《太上洞玄灵宝福日妙经》

The Celestial Worthy said: Good men and good women, if you wish, through the three times of past, present, and future, not to meet with all manner of calamity, you should devoutly receive and uphold this Jing (scripture/classic), and on the various auspicious days of prayer and blessing cultivate goodness, accumulate De (Virtue/Power), and establish merit. In this way the present life may be peaceful and joyful, and after death one may ascend to the heavenly realms.

The Celestial Worthy said: The first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh months are all months suited to prolonged fasting. If one can continue fasting and cultivation through these months, in the present life one may receive the deliverance of the immortal Dao (the Way), the whole household will be safe and well, and ancestors of seven generations may also be freed from worldly toil and suffering.

The Celestial Worthy said: The seventh day of the first month is the Assembly of Promotion and Reward of the Celestial Bureau (the heavenly office in charge of rewards and examination); the seventh day of the seventh month is the Assembly for Delivering the Living of the Earth Office; the fifth day of the tenth month is the Assembly for Establishing Life of the Water Office. These three days are all auspicious. If one can continue fasting on these days, it is said that the household, through ten thousand kalpas, will not meet with pestilence, and the ancestors too may obtain deliverance.

The Celestial Worthy said: The fifteenth of the first month, the fifteenth of the seventh month, and the fifteenth of the tenth month are the fasting days of the Three Yuan (the fasting days of the Upper Yuan, the Middle Yuan, and the Lower Yuan). If one can continue fasting on these days, one may lengthen one’s lifespan and add to one’s years, and be spared all manner of suffering.

The Celestial Worthy said: The first day of the first month is the Heavenly La; the fifth day of the fifth month is the Earthly La; the seventh day of the seventh month is the La of the Dao and De; the first day of the tenth month is the La of the People and the Year; and the La day that falls in the twelfth month is the La of Kings and Nobles. On the first and the fifteenth of each month, as well as on Jiazi days, one’s own day of natal destiny, and Gengshen days, if anyone can continue fasting and reciting the scriptures on these days, then the wishes prayed for can all be realized.

The scripture then reiterates: On the first and the fifteenth of each month, as well as on Jiazi days, the day of natal destiny, and Gengshen days, if one can continue fasting and reciting the scriptures, the matters prayed for can all be fulfilled as wished.

The opening of the final passage lists such days as the first, the eighth, the fourteenth, the fifteenth, the eighteenth, the twenty-third, and the twenty-fourth of each month, but the original text breaks off at “the twenty-fourth,” and what follows is not found, so its complete content cannot be determined.

The first, eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of each lunar month are called the “Ten Upright Days.” Those who observe a prolonged fast on these days receive blessings both in life and in death, and even after passing through ten thousand kalpas they still enjoy peace and happiness.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: the Beginning of Spring, the Spring Equinox, the Beginning of Summer, the Summer Solstice, the Beginning of Autumn, the Autumn Equinox, the Beginning of Winter, and the Winter Solstice are the “Eight Seasonal Fast Days.” To practice the Dao (the Way), uphold the precepts, observe a prolonged fast, and recite the Jing (scripture/classic) on these days brings rejoicing to the household and peace and happiness to the seven ancestors (seven generations of forebears).

The Celestial Worthy said: if one can observe a prolonged fast on days of blessing, then even across ten thousand kalpas there will be no calamity, and this present life will be secure and joyful. If someone personally copies this Jing in ten scrolls, the sinful karma accumulated through successive kalpas can be eliminated; if one copies one hundred scrolls, demon kings too will protect and keep one in mind; if one copies one thousand scrolls, one will be able to fly. All manner of evil spirits, wangliang (sprites of the mountains and rivers), and the five classes of pestilence will be unable to enter the gates; the good deities who guard the locality will often come to offer protection, so that the sinful karma of past lives and of the present life is entirely removed. If one copies this Jing on behalf of a good person, or receives and upholds this Jing, the blessings obtained will be without end.

If someone meets with danger and conflict, is harmed by tigers, wolves, or venomous creatures, forms enmity with others or encounters wicked people in battle, or faces childbirth, wind and waves, harassment by thieves, or bodily illness—even when life is about to come to an end—so long as this Jing is recited, the supreme sages and flying immortals will hasten to rescue and deliver that person, freeing them at once from suffering, so that every wish is fulfilled.

This Jing is the root of the practice received and cultivated by the Perfected of the Utmost Degree (venerable immortals in Daoism who cultivate perfection and attain the Dao), and it is also the essential principle of attaining the Dao. Those who see this Jing and are able to receive, uphold, and recite it—there are none who cannot attain immortality and deliverance; if one never sees this Jing, there is no way to attain the Dao. When the assembly had finished hearing the Celestial Worthy’s teaching, they bowed their heads and gave thanks to the Celestial Worthy, signifying that they accepted it in faith and would practice it as taught.