《太上金华天尊救劫护命妙经》

By sacred command, the Celestial Worthy of Golden Efflorescence (a revered deity of Daoism) proclaims this scripture that delivers beings from calamity and protects life. The supremely true and limitless Great Dao (the Way) is the most exalted existence above the Void Sovereign (Xuhuang, Daoism’s honorific for the supreme sacred).

The Great Dao often remains hidden and does not display itself, yet it always comes to the aid of living beings when calamity arrives. When the Ren cycle (a period reckoned by the heavenly stems and earthly branches) arises, the nine true methods and samādhi (a cultivated state of concentrated stillness) appear. The Great Cavern (Dadong, an important scriptural tradition of Daoism) is thereby opened, enabling people to attain elevation and clear awakening.

The Great Dao drives out fierce and rebellious Qi (vital energy) and delivers living beings. When calamity draws near and life and death meet, the karmic results and destinies of good and evil are likewise made plain. The Primordial Sovereign, the Jade Emperor (a revered deity of Daoism), issues an edict to examine and register the good and evil of all people under heaven: those who do good may transcend the Three Realms, and the Demon Kings come to welcome them with respect; those who have committed offenses sink into the Nine Earths and pass through long kalpas in the dark underworld. The deities of all the heavens examine them together, and not the slightest detail is overlooked.

When the Way of pure emptiness descends, it seeks out and tests the many immortals and perfected ones. In the final kalpa, the True Great Dao of Primordial Efflorescence is often slighted by the shallow. Those who think themselves clever yet refuse to receive the orthodox Way will in the end come to nothing; those who honor and put faith in the orthodox Way, upon encountering it, are able to achieve something. Blue lotuses grow everywhere, and people may gather them from the mud. Here the lotus is a metaphor for the pure opportunity of cultivating the Way, showing that ordinary people and sages alike have their own measure in practice, which does not depend on poverty or wealth, high rank or low station. Those who have an affinity with this Way should transmit it with reverence; those who meet the orthodox teaching may hope to realize the golden body (the indestructible body of an immortal perfected one).

All under heaven who hear the orthodox Way have come while lodging in the mortal world. Everyone should seek the Way of the Golden Heaven (here indicating the goal of cultivation toward the realm of spirits and perfected beings) and look for the root that neither decays nor perishes.

Thus Yin-Yang falls out of balance, heaven and earth grow dark, and the Qi of calamity and anomaly rises; the demons of Jing (essence) from the Six Caverns appear, and the monstrous beings of the Nine Heavens breed. The Six Directions (heaven, earth, and the four quarters) ultimately return to Jiji (the state in which Yin-Yang, water and fire, join and are harmonized), and water and fire blend of themselves. The myriad things fuse into one, each seeking true nature within.

Fire smelts true Jing, overturning and dispersing fierce, wicked, and rebellious Qi. Those who are pure in Yin-Yang have Jing and Qi radiant and brilliant, which congeal to form a perfected person. Primordial Unity (the Qi of the origin) condenses into a śarīra (the condensed substance of accomplished cultivation), while what is mixed and defiled turns to dust. The efficacious and genuine power within this can destroy the host of demons.

The Seven Emperors receive the command of the Primordial Beginning, take charge of the crucial pivot, and descend upon the Purple Court (a palace of the celestial realm). With the power of the stellar deities Pojun, Wuqu, Lianzhen, Wenqu, Lucun, Jumen, and Tanlang, they uphold and protect the Imperial Perfected (a revered deity of the celestial realm). The true light of the Five De (Virtues/Powers) shines, and demons and monsters naturally lose their strength. The might of the thunderbolt and the power of the Southern Elixir can overcome evil spirits, while the star Pojun symbolizes the awesome numen of the northern pole.

The son of the White Emperor of the West, the divine lord of the East who protects life, and the deity who dwells at the center, called “Tianyuan,” together strike forth thunder and lightning, destroying calamitous influences and evil Qi (vital energy).

The majestic power of the celestial gods is the same as that of Taisui (the deity who governs the fortunes of the year). Thunder assembles hundreds of millions of divine generals. The deities manifest golden bodies bearing wings, personally brandish their whips, and protect those who are auspicious and good.

Tiangang (the stellar officers of the Northern Dipper and their divine generals) drives out filth and evil and cuts down countless forms of baleful spirits. The Martial Ancestor Jinhua issues an edict, and the power of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) assists the divine troops.

The Dao (the Way) of Heaven represented by the Qian trigram responds in concert and unites in De (Virtue/Power) with the earth represented by the Kun trigram. The Zhen and Xun trigrams transform into thunder and raging winds. The Gen trigram suppresses demonic evils and shatters them to pieces. The Li trigram releases fierce fire that burns the hundred vicious monsters.

Tiangang drives out filth and evil and cuts down countless forms of baleful spirits. The Martial Ancestor Jinhua issues an edict, and the power of the Bagua assists the divine troops.

The Dao of Heaven represented by the Qian trigram responds in concert and unites in De with the earth represented by the Kun trigram. The Zhen and Xun trigrams transform into thunder and raging winds. The Gen trigram suppresses demonic evils and shatters them to pieces. The Li trigram releases fierce fire that burns the hundred vicious monsters.

The Dui trigram symbolizes the waters of the marsh, its power reaching across ten thousand li. The Kan trigram protects the people of the celestial realm, enabling them to turn misfortune into good fortune. The edicts issued by Tiangang and Haotian (the supreme celestial realm) manifest their power together. If one recites this Jing (scripture/classic) and carries it on one’s person, disaster has no way to arise.

Those who have the affinity to encounter this Jing should hasten to cultivate and uphold it diligently. Those without such affinity will surely suffer destruction and can only wait to turn into yellow earth.

The deities’ response is as swift as lightning; those who transmit this Jing must never treat it lightly. If, while reciting and reverently upholding it, one’s resolve does not retreat, then even behind closed doors at home one may behold peace and tranquility.

The present time is precisely the Dao of Renchen (a period corresponding to the Renchen year-cycle or its ordinances); ordinary mortals too may attain the Dao and ascend to Heaven. If the foolish and confused never come to understand, and instead slander this Jing, they will recklessly bring fierce misfortune upon themselves.

Those who cling to delusion without awakening, their minds blocked, will still incur guilt through craving ornate language. This is the method of Tianyuan; even through countless kalpic calamities it is hard to encounter again.

Those who encounter and cultivate this method may transcend the Three Realms (the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm) and never again descend to be born in the mortal world. Only upon reaching the state in which birth and extinction are no longer distinguished does one truly revere this Jing that delivers from kalpic calamity.

Having heard this supreme teaching, one reverently bows to the compassionate honored deities. Taking freedom from obstruction and Wuwei (non-action) as one’s fundamental substance, one calmly passes through the calamities of war.

Reverently bow to the Celestial Star Lords of the Seven Primordials (the seven star lords), and ask that they swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the Celestial Star Lord Pojun, and ask that he swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the Great Star Lord Tiangang, praying that, by means of the substance of Wuwei, one may calmly pass through the calamities of war.

Reverently bow to the Celestial Star Lords of the Seven Primordials, and ask that they swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the Celestial Star Lord Pojun, and ask that he swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the Great Star Lord Tiangang, and ask that he swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the Great Immortal Lord of Thunderbolts, and ask that he swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the White Emperor Lord of Geng and Xin (the divine lord corresponding to the West and the De of Metal), and ask that he swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

Reverently bow to the Black Emperor Lord of Ren and Gui (the divine lord corresponding to the North and the De of Water), and ask that he swiftly come to deliver all from calamity and protect the people of the celestial realm.

I reverently prostrate myself in homage to the Jia-Yi Azure Emperor Lord (the divine lord who governs the East and belongs to Wood). Please come swiftly to deliver us from calamity and protect the common people.

I reverently prostrate myself in homage to the Bing-Ding Red Emperor Lord (the divine lord who governs the South and belongs to Fire). Please come swiftly to deliver us from calamity and protect the common people.

I reverently prostrate myself in homage to the Yellow Emperor Lord of the Center (the divine lord who governs the Center and belongs to Earth). Please come swiftly to deliver us from calamity and protect the common people.

I reverently prostrate myself in homage to the many generals who rescue beings from calamity. Please come swiftly to deliver us from calamity and protect the common people.

I reverently prostrate myself in homage to the Taisui Life-Preserving Soldiers (the divine soldiers of Taisui who protect living beings). Please come swiftly to deliver us from calamity and protect the common people.

I reverently prostrate myself in homage to the Lei Ben Generals of the Five Directions (the divine generals who command the thunder of the five directions). Please come swiftly to deliver us from calamity and protect the common people.

I am Qinglianzi, grandson of Yuanhuang, Ancestral Patriarch of the Dao (the Way), the Dao Ancestor revered in Daoism. Tiangang—the stellar deity of Tiangang indicated by the handle of the Northern Dipper—comes to assist me, and the Seven Emperors guard my body.

The Bagua (Eight Trigrams), the symbolic system representing the transformations of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things, are transformed into divine power, so that every kind of disaster disperses. When I climb mountains, I can pass through steep and perilous places; when I cross waters, yin soldiers follow and lead the way.

When I set out, I am protected by Heaven’s mandate; when I enter the battle lines, I am guarded by the Army of Nine Radiances. Those who comply with me will accomplish the true Dao; those who oppose me will perish and become the form of rebels.

This is the urgent edict of Jinhua, and also the document of the Jade Emperor of Vast Heaven, the highest deity of the celestial realm.

This is the wondrous Jing (scripture/classic) by which the Most High Celestial Worthy of Jinhua teaches people to pass through calamity and protect nature and life.