《金箓资度解坛仪》

Conduct the ritual service, proceeding in accordance with the rite.

All those present each pay reverence to the ritual master and, following the prescribed method, enter into visualization.

Please read aloud the divine incantation:

The Five Numina each occupy their stations, radiant and majestic, guarding the five directions. The First Sovereign protects the hun and po souls, and the Cinnabar Elder guards the bodily form; the White Numen attends the hun and po souls, and the Black Emperor takes charge of and protects life. The Yellow Emperor of the Center commands the myriad perfected. The Primordial Sovereign sends down an edict, so that places of darkness may once more behold the light. Offenses are expunged in the Northern Bureau, and names are entered in the registers at Nanchang. The Golden Register (the roll used in Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) to record merit and to save and deliver the souls of the dead) confirms the listing of names, and the jade characters dispel calamity. At Zhuling (in Daoist tradition, the place where the souls of the dead are refined and delivered), the deceased refine and transform their bodily substance, and their spirit-consciousness ascends in flight to Taicang (in Daoist tradition, a realm of the immortals). Throughout the Three Officials, the Nine Bureaus, and the boundless realms of gods and immortals, deliverance is universally received, so that the deceased may ascend into the heavenly realms. May this rite be united in truth with the Great Dao (the Way).

Sound the ritual drum twenty-four times.

Most High Lord of the Dao of the Unsurpassed Three Heavens and of the Mysterious, Primordial, and Inaugural Three Qi (vital energy), and Most High Lord Lao, please summon forth from within my body the Merit Officers of the Three and the Five, the emissaries of the officers of the left and the right, the incense-bearing relay-dragon riders of the left and the right, the Golden Lads who attend the incense, the Jade Maidens who transmit words and scatter flowers, together with the on-duty talisman officers of the Five Emperors and the incense officers assigned to the day, thirty-six of each. All the divine officers thus summoned are to set their robes and caps in solemn order, manifest their proper bearing, fasten their cap-bands, and let their tassels hang down.

Please announce to the earth god of the Mysterious Altar and to the deities of this place: I now perform the jietan (the rite of closing and withdrawing the altar at the conclusion of the Zhaijiao), declare the merits accomplished, burn incense, and offer ritual repentance, and respectfully submit this memorial. The sincere prayers of the present purification rite have already been recorded and reported above. May the supremely true Qi of the Most High Dao, together with the wisdom-light of Lingbao, descend and flow into our bodies, so that the sincerity I declare may swiftly be conveyed upward, even into the presence of the supremely true and limitless Great Dao, the high saints of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Jade August Thearch of the Golden Portal of Vast Heaven, and the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole, the Azure-Mysterious Thearch.

Please proclaim the ritual master’s liturgical rank.

We ministers who serve in this office have come today expressly to burn incense, to take refuge in body, Shen (spirit), and life, and to venerate the Most High Supreme Compassionate Honored One Who Saves from Suffering in the Ten Directions (the supreme deity who delivers all living beings of the ten directions).

We ministers have heard that the Three Registers (the statutory norms of Daoist ordination by registers and of the rites connected with them) have issued the Keyi (liturgy), and that the Five Texts (the ritual models of Daoism) have established the regulations, so that the essential purport of the Great Dao (the Way) is all the more proclaimed and its mysterious teaching is widely spread. The rite sets up the altar according to the positions of Heaven and Earth, summons the Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang, and thereby secures and steadies the cloud-seal script (the Daoist characters written on Fulu, talismans and registers). A thousand perfected ones and ten thousand sages descend before the altar; the purification fast and the sworn covenant ascend to the high heavens, and the true divinities descend to the ritual seat. We pray that by this rite a certain departed soul may be aided, so as to rise into the realm of the True and the Celestial Treasury and be enrolled among the ranks of the immortals.

The wish that was sought has now been fulfilled, and the rites of courtly worship and cultivation have likewise come to an end; the altar is to be dismantled and the assembly dismissed. We ministers first set forth our faults and declare our merits, earnestly begging Heaven to extend its grace widely and to protect the ancestral temple and the altars of soil and grain in peace. The golden dragon raises the seal-script, symbolizing that the merit of the Jiao rite is complete; the jade weft-stars stream with light, as we pray that vast blessings may descend. May the rites that have been performed and the petitions that have been offered ascend before the Most True and Infinite Dao.

The keeper of the chime (the person charged with striking the chime to cue the stages of the rite) strikes the chime, and all rise to offer reverent praise.

The honored titles of the Ten Directions are proclaimed and recited.

When the obeisance is carried down to the feet, each person kneels at full length and repents with sincere devotion.

The ritual master and the Daoist assembly present devote themselves with one heart, taking refuge in body, Shen (spirit), and nature and life, and they revere the Unsurpassed Compassionate Worthy of the Ten Directions Who Saves from Suffering (the venerable deity who delivers all living beings). They earnestly beseech this Compassionate Worthy to bestow grace widely and to send down vast favor upon all.

Now that the ritual is complete and the altar is about to be dismantled, all present burn incense, bow in worship, repent, and give thanks. We have heard that the Three Heavens (the upper realms of which Daoism speaks) bestow grace widely, and that numinous light transforms and nurtures the myriad beings; that the Nine Earths (the ninefold earthly realms) receive this favor, and that Ancestral Qi (vital energy)—the qi of the primordial source—moves in its course, so that the souls of the departed may ascend. By the Heavenly Worthy’s gracious regard, the Zhaijiao (purification ritual) has been brought to completion. We exhaust our sincere hearts and look upward, seeking Heaven’s grace.

We further reflect that, dwelling in the dusty world, our words and deeds cannot help but take on the stains of dust. The Jade Statutes (the laws of the celestial realm) stand clear, and the Three Origins (the upper, middle, and lower realms) examine and record all; the Golden Codes (the precepts of the celestial realm) are strict, and each of the four quarters has its own regulations. We only hope that the Heavenly Worthy will pardon us and compassionately protect us. May numinous light reach throughout the nine tracks and spread the mysterious and wondrous Great Dao (the Way); may the rain of the Teaching flow through the Three Paths (the realms in which departed souls suffer) and bring to fulfillment the grace and virtue of the holy Way. With one heart we knock our heads and reverently thank the Unsurpassed, Utterly True Three Treasures (the Dao, Jing [scripture/classic], and the Master).

Three invocations.

Three acts of worship.

The ritual office is proclaimed once more.

Your servant So-and-so, invested with ritual office, together with the Daoist assembly at the altar, sincerely memorializes: May numinous light reach throughout the nine tracks and spread the mysterious and wondrous Great Dao; may the rain of the Teaching flow through the Three Paths and bring to fulfillment the grace and virtue of the holy Way. With one heart we knock our heads and reverently thank the Unsurpassed, Utterly True Three Treasures.

Three invocations.

Three acts of worship.

The ritual office is proclaimed once more.

The named servant So-and-so, together with all who take part in the ritual service upon the altar ground, jointly and with sincere hearts submit this memorial: to the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning of the Azure Mystery, Ancestral Qi (vital energy), Vacuity, and Spontaneity; the Most High Lord of the Dao (the Way); the Most High Lord Lao; the Jade Emperor, Supreme Thearch of Vast Heaven; the Great Celestial Thearch of Purple Tenuity; the Great Thearch of Purple Tenuity and the Northern Pole; the Sovereign Earth Goddess, Empress of the Soil; the Old Lord of the Azure Mystery of the Eastern Pole; the Supreme Thearch Who Circulates Light and Preserves the Origin; the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering; the Celestial Worthy Who Extracts Guilt from the Ninefold Darkness; and the Celestial Worthies of the Ten Directions Who Divide Their Bodies and Manifest in Response to Save from Suffering; together with the Perfected of Great Mercy and Great Compassion Who Saves from Suffering, the Perfected of Great Beneficence, the Perfected Who Oversees Birth, the Perfected of Ritual Release in the Assembly of the Fragrant Grove, the Perfected of the Ten Blossoms, and the Perfected of Universal Salvation; the Venerable Scriptures of the Thirty-Six Divisions; the Great Ritual Master Within the Mystery, the Great Ritual Masters of the Three Heavens, and all the Celestial Worthies; and every divinity who responds throughout the Three Realms and descends upon the altar of the Zhaijiao (purification ritual).

We servants were born lowly and of shallow capacity. By good fortune we have received the blessings of the Nine Heavens, and we have also met with the manifest flourishing of the methods of the Dao of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, and Dongshen). We bear golden talismans upon our persons and our names are entered in the registers of the immortals; by rights we ought to aspire to purity, stillness, and emptiness. Yet we still remain in the dusty world, entangled by every kind of worldly affair. Recalling the wholehearted sincerity with which we received the Dao, we constantly exhort ourselves and carefully uphold our vow to succor the world, hoping to assist Heaven and Earth in their transformative nurture and not to betray the grace by which we are given life and raised.

Having already presented the memorial documents, how dare we forget to report them to the divinities? From a certain day of this month we have reverently carried out the ritual command and held the Great Zhai of the Jade Register for the Provision of Deliverance, through a certain number of days and nights. We transcribed the words of the memorials to express our sincerity, welcomed the divine Perfected, and summoned the spirits; we raised high the splendid banners of the Ten Perfections and kindled the ritual torches of the nine vessels, so as to dissolve accumulated knots and obstructions, remove grievances, faults, and offenses, and save the souls of the dead, enabling them to ascend to the realm of bright Yang. We submit this memorial with sincere hearts and have been graced by the radiance of the Three Realms shining upon us; the memorials having been swiftly conveyed, we pray that the gates of the Ninefold Darkness may be opened, so that the departed may be successfully delivered. This kindness is inscribed in our hearts, engraved upon the bone, and impossible to forget.

Now the ritual service is complete and the merit of the Zhai fully accomplished. Heaven and the human world celebrate together, and the dark underworld and the world of the living alike rejoice. The feathered ornaments of the ceremonial regalia stream in the air, and the divinities will return in carriages of precious jade; the tiger banners sway faintly, and the escorting ranks will also be drawn together and withdrawn from the roads placed under ritual prohibition. We earnestly request that merits be reported according to the statutory rites, and that those who have rendered service be advanced and rewarded in accordance with the covenant.

We earnestly beg the supremely exalted Holy Worthy of the Mysterious Empyrean and the Primordial Worthy of the Imperial Ultimate to look down upon our earnest supplication and graciously to bend their discerning gaze upon us. During the performance of the Zhai rites, we had previously petitioned that the officers and subordinates of the Three Caverns and the perfected numina of the Nine Heavens come to supervise the Zhai ritual, protect the true Dao, and attend upon the scriptures (Jing); we also invited the inspectors of the void and the deities of the soil to uphold the merit of the Zhai. The gods kept guard over the encampment and its defenses, and their toilsome service was solemn and complete. Now we ascend the mysterious altar and report each matter in turn, hoping to receive vast grace so as to repay the kindness of the divinities.

Our thoughts have fallen short in some respects, and our conduct has not necessarily been thorough in every particular; we further fear that when the Five Emperors and the Four Offices examine and record merit and fault, they will find a thousand kinds of negligence and ten thousand kinds of offense. We pray that the Worthies broadly extend compassion and universally grant pardon. We servants, in sincere fear and trembling, knock our heads to the ground and bow again, and respectfully submit this memorial.

Reciting the memorial.

Fumigating the memorial (a memorial that has been passed through incense smoke).

Burning the memorial.

Reciting the pass document (the document conveyed to the relevant divine offices).

Reciting the dispatch of the returning generals (after the divine generals have been summoned, the document of their report is read aloud).

Dispatching the officials according to the rite (the divine clerks are sent off in accordance with the liturgy).

Carefully dispatch the Five True Officials of the five bodily parts within your servant’s body (the divine officials who guard the five parts of the body), one minor clerk (a junior clerk charged with transmitting documents), and the Twelve Writing Assistants (clerks who assist in writing documents). Once more command the Envoys of the Merit Office (divine clerks who convey memorials) and the Flying Dragon Courier Clerks (divine clerks responsible for transmitting documents) to set out fully equipped and properly attired, with caps secured and hat-tassels hanging down, inkstones ground and brushes and ink prepared, swords girded and documents set in order, so that they may promptly handle the memorial for your servant, convey its text to the administrations of the Three Heavenly Boards (the three offices of the celestial realm), and report item by item according to the matters being transacted.

If the memorial contains mistaken characters, omitted phrases, inverted order, or a lack of coherence from beginning to end, order the Writing Assistants and the minor clerks familiar with the business to take up the dragon-head document knife (a knife used for revising documents) and a sharp long-haired brush, and to correct and collate errors as they occur. Do not allow the supervising officers to obstruct it or send it back, so that the memorial may go directly before the throne of the Most High of the Limitless Great Dao (the Way) of the Three Heavens. This must be done with care, and without delay.

The clerks on the left announce each item in turn, and the clerks on the right present each item in turn; the matters are then handled separately in due sequence, so that what your servant has requested receives a reply, the deities who have been summoned arrive at the proper time, those who are to be saved attain deliverance, the commands that have been proclaimed are transmitted without hindrance, what is to be transferred arrives safely, what has been prayed for comes to pass, and what has been sought is realized. If any heterodox Qi (vital energy) of the lower realm deliberately blocks your servant’s memorial and prevents it from ascending, seize it and confine it in a nearby prison, and punish it according to the statutes and ordinances, so as to make manifest the law of the celestial realm. Your servant withdraws and prostrates before the altar table, respectfully awaiting a reply.

Recalling the divine clerks according to the rite.

When the matters your servant has reported are concluded, and when the Zhaijiao (purification ritual) begins, the Envoys of the Merit Office, the various True Officials, and the immortal lords, clerks, and soldiers previously sent forth from within your servant’s body should all return into the body, entering through the Gate of Myriad Wonders (the gate by which the deities within the body go out and come in): those who went out on the left return to the left, and those who went out on the right return to the right. The Merit Officer on duty is charged with leading them, verifying their number, and escorting them back to their original places. They must not be misplaced. If they are summoned again, they are to appear again, and all is to be conducted according to established precedent.

The Celestial Worthy of Returning Merit and Repaying De (Virtue/Power).

Circumambulate once.

The ritual master stands on the east, facing west.

The assembly stands on the west, facing east, and kneels together.

The ritual master proclaims the liturgical text, and the assembly kneels at length; the precept certificates (credentials of having received the precepts) are returned in accordance with the rite.

We, your servants, have not yet completed our study of the ritual methods. In bowing and looking up, and in advancing and withdrawing, there may be lapses of ritual propriety. May none of our movements fall into disorder. Should they be summoned again, we still ask that they appear according to the former precedent.

The Celestial Worthy of Returning Merit and Repaying De.

Circumambulate once.

The master stands on the eastern side, facing west; the assembly stands on the western side, facing east, and all kneel together.

After the rites have been proclaimed and performed, the assembly remains in prolonged kneeling and, in accordance with the ritual procedure, returns the precept certificates.

We, your servants, have not yet fully mastered the methods. In our bearing we have repeatedly erred, and in advancing and withdrawing we have been unable to avoid transgressing the regulations and failing to conform to the rites. We fear investigation and censure by the Four Offices (the divine offices charged with oversight) and detention by the Five Emperors. For the various faults we have committed, we earnestly beg that grace be extended and pardon granted. Take pity on us, who have not yet awakened, and do not cause us to suffer punishment. At the outset of establishing the purification retreat, we reverently requested the Ten Precepts of the Upper Grade of Wisdom and received and upheld the prohibitions of the fast, so as to discipline body and mind. Now that the ritual service has come to an end, we respectfully bow toward the celestial palaces and return the method of the precepts. We reverently submit this report and earnestly beg clear examination and forgiveness. We, your servants, are filled with awe and trepidation; we knock our heads, bow twice, and cautiously set forth our words.

The hymn for returning the method of the precepts is chanted; all return to their original places and perform one bow.

Three memorial slips are read aloud.

The dispatch of the memorial slips is completed.

The Keeper of the Chime (the officiant in charge of striking the chime) intones, “Raise the Celestial Worthy of the Five Dragons Who Lift the Garrison,” and the assembly rises.

The rite of lifting the garrison is performed.

Vows are declared.

Inwardly visualize bowing toward the celestial palaces to return the method of the precepts, and reverently submitting the report with an earnest plea for clear examination and forgiveness. We, your servants, are filled with awe and trepidation; we knock our heads, bow twice, and cautiously set forth our words.

The hymn for returning the method of the precepts is chanted; all return to their original places and perform one bow.

Three memorial slips are read aloud.

The dispatch of the memorial slips is completed.

The Keeper of the Chime intones, “Raise the Celestial Worthy of the Five Dragons Who Lift the Garrison,” and the assembly rises.

The rite of lifting the garrison is performed.

Vows are declared.

Visualize the divinities, burn incense, and offer this prayer:

Envoys of the Incense Officers, Dragon and Tiger Lords of the left and right, and all the numinous officers who attend the incense: we ask that you cause the place where we, your servants, previously dissolved the altar and dispersed the seats to bring forth of itself such auspicious signs as golden liquid, cinnabar-red and jade-blue radiance, and the blossoms of the numinous mushroom. May the hundred spirits and the host of the perfected meet in this place and gather before the incense burner. May good deeds and merit be universal and far-reaching, and may the blessings conferred by the Zhaijiao (purification ritual) be deep and enduring. May the immortal lads and jade maidens of the ten directions receive, guide, and attend the fragrant vapor of orchid incense, convey the sincere prayers we previously set forth, and cause them to arrive swiftly and directly before the thrones of the Most True and Limitless Great Dao (the Way), the Highest Sages of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Jade Emperor, Lord on High of the Golden Portal of Vast Heaven, and the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole, the Azure-Mystery Lord on High.

Hymn for dissolving the altar:

Descend the altar and take leave of the Three Treasures.

Time flies swiftly by, and the sun’s shadow gradually shifts. Incense smoke disperses into the Jade Radiance, and the company of the Dao returns to the Golden Portal. May the state long remain secure, and may the sage’s life be long. All together knock their heads and bid farewell to the Treasure of the Dao in the ten directions.

The golden lad advances the good. (The text of the hymn recorded below is repeated.) Time flies swiftly by, and the sun’s shadow gradually shifts. Incense smoke disperses into the Jade Radiance, and the company of the Dao returns to the Golden Portal. May the state long remain secure, and may the sage’s life be long. All together knock their heads and bid farewell to the Treasure of the Dao in the ten directions.

The Golden Lads (immortal youths who attend the deities) come forward to report good deeds, and the Jade Maidens (immortal maidens who attend the deities) submit memorials of merit. The names of those who have received deliverance are registered upon the golden tablets, and the scriptures (Jing) that have been recited are received and placed on file. The spirits are thereby promoted and delivered, and both families and the state partake of grace. The sacred perfected return to the realm of emptiness, and merit extends to the netherworld and the human world. Together we bow and pay homage, taking leave of the Scriptural Treasures of the Ten Directions (the scriptures revered by the heavens of the ten directions).

The sound of the jasper bells ceases, and the voice of the jade chimes is stilled. The ritual master returns to Taiqing (the pure and tranquil immortal realm spoken of in Daoism), and his name and title are entered in the Purple Prefecture (the abode of the immortals). The judicial reckoning of the Three Paths (places of suffering such as the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals) comes to an end, and the turning of the Five Sufferings (hardships of every kind) ceases. Together we bow and pay homage, taking leave of the Master Treasures of the Ten Directions (the revered masters in the transmission of the Daoist teachings of the ten directions).

May all living beings refrain from every kind of evil and practice every kind of good; may they no longer fall into the causes and conditions of calamity, and may they ever live in a peaceful and prosperous age. Sentient beings and all living things possessed of awareness may together realize non-action (Wuwei), the state of according with the Way (Dao) in purity and stillness. Together we bow and pay homage, taking leave of the host of sages of the ten directions.

The Yulu Zidu Jietan Yi (Ritual for Dispersing the Altar of the Jade Register Rite for Assisting Deliverance) here comes to an end.