《金箓资度设醮仪》

The divine spirits of the five directions each rest secure in their stations, and brilliant light shines upon the five directions. The First Emperor protects the hun and po souls; the Cinnabar Elder guards the bodily form; the White Numen attends the hun and po; the Black Emperor holds and safeguards life. The Yellow Emperor of the center commands the myriad spirits. The Primordial Sovereign sends down a decree, so that the dark night may behold the light once more; he orders that karmic offenses be wiped away in the Northern Bureau and that names be registered in the immortal realm of Nanchang. By the Golden Register—the document used in Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) to record the name-rolls of those who receive deliverance—the register of names is fixed, and by jade characters calamities are removed. In Zhuling the bodily substance is refined and transformed, so that the divine soul ascends to Taicang. The Three Officials and the Nine Bureaus, together with the boundless divine realms, all universally bestow deliverance, enabling those who receive it to ascend into the heavens. May this ritual service unite in truth with the Great Dao (the Way).

In accordance with the ritual, the ritual drum is struck twenty-four times—the section of the liturgy for summoning the gods.

O Most High Lord of the Dao of the Three Qi (vital energy) of the Mysterious, the Primordial, and the Beginning, of the Unsurpassed Three Heavens, and Most High Lord Lao: please summon forth from within my body the Merit Officials of the Three and Five, the emissaries of the offices of the left and right, the relay-dragon mounted officers of the left and right who bear incense, the Golden Lads who attend the incense, the Jade Maidens who transmit words and scatter flowers, and the direct talisman-officers of the Five Emperors together with the incense officials on duty for the day—thirty-six of each. Once the host of spirits has come forth, all must set their robes and caps in order, put on ceremonial dress, and wear cap and sash. Formal notice is also to be given to the earth god of the mysterious altar and to the deities of this place.

I now establish the offering and perform courtly cultivation—conducting the Zhaijiao ritual, worshipping the deities and cultivating practice—and I respectfully memorialize the matter at hand. The several petitions of the Zhaijiao have been set down in full in the Green Memorial, the prayer text presented to the deities during the Zhaijiao. May the Most High, supremely true Qi of the Dao and the wisdom-light of Lingbao descend and flow into our bodies, so that the sincerity of what I memorialize may swiftly ascend, even to the presence of the supremely true and limitless Great Dao, the supreme sages of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Jade Emperor, Lord on High of the Golden Portal of Vast Heaven, and the throne of the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole, the Azure-Mysterious Lord on High.

Please read aloud the ritual rank and title of the ritual master.

I, Your Servant So-and-so, who presides over the rites at the altar, together with the officials and the Daoist assembly present at the altar, sincerely address the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning of the Supreme Non-Ultimate Great Dao (the Way) of Emptiness and Spontaneity—the highest deity venerated in Daoism—the Supreme Lord of the Dao, and the Supreme Lord Lao, as well as the Jade Emperor of Vast Heaven, the Great Emperor and Celestial Sovereign of Purple Tenuity, the Great Emperor of Purple Tenuity and the Northern Pole, Empress Earth the August Earth God, the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole, the Great Emperor Who Circulates Brilliance and Preserves the Origin, and the other exalted deities.

We respectfully invite the Celestial Worthies of the Ten Directions Who Manifest in Response and Save from Suffering; the Great Emperors Who Give Birth to Spirits in the Nine Heavens; the Great Emperors of the Thirty-Two Heavens; the God-Emperors of the Five Numina and the Five Elders; the Stellar Lords of the Eleven Luminaries of Supreme Clarity; the Stellar Lords of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Lodges; the Great Emperors of the Three Offices of the Three Primordials; the Perfected Lords of the Four Sages of the Northern Pole; the Dao Lords of Highest Perfection of the Nine Bureaus of the Northern Pole; the Perfected Lords, Supreme Ministers of the Three Departments of the Pivot of Grand Mystery; and the Perfected Lords of the Five Masters of the Numinous Treasure, together with the presiding deities, Perfected Lords, and various Perfected Beings of the offices of the Nine Heavens. We also respectfully invite the immortal officials who preside over the Palace of the Grand Unity of Mysterious Birth and the Yellow Register Court of Azure Mystery; the immortal spirits of the Nine Offices of the Yellow Registers; the immortal Perfected and numinous officers of universal salvation throughout the Nine Heavens; the true governors of the Nine Bureaus of the Three Offices of the Three Primordials; the Perfected Lords of the Five Emperors of the Five Marchmounts; the ancestral masters of successive generations and the Perfected who transmit the scriptures and registers and serve as ritual masters ferrying others to salvation; and we further invite the Great Emperor of Fengdu of the Mysterious Heaven of Northern Yin, the presiding spirits of the Six Caverns, the Ten Palaces, and the paths of the Ninefold Darkness, the City God of the capital and the holy hosts of the various temples, and all true numina within the Three Realms who are able to respond to this matter.

I have heard that in the age of Red Brilliance the charts and registers of the heavenly realms were first established, and the Ancestral Qi (vital energy) of the Primordial Beginning—the original vital energy at the inception of heaven and earth—dispersed and transformed into holy emperors. The Great Emperor of Azure Florescence, a venerated Daoist deity often associated with the faith of saving beings from suffering and ferrying the dead, governs the heavenly realms and, with divine light, spreads abroad the essential essence contained within primordial chaos. He holds the canopy of the azure heaven and receives the Qi of Pure Subtlety; looking down upon the earth, he revives and delivers those in dark and afflicted places. Numinous winds surge, and awesome divinity fills the ten directions; sweet dew nourishes the myriad things, and the dharma-power of wisdom penetrates the Three Realms. They manifest auspicious dharma-forms of purple and gold and dwell at ease in auspicious realms like green jade. The two bureaus of the heavenly realm join like clouds, and the nine offices are arrayed like stars. When the deities hear prayers, they come in response and, amid fragrant groves, compassionately proclaim the wondrous teaching; dividing their bodies in responsive manifestation, they cause the mysterious principles of the Dao and of De (Virtue/Power) to gather among the qian trees. Celestial beings and human beings alike turn their hearts to them, and both the underworld and the human world revere them with sincere devotion.

We, your servants, know our intentions to be shallow. Now, with pure body and mind, we practice the Dao and establish the purification retreat, and we have already received vast grace. Looking up to the holy assembly of the celestial court, we exhaust our meager sincerity. Unable to express our reverence fully in the manner of knotting grass, we can only gather duckweed to present as an offering. We respectfully wish that the exalted deities, with dragon banners and kingfisher standards, may arrive at the horizon of the mysterious void, and, with phoenix canopies and pearl pennants sheltering their numinous light, descend into the azure sky. May the road-clearing cortege be solemn and orderly, the lion-headed carriages majestic, the yellow-banner insignia austere, and the dust of the leopard-tail carriages dignified. When the light of the ten directions shines everywhere, may the deities arrive in their carriages, wind and cloud gathering and the scene shining in mutual reflection; when the auspicious rose-colored clouds of the Three Realms appear, may the divine conveyances deign to come, water and moon reflecting one another. We earnestly beg the deities to regard our hearts that seek a response and to fulfill this fervent prayer. We look up to the holy host of the celestial court in fearful sincerity and the utmost reverence.

The true deities taking part in the Zhaijiao (purification ritual) should next be invited one by one.

All true gods of the Three Realms and the holy perfected ones who receive offerings at the jiao altar, please accept the worship and invitation already extended; you have surely descended to this altar. Kindly return to your places in the ranks of the immortals, and together await with reverence the arrival of the Sovereign Lord’s carriage.

The carriage drawn by the luan bird has arrived, and the carriage borne by the immortal crane has likewise come before the hall. All holy perfected ones who share in the sacrifices of the jiao altar perform the court homage according to the rite. When the homage is complete, please ascend your seats to receive the jiao. The ritual officer offers incense, sets forth the wine offering, and performs the first presentation (the first offering of wine).

The names and titles of the ritual offices are proclaimed once more.

Your servant, of such-and-such surname, who holds a place among the ritual offices, together with the officials who have come to the altar to preside over the rite and with all assembled, sincerely addresses the supreme sages of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole, the true immortals of the Three Realms, and the boundless hosts of sages. Your servant has heard that upon the clouds stand ranks of holy perfected ones, and that the azure immortal groves gather the radiance of life-generating Qi (vital energy); within the wind-marsh, too, are numberless divine bureaus. In the darkness of the underworld, obscure yin clouds gather, and there are arrayed the nether offices of the Six Heavens and the divine realms of the Nine Earths. The gods preside over Yin-Yang and govern water and fire. Without a vast and boundless auspicious Qi, who could dispel the murky mists? May the departed souls partake of the immortals’ jade mushrooms and forever transcend the sufferings of the world. We revere the merit that the deities continue to manifest through kalpa after kalpa, and we look up to the vow-power of the sage hosts of the high heavens. We servants bow in reverence, our hearts earnest; the words of praise likewise bear our deep respect.

We servants respectfully carry out the edict of the Celestial Emperor and solemnly perform the Jade Register (Yulu) rite—a ritual register used in Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) for the deliverance of the dead—seeking aid and elevation for the departed soul of so-and-so, that heavenly blessings may be increased and the fruit of the Dao (the Way) ultimately attained. If we do not entreat the deities of the wondrous and stately holy realm, how shall the departed soul ascend into the lofty heavens? Therefore we reverently set the mushroom altar in order and come to audience; beside the lotus throne we declare our wishes to the holy perfected ones. We purify body and heart, examine our faults, and sincerely pray for blessing and protection. May we receive the grace of ascending to perfection and rising beyond, and may the departed soul be specially granted the merit of attaining celestial rank. Having received grace, we ought to repay it, and we shall offer fine jade with the utmost sincerity; yet supreme De (Virtue/Power) does not seek return—why, then, should pearls, jade, and pendants matter? We know our offerings are slight and dare not boast of them, yet we still presume to set forth such sacrificial plants as duckweed and artemisia. A green memorial (Qingci—a prayer text addressed to the deities in a Zhaijiao rite) is now prepared; we respectfully read it aloud and present it.

The green memorial is read aloud.

The earnest petitions have each been fully set forth, and the profound sacred will can surely discern them with clarity. We humbly beg the honored deities to hear these lowly prayers without omission and to bestow grace like sweet dew; looking down upon the human world, their awesome numinous power plainly manifest, may they dissolve the severe punishments of the officials and cause calamities to withdraw like wind and thunder. May the myriad sages descend at the proper times to receive the offerings, and may the many perfected immortals look down in inspection day by day. That we, humble as ants, offer these prayers is truly in order to repay a grace vast beyond measure. We, your servants, cannot exhaust our gratitude, and respectfully present the second round of wine.

The document of offering is read aloud:

I, your servant, with utmost sincerity, respectfully memorialize the supreme sages of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing)—the highest deities revered in Daoism—the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole (the Azure-Hua Emperor of the Eastern Pole, the honored deity who saves departed souls), the perfected immortals of the Three Realms, and the countless holy assembly.

I, your servant, have heard that the vast and boundless Daluo Heaven gathers the wondrous Qi (vital energy) of the Nine Blossoms, and that within innumerable dusty lands of the world there appears the Dharma-body that runs through past, present, and future. Clouds of compassion proclaim the mysterious true Dao (the Way) toward the east, while the sagely light of the sun takes the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning as its source. A jade-white ray sends forth distant light, shining everywhere beneath the floriate canopy and throughout the six directions; golden radiance wheels and soars, descending from Kunlun, so that even the Nine Darknesses (the depths of the underworld) are made bright. From the tips of the branches fall flower-hearts the color of azurite, and from the treasure vase flows an essence of deep emerald. O mysterious workings of the Dao! O supreme power of transformation and nurture! All who take refuge and offer prayer are raised up and protected, with not one left out.

To aid a certain departed soul, we earnestly beg the honored deities to make its five Shen (the spirits of the five viscera within the human body) clear and bright as ice, and to make the myriad Qi throughout the body (the various vital energies of life) peaceful and lucid. May its mind awaken before any discriminative thought has arisen, and may its nature suddenly awaken at the very beginning, before names and distinctions have yet been assigned. The brilliance of the black-dragon pearl remains as of old, reflecting the vast sea and containing the void; jade light like the bright moon shines alone, revealing its radiance in the azure sky. May it stride high in the realm of green auroras and dwell at ease in the celestial court of the Purple Pole; may it receive the gracious honor of the emerald-green Fulu (talismans and registers), and attend the deity of the Red Round in the Palace of Lasting Joy; may golden mushrooms adorn its feet, and may azure auspicious Qi gather in the land of Fangzhu.

We further pray that heaven and earth be clear and tranquil and that rites and ceremonial order be luminous; that the mountain gods send down blessings and the river gods present auspicious signs. May all under heaven be abundant, content, and at ease, farming flourish, and mulberry and hemp receive rain in full measure; may the beacon fires of the four quarters fall silent, the borders be secure, and among elms and willows there be everywhere the leisure and mildness of spring. May people no longer fear the harm of burning the forests and draining the marshes, and may they also enjoy a freedom like that of birds flying toward heaven and fish leaping from the deep. May all beings in the Three Paths and Five Sufferings (realms of suffering such as hell, hungry ghosts, and animals) joyfully enter the blessed lands, and may the people of the four seas and nine provinces celebrate together in a realm of long life and ease. May the imperial foundation long remain firm, and may the ancestral temples and the altars of soil and grain be secure and flourishing. We, your servants, respectfully perform our obeisance and present the third round of wine.

Calamities as distressing as the clearing of wild forests and the draining of lakes and marshes have at last been transformed into unrestrained joy, like birds soaring into the sky and fish leaping into the deep abyss. All beings amid the three paths and the five sufferings are heartened in the blessed lands; the people of the four seas and the nine provinces likewise enter with gladness the realm of long life and peaceful happiness. May the foundation of the imperial dynasty long remain firm, and may the state and the ancestral temples be tranquil and flourishing. We, your servants, respectfully perform the rite and reverently offer three rounds of wine.

The Ritual Service

Your servant respectfully and with a sincere heart invites the supreme sages of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the highest deities venerated in Daoism), the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole (the Heavenly Worthy of the Eastern Pole Who Saves from Suffering), the perfected immortals of the Three Realms, and the countless holy multitudes. Your servant has heard that the many heavens revolve in their courses, that the celestial abyss remains condensed and fixed, embracing the four quarters of heaven and earth and shining with light; that they draw near to those who possess De (Virtue/Power), receive the offerings of those who possess the Dao (the Way), set in motion the warp and weft of heaven and earth, and circulate everywhere. Bowing low, I exhaust a heart of careful reverence; raising my head, I knock my forehead in homage to the lofty and mighty power of creation. May the divinities relieve the lower world with their radiance and examine the sincerity of our diligent prayers; may they graciously accept the plain offerings we present, and pardon those parts of our cultivation that are not yet complete, so that we may advance step by step.

Now the rites have been fully set forth, and the sentiment of the offering has been completely expressed. The orchid incense in the phoenix-shaped censers gradually fades away, and the lotus flames in the dragon-shaped lamps have burned out. Looking ahead, the emerald standards of the insignia are about to return to the Jade Empyrean (the realm of the immortals); looking back, the pearl banners (banners adorned with pearls and jade) have already turned toward the Jasper Pole (the immortal realm). The moon chariot slowly passes alongside, and the cloud-dragons sway as they rise into the heights. The myriad sages return in order to their ranks, and the thousand perfected each resume their places. The host of gods, following the turning of the primordial assembly, returns to the Great Dao; the hundred spirits gather within the Niwan (the spirit chamber of the head, as spoken of in Daoism). Entering the mysterious and subtle, they condense true Qi (vital energy); the myriad forms of primordial Qi, within the mysterious work of creation, return to emptiness, stillness, and perfect harmony. The longing in our hearts is beyond all expression. We respectfully knock our heads and reverently escort the holy procession.

Hymn of the Returning Carriages

Visualize the spirits and burn incense.

Envoys of the Incense Officials, Dragon and Tiger Lords of the left and right, and all numinous officers who attend the incense: please convey to the divinities the longing in our hearts that cannot be put into words. We respectfully knock our heads and reverently escort the holy procession.

Hymn of the Returning Carriages

Visualize the spirits and burn incense.

Envoys of the Incense Officials, Dragon and Tiger Lords of the left and right, and all numinous officers who attend the incense: please cause the place where your servant has established the jiao and practiced court cultivation (performing the jiao rite and the cultivation of audience and worship) to bring forth of themselves such auspicious things of the immortals as golden liquor, cinnabar and jasper, and the essence of numinous mushrooms; and please let the hundred numina and the host of the perfected assemble before the incense fire here. May the jiao rite and its cultivation reach completion, and may auspicious blessings spread far and wide. May immortal lads and jade maidens of the ten directions receive and attend the orchid incense, convey the sincerity your servant has previously set forth, and cause it to arrive swiftly and directly before the thrones of the Most True and Limitless Great Dao, the supreme sages of the Three Pure Ones, the Jade Emperor, Supreme Thearch of the Golden Portal of Vast Heaven, and the Compassionate Worthy of the Eastern Pole, the Azure-Mystery Supreme Thearch.

Heavenly Worthy of Precious Blossoms and Perfect Completion

Sending off the holy ones

Transforming the offerings

The ritual texts and offerings previously set forth and invoked in prayer…

Dedication of merit (transferring the merit accumulated through the ritual to a specific recipient): this is the dedication-of-merit section of the Jade Register Ritual for Assisted Deliverance and Offering (Yulu Zidu Shejiao Yi), a Daoist Zhaijiao (purification ritual) that uses the Jade Register Keyi (liturgy) to pray for blessings and deliverance for the deceased.