《黄箓五苦轮灯仪》

The rite is carried out according to the prescribed ceremony, beginning with the reading of the opening invocation.

Tracing the origin of Heaven and Earth, in the age of Prior Heaven the round and the square each had its appointed place. Light, clear Qi (vital energy) gathered and formed Heaven; heavy, turbid Qi condensed and formed Earth. Vast Mount Kunlun stands at the center of the great disk of the earth, and the host of immortals gather about it like the spokes of a wheel, circling the Four Seas in their course. Earth bears the myriad beings and displays profound merit; Heaven and Earth broadly bring forth and nourish all things, embodying vast De (Virtue/Power).

There are, besides, the Thirty-Six Earths and the ninefold realms of darkness. Vast and deep, where the wheel of wind meets the edge of the waters, they are a dark domain like the long night of the underworld. Lingering souls are locked in hidden prisons, and the dead are shut in black hells, examined and tortured court after court, without respite day after day, enduring every kind of bitter punishment and scarcely able to win release. When offenses accumulate, they cycle through the Five Paths; when faults run deep, they are condemned to toil in the Three Mires. Without the vast grace of the Great Dao (the Way), the suffering souls of the underworld could hardly be saved.

Therefore the Primordial Sovereign (Yuanhuang, a venerated deity of Daoism) established the teaching, and the Most High (Taishang, an honorific for the Dao, often referring also to Lord Lao the Most High) promulgated the Keyi (liturgy). They opened ritual arenas for turning the wheel of the Law and for prayers of blessing and deliverance of the dead, and held the rite of lighting lamps to dispel the darkness, so that departed souls might leave the cycle of the Five Paths and lamplight might illumine the Ninefold Darkness. The rite is to sweep away layer upon layer of gloom, scatter auspicious brightness upon the world of the living, and enable every soul in the underworld to be reborn, swiftly ascending to the pure realm and reaching directly the realm of Wuwei (non-action).

Now a certain person, following the ritual method of the True Jade Casket transmitted by covenant, lights the lamps of the Wheel of Returning Radiance and performs a deliverance for the form and soul of a certain deceased person and for suffering departed souls. May they receive this gracious light, leave the realm of suffering, purify the six faculties, and have every karmic offense extinguished. May the Nine Ancestors and Seven Mysteries (ancestors of successive generations), together with the Four Modes of Birth and the Six Paths (all kinds of living beings and those in transmigration), likewise transcend the darkness and enter the light together. The ritual assembly takes refuge in the Limitless Great Dao.

All together they intone, “Celestial Worthy Who Seeks the Sound and Relieves Suffering.”

The first suffering of the cycle of rebirth is called the “Gate of the Mind Afflicted by the Entanglement of Name-and-Form.” It means that, by clinging to passion and indulging desire, a person’s mind and spirit are led astray. After death, that person suffers the punishments of the Knife-Mountain Hell. Now the zhai official, so-and-so, lights the sacred lamp and offers prayers of remembrance for the deceased, so-and-so, wishing that this merit may aid the departed to leave rebirth among the six paths and together attain a pure destination. We earnestly beg the Nine Pure Realms (Jiuqing, the nine tiers of pure realms spoken of in Daoism) to look down and draw near, and the Three Luminaries (Sanjing, the Daoist name for the radiance of the sun, the moon, and the stars) to turn their light back, bestowing compassion and delivering the dead who suffer the torment of the Knife Mountain.

How sorrowful is the suffering of the Knife-Mountain Hell! Towering blades, white as snow, stand stark and chill in the cold sky. May the departed leave this realm of pain and together attain a pure destination. We earnestly beg the Nine Pure Realms to look down and draw near, and the Three Luminaries to return their light, bestowing compassion and relieving the suffering of the Knife Mountain.

How sorrowful is the suffering of the Knife-Mountain Hell! Towering blades, white as snow, stand stark and chill in the cold sky.

Ox-headed ghost soldiers drive the dead to climb the Knife Mountain; bone and flesh are rent by the blades and fall away in pieces.

All this comes of being dragged down by passion and worn out in mind and spirit, so that the departed suffer punishment and are wounded as their feet tread the Knife Mountain.

Relying on the power of the compassionate honored deities who save beings from suffering, may they manifest great divine might and shatter the sharp blades.

With this we dedicate the inconceivable merit.

The second suffering of the cycle of rebirth is called the “Gate of the Spirit Afflicted by the Entanglement of Love.” It means sinking into every kind of desire and defiling attachment, so that the spiritual soul is thrown into disorder. After death, one suffers the punishments of the Sword-Forest Hell. Now so-and-so lights the sacred lamp and offers prayers of remembrance for the deceased, so-and-so, wishing that this merit reach down to the beings of the six paths, so that they may together attain a pure destination. We earnestly beg the True Sovereign of the Grand Veil (Daluo Zhenzai, the supreme lord venerated in Daoism) and the Primordial Worthy of the Vast Kalpa to bestow compassion widely, universally revealing the way and saving all beings. We respectfully repent the suffering of the Sword-Forest Hell.

We bow to the sovereign in the Heaven of the Grand Veil, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) of the golden portals of the Jade Capital. May his divine might and radiant light shine throughout the Sword-Forest Hell, so that blades like snow and edges like frost all snap and are destroyed; so that the bitterness and anguish of the departed come to rest, and wounded bone, flesh, sinews, and vessels are made whole again. May the revolving lamps illumine the dark passes and lead the departed to rise swiftly, arriving at the pure realm of ultimate bliss.

With this we dedicate the inconceivable merit.

The third path of cyclic transmigration is called the “Gate of Greed That Burdens and Torments the Body.” If a person covets reputation and pursues profit, Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) are depleted and the body grows weak. After death, that person will endure the sufferings of the Copper Pillar Hell. Now a certain Zhai officiant lights the sacred lamp to mourn a certain deceased person, praying that the bodily form and soul may ascend to the heavenly realms, and also that beings of the six paths may all be delivered and together realize the realm of life—the true path of obtaining new birth. We respectfully invite the Supreme Sage of the Jade Void and the Exalted Worthy of the Golden Portal to spread their grace widely and send down the power of salvation, so that the souls of the dead in the nether darkness may be released. We hereby repent the sufferings of the Copper Pillar Hell.

Looking upward, we respectfully invite the holy assemblies of the high heavens and the myriad realms, wishing that they bestow transforming grace and rescue the souls of the dead in the nether darkness.

May grace flow far and wide, comfort suffering beings, and extinguish every fierce flame of the Copper Pillar Hell.

May all suffering beings be liberated, and may enmities formed in former times be brought to rest.

May the lamplight turn back upon the nether darkness, illuminate the road to the Dark Pass, and ferry the souls of the dead upward into the heavenly realms.

The merit set forth above is gathered into merit beyond conception.

The fourth path of cyclic transmigration is called the “Gate of Contending for Splendor That Torments the Essence.” If a person strives after glory, wealth, and rank, the heart and Shen (spirit) are worn down and Jing and Qi are scattered and lost. After death, that person will endure the sufferings of the Boiling-Cauldron Hell. Now a certain Zhai officiant lights the sacred lamp to mourn a certain deceased person, praying for ascent to the heavenly realms and, by this means, for the rescue of beings of the six paths, that all may together realize the realm of life. We respectfully invite the True Sovereign of Wuwei (non-action) and the Supreme Worthy of Spontaneity—an honorific in Daoism for the highest sacred being—to save the souls of the dead in the nether darkness and to let down radiant light to shine upon them. We hereby repent the sufferings of the Boiling-Cauldron Hell.

With sorrow and lament we contemplate the sufferings of the dark hells: boiling liquid surges and heaves, and waves roll within the scalding cauldron.

Distressed souls of the dead and beings of the nether world are seared and stewed until flesh, bone, and limbs are reduced to pulp.

We wish only that the Holy Worthy of Wuwei broadly grant pardon and forgive the faults of living beings.

May the light of the revolving lamp turn and shine into the depths of the nether darkness, so that the souls of the dead may wander in freedom and attain peace and joy.

The merit set forth above is gathered into merit beyond conception.

The fifth path in the cycle of rebirth is called the “Gate of the Encumbered Body and the Suffering Soul.” In life one rushes about in worldly affairs; faced with favor or disgrace, one is always anxious and afraid, and the heart is tangled by every kind of care, so that the soul and Shen (spirit) suffer. When life ends and one enters the underworld, one must still endure the torment of being hauled and drawn down and sunk into the dark waves (the dim and bitter waters). Now a certain sponsor of the purification rite lights the divine lamp and offers a memorial rite for a certain deceased person, wishing that this person’s bodily form and soul may transcend and be born in the celestial realms. We respectfully pray to the supreme Perfected Lord and the venerable Great Thearch, earnestly beseeching them to exercise their great majestic De (Virtue/Power), to deliver the departed souls sunk in suffering, and to receive repentance for the ordeal of being hauled and drawn into the dark waves.

We take refuge in the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the highest deities of Daoism, and in the venerable ones above the Three Realms, who respond with compassion and save beings from suffering and distress.

May the venerable ones descend to Mount Feng (the land of the underworld) and deliver the departed souls from the Three Paths and Five Sufferings (the manifold torments of the evil destinies, among them the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals).

May every cold and turbid wave be transformed into clear, sweet dew.

Tonight, by the methods of the Dao (the Way), we perform the purification rite and the memorial offering. May the lamplight shine throughout the underworld and break open the Layered Springs (the underworld beneath the earth).

Response: Inconceivable merit.

Raise the chant “Celestial Worthy, the Wheel-Turning Sacred King.”

May the cold and turbid waves be transformed into clear, sweet dew. Tonight, by the methods of the Dao, we perform the purification rite and the memorial offering. May the lamplight shine throughout the underworld and break open the Layered Springs.

Response: Inconceivable merit.

Raise the chant “Celestial Worthy, the Wheel-Turning Sacred King.”

Recite the scriptures, proclaim the memorial petition, invoke the names of the good, and dedicate the merit.

We have respectfully heard that the Celestial Worthies possess sacred power and can save and deliver living beings, and that the numinous writs of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning can extinguish every karmic offense. The wheel-lamps lit earlier to illuminate the Three Paths and Five Sufferings, the chanting of the true Jing (scriptures/classics), and the offerings of paper money, paper horses, and the like sent by burning are all inexhaustible good causes. A certain sponsor of the purification rite has, for the offices of the underworld, invited this ritual service to be performed, looking upward and seeking the gracious mandate to deliver the bodily form and soul of a certain deceased person, so that this person may ascend and be born in the celestial realms, and by this merit to aid the orphaned souls, that together they may obtain new life. We earnestly wish that lamp may shine upon lamp, so that punishment in every level of hell may briefly cease, that the departed souls may soon ascend to the celestial realms, and that they may fall no more into the places of suffering beneath the earth. Relying on the power of the methods of the Dao to accomplish this superior good condition, we invoke the name “Celestial Worthy Taiyi Who Saves from Suffering,” whose merit is measureless and inconceivable.