《灵宝施食法》

This method may be practiced every day, which is of course best. If one cannot keep a vegetarian fast for a long period, it is equally acceptable so long as one avoids the five pungent foods—scallions, garlic, and other sharply aromatic vegetables—along with anything one finds repulsive, and does not drink wine to the point of drunkenness. Practicing only on days of purification is also left to personal choice.

Each day at breakfast, first take a portion of clean food and keep it stored in a small box. When the night is deep and still, face the sky and silently recite the “Spell for Purifying the Three Karmas” (a spell that purifies body, speech, and mind). Then, following the method already described, pay homage to the true deities and make confession. While the spell is recited in silence, body and mind must be wholly concentrated; worldly entanglements are set aside, every illusory appearance returns to emptiness and stillness, and one visualizes a brilliant golden light shining forth.

Next, recite the “Spell of the Local Earth Deity,” visualizing the orthodox earth god of the place standing respectfully and awaiting instruction:

“The earth deity of this place is extraordinarily efficacious, able to ascend to the celestial realms, descend into the courts of the underworld, and pass in and out of the dark nether regions. Please convey my memorial for me, and do not delay. On the day when merit and practice are brought to completion, your name will be registered in Shangqing (the higher celestial realm of which Daoism speaks).”

Then recite once the Jiuku Jing (scripture/classic; a scripture that prays for the deliverance of the suffering and the dead). This Jing is recited first in order to express sincerity and to seek, with reverence, a response from the deities. While reciting, no stray thoughts should arise in the mind, and all affairs and all conditions should grow quiet. Visualize sunlight shining upon the crown of the head, and the Niwan Palace (a technical term of Neidan [internal alchemy], referring to the region of the head) sending forth a round radiance filled with the Compassionate Worthy (the compassionate honored deity), within which the many true deities also appear one by one. Then offer this prayer:

Your servant So-and-so, invested with ritual office, respectfully bows the head, takes refuge, and with a sincere heart announces upward to the Primordial Heavenly Worthy of Vacuous Spontaneity; the Dao-Lord of the Jade Empyrean, Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure; the Most High Lord Lao, Heavenly Worthy of the Dao (the Way) and Its De (Virtue/Power); the Compassionate Father of Azure Florescence, Heavenly Worthy of Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering (the venerable deity who relieves suffering and delivers the dead); the Heavenly Worthies of the Ten Directions who answer to their titles and save from suffering; the Perfected of the Ten Directions Who Save from Suffering; the Lads of the Ten Directions Who Save from Suffering; the Three Perfected Lords of Mysterious Unity of Upper Clarity; the Great Ritual Master of the Three Heavens, Perfected Lord of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity); the Perfected Lord, Immortal Duke of the Left Palace of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate); the Perfected Lord Grand Scribe, Metropolitan Immortal of the Nine Provinces; the Primal Lady of the Golden Portal who brightly coalesces the Wondrous Dao and protects the immortals; the Perfected One, Unsurpassed Sajun Who Saves from Suffering, of the Single Origin; the true governors of the several offices of the Nine Heavens who ferry souls; all gods and immortals of the Ten Directions who have attained the Dao; the lineage masters of the ritual registers together with their immortal spirits; the marshals and generals of Thunder, the Marchmounts, and Fengdu; the officers of the Divine Tigers charged with pursuit and summons; and the great gods of the Three Primordials and the Five Paths.

We respectfully beg all you venerable deities to extend great compassion and look down upon this matter. Now, in such-and-such a place, a certain devotee of the Dao has ceased taking food and offers a distribution of food to bring universal relief to the departed souls in the dark underworld. May the gods send down auspicious numinous light to illuminate the roads of the underworld, summon and guide the souls, and cause them to come swiftly. This matter relies upon the great divine power of the Three Treasures (the Dao, the Jing (scripture/classic), and the masters, which Daoism venerates).

We respectfully beg all you venerable deities to extend great compassion and look down upon this matter. Now, in such-and-such a place, a certain devotee of the Dao has ceased taking food and offers a distribution of food to bring universal relief to the departed souls in the dark underworld. May the gods send down auspicious numinous light to illuminate the roads of the underworld, summon and guide the souls, and cause them to come swiftly. Relying on the wisdom and divine power of the Three Treasures and the Compassionate Worthies, may sweet dew be sprinkled down and the food transformed into ritual dharma-fare, so that it spreads throughout the dharma-realms of the Ten Directions and ghosts and spirits alike may thereby receive sustenance and liberation.

Then recite the “Spell of Universal Illumination of Ghosts and Spirits”:

“Nan wai wei fu ding ji li.” Intone it seven times in a single breath of Qi (vital energy), so as to summon and draw them in with all speed.

Visualize a mass of black Qi, vast without limit, coming from behind the left shoulder. Within the black Qi are ten thousand points of starlight. Then inhale and blow the breath out, scattering the starlight before you, as though divine generals were leading their hosts and advancing. Then offer the invocation, saying:

With reverence we summon the beings throughout the boundless worlds of the ten directions: beings of the way of demonic spirits, the way of human relations, the way of the hells, the way of hungry ghosts, and the way of animals, together with orphaned souls, male and female, of every kind, and suffering souls who died in calamity. This also includes those to whom, in former lives, we owe debts of life, of wealth, of kindness, and of moral obligation, as well as wronged souls and souls held in confinement. From ancient times to the present, whether in other realms or in this world, all sunken souls and lingering spirits who fell in battle, died far from home, or died bearing a grievance, together with ghosts, spirits, and numinous beings of every kind, are invited to receive the power of the Dao (the Way), to come to the ritual altar, to accept the food offerings, to dissolve the knots of grievance, and, by the merit of this ritual method, to be delivered and transformed.

Next recite the “Sweet Dew Throat-Opening Incantation” (the incantation by which sweet dew releases the blockage in the throats of the dead and enables them to receive food):

Om li yuan xi ping zha xi she hua ye.

Recite it nine times continuously in a single breath.

Visualize the Compassionate Honored One (the honored deity of compassion) responding and appearing in the air, sprinkling sweet dew. Press the tip of the tongue against the upper palate, let the lips and teeth come gently together, and direct the gaze upward toward the crown of the head. When the mouth fills with a sweet, moist sensation, slowly swallow the saliva. Visualize in this way the subsiding of burning distress, so that body and mind grow cool and clear and hunger and thirst cease; the departed souls in the dark netherworld likewise all receive relief.

Next recite the “Food-Transformation Incantation” (the incantation by whose power the food offering is transformed and increased for the departed souls to receive):

Om bu lu li yan yu duo she.

Recite it seven times continuously in a single breath.

By the power of the divine incantation, the ritual food is changed into a vast and boundless offering, so that the departed souls are no longer hungry or thirsty and receive relief.

Then recite the Food-Transformation Incantation once more, seven times continuously in a single breath. After the power of the incantation has changed the ritual food into a vast and boundless offering, recite once, calmly and slowly, the “Five Kitchens Incantation” (a Daoist incantation for contemplative visualization and the nurturing of primordial Qi (vital energy)):

One Qi harmonizes with Great Harmony; attaining the One, the Dao is everywhere peaceful and harmonious. There is then no single harmony, and the mysterious principle penetrates to the mysterious limit. Do not use intention to think upon intention, nor seek an intention free of thinking; and yet there is no thinking—this method is upheld just so. Do not set the mind to condition the mind, nor abide there either; with conditions severed while the mind remains, do not preserve the mind. What is true guards the true origin and cultivates and orders the will; leaving the will, cultivation is accumulated—it does not accord to leave the will and yet not cultivate the will. When deeds are already without an “already,” one knows all Qi taken as food; knotted Qi is not those many things; Qi long settled into knots returns to its original Qi. As it is taken, so it should be released.

Next recite the Incantation for Resolving Grievances:

Transform oppression—Om li hong; release the debts of the five ghosts.

Recite it seven times continuously in a single breath.

First let body and mind grow pure and clear, giving rise to neither resentment nor loathing, so that the many souls (the departed) awaken, set aside their mutual grievances, and naturally find liberation. Then recite the “Sanyun” text (the blessing used in the ritual to announce the offering of food and to comfort the souls of the dead):

All immortal maidens and departed souls, may those of you who hunger be filled, and those who suffer heat and distress feel cool; may your disputes and enmities all be removed and reconciled. Taking refuge in the Dao (the Way), one is spared from falling into hell. Taking refuge in the Jing (scripture/classic), one is spared from falling into the realm of hungry ghosts; taking refuge in the Master (the ancestral teacher who transmits the Dao), one is spared from falling into the realm of animals. If one can receive and uphold the Nine True Wondrous Precepts (nine pure precepts), one can eliminate the grave offenses of the Ninefold Darkness (the depths of the underworld); if one can establish the Four Great Vows, one can achieve the fruit of the Dao. These will now be proclaimed one by one; please each listen and receive them with a sincere mind.

The Three Refuges are refuge in the wondrous Dao of the Jade Capital of Daluo, refuge in the jade Jing of the inner vision within the splendid hall, and refuge in the ancestral teachers who guide beings of the human world and the heavenly realms to attain the Dao.

The Nine True Precepts are these. First, be respectful and yielding, and filial in serving and supporting one’s parents. Second, be diligent and conscientious, and loyal to one’s sovereign. Third, do not kill; with a compassionate heart, rescue all living beings. Fourth, do not commit sexual misconduct; keep oneself upright and deal properly with others and with affairs. Fifth, do not steal; value the Dao and righteousness, and when necessary prefer to bear the loss oneself. Sixth, do not give way to anger, and do not bully others with violence and rage. Seventh, do not deceive; do not flatter in order to harm others, nor injure those who are good. Eighth, do not be proud, and do not slight the perfected persons who cultivate the Dao. Ninth, do not be of two minds, but single-mindedly uphold the precepts.

The Four Great Vows are to vow to understand one’s own original nature and no longer fall into delusion; to vow to open vast compassion and depart from every kind of desire; to vow to cultivate merit and virtue broadly and universally relieve all beings; and to vow to return to and uphold the true Dao and praise the teaching of the Dao.

These refuges and precepts can restrain body and mind; supported further by the power of the vows, one can pass through long ages without losing the way. May all beings throughout the endless kalpas yet to come together cultivate these methods, each attaining deliverance.

Then recite the “Sanshi” spell:

I set forth pure offerings and universally bestow them upon the many souls in the underworld. A single grain of food extends throughout the ten directions, so that ghosts and spirits as numerous as the river sands (as countless as the sands of the Ganges, a phrase for an extremely great number) may all partake together.

Afterward, perform the bows and prostrations, gaze in reverence to see them off, and dedicate the merit (praying that the merit be transferred to all beings).

The divine light—the inner radiance that the practitioner visualizes and employs—rises upward and passes out through the crown gate at the top of the head. Close off the breath and forcefully exhale with the sound he; the left hand forms the “Wu character,” a kind of hand seal. Charge forward into the black Qi (vital energy) ahead, transform into myriad points of warm light, and ascend into the realm without form or appearance, the mind free of clinging and obstruction. Doubt and hesitation must be strictly guarded against.

The incantation says:

May this merit be dedicated to the Great Compassionate Honored One. May the Compassionate Honored One’s grace extend to my kinsfolk, teachers, and family, and reach all sentient beings, so that all may attain the supreme Dao (the Way).

In the incantation above, some characters carry the “mouth” radical at the side; when such a character is met, pronounce only one of its components. If the standard character itself has a fixed pronunciation, recite it in the ordinary way. Do not mix the readings, and do not fall into doubt or hesitation.