《无上三天法师说荫育众生妙经》

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: Good, good! I see the operations of heaven and earth in disorder, the courses of the sun and moon changing, the stars departing from their orbits, and the time of disaster kalpas about to arrive. Hungry ghosts appear in the world, and all manner of calamities follow one after another. I dwell in empty space, taking pity on all living beings, and wish to transmit this Jing (scripture). I see the common people starving, able only to stave off hunger with grass and wild vegetables; many have already died, and it appears they can hardly remain alive.

Whether poor or wealthy, every household finds its storehouses empty. Silkworms, mulberry trees, and wheat yield no harvest, while buckwheat and beans likewise fail to thrive. Trees do not flower, and those that flower bear no fruit. Three kinds of ghosts and demons are scattered throughout the human realm, devouring the people's grain and causing them to starve to death. Destitute ghosts also bring various diseases that kill people. People lose their lives in such circumstances as being murdered while going out to make a living and seek what they need; dying of bloating after eating kudzu vine roots; perishing as their illness worsens after eating meat; rushing back and forth yet receiving no alms; dying from the exhaustion of Qi (vital energy) and strength; dying in national turmoil at the hands of bandits and amid warfare; being harmed by insects, beasts, tigers, and leopards; starving to death while searching everywhere for grain; dying from bodily emaciation; and dying even though they eat vine roots, which cannot sustain life. In the end, people will also die when the destined time of the disaster kalpa arrives.

When the day of the disaster kalpa comes, wind and frost will snap the trees, and ghost soldiers will appear in the world, giving rise to warfare and famine. Ghosts and demons spread poison, harm people and take their lives, causing the five grains to disappear completely, and they also devour people's grain so that they starve to death. Even wealthy families who plant seeds obtain no harvest; the dead have no one to bury them, and granaries stand empty. The poor can eat only grass and wild vegetables, their faces turning black and yellow; even vine roots cannot be found, and rice and beans are entirely cut off. People gradually lose their strength and grow thinner and weaker day by day.

I now therefore inform the people of the world: if you wish to avoid disaster, you may copy the Wondrous Jing of Nurturing All Living Beings. Every member of the family, old or young, should each copy one copy or have someone copy one. Set up divine incantations and hold the Lingbao Qingzhai, a Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual), in order to expel the ghosts and demons that bring epidemics. Invite ordained masters who cultivate the Jing methods of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen)—Daoist priests familiar with the classics and Keyi (liturgy)—to plant roots of goodness, establish Zhai rituals and perform rites of repentance, thereby rescuing the people. If one can cultivate and practice for one day and one night, every household should copy this Jing and take it home to enshrine. In this way one may obtain health, robust Qi and strength, a reliable supply of food and drink, increased harvests of fields and silkworm-mulberry, and the ripening of the five grains; the things one prays for will also be fulfilled as wished. Those who do not believe will be invaded by demons and personally suffer the disaster kalpa.

At this time the Celestial Master then spoke a hymn:

If sentient beings fail to practice goodness, they will starve to death when famine strikes, without even a means of livelihood. The roots of kudzu cannot stave off hunger—where then is grain to be found? Searching everywhere yields nothing; how can your hearts not be afraid? Seeing the body suffer hunger and toil, how can one not seek a way to survive?

This year a minor disaster has already occurred, and next year even greater calamities will follow. Hungry ghosts come to the human world and devour all of people’s grain. Once ghosts and spirits appear, they send people to invite you to a banquet: you eat your fill in the morning, yet as soon as you turn around you are hungry again; you cry out from starvation, your qi (vital energy) feeble, your body so emaciated it no longer resembles human form.

To avert disaster, one may invite others to the home to recite this Jing (scripture). The Jing mentions spending three hundred wen to have it proclaimed from house to house; they should be received with courtesy and congratulations expressed. Now I proclaim this Jing for you; those who recite it will find peace. Whether rich or poor, all who hear of it should come to listen to the Jing.

Every household in the world should read this Jing. When you invite a ritual master to your home to proclaim it, family members must not quarrel among themselves. In this way the five grains will yield a bountiful harvest, and ghostly calamities will recede of themselves. If one does not follow the teachings of the Heavenly Worthy, seven generations of ancestors will sink into the netherworld. Gazing upon one’s own extreme sufferings, how can one’s undertakings succeed? Following heterodox paths leads to falling into hell, while cultivating the methods of the Dao (the Way) brings the name of an immortal. Transmitting Fulu (talismans and registers) and proclaiming this Jing is to rescue sentient beings, enabling them to transcend the great kalpa of famine and forever escape hunger and poverty.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: Whether Yi peoples or households of Huaxia, all should universally practice the methods of averting disasters, sincerely repent, remain loyal to the sovereign, filial to parents, refrain from killing living beings or stealing, and extensively accumulate good deeds and meritorious virtue.

When rebellious demonic beings emerge into the world, they will inflict harm upon the common people and also cause crop failures, leaving every household starving and able to survive only on wild grasses and vegetables; such circumstances are truly unimaginable. You should prepare in advance incense, oil, rice, and flour, set up a ritual space in a pure and quiet place, and perform the rites of repentance according to the natural Zhai method (the Daoist ritual of fasting, precepts, and repentance). Money should be contributed according to the population of each household, with each family giving as it sees fit regardless of amount, as an offering from the heart; the ritual masters should remain harmonious and of one mind, without disputes.

If one does not follow the purport of the scriptures but merely wastes incense, oil, offerings, and other items in vain, this will ultimately fail to accord with the sagely intent and will possess no power of merit. Rather than being tossed about into hardship and suffering the pains of poverty and hunger, it is better for each to resolve to practice goodness and accumulate virtue.

If the scriptures of the Heavenly Worthy should suddenly be transmitted to your home, you ought to believe in them, accept them, and put them into practice without giving rise to doubts. If gold and silver are used to redeem and resolve, one will obtain corresponding retribution in gold and silver; if silks are used to redeem and resolve, one will obtain corresponding retribution in silks; if money and wealth are used to redeem and resolve, one will obtain corresponding retribution in money and wealth; if inferior things are used to redeem and resolve, one will likewise obtain corresponding unfavorable retribution.

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) said: The retribution of goodness and the affinities of blessing become manifest through the practice of good deeds; the causes of evil and their consequences, however, accumulate day after day from the commission of wicked acts until they finally entangle the person. I observe the sentient beings of the lower realm: they do not revere the orthodox Dao (the Way), they do not honor the Supreme Truth (the highest True Dao venerated in Daoism); they toil all day merely to survive, diligently pursuing private gain and desire; they do not cultivate the roots of goodness, yet compete to create evil karma; they sacrifice to ghosts and spirits and indulge in heterodox cults. Even if they follow rituals meant to avert disaster, who among them can thereby escape an untimely death?

Now, in the eleventh month of the Gengxu year, I have caused the Taishang Shenfu Yinyu Miaojing (Wondrous Scripture of the Most High Divine Talismans for Nurturing and Protection) to descend upon Mount Yuntai and have entrusted it to the disciples of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen) who revere the Great Dao (disciples who study the scriptural methods of the Three Caverns of Daoism), so that they may admonish the people of the world and spread it throughout the land. All the people should hasten to cultivate themselves and accumulate merit and virtue; if they delay, they may find it difficult to escape calamities such as flood and fire, illness and pestilence. Disasters will occur on a large scale, even endangering life itself. Therefore I clearly admonish everyone to uphold and practice this Jing (scripture).

In every prefecture, county, township and village, all men and women who believe in and revere this Jing, if they can clearly exhort others and thereby cause this Jing to circulate, I shall constantly bestow protection upon them, enabling them to prolong their years and increase their longevity, causing disasters and misfortunes to dissipate, their fortune and destiny to become harmonious and smooth, the roads in all four directions to be open and unobstructed, wealth and precious treasures to increase, and riches and honor to continue without interruption.

I have heard that in Fengrao Li of Mount Yuntai in the prefecture there is a Daoist over sixty years of age, surnamed Cheng and named Fadao. On the morning of the first day of the eleventh month of the Gengxu year he went into the mountains seeking seedlings of herbs that could be kneaded into medicinal preparations, and by chance he encountered a Perfected One (a realized immortal who has attained the Dao in Daoism), ...

It is said that in Fengrao Village on Yuntai Mountain in Wenzhou there lived a Daoist over sixty years of age, surnamed Cheng, whose given name was Fadao. On the morning of the first day of the eleventh month in the Gengxu year he went up the mountain to gather medicinal seedlings and by chance encountered a Zhenren (a Perfected Immortal who had attained the Dao). The Zhenren wore five-colored golden robes, a circular halo above his head, attended by immortal attendants, descending into the midst of Yuntai Mountain.

Fadao immediately stepped forward, kowtowed in salute, and performed thirty-two bows, beholding the Celestial Master (Tianshi) with his own eyes. The Celestial Master said to him, “Do not be alarmed. I am the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Celestial Master (the Celestial Master venerated by the Zhengyi school of Daoism). Today I have personally descended to the mortal world to meet you in order to confer upon you my secret transmitted words.

“Recently, in the eighth and ninth months, newly arrived ghost masters will appear, leading countless hungry ghosts that roam throughout the world. At times they transform into rats, burrowing into people’s homes, devouring the five grains, gnawing at objects and emitting squeaking sounds; at other times they take human form, lurking by doorways, watching for chances to eat people’s food and suck their flesh and blood. As a result people grow thinner and weaker day by day, their limbs atrophy, they suddenly fall ill, swell up and die, or they may die from injury by insects and beasts.

“I have seen these things from heaven and cannot bear to look on idly, so I am giving you this Jing (scripture) to disseminate widely among the people. If people wish to avoid disaster, so that every household is at peace, grain is abundant and bodies are strong and healthy, they should in the coming year, according to the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, till the fields and raise silkworms in due time, doubling the harvest. Auspicious and peaceful households should hold a Lingbao Qingzhai lasting one day and one night (a Daoist purification ritual conducted by reciting scriptures, setting up altars and other means) and, according to the ritual regulations, each establish an altar in their courtyard to pray and perform rites according to the law in order to avert calamity.

“When I hear the sound of bells and chimes I will descend and send the Zhenren Wang Chang, Zhao Sheng and others at my side to bring the Taishang divine Fulu (talismans and registers), to cut off and eliminate all ghostly hauntings and disasters so that the people may be at peace.

“If you do not believe my secret words, harbor doubts in your hearts, indulge in laziness and negligence or give rise to anger, and moreover do not understand the sins and blessings within the web of causes and conditions, it is truly pitiable. I earnestly exhort you all, each of you, to give rise to a heart that reveres the Great Dao (the Way), quickly transcribe and disseminate this wondrous Jing and hold the Lingbao Qingzhai, then you may be secure and without incident. Fearing that some may refuse to believe, I therefore repeatedly instruct you to, on my behalf, carefully and thoroughly disseminate it widely so that the people may long be spared from unexpected untimely death and dying of plague. Now I inform you: wherever the divine Fulu arrives, it should be practiced.”

The divine talisman bestowed by the Supreme Celestial Master (Tianshi), written in cinnabar. It protects the disciple and the entire family, old and young, keeping them safe and unharmed. It doubles the harvest of fields and silkworms, brings a bountiful yield of the five grains, and keeps livestock robust and healthy. It can also subdue evil demons and slay ghosts and sprites. The above prayers must be carried out according to the statutes and commands, and put into effect swiftly.