generations replace one another, and forms change: all these are called kalpas. The karmic results and deeds of living beings vary in length according to their circumstances; they may be prolonged or shortened. If people cultivate good thoughts, follow the Dao, observe the precepts, and recite the scriptures, their lives will be extended and the bodies they receive will be more complete. If they commit all kinds of wrongdoing and disbelieve in cause and effect, their lives will be shortened, and they will often fail to reach a hundred years.

“The years of a kalpa cannot be counted directly, but its length can be grasped through comparisons. Imagine a perfectly square stone, four hundred li wide on each side and four hundred li high. Every nine years, a flying immortal—a divine being of the heavens—brushes the stone once with something as light and small as a fly’s wing. The time it takes for the stone to wear away is called one kalpa.

“Or imagine a perfectly square city, four hundred li wide and four hundred li high, filled with mustard seeds. Every nine years, a flying immortal removes one seed. The time it takes to remove them all is also called one kalpa.

“Or imagine a perfectly square area, four hundred li on each side, piled high with fine dust. Every seven years, a flying immortal removes one grain of dust. The time it takes to remove it all is likewise called one kalpa. Puji, from these three comparisons you can imagine how vast the span of a kalpa is. Even if one were to count the kalpas I have passed through since attaining the Dao, these three measures would not suffice to calculate them.”

Puji said, “Now that I have heard the Heavenly Worthy’s profound and subtle teaching, all my doubts have vanished. Truly, this is beyond wonder—beyond wonder.”

Compassionate and world-saving Perfected One Puji asked Lord Dao of Highest Clarity about karmic retribution and the causes and conditions behind it. Lord Dao of Highest Clarity said:

In the worlds of the ten directions, each contains vast numbers of heavens. They are divided into regions according to direction and administered by celestial officials. Between Heaven and Earth, the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and streams are all formed from the gathering of Qi (vital energy). They make up immortal realms and palaces such as golden towers and jade pavilions, treasure halls and halls of jade, rosy-cloud halls and purple observatories, star gardens and cloud forests, and courtyards of luan birds and gardens of phoenixes. These palace gardens stand suspended in the air, encircle the sun and moon, and are scattered throughout the worlds. They are countless in kind and name, filling boundless realms.

The Immortals, Perfected Ones, and exalted sages, along with the Celestial Emperors and Celestial Masters, each teach the scriptures and doctrines in their own domains. The officials in charge record the causes and conditions of life and death, the lifespans of men and women, and good and evil, fortune and misfortune. Day and night, they examine and judge conduct that defies the Dao and human relationships. In every world and every heaven are the Great Dao, the Celestial Worthies, Celestial Emperors, Celestial Masters, Immortals, Perfected Ones, and assembled sages, as well as the Four Offices, Five Emperors, messengers, generals, boys who attend to good and evil, and numinous officials of the Five Dippers. Each teaches living beings in its own way, and the laws it establishes differ; yet all are under my governance, and teachings are carried out throughout these realms.

The retribution for good and evil, the allotted lifespans of men and women, the causes and conditions of sin and blessing, and the causes and effects of past lives—all the way down to plants, insects, moths, and every living being—depend on the Primordial Qi I bestow in order to come to life.

The Dao Lord said to Puji: “All things with form are illusory and unreal. They are constantly changing and perishing, never at rest. Thus living beings are caught in suffering, distress, and the cycle of rebirth. Ordinary people fail to see this, so they wander among the Three Evil Paths—the hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of animals—enduring suffering over countless ages. They are born again and again, always bound by afflictions. All this arises from deluded and inverted thoughts, and attachment to their own views, which disturbs the spirit.

“You men and women who cultivate the Way should cast off every kind of deluded thought. Only when such thoughts have been extinguished can you accord with the correct Way. Hold firm to your resolve and quietly observe all things, recognizing that they are empty. Turn your attention as well to your own body and mind, letting all distinctions between inner and outer fall into stillness. In this way, you can leave behind every kind of bondage and enter the gate of liberation, coming and going freely. You will reach the state of Wuwei (non-action) and freedom, beyond birth and death, and forever sever the roots of suffering.”

Puji asked: “Living beings often suffer because they are attached to this body, and they cannot free themselves from the cycle of birth and death. What method can remove deluded thoughts?”

The Dao Lord said: Deluded thoughts and mistaken views arise from the mind. People force distinctions between self and others, cling to the “self-body,” and become confused by what they encounter in the world outside. As soon as a thought stirs, they fall into illusion. Thus they become disoriented and sink into suffering, cycling through birth and death without being able to free themselves. They should strengthen their resolve and use wisdom to examine their own bodies: bones and flesh, skin, shape, and hair; the six faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind); the four great elements (the earth, water, fire, and wind that compose the body); the five substances; and the hundred spirits. Careful reflection reveals that there is no real, unchanging entity within the body. Its parts are merely gathered together through causes and conditions, forming a whole for a time. If one repeatedly asks, “Where, exactly, am I?” one will understand that since the body is false, the mind too has no fixed substance. Neither emptiness nor falsity is real and unchanging; in the end, both are deluded thoughts. Since attachment to the body is delusion, so too are all distinctions and attachments to things: self and other, right and wrong, dislike and love, acceptance and rejection; craving beautiful sights, fragrances, and flavors; jealousy, stinginess, and greed; killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; and speaking empty words or hurling insults. All such conduct should gradually be cast off. When the mind within and the world without are clear, still, and empty, one will naturally realize the true Dao.

Puji asked: Although the body is temporary and false, it is still a physical form of flesh and blood. It feels itching, soreness, and pain, and is affected by cold, wind, heat, dampness, and changes both within and without. These sensations constantly assail us. The slightest bodily discomfort brings worry and distress with it. How should one contemplate so as to dispel all these pains at once?

The Dao Lord said: These sensations are all illusory; I am not deceiving you. All things with form are temporary and false, and so they are constantly changing and cannot last. Sentient beings cling and make calculations, mistaking illusory appearances for real existence. If they understand that the body has no fixed substance, then all manner of suffering likewise has no real, unchanging foundation. Once they stop clinging to the body, distress will diminish. In that case, how could there be itching, soreness, or pain?

Shanji asked: Sentient beings are weighed down by deluded thoughts and have been attached for a long time. It is truly difficult for them to let go of the body and forget themselves at once. Is there a skillful method for explaining this principle gradually?

The Dao Lord said: I said earlier that one should strengthen one’s resolve and use wisdom to examine the body, reflecting carefully until one recognizes that it contains no real, unchanging entity.

The Dao Lord said: I have said before that one should strengthen one’s resolve, observe oneself with wisdom, and reflect carefully. The teaching that nothing has a true, unchanging essence is meant to guide living beings step by step and dispel delusion and attachment. Living beings have yet to achieve this because the six roots—the six faculties and consciousness on which the activities of the three karmas depend—and the three karmas, the actions of body, mind, and speech, are not yet pure.

Puji asked: How can the six roots and the three karmas be purified?

The Dao Lord said: The six roots are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. They are called “roots” because they give rise to various actions and karmic results. Just as plants produce flowers, leaves, and fruit, then continue to propagate, these roots give rise to the six emotions and six desires, the six defilements and six gateways, the six thieves and six objects of perception, the six consciousnesses, and other such activities.

Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, and mental objects—the things perceived by the six roots—are originally empty and still; they do not disturb body and mind of their own accord. Yet living beings cling to distinctions, make arbitrary choices, and let their thoughts chase after and contend for things without pause. Afflictions then entangle them, and they continue to wander through birth and death. If they strengthen their resolve with wisdom, examine and reflect carefully, and understand the nature of the six roots, their attachments to the roots and their objects can gradually fade away.

The three karmas are bodily karma, mental karma, and verbal karma. Bodily karma consists of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; mental karma consists of greed, anger, and delusion; verbal karma consists of frivolous speech, falsehood, harsh speech, and divisive speech. Together, these are the ten evils. Reflect carefully on these ten actions and you will see that they have no true, unchanging essence: they are all deluded fabrications. One should begin with the three karmas and six roots, gradually reducing attachment. By continually letting go, strengthening one’s resolve, and observing oneself, one will, through long perseverance, naturally realize the true Dao.

Chapter Twenty-Six of “An Account of the Teachings”

The Dao Lord said: The Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi), one of the highest deities revered in Daoism, brought forth three kinds of Qi from the “One Qi”—the primordial energy that forms all things in the universe—and from these came the Three Heavens.

The first is Beginning Qi, which formed Clear Subtlety Heaven, also called the Jade Clarity Realm. It was manifested by the Lord of Heavenly Treasure, who transmitted twelve divisions of the Cavern of Truth scripture to teach the nine sages of Heaven. The second is Original Qi, which formed Heaven of Remaining Yu, also called the Upper Clarity Realm. It was manifested by the Lord of Numinous Treasure, who transmitted twelve divisions of the Cavern of Mystery scripture to teach the nine perfected beings of Heaven. The third is Mysterious Qi, which formed Great Red Heaven, also called the Great Clarity Realm. It was manifested by the Lord of Divine Treasure, who transmitted twelve divisions of the Cavern of Spirit scripture to teach the nine immortals of Heaven.

These thirty-six divisions of scripture are also called the “Three Vehicles”: the Great Vehicle, the Middle Vehicle, and the Lesser Vehicle. They formed naturally into chapters from Flying-Mysterious Qi, becoming jade characters and golden books, with dragon writings and phoenix seals. The scriptures are immense in form: a zhang in length and width, octagonal, and radiant with light as they teach and transform living beings. They circulate among the various heavens. Through the five kalpas of the world’s arising and dissolution, they continue to turn the Wheel of the Dharma and spread its teachings. At times they expound the truth; at times they offer expedient teachings. Some are extensive, others concise. The scriptures enable people to understand according to their innate capacities, and people practice in keeping with their own times. Even when the workings of Heaven and Earth reach their end, the Three Caverns scriptures will not perish. They will continue to open the way to teaching and deliverance, guiding the heavenly and earthly realms, and bringing benefit to the Three Realms and the ten directions.

Pujì asked: When, specifically, were the Three Caverns scriptures transmitted to the human world? Did they arrive all at once, or in succession?

The Dao Lord replied: At the beginning of each kalpa, the Cavern of Truth scripture was transmitted first to teach and transform the world. At that time, people held the Great Dao in their hearts and possessed De (Virtue). They lived together in a realm of emptiness and purity, and all believed in the correct Way; therefore, they could live forever without dying. Next, the Cavern of Mystery scripture was transmitted. People gradually turned away from their original nature, simplicity faded, and they began to depart from the Dao and De. After that, the Cavern of Spirit scripture was transmitted. People’s hearts became increasingly shallow; they no longer believed in the correct Way, and their lifespans gradually shortened.

After this, people’s hearts grew ever more corrupt. The teachings of the Three Caverns no longer circulated, and wisdom could not arise. The human world became mixed with the realm of ghosts and spirits, and people turned away from the Dao and De. Later, the Cavern of Spirit scripture was transmitted again to teach and transform the world. By then, people’s hearts had already grown increasingly shallow; they no longer believed in the correct Way, and their lifespans were short.

From that time onward, human hearts became corrupt. The Great Teachings of the Three Caverns—the Daoist scriptural traditions of Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen—fell out of circulation, and wisdom could no longer flourish. Humans and ghosts became mixed together, and the fortunes of the age declined rapidly. In less than a hundred years, worldly affairs changed from one moment to the next, and deaths followed one after another.

I came into the world again to proclaim the scriptures of the Three Caverns, spread their teachings among humankind, and expound the scriptures according to the opportunities of each age. Some teachings I explained in depth, others more simply, according to people’s different needs. Thus the foundational scriptures of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning were not transmitted in their entirety to the human world. The scriptures used by perfected sages in their cultivation are complete only in the highest realm of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) and among the Four Brahma Heavens. Though methods of cultivation also exist in mountain grottoes, sea peaks, and immortal palaces, they are incomplete.

For this reason, I commanded Laozi to manifest in the human world to save living beings and expound the precepts and rules of cultivation (codes and precepts). Let the teachings reach the ten directions, among the Yi and the Xia, the sages and the ordinary, so that living beings may awaken and be delivered. The Great Teachings of the Three Caverns were spread throughout the human world to urge men and women to practice diligently. Those burdened by grave sins and bound by karma, who remain deluded, have no affinity with the Dao and cannot believe in the orthodox teachings. They follow only false doctrines and various demonic spirits, wasting their lives and ultimately falling into hell. Those who receive and practice the Great Teachings of the Three Caverns can enter realms of blessing. Some ascend in broad daylight; some vanish through corpse liberation, leaving their bodily remains behind as they shed their former bodies and become immortals; others withdraw to grotto heavens and palace realms or roam through the world. They may also attain long life, change their names, and endure through immeasurable kalpas; refine Qi (vital energy), transform their bodies, and transmute their spirit to enter the Dao, becoming unrecognizable to others. Their attainments are without limit.

After I leave the human world, demonic teachings will flourish, and people throughout the land will follow them, while the common people die young. War, disasters of fire and flood, sickness, and death will come one after another. States will fall and homes be shattered, one after another, day and night. People will exhaust the wealth in their storehouses to worship demons; falsehood and disorder will multiply, and shallow, deceitful customs will spread without end. The common people will suffer hunger and cold; fathers and sons will be separated and driven into exile. The people of the world will remain ignorant and unawakened, unable to come to their senses for a long time.

I take pity on you who, through many kalpas, have remained sunk in suffering without end. So I speak these important words and point them out for the blind to see and the deaf to hear. Yet the scriptural teachings of the Three Caverns are of two kinds: one is the true teaching, and the other…

Out of compassion for you, who have endured countless kalpas yet remain sunk in suffering, I speak these important words to instruct the ignorant and unenlightened. The Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen), the Daoist scriptural canon, contain two kinds of teachings: true teachings and transformed teachings. True teachings are free of all illusion and endure through vast kalpas. Transformed teachings are passed down through written characters and disappear as the ages change.

Transformed teachings are of five kinds.

The first consists of cloud-script characters formed from Flying Mystery Qi, the wondrous primordial energy spoken of in Daoism. They naturally take shape as texts, gathering and dispersing in ways beyond prediction. They dwell in the highest realm above the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), eternally safeguarding the scriptures. They endure through countless kalpas and are protected by the true sages.

The second consists of cloud writings, one zhang long, with eight luminous corners. They are spread throughout the Three Realms, the Ten Directions, and the heavens. They rise and fall with the kalpas and circulate in response to causes and conditions.

The third consists of scriptures written, inscribed, or recited among the palaces, towers, terraces, pavilions, halls, and gates of the heavens. They are used to restrain and guide living beings, and are also observed by those who enter and leave these places or practice there.

The fourth consists of scriptures written on flower petals and leaves, jade tablets, and precious volumes, and kept in immortal realms such as Fangzhang, Penglai, Langyuan, and Xuanpu. At times they vanish and at times they appear; they endure or perish with the kalpas. They instruct the immortals and transform the various demons.

The fifth consists of scriptures written on paper, silk, bamboo, wood, and other materials, and scattered among the people for copying and recitation. They descend into the human world at the beginning of a kalpa and return to the heavens at its end. They preserve the state and bring peace to the people, while saving and guiding living beings.

The scriptures are the words transmitted by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning. They teach and transform living beings, helping people understand the source of life, the causes and conditions of past lives, the karmic results of sin and merit, the fortunes and misfortunes of good and evil, the threshold between life and death, and the methods of spiritual practice. Through them, people turn from evil toward good, preserve their lives, seek longevity and Wuwei (non-action), and ultimately return to the Dao, making these teachings principles to follow throughout the kalpas. Those who cherish the scriptures receive blessings; those who practice their teachings can become immortals. I follow the instructions of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and teach both the human and heavenly realms, solely to save those who suffer. You should honor and follow these teachings.

The Dao Lord told Pujì: From the creation of Heaven and Earth through the age of the Supreme Sovereign, I have passed through countless kalpas—spans of time so vast they cannot be calculated. In the human world, I have established teachings and appeared in different forms in response to diverse circumstances to instruct living beings, in innumerable ways.

I have transformed and circulated without limit in Heaven and among humankind, guiding and saving living beings in response to their circumstances. For this reason, I have borne many titles: Primordial Beginning, Void Sovereign, Most High Heavenly Venerable, Limitless, Natural, Wuwei (non-action), Great Dao, Formless, Most High, Nameless, Utmost Reality, Jade Emperor, Golden Emperor, Dao Lord, Heavenly Elder, Lord Lao, Ancient One, Master, Great Thousand, and Dharma King. I am also called Master of Transformation in the Ten Directions, Great Teacher of the Three Realms, Supreme Dharma King, Great Sage and True Venerable, Master of the Wheel of Transformation, Compassionate Dharma King, Supreme Dharma Teacher, Venerable One in Heaven, True Lord of the Eight Extremities, Holy Lord of the Nine Heavens, Master of Transformation of the Three Thousand Worlds, Heavenly Lord of the Five Hundred Million, Lord of the Great Luo, Guide of the Three Realms, Dharma Teacher of the Mysterious, Master of Transformation of the Jade Dawn, Heavenly Venerable of the Golden Palace, Dharma King of the Cavern of Truth, Lord of the Cavern of Mystery, Dharma Teacher of the Cavern of Spirit, Supreme Dharma Teacher of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen), Youth of the Three Heavens, True Person of the Wheel of Transformation, Great Master of Long Life, Divine Physician of the Great Heavens, Supreme King of Physicians, Great Dharma Teacher, Celestial Master of the Ten Thousand Dharmas, Holy Venerable of the Dharma Realm, Youth of the Wheel of Heaven, True Person of Sunlight, True Person of Moonlight, Youth of Starry Radiance, Dharma Teacher of the Ten Thousand Ways, Lord of the Dao of Jade Purity, Mysterious Tradition of Highest Clarity, Immortal King of Great Clarity, Master of Transformation of the Three Paths, and Great Master of the Nine Depths.

In response to circumstances, I also appear as a Heavenly King, Heavenly Lord, Heavenly Emperor, king, imperial preceptor, Daoist, Confucian master, minister, state preceptor, celestial immortal, terrestrial immortal, or flying immortal; I may also become the mother or father of all things. In Heaven, I may be the Heavenly Emperor; among humankind, I may be an imperial preceptor, Daoist, Confucian master, minister, state preceptor, celestial immortal, or terrestrial immortal. I may also become a human ruler. Within the sun and moon, I appear as the Youth of Sunlight and the Youth of Moonlight; in the celestial realm, I am the Most High Heavenly Venerable Taiyi; among the stars, I am the Great Emperor of Heaven, the Great Emperor of the North Pole, the Seven Star Youth, or one of the True Persons of the Five Emperors. I may also appear as a True Person of Starlight, Master of Clouds, Earl of Wind, Lord of Thunder, or Master of Rain, or become a thousand-year-old elder, a ten-thousand-year-old child, a Dragon King, or a lord of ghosts.

These transformations take countless forms and cannot be fully enumerated. At times I appear as an ordinary person, at times as a sage; sometimes as male, sometimes as female; sometimes great, sometimes small; sometimes tall, sometimes short. At times water and fire appear upon my body; at times my form turns into plants and trees. I take on every kind of form as circumstances require, instructing living beings, proclaiming the scriptures, and saving those in Heaven and among humankind. Through the cycles of the kalpas, my original nature remains settled and clear. Sometimes I send True Persons and Jade Maidens down into the human world, where they are born as emperors, rulers, consorts, or ministers. Using fitting methods, they proclaim the teachings and aid living beings.

I will tell you only one or two of my names. At the beginning of Heaven and Earth, in the early Longhan era—a remote age of cosmic tribulations in Daoist tradition—I was called “Unborn.” I once appeared as an emperor, ruler, queen, or minister, and taught the doctrines in skillful ways to save living beings.

At the beginning of Heaven and Earth, I was also called “Formless.” I manifested in the Jade Clarity realm, one of the Three Pure Ones’ realms, and transmitted the Scripture of the Great Grotto. I descended into the world to teach and guide living beings, becoming the Mysterious Teacher of the Myriad Heavens and the supreme King of the Dharma. After an immeasurably long time, in the era of Yan Kang, I was called “Nameless.” I manifested in the Highest Clarity realm and transmitted the Precious Scripture of the Grotto Mystery. I descended into the world to teach and guide living beings, becoming the Healer King of the Three Realms and the Most High, Supreme Venerable One.

After another long span of time, when the Red Radiance era opened a new cycle, I was called “Brahma Form,” and also “Guanshiyin.” I manifested in the Great Clarity realm and transmitted the Immortal Scripture of the Grotto Spirit. I descended into the world to teach and guide living beings, becoming the guide of beings in the ten directions and the utmost Heavenly Venerable. When the era’s designation changed to Kaihuang, I was called “Emptiness Sovereign.” I manifested in the Palace of Primordial Yang, expounded the Three Caverns—the three great divisions of Daoist scriptures—and again came among humanity, where I was known as the Most High Dao Lord.

In the era of the High Sovereign, I was called “Primordial Beginning.” I manifested in the Purple Tenuity Palace and taught the scriptures and precepts far and wide. Immortals, awakened sages, perfected beings accomplished in cultivation, flying Heavenly Kings, and countless other beings each manifested in the human world, revealing the teachings and saving all living beings.

This cycle has no end. From one kalpa to the next, from one heaven to another, I manifest according to the times as a true responsive body. In keeping with worldly circumstances, I establish different names, changing my appearance and titles. Though they vary in a thousand ways, they are all my manifestations. At times I arrange the roles of teacher and disciple so they may enlighten one another; at times I expediently arrange their order of appearance to instruct the beings of Heaven and humanity. Now I entrust this scripture to you and command you to transmit it, so that men and women among living beings throughout Heaven and Earth, the ten directions, and the Three Realms may all hear the sound of the Dharma.

Puji said: “Now, carrying out the Heavenly Venerable’s command, I reveal the teachings and save the beings of Heaven and humanity. May I draw upon divine power and proclaim them throughout the heavens, so that all may hear and know.”

The Most High, the supreme Daoist deity, snapped his fingers and said to all the perfected immortals: “All the gods, immortals, and holy beings throughout Heaven and Earth, the Three Realms, and the ten directions: I entrust this scripture to you, so that it may universally save all living beings. Each of you should spread its teachings.” When he had finished speaking, the holy beings of the heavens each adorned their jeweled seats, took up their ceremonial staffs and banners, and burned incense and scattered flowers. Riding in chariots drawn by luan birds beneath canopies shaped like phoenixes, they led a train of a thousand chariots and ten thousand mounted attendants. They traveled through the air and walked into the void, bowed together, praised the scripture three times for its excellence, and reverently received it. Then each returned to their former place.

Everywhere, hundreds of millions of ritual seats adorned with the Seven Treasures were set out. Day and night, the scripture’s meaning was expounded and its wondrous teachings proclaimed. Ten thousand measures of numinous incense were burned, a hundred kinds of precious flowers were scattered, the music of the heavenly performers resounded, and ten thousand divine lamps were lit. Ritual implements, fine foods, and other offerings were laid out in hundreds of millions, surrounding the place in quantities beyond reckoning.

Then scripture tablets were made of yellow jade, and the text was written in purple gold. It was stored in caverns and dragon palaces, and in phoenix-patterned cases within immortal chambers among the clouds. The scripture was titled The Most High Scripture on Karmic Retribution and Causal Conditions.

The Most High Scripture of the Numinous Treasure of the Cavern Mystery on Karmic Retribution and Causal Conditions, Volume Ten, ends.