《太一救苦护身妙经》

At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) was in the Heaven of Pure Subtlety (Qingwei Tian) above the Mysterious Prospect (Xuanjing), seated on the Seven-Treasure throne within the Nine-Colored Jade Hall. He sent forth a great radiance, summoned the myriad spirits, and expounded the heavenly Dao to living beings. The Celestial Worthies, Lords of the Dao, Lords Lao, Imperial Lords, Primordial Lords, Elders, and sages of the ten directions, together with countless hosts of immortals, all came before the throne to hear the teaching. The Brahma King praised the wondrous Dharma, Indra sang with joy, immortal music sounded of itself, and the immortals arrived following the light.

Then the Most High Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) left his jade throne and, treading lotus blossoms, walked to the presence of Yuanshi Tianzun. Perfected Ones stood in attendance on either side, and jade maidens held the hems of his robes. He memorialized, saying: “We, your subjects, have received the teaching and transformation of our venerable master and have been granted blessings and protection; the master’s grace is without measure. I see the countless living beings in the Three Realms—the Realm of Desire, the Realm of Form, and the Formless Realm—and in the sea of suffering, meeting with every kind of calamity and entangled by the karma of their offenses; beings of every sort can hardly escape the transformations of birth and death. Your subject is unwilling to dwell alone in the Heaven of Great Clarity (Taiqing Tian), and wishes to rely on the awe-inspiring virtue of the master, to divide and transform his bodily form, and to go into the Three Realms to save and deliver living beings. I earnestly beg the Most Venerable to discern your subject’s wish to relieve suffering.”

Yuanshi Tianzun subtly manifested his Dharma-body and said to Lord Lao: “Good, good! Your leaving the jade throne has already stirred all the heavens; that you would relieve suffering and deliver living beings needs no further words. Please return to your seat, and I shall proclaim the wondrous Dharma for you.”

The Celestial Worthy said: “All the myriad things are born of me, and all the myriad spirits are transformed by me. When living beings meet with suffering and calamity, I ought naturally to come to their aid. There is no need for you to display your power or change your bodily form in order to deliver them. In the Eastern World of Everlasting Joy there is a greatly compassionate and merciful honored deity named the Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering (a revered deity in Daoism who rescues beings from hardship and disaster). His transformations are as countless as the sands of the Ganges. The moment living beings call upon him, he answers in response to their voices. He may dwell in the celestial palaces, descend into the human world, enter the hells, or subdue malign spirits. At times he appears as an immortal youth or a jade maiden, an imperial lord or a sage, a Celestial Worthy or a Perfected Person, a vajra or a divine king, a demon king or a mighty warrior, a Celestial Master (Tianshi) or a Daoist priest, the Sovereign Person or Lord Lao, a celestial physician or a merit officer; he may also take the form of a man or a woman, a civil or military official, a marshal, a teacher, or a Chan master, and even of the god of wind or the god of rain. His spiritual powers are vast and his merits without end. Whenever he hears a cry for help he goes to relieve the suffering, manifesting a form suited to the circumstances. I now tell you all of this.”

Lord Lao again presented a memorial and asked: “This honored deity’s power is wondrous and his transformations are inexhaustible. How are we to come before my honored master?”

The Celestial Worthy told Lord Lao: “You may call aloud the name of Taiyi and have the immortal officials chant it together with you; he will naturally respond and appear.”

Thereupon Lord Lao and the assembled immortals…

At this point the original text breaks off incomplete after the words “Thereupon Lord Lao and the assembled immortals transformed,” and the ending repeats the question and answer given above.

Thereupon Lord Lao (Laojun) and the assembled immortals, following the instruction of the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun), together chanted the name of the Great Unity Celestial Worthy Who Saves from Suffering (Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun). Suddenly they saw, within the retinue of the Imperial Lord (Dijun), a youth who trod lotus blossoms with every step. He came before the Celestial Worthy, bowed his head to the ground, and reported: “Your servant is Taiyi. I beg my Master to open the teaching and proclaim the wondrous Dharma. I have gathered the many forms and condensed them into a body, so that I may hear this marvelous sound of the Dharma. In heaven one enjoys only a moment of happiness, yet beneath the earth one must pass through myriads of kalpas. Within the Three Realms, living beings suffer bitterly and cry aloud, ‘Suffering! Ah, suffering!’” The youth circled the Celestial Worthy, bowed and prostrated, and asked leave to descend beyond the heavenly realm to rescue living beings. Seeing that tears had wet the youth’s robes as he made his report, the immortals choked with emotion and sighed: “Above, in heaven, there is peace and joy; below, on earth, there is calamity. Living beings endure karmic retribution in the round of rebirth—when will they ever attain clarity, stillness, and ease?”

The Celestial Worthy said to Taiyi: “You have vowed to relieve suffering, and compassion is in your heart. Living beings are in pain even now. According to the wish of your heart, manifest in different forms and go to their aid.” The youth laughed with joy, paid his respects, and withdrew.

The immortals saw the youth transform into a Celestial Worthy. His feet trod lotus blossoms, a circular halo shone from his body, and he held a willow branch and purifying water, with nine-headed lions in attendance on either side. He rose into the void and departed. Next they saw the Celestial Worthy transform into an Imperial Lord. His feet trod lotus blossoms, he held a ruyi scepter, a circular halo shone from his body, and nine-headed lions attended on either side. He rose into the void and departed. They then saw the Imperial Lord transform into a Perfected Person (Zhenren). His feet trod lotus blossoms, and from his hands issued spirit-light (Shen), reaching upward to the Nine Heavens and downward through the Nine Earths, with nine-headed lions in attendance on either side. He rose into the void and departed. They next saw the Perfected Person transform into a woman, dressed in an inner robe of fiery brocade, her hair unbound and her feet bare, treading lotus blossoms, a golden sword in her hand, a circular halo shining from her body. Nine-headed lions breathed fire from their mouths and circled her form, and she too rose into the void and departed.

Lord Lao addressed the Celestial Worthy: “This holy one’s majestic De (Virtue/Power) is immense. He can change his form to save and deliver living beings. From where does such numinous power come? Through how many kalpas of cultivation was it achieved? I earnestly beg you, in response to the occasion, to explain this for us all.”

Note: In the scripture, “purifying water” refers to water used in Daoist ritual for sprinkling and purification. The “nine-headed lions,” the “circular halo,” and similar features are the majestic bearing and visible forms of deities when they manifest.

The Celestial Worthy said: In the heavenly realm this sage is called the God of Blessings of the Great Unity, in the human world he is called the Great Compassionate and Benevolent One, and in the hells he is called the Sun-Radiant Sovereign Lord. He is able to seize and subdue evil spirits among the heterodox paths, and so he is also called the Lion Wisdom King; in the courts of water he is called the Sovereign Lord of the Cavern Abyss. He is a transformation of my Qi (vital energy), and I am his source; what he knows, I know as well. This is the Jing (essence) of the Nine Yang, supremely numinous and wondrous. You must keep these principles in secret and must not transmit them in their entirety.

At that time Lord Lao, having heard the Celestial Worthy’s words, closed his eyes and gathered his Shen (spirit), snapped his fingers and kowtowed, and chanted this incantation:

“The ancestral Qi of the Primordial Beginning wondrously transforms into the Jing of the Nine Yang. Its majestic De (Virtue/Power) extends throughout the ten directions, and amid the obscure, the subtle, and the indistinct the true form appears. The Qi of the Three and the Nine raises the force of the wind, moving back and forth between the Palace of Li and the realm of Initial Azure. Offer reverent worship, and sweet dew like jade nectar will arise; uphold it, and one will be spared hunger and thirst. All the myriad spirits should believe and pay homage, and then they will not be assailed by the eight sufferings. Accumulate good deeds and uphold the Keyi (liturgy) and the precepts, and one will be guided to realize entry into the Jade Capital.”

The Celestial Worthy then said further to Lord Lao and the various immortals: If living beings encounter epidemic illness and sickness clings to them for a long time, they may burn incense, recite this sage’s name, and chant this Jing (scripture/classic), praying to be received and led, and to realize entry into the Jade Capital.

At this time, the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) again told Lord Lao (Laojun) and the assembled immortals: if someone often meets with pestilence, and illness drags on without recovery, they may burn incense, recite the sacred titles (holy honorific names), and recite or revolve this scripture (Jing); the illness will then recede, and the person will regain peace.

If someone seeks office or employment yet is slandered and obstructed by treacherous petty people, they need only recite the sacred titles and recite this scripture, and they will naturally be spared jealousy and obtain promotion and stipend.

If someone crosses rivers or seas, is frightened by wind and waves, and fears harm from fish and dragons, they may practice cunsi (concentrated visualization of deities) and recite the sacred titles, and they will reach shore safely and unharmed. When they meet thunder, lightning, wind, and rain and feel alarmed and unsettled, they may do the same, so that the spirit becomes clear and the hun and po souls are settled.

If parents, teachers and elders, and kin are at odds, and brothers grow distant, one may practice cunsi, recite the sacred titles, and recite this scripture, and thereby bring the family into harmony: the father kind, the children filial, and brothers affectionate and respectful.

If an emperor or the ruler of a state meets with rebellion by ministers at court, the outbreak of war, wind and rain out of season, and the people suffer deeply and blame heaven and earth, they need only keep the fast (observing purification abstinence) and recite this scripture; wind and rain will then be seasonably harmonized, the crimes of the rebellious ministers will come to light, the state will be secure, and the people at peace.

If someone is troubled by evil spirits and ghosts, they may practice cunsi and recite the sacred titles, so that the demons cease their mischief and the ghostly thieves perish. If, while walking in mountains and forests, one is harmed by insects, snakes, or birds and beasts, one may do the same, causing them to withdraw and no longer injure people.

If a woman is pregnant and childbirth is difficult, she may practice cunsi and recite the sacred titles, seeking the protection of true Qi (vital energy), so that delivery is without pain or injury and she bears a child who is intelligent and well-formed, sound in the five senses and the limbs, with mother and child both safe. If men or women meet with difficulties in childbirth, they may likewise seek protection in this way.

If men and women cultivate the Dao (the Way) at home or leave the household to practice, wishing to cultivate body and mind and preserve life, they may practice cunsi, recite the sacred titles, and recite this scripture, and thereby perfect complete merit and practice and ascend to heaven in broad daylight.

If someone is repeatedly confined in prison, cries out in suffering, and no one responds, they may recite the sacred titles, seek release, and leave the prison.

If the seven ancestors and nine forebears (ancestors), disciples and fellow students, and spouses and children, after death, linger in the cold places of the underworld and have not been reborn, one may recite the sacred titles so that they leave the yin realm and ascend to heaven.

If someone is implicated and entangled by enemies, they may recite the sacred titles, so that enmity is resolved and later entanglements are cut off.

Thereupon, the Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun) said to Lord Lao (Laojun): “This Holy Worthy is the most venerable of all, sacred and efficacious. On the third and ninth days of each month, he often descends into the human world. People may burn incense and worship in a clean chamber, dip a willow branch in clear water and sprinkle it for purification, set out the fresh flowers and medicinal herbs of the season, and make offerings according to the rite. In this way they will naturally prolong their years and increase their longevity, living to the age of one hundred and twenty, ever receiving the coming of the Five Blessings and remaining far from the eight kinds of calamity. Take care that unclean things such as stove ash and pomegranate filth do not touch the place of offering.”

After the Heavenly Worthy had finished expounding the scripture (jing), the immortals present all acclaimed it as good. Lions opened their mouths and spoke, and phoenixes too were able to speak; fish and dragons transformed into human form, and withered, decayed things grew anew; all beings possessed of life and sentience received blessings. In the grand and solemn assembly, all beings were able to ascend as immortals. The Lord of the Dao (Daojun), Lord Lao, and countless true immortals praised together: “Today we have heard this wondrous teaching, and the benefit is very great.” The immortals then took their leave and departed.

Note: “The third and ninth days” refers to the days of each month that fall on the third and the ninth; the “Five Blessings” are the five kinds of good fortune spoken of in tradition; the “Eight Difficulties” refer to the eight obstacles encountered in cultivation or in hearing the true teaching.