《灵宝天尊说禄库受生经》

At that time, Lingbao Tianzun (the Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure) was in the Jingming land of the Fuluo world, beneath the seven-treasure tree on Mount Shanji, expounding the wondrous teaching to countless flying celestial divine kings and immortal sages. He sent forth light of nine colors that shone upon living beings in all ten directions, revealing the differences in their karmic recompense for good and evil: some were noble and some lowly; some were wealthy and some poor.

Doubt arose in their hearts, yet they dared not speak and ask. Then the Perfected One Guangmiaoyin rose, set his robes and cap in order, bowed his head to the ground, and knelt in formal obeisance, addressing the Heavenly Worthy: “Just now I saw your radiance illuminating the ten directions. Among living beings there are men and women, and wealth and honor, poverty and low station, suffering and joy all differ. What different causes and conditions give rise to these distinctions? I earnestly beg the Heavenly Worthy, in compassion, to grant instruction.”

The Heavenly Worthy said, “Very good. Return to your seat, quiet your mind, and listen with full attention.”

The Heavenly Worthy said, “The destinies of all living beings in the ten directions are administered by the Celestial Bureau (Tiancao, the office in the heavenly realm that oversees the affairs of gods and spirits), while their bodies are bound up with the Earth Prefecture (Difu, the offices of the underworld). When a person obtains a human body, that person once borrowed from the netherworld offices (Mingsi, the underworld bureaus) belonging to the Earth Prefecture the funds of the emolument treasury for receiving birth—that is, the fortune-and-blessing money used for taking rebirth. The netherworld offices register these funds according to the emolument ledger (Lubu, the register that records fortune and blessings); therefore some people are wealthy and honored in the human world.

Those who are poor and lowly are so because, lifetime after lifetime, they remain in debt to the netherworld offices and suffer a reduction of their fortune and blessings, and so they are impoverished and wanting in the human world. The underworld officials deduct the fortune and blessings due to them among the living in order to offset their debts in the underworld. Thus living beings come to have differing circumstances of nobility and lowliness, poverty and wealth, suffering and joy. You should understand this.”

The Celestial Worthy said: In the past I bestowed a precious tree and entrusted it to the Northern Emperor of Fengdu (the deity who governs the underworld), to be planted in the underworld capital, so that the good and evil of all beings, and the karmic retribution corresponding to them, might be clearly discerned. I also bestowed three sacred arrows and three divine bows upon the men and women who are born as human beings. People shoot arrows toward the precious tree: one who hits the eastern branch may in a future life obtain a body of official rank, noble emolument, and long life; one who hits the southern branch may obtain a body of extended years and sound health; one who hits the western branch may obtain a body of wealth, honor, and glory; one who hits the northern branch will obtain a body of poverty and hardship.

This precious tree symbolizes the connection between karma and karmic retribution. If, while alive, a person reveres the Three Treasures (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha), gives alms according to their means, holds purification feasts, recites the Jing (scripture), widely practices good deeds, and, in accordance with my teaching, recites this scripture and burns the birth-money of the emolument treasury—paper money used in Daoist ritual to repay loans from the underworld and to replenish the treasury of emoluments—they will obtain the corresponding good fruits. Such a person can be reborn as a male for three successive lives; even if they die again, they will not pass through hell, but will be able to be reborn once more as a human being. If Fengdu has them shoot toward the precious tree with bow and arrow, I will protect and uphold them with divine power, so that the arrow does not strike the northern branch and they once again obtain a body of honor and nobility.

Conversely, if someone, while alive, is stingy and greedy, foolish and ignorant, does not believe in the scriptures and the teaching, fails to repay debts, is jealous of others, plants no good causes, and does only evil deeds, they will be entered in the register of sins, and their lifespan will also be reduced by the Celestial Bureau (the governing office of the heavenly realm). If they still owe the underworld administration the wealth of birth-money, do not repay it while alive, and deceive one another besides, then after death they will fall into hell, and only after an extremely long time might they be reborn as animals, turning continually within karmic retribution. Even if they are later reborn as human beings again, they must, in accordance with natural karmic retribution, shoot at the branches before the precious tree with the divine bow and sacred arrows; if they hit the northern branch, they will become poor and lowly people. This, too, is the retribution of poverty and baseness that falls on those who do not trust in good conditions, even though they obtain a human body.

The Perfected further inquired of the Celestial Worthy, saying: “I still do not understand: when a person is born, from which treasury of the underworld did they borrow the birth-money? And in the human world, to which treasury should it be repaid? Although I have received your instruction, I still do not clearly grasp the reasons for this. I earnestly beg the Compassionate Worthy to explain these matters separately for everyone.”

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: From the moment a person is born, that person corresponds to one of the twelve years and is assigned to an official bureau in charge of a treasury of emoluments (a storehouse governing blessings, salary, and wealth). Each treasury has an official responsible for it. I shall now explain for you the zodiac year and the surname overseen by each of the twelve bureaus. Those born in the year of the Rat owe thirteen thousand strings of cash as money for receiving life (shousheng qian) and belong to the first treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Li; those born in the year of the Ox owe two hundred eighty thousand strings and belong to the second treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Tian; those born in the year of the Tiger owe eighty thousand strings and belong to the third treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Lei; those born in the year of the Rabbit owe eighty thousand strings and belong to the fourth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Liu; those born in the year of the Dragon owe fifty thousand strings and belong to the fifth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Yuan; those born in the year of the Snake owe seventy thousand strings and belong to the sixth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Ji; those born in the year of the Horse owe two hundred sixty thousand strings and belong to the seventh treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Xu; those born in the year of the Sheep owe one hundred thousand strings and belong to the eighth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Zhu; those born in the year of the Monkey owe forty thousand strings and belong to the ninth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Che; those born in the year of the Rooster owe fifty thousand strings and belong to the tenth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Zheng; those born in the year of the Dog owe twenty-five thousand strings and belong to the eleventh treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Cheng; and those born in the year of the Pig owe nine thousand strings and belong to the twelfth treasury, whose bureau official is surnamed Kang.

The Celestial Worthy further said: The twelve palace-treasury officials mentioned above each take charge of those born in their respective years. They record the money for receiving life owed by each person—which, as the scripture (Jing) says, is the wealth of the underworld owed before one is reborn as a human being—together with the money that, at the time of rebirth as a human, was promised to the yuanchen to which one belongs (the star or deity corresponding to one’s year of birth). They enter these in the registers of the treasury of emoluments for receiving life and check them against the name rolls of the underworld administration (the offices of the netherworld).

The Perfected (Zhenren) said: I am not yet clear about the divine stations corresponding to the yuanchen, nor about the amounts of money. I earnestly beg the Celestial Worthy, in compassion, to explain this further in detail.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said with a smile, “Very good. You ought to do your utmost to help all living beings. I will now further explain to you the names of the Yuanchen corresponding to the twelve zodiac animals, and the sums of money that were pledged.

Those born in the year of the Rat have as their natal Yuanchen (benming yuanchen) Liu Wenzhen, and pledged seven thousand guan when they took birth as human beings; those born in the year of the Ox have as their natal Yuanchen Meng Hou, and pledged nine thousand guan; those born in the year of the Tiger have as their natal Yuanchen Zhong Yuan, and pledged six thousand guan; those born in the year of the Rabbit have as their natal Yuanchen Hao Yuan, and pledged ten thousand guan; those born in the year of the Dragon have as their natal Yuanchen Li Wenliang, and pledged five thousand four hundred guan; those born in the year of the Snake have as their natal Yuanchen Cao Jiao, and pledged one thousand guan; those born in the year of the Horse have as their natal Yuanchen Zhang Si, and pledged nine thousand guan; those born in the year of the Sheep have as their natal Yuanchen Sun Gong, and pledged four thousand guan; those born in the year of the Monkey have as their natal Yuanchen Du Zhun, and pledged eight thousand guan; those born in the year of the Rooster have as their natal Yuanchen Tian Jiaoyou, and pledged five thousand guan; those born in the year of the Dog have as their natal Yuanchen Cui Jianjin, and pledged five thousand guan; and those born in the year of the Pig have as their natal Yuanchen Wang Shuang, and pledged six thousand guan.”

Here, “natal Yuanchen” refers to the divine title of the spirit corresponding to the zodiac animal of the year of a person’s birth; the “pledged money” of which the scripture (Jing) speaks is the sum of money pledged at the time of taking birth as a human being.

At this time, the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) addressed the four assemblies of disciples present, both those who had left the household life and the lay faithful: If men and women who believe in the teachings and methods of the Dao are willing to study the scriptures (Jing) and give wealth in charity, they may, following this scripture, establish a ritual site, prepare incense and flowers in full, and adorn the site with lamps and candles, making offerings to the Three Treasures—the Dao, the scriptures, and the masters—to the Great Dao, and to all the immortals, perfected ones, and sages. They should also practice the Dao and perform rites of recitation in the six periods of the day, reciting the scripture repeatedly ten times, and hold a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) of setting out a feast, presenting offerings, and praying to the deities. They should prepare the money owed for receiving life, together with the wealth once vowed as offerings to the Yuanchen, the deities bound up with one’s personal lifespan, writing out each amount item by item, preparing the documents according to the regulations, and, after burning them, returning them to the emolument treasury to which they belong. In this way, one may receive in the present life the karmic fruit of blessings and eminent status, and in the next life remain far from suffering.

If living beings do not believe in the causes and conditions of former lives and instead create evil karma, after death they will fall into the Nine Springs, the underworld. If the relevant debts and promised offerings are not written out item by item, and documents are not prepared according to the regulations, burned, and returned to the proper emolument treasury, there will be differing karmic fruits of suffering and joy between life and death. All of you in the assembly should each examine yourselves and understand these principles.

At this time, the Perfected One of Radiant Wondrous Sound (Guangmiaoyin Zhenren), together with the immortals present, the Northern Emperor of Fengdu, the underworld officers of King Yama, the clerks of the emolument treasury, the Yuanchen of each person’s own affiliation, and all who were assembled, bowed their heads to the Celestial Worthy, gazed up at his venerable countenance, paid their respects, and withdrew. Thereafter, the Perfected One of Radiant Wondrous Sound spread the teaching throughout the world, thereby saving both the living and the dead, praising and proclaiming the meaning of the scripture, so that people would believe, accept, and put it into practice.