《朝真发愿忏悔文》

Incantation for Clearing the Karmic Obstacles of the Mouth

Do not speak words that are false and extravagant, flattering and fawning, gossip-mongering, or sowing discord, nor speak in defiance, revile and slander, or bully others at will.

May I discourse on the Dao (the Way) and De (Virtue/Power), and correct the faults of the past; may my speech accord with the heart of Heaven, so that what issues from my mouth is pure and met with numinous response.

Incantation for Clearing the Karmic Obstacles of the Body

May I keep far from defiling acts such as killing, theft, and sexual misconduct, and practice compassion, integrity, and uprightness, and thereby come into communion with the gods.

In this way body and mind become pure and spontaneous, ever upheld by the Four Beasts (the divine beasts who guard and protect) and the hundred numinous spirits.

Incantation for Clearing the Karmic Obstacles of the Mind

The realm of the Dao is clear and pure, without defilement. Craving, anger, and dull ignorance are all called demonic evils.

May I clarify the mind within and still stray thoughts, so that the mind is empty and luminous like the void; this is the Formless Realm of Daluo (the lofty and pure realm of which Daoism speaks).

Invocation of the Incense

The gods transform without fixed form; if one is utterly sincere, communion can be attained. Praying with a sincere heart, one may convey one’s wish by means of the smoke of incense.

May clouds of incense rise and cover the Heaven of Daluo; may the immortals’ ceremonial retinue come through the void, responding as they are moved.

Invocation of the Gongcao

We respectfully invite the Gongcao (divine officers who transmit memorials and communicate with the gods) and the emissaries of the directing talisman, together with the most numinous earth gods of this place.

May they ascend to the celestial realms and descend into the dark underworld, pass freely through the two realms of Yin-Yang, and convey my earnest sincerity and the wish offered with incense, so that the sages and worthies may all know of it.

Invoking the Holy Ones

With one heart we take refuge and offer homage: to the Great Compassionate Honored One, Divine Treasure of the Celestial Numen; to the imperial perfected of the Nine Asterisms of the Mysterious Vault (the imperial perfected of the heavens); to the Metal Mother and the Wood Duke (the Queen Mother of the West and the King Father of the East) and the ministers who assist them; to the sun, moon, and stars that govern our natal destiny; to the perfected gods recorded in the talismanic writs, the scriptures (Jing), and the methods of the Dao; to the Five Elders and the Great Emperors of the Three Offices; to the Four Saints, the Four Aspects, and the lords of the rites; to the ancestral masters who transmit the methods of the Dao, the scriptures, and the Fulu (talismans and registers); to the perfected numina commanded by the ritual bureaus of every rank; to the officers, generals, and clerks of Thunder, of the mountains and peaks, and of Fengdu; and to the measureless gods and immortals of the ten directions.

We earnestly ask that all of you descend together upon the ritual altar, compassionately receive and guide those who cultivate and study the way of the immortals, and help them fulfill their vows and accomplish the unsurpassed Great Dao.

The scripture may be recited as one wishes. When the recitation is finished, dedicate the merit:

The merit and power of the scripture are beyond conception. May this merit be dedicated to the holy assemblies of the ten directions.

May the divine Perfected examine the sincere hearts with which we seek repentance, and cause sins and obstacles as numerous as the sands of a river to be removed. May the holy Perfected together extend their compassionate response and descend into the numinous sanctuary. May they, with compassionate hearts, receive and guide those who cultivate immortality, so that they may practice in accordance with their vows and at last realize the unsurpassed Great Dao (the Way).

The Jing (scriptures/classics) and the proclamation texts may be recited as one wishes. When the recitation is finished, offer the dedication of merit:

The meritorious power of the scriptures and proclamations is inconceivable. May this merit be dedicated to the holy assemblies of the ten directions.

May you examine our true hearts, accept our repentance, and cause sins and obstacles as numerous as the sands of a river to be entirely removed.

Repentance and the Making of Vows

We repent. From distant kalpas past down to this present life, we have borrowed the four elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—to form our bodies, yet we have clung to the sensory realms of fragrance, taste, form, and sound, and to the many thoughts and discriminations that arise from them. We have harbored craving, anger, delusion, and jealousy; we have spoken harsh words and false speech; we have killed, stolen, and committed sexual misconduct, indulging our passions. We have defied and insulted our parents, and we have failed our teachers and our rulers. We have not revered Heaven, Earth, and the gods and spirits, and have even rebuked the wind and the rain. We have not believed in transgression and blessing, or in cause and effect; we have gone against principle and deceived our own conscience.

We have thereby drawn karmic retribution upon ourselves, rising and sinking through the round of rebirth and enduring, turn after turn, every kind of suffering without cease. All of this springs from a single deviant thought that caused us to lose our original nature. We took as real the external objects contacted by eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and we sank into craving. Now we have been born as human beings and have the further fortune to draw near the orthodox teaching—a blessing met only after a thousand lives. We ought to examine body and mind and seek liberation without delay. If we go on drifting and losing our way as before, we shall in the end forget our original face; and once we fall into the dark underworld, we may be reborn as beings of another kind.

Reflecting, therefore, on this sinking into suffering, we arouse a pure heart, take refuge in and uphold the holy Perfected, and come expressly to seek repentance. We earnestly beg their compassion to pardon our ignorance and our offenses, to release us from the entanglements of karmic retribution, and to dispel demonic obstacles. We hope that our lives may meet a flourishing fortune and that our names may be entered upon the Cinnabar Terrace (the place, in Daoist lore, where the names of immortals and Perfected are registered); that we may meet a true teacher, hear the Dao in person, and diligently cultivate the wondrous teaching, so that our roots of goodness increase; that we may practice with all our hearts the way of the Mysterious Gate and peacefully nourish body and mind in the realm of the True.

When the span of our lives comes to an end, may our original nature not grow dim, and may we be reborn into a household that practices the ten good deeds. If we can understand the karmic conditions of former lives, may we continue to cultivate and realize the supreme Dao, serve the Vacuous Sovereign (a revered deity of Daoism), and become immortals and Perfected. We also pray that the state be at peace and the people secure, that the five grains be abundant, and that wind and rain come in due season; that the orthodox Dao be widely proclaimed and the transforming work of the Dao carried into practice; that the violent reform and turn toward goodness, and that deviant demons return to the orthodox Dao; that weapons and punishments no longer be put to use, and that prisons stand quiet and empty; that those who are destitute and oppressed may be raised up, and that grievances and enmities may be resolved.

May those who inquire into the mysterious and study the Dao enter the Dao and attain perfection. May kin from kalpas past all be delivered. May teachers and friends of successive lives together realize the True and Constant. May all who share a karmic bond increase in merit and wisdom. May the beings we have harmed soon be reborn in the human world or in the heavens. May we moderate our diet, not crave wine and meat, and no longer kill one another. May we keep ourselves upright and refrain from sexual misconduct. May we thoroughly break stinginess and greed, and dispel treacherous and narrow-minded thoughts. May our speech be free of deceit, and may we prize sincerity in what we do. May we restrain ourselves and treat others with generosity, quietly enduring anger. May we hold compassion in our hearts, deal gently and humbly with others, and revere all living beings. May we not fall into remote and barbarous lands, nor follow deviant views. May we befriend immortal companions and dwell in clarity, stillness, and emptiness. May wisdom shine forth, the mind become open and clear, and spiritual powers grow vast. May we widely perform good deeds that benefit living beings and bring relief to beings everywhere. May we forever cut off attachment and delusion, so that all living beings turn toward the Great Dao.

Though the kalpas of the dusty world may come to an end, our vows have no end. We earnestly beg the Imperial Lords and all the Perfected to bend in compassion and save living beings. We take refuge and bow in worship, offering grateful thanks to the unsurpassed, orthodox, and true Three Treasures.

May I open forth clear and luminous wisdom, so that spiritual powers extend far and without obstruction; may I widely practice skillful and expedient means, bringing universal relief to all sentient beings; may I forever cut off attachment and delusion, so that all beings turn toward the supreme Dao (the Way). Even if the dusty world, after countless kalpas, at last comes to an end, this vow of mine will never be exhausted. I earnestly beg the Imperial Perfected (a revered deity of Daoism) to condescend in compassion, to save and protect me. I entrust my life and offer thanks to the supreme, orthodox, and true Three Treasures—the Dao, the Jing (scripture), and the Master.

All the varied merits accumulated through the worship and recitation that came before depend entirely upon compassion as their sovereign. Looking up toward the immortal processions that glimmer within the dark and mysterious realm, I pray that the host of perfected spirits of the ritual offices long grant their protection. With reverent prostration I take refuge in the wondrous Dao of the Infinite.