《九天应元雷声普化天尊玉枢宝经》

At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation, the Responsive Primordial Thunder-Voice of the Nine Heavens (Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun; the highest deity of the Thunder Department venerated in Daoism), was in the Heaven of Jade Clarity (Yuqing Tian; the Qingwei celestial realm of which Daoism speaks). Together with the Celestial Emperor-Lords of the ten directions, he assembled in the Hall of Jade Vacuity and Nine Radiances, the Lodge of Lush Xiao and the All-Pervading Canopy, and the Chamber of the Purple Extremity, Secluded and Secret. They paged through profound and hidden classics, examined subtle and recondite books of the Dao (the Way), and conferred with one another in low voices on mysterious principles. The ministers in attendance stood respectfully to one side.

The Celestial Worthy sat at ease and clearly recited the Cavern Chapters (Dongzhang; chapters of Daoist scripture); the Celestial Emperor-Lords of the heavens chanted the Buxu (Pacing the Void; hymns of praise in Daoist ritual accompanied by walking or visualization). Radiant maidens and immortal ladies scattered flowers as they circled about, and, leading one another, roamed and took their pleasure within the azure palaces. The host of immortals led the way in front, while the ceremonial retinue formed ranks behind; dragon banners and luan-bird carriages drifted through the air, and at last they all gathered together upon the tiered terrace of Jade Brahma and the Seven Treasures.

At this moment the Thunder Master, the Hoary Elder (Leishi Haoweng; a divine general of the Thunder Department), stepped out of rank from among the immortal assembly, came before the Celestial Worthy, bowed in obeisance, knelt respectfully for a long while, and addressed him: “Celestial Worthy, your compassion is vast and your holiness supreme; you are the father of all living beings and the teacher of the myriad spirits. Today the heavens have all been able to meet with you here, and we happen to see you paging through precious volumes and examining treasured classics, whose profound and hidden contents are too many to enumerate one by one.

“Only the inner courts and central offices of the Thirty-six Heavens under the single Bureau of the Jade Empyrean, together with the Eastern and Western Floriate Terraces, the mysterious lodges and wondrous pavilions, the Four Bureaus and Six Courts, and the various offices, each set apart in their own departments, jointly administer the Five Thunders and supervise the Three Realms. The Celestial Worthy is of the utmost honor and nobility, yet personally attends to these many affairs. We petty immortals of humble station—by what affinity are we able to serve at your side? We earnestly beg you to tell us the reason.”

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said to Thunder Master Haoweng and the assembled immortal officials: “In former lives you accumulated merit, and in this life you have continued to cultivate without cease, and so you have been able to take office in the Jade Bureau and be entered in the registers of the Jasper Palace. The merits you have now established, and the attainments of your cultivation, are greater than before. You must exert yourselves to the utmost and, while serving in the Thunder Bureau, devote yourselves single-mindedly to the affairs of the Fire Division. As days and months accumulate, merit will rise higher and cultivation will become ever more manifest; when the mind-nature is clear and lucid and the spirit (Shen) is blended in harmony, you will realize the realm of the High Perfected and go on to enter the mysterious and wondrous Dao (the Way).

“Yet the ghosts and spirits of the Thunder Department labor day and night, and at the slightest provocation they suffer beating and punishment; in severe cases they are subjected to interrogation and slaughter, even crushed and scattered like clouds dispersing and snow melting, without respite. No sooner are dragons summoned and crow-messengers dispatched here than matters have only just ceased there, and already they begin again elsewhere. All of these things have their own causes; you must listen with care.”

Thunder Master Haoweng and the immortals of the various heavens pricked up their ears and listened in silence. The Celestial Worthy sat upright on a screened throne adorned with patterns of nine phoenixes and cinnabar-red clouds, holding in his hand a ruyi glittering with golden light (an object symbolizing auspiciousness and spiritual power). A clear breeze blew gently, and colored clouds shone in splendor. The Celestial Worthy remained silent for a long time.

The Celestial Worthy said: “In the past, when I passed through one thousand five hundred kalpas, I cultivated this Dao with my original mind, and thereby realized the rank of the Supreme Perfected; and by accumulating merit through the intentions of the heart, I was able to preside over a vast work of teaching and transformation. Once, before Daluo Yuanshi Tianzun, the Primordial Celestial Worthy, I made a great vow with a pure heart: that all living beings of future ages, together with heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits, need only recite my name to obtain salvation and be freed from suffering. If any should fail to attain this, I vow to take their suffering upon myself. Cleanse away your stray thoughts; I shall now expound this for you.”

The Celestial Worthy said: “You celestial beings wish to hear the Supreme Dao. The Supreme Dao is profound, remote, and mysterious; it does not lie somewhere else. Since you wish to hear, you must understand: true ‘hearing’ is not clinging to the fact of having heard something. To see the Supreme Dao is the true Dao; yet once you have understood this seeing, you must also let go of attachment to it and return it to yourself. Even you cannot yet be said to exist in any substantial way—how much less the Great Dao? Since the Great Dao is not obtained by hearing, what principle is there that can be spoken?”

The Celestial Worthy said: To cultivate the Dao (the Way), one must enter it with sincerity, maintain it with stillness, and apply it with gentleness. If one can be sincere in dealing with others and in handling affairs, one may seem somewhat dull in the eyes of those around; if one remains still, one may seem inarticulate; if one proceeds in a gentle manner, one may seem insufficiently adroit. Those who can do this may gradually forget the body and forget the self, and even cease to be concerned with the very act of forgetting.

Those who enter the Dao know when to stop; those who hold the Dao know caution; those who apply the Dao know how to perceive the subtle. When one can perceive the subtle, the light of wisdom appears; when one holds with caution, sagely wisdom can become complete; when one knows when to stop, the mind grows calm and peaceful. With calm and peace, wisdom can be complete; when wisdom is complete, the light of wisdom appears; when the light of wisdom appears, one can unite with the Dao. This is called true forgetting. True forgetting is to forget without clinging to forgetting; when one forgets until there is nothing left to forget, one attains the supreme Dao. The Dao exists between heaven and earth, yet heaven and earth do not know that it exists. Sentient and insentient beings, in the end, are all unified in the Dao, with no distinction between them.

The Celestial Worthy said: Now that I have come into the world, how am I to benefit living beings? Therefore I expound this profound and precious scripture (jing) for all the celestial beings. Those who comprehend the principles within it can ascend to the realm of the immortals. Those who cultivate the Dao should believe that the Qi (vital energy) people receive, and their allotted destinies, each differ. Sentient and insentient beings, in the end, are all unified in the Dao, with no distinction between them.

The Celestial Worthy said: Now that I have come into the world, how am I to benefit living beings? Therefore I expound this profound and precious scripture for all the celestial beings. Those who comprehend the principles within it can ascend to the realm of the immortals. Those who cultivate the Dao should believe that each person has his or her own Qi and allotted destiny. Climates and lands differ, and so the qualities with which people are endowed also differ; this is called “Qi.” People differ in intelligence and dullness, and the clarity or turbidity of their mind and nature likewise differs; this is called “number.” Number is bound up with fate, and Qi is bound up with the seasons of Heaven. Constrained by Qi and number, and bound by the mandate of Heaven, people find it difficult to attain the true Dao.

Dullness can turn into intelligence, and turbidity can turn into clarity, but this depends on the arrangement of destiny. A person’s dimness and turbidity are also influenced by climate, terrain, and innate endowment. Heaven and earth set all this in motion through a marvelous mechanism, yet leave people unable to perceive it, and so people call it “the Natural.” Even when people know that they cannot perceive it, they still call it “the Natural.” The marvel of the Natural, though it exceeds human understanding, is marvelous precisely because its source is not something human beings can know. From the perspective of the Dao, however, these differences are not fixed for all time, and dullness and turbidity are not produced by the Dao itself. When the heavens heard this, they all rejoiced.

The Celestial Worthy said: What I speak of today is the Precious Scripture of the Jade Pivot (Yushu Baojing). In later ages, if anyone hears my name and title and merely gathers and concentrates mind and spirit, silently contemplating “Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun” (the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation Whose Thunderclap Responds to the Primordial of the Nine Heavens), then whether it is invoked once, or five times, or seven times, this counts as reciting the Precious Scripture of the Jade Pivot.

In later ages, if anyone hears my name and title and merely gathers and concentrates mind and spirit, silently reciting “Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun,” whether once, five times, seven times, or hundreds and thousands of times, I will transform and manifest in the ten directions (every direction) and wield divine power throughout the Three Realms (the heavenly realm, the human world, and the underworld), so that all who invoke my name and title may have their wishes fulfilled. Within the ten directions and the Three Realms, all the heavens and lands, the sun, moon, and stars, the mountains, rivers, grasses, and trees, together with the birds and beasts and minute creatures, whether they have awareness or not, and the heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits, upon hearing living beings invoke my name and title, will, if any dare to defy, be beheaded and have their hearts cut open, and be reduced to fine dust.

The Celestial Worthy said: I am the Great Saint of Steadfast Brightness of the Nine Heavens (an honorific title of the Celestial Worthy). On the sixth day of each month and on the xin days within each ten-day period (days marked by the heavenly stem “xin”), I inspect the various heavens and tour the Three Realms. If anyone wishes to study the Dao (the Way), seek immortality, gain release from the Nine Mysteries (the underworld entanglements connected with the ancestors), or eliminate the Three Calamities (the afflictions of which cultivators speak), that person should have a Daoist priest of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) preside over the ritual.

The Celestial Worthy said: I am the Great Saint of Steadfast Brightness of the Nine Heavens. On the sixth day of each month and on the xin days within each ten-day period, I inspect the various heavens and tour the Three Realms. If anyone wishes to study the Dao, seek immortality, gain release from the Nine Mysteries, or eliminate the Three Calamities, that person may invite a Zhengyi Daoist priest to preside, or may join with relatives and friends to hold the ritual in a Daoist abbey, at home, or at the neighborhood shrine (the sacrificial place of the local community). In the ritual one offers water, presents flowers, and recites this scripture according to the prescribed form. Reciting it once, three times, or five times, and even several dozen or a hundred times, can make the spirit clear and lucid, the heart open and at ease, and the body peaceful and secure. Whatever is prayed for will likewise receive a corresponding response.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: There are nine spirits in the body—why not summon them? They are called, respectively, Tiansheng, Wuying, Xuanzhu, Zhengzhong, Zidan, Huihui, Danyuan, Taiyuan, and Lingtong. To summon them brings auspiciousness. There are also three spirit-essences in the body—why not call upon them? They are called, respectively, Taiguang, Shuangling, and Youjing. To call upon them brings blessings and felicity. If the heart is vexed and oppressed, the six pulses fall into disorder, the four limbs can find no peace, and every part of the body gives forth signals of crisis, one ought to recite this scripture (jing).

The Celestial Worthy said: If the Five Phases (Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) in a person’s destiny do not run smoothly, the nine luminaries (jiuyao, the nine stellar luminaries) travel a perilous course, the year’s fortune meets punishment and clash, one’s luck suffers being checked and struck, and one further encounters such inauspicious stellar sha as Guchen, Guasu, Yangren, Jianfeng, Jiesha, Wangshen, Guimen, and Goujiao, so that emolument is damaged and fortune is ruined, the star of setting forth falls into kongwang (emptiness and loss), every action and undertaking may meet with danger, and daily comings and goings are filled with hardship, then one ought to recite this scripture. When reciting it, one may petition upward the Celestial Official to dispel the calamities of heaven, the Terrestrial Official to dispel the calamities of earth, and the Water Official to dispel the calamities of the waters; petition the Five Emperors to dispel the calamities of the five directions, and the Four Sages to dispel the calamities of the four seasons; petition Nanchen (the Southern Asterism) to dispel the afflictions of one’s natal destiny, and the Northern Dipper (Beidou) to dispel every calamity.

The Celestial Worthy said: If someone has long lain ill in bed, suffering a disease difficult to cure at the root, remaining sick for a long time without improvement, and seeking physicians to no effect, with the spirit dazed and the body frail, one ought to recite this scripture. The cause may be connected with former offenses before such deities as the Five Emperors, the Three Officials (Sanguan), and the Five Ways of Mount Tai; or one may have offended spirits among the sun, moon, and stars, in mountains and forests, grasses and trees, at numinous altars and ancient sites, at City God and community shrines, in lanes and alleys, at wells and stoves, or at monasteries, abbeys, and pagoda towers. It may also be that unfinished grievances remain with the underworld officials of the thirty-six hells and the divine clerks of the seventy-two bureaus, so that the entanglements never cease. It may also be misfortune brought on by oaths and curses, or caused by debts still unpaid and due to be repaid. If ill will was formed in a former life, and enmity has accumulated through life after life and kalpa after kalpa, one should likewise ascertain the fault, sincerely repent and make amends to the party concerned, and then recite this scripture.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) says: Both in heaven above and on the earth below there are “official talismans” (guanfu). A year, a month, a day, and a double-hour each has its corresponding official talisman, and each direction and orientation has one as well. The greater bring lawsuits; the lesser give rise to quarrels. It is said that a “deity of the red mouth and white tongue,” who presides over these matters, causes people to fall into disputes.

When people go about their affairs, leave home, return, or conduct their daily lives, if they do not know how to avoid the relevant taboos and encounter an official talisman or a quarrel of words, they may become entangled in disturbances, finding no peace day or night, and draw many quarrels upon themselves. Some say one thing to a person’s face and another behind the back, and argue at the slightest pretext; they swear oaths and curse before gods and Buddhas, beginning in slander and ending in abuse. From this, lawsuits arise, and even punishment may follow. If one wishes to dispel these misfortunes, one should recite this Jing (scripture). Quarrels of mouth and tongue will then gradually subside, and the calamities of litigation will cease for a long time.

The Celestial Worthy says: The earth has the “Nine Ramparts of the Earth Sovereign” (Tuhuang jiulei), which govern one thousand two hundred spirits, including the Earth Marquis, the Earth Earl, the Earth Lord, the Earth Mother, the Earth Son, the Earth Grandson, and the dependents of the earth household. There are also Taisui, the General, the Crane Spirit, Taibai, Jiuliang, Sword Point, Male and Female, the Metal Spirit, Fire-Blood, Body-Yellow, Fate-Collision, the Three Balefuls, the Seven Balefuls, Yellow Banner and Leopard Tail, Feilian’s Knife and Chopping Block, and other spirit-balefuls of the earth household (the spirit-balefuls listed in the taboos of traditional day-selection and building). When people break ground to build, or take land and raise houses, if they violate one of these taboos they may fall ill or even die. So long as one recites this scripture, the myriad spirits will appear and give protection, so that one is not bound by the taboos of heavenly timing, earthly advantage, Yin-Yang, and the like, and in all matters nothing is taboo.

The Celestial Worthy says: When people of the world become husband and wife, they sometimes offend “Xianchi” (a kind of spirit-baleful in the traditional art of day-selection). If they violate this taboo, they may fall ill or even die. So long as one recites this scripture, the myriad spirits will appear and give protection, so that one is not bound by the taboos of heavenly timing, earthly advantage, Yin-Yang, and the like, and in all matters nothing is taboo.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said: When couples in the world marry, some offend stellar malefics unfavorable to marriage and childbearing, such as “Xianchi” and “Tiangou,” and they may also encounter inauspicious configurations in the reckoning of fate, such as the Three Punishments, the Six Harms, and Gejiao. Yin-Yang falls out of balance and obstructions of every kind arise, so they find it difficult to bear children and are often left lonely and without support. If one wishes to obtain a boy, one may recite this Jing (scripture). Then the Great Deity Who Oversees Birth in the Nine Heavens will summon the spirits and draw in the winds and Qi (vital energy), enabling one to give birth to a worthy and virtuous child. At the time of delivery, the deity Taiyi is before the gate, and the deity Siming keeps guard in the courtyard. If debts of grievance, ghosts and specters, taboos, or perils bring about a difficult labor, one need only recite this scripture: the divine spirits of the Nine Heavens will protect the birthing chamber, and the Holy Mother will secretly cradle and deliver the infant, so that the birth proceeds smoothly and mother and child are both safe.

While an infant is still in swaddling clothes, if it is harassed by the fifteen kinds of ghosts and demons beneath the throne of the Chandana Divine King, it may often suffer convulsions and spasms; one should therefore recite this scripture.

The Celestial Worthy said further: If the place where people live is troubled by birds and rats or plagued by snakes and insects, or if strange events occur—bricks thrown and tiles hurled, chickens and dogs alarmed—and if someone even seizes the chance to demand sacrificial offerings, so that people are menaced by shadows, startled in their dreams, and even meet with lewdness and theft; if demonic evils occupy the dwelling and make it their lair, beguiling the living and leaving courtyard and gates without peace; if by night they howl upon the roof beams and by day they peer into the house, and even oxen, horses, dogs, and pigs contract pestilence; if disaster implicates the kin and harm extends to the begetting of descendants; if licentious shrines and demonic cults shelter evil gods and wicked ghosts, so that mourning in the household follows without cease and funeral carriages come one after another—then, should one recite this scripture, the ghosts and demons will disperse, and both people and livestock will be at peace.

The Celestial Worthy said: The Thunder-Lord Generals of the Nine Heavens, the Thunder-Lord Generals of the Five Directions, the Cloud-and-Thunder Generals of the Eight Directions, the Man-Thunder envoys of the Five Directions, the Commander-Envoy of the Thunder Ministry, and Judge Mozhuan all issue commands and act as swiftly as wind and fire. Heterodox temples may be campaigned against, heterodox altars attacked, monsters and demons eradicated, and ghostly hauntings driven off. In the latter age, ritual methods and the Way (Dao) have declined; shamans are numerous, heterodox arts are current, and people secretly practice curse-suppression and prayer. Shangqing (Highest Clarity) has therefore established places in the celestial court for confining ghosts and recording treachery and evil, and also places commanded by the Sovereign Lords for binding demons and investigating baleful spirits. Recite this scripture (Jing), and the response will come as swiftly as an echo.

The Celestial Worthy said: There are heavenly plagues and earthly plagues, twenty-five kinds of pestilence in all; heavenly gu and earthly gu, twenty-four kinds of gu poison in all; and heavenly consumption and earthly consumption, thirty-six kinds of wasting illness in all. Reciting this scripture can make pestilence subside, gu poison disappear, and wasting illness heal. The causes of disease also differ. Sometimes the souls of the dead implicate the living; sometimes the yin vital energy (Qi) left by a corpse works harm; sometimes tombs give rise to lawsuits or calamitous blame; sometimes the souls of the dead taint the living; and sometimes corpse Qi draws the affliction in. Ghosts and spirits caught up in such ties may, from grief or resentment, cling and cause trouble, invading through the Qi of illness and striking when a person is weak. Thus this scripture reaches upward to the Three Heavens and downward to the Nine Springs. It can offer posthumous merit for the souls of the dead implicated in the blame and calamities of burial and the tomb, and deliver ancestors and the former spirits of the unseen world. The Most High (Taishang) will dispatch the Great General of the Plain Carriage and White Horse to oversee the matter.

The Celestial Worthy says: If someone packs for a long journey, they may meet bandits doing harm and suffer injury from weapons along the way. Traveling by land, they may be harmed by tigers, wolves, mountain sprites, ants, and the like; traveling by water, they may encounter flood dragons, giant softshell turtles, and alligators that open their mouths to devour them. They may also meet, in dangerous shoals and swift currents, the ghosts of those who died with a grievance, or suffer calamity amid wind and waves; the dead are reborn one after another, and there are even ghosts who seize the living to die in their place. If one can sincerely believe in and take refuge in this Jing (scripture), both water routes and land routes will be safe, and whether one sets out or remains, all will go smoothly and auspiciously.

The Celestial Worthy says: If drought is severe and rain is long in coming, sincerely bowing in reverence to this Jing will bring timely sweet rain. If prolonged gloom and rain gather into disaster and the waters overflow, sincerely bowing in reverence to this Jing will bring a timely clearing of the skies.

The Celestial Worthy says: If Zhurong (the fire god) sends down calamity and the flames spread to the dwellings of the people, or if an omen such as the “red rat roaming the city” appears, alarming the people and bringing scorching heat, this Jing may be used to avert the disaster. If Hairuo (the sea god) fails in his duty, so that fish and turtles appear at random, floodwaters surge to the heavens, and the people are submerged and suffer, this Jing may be used to still the flood.

The Celestial Worthy said: If people of the world wish to avoid the three calamities and nine misfortunes—all manner of disasters and accidents—they should, on a quiet night, bow in reverence toward the Northern Chronogram, the region of the North Star. Above the Northern Chronogram are the Three Terrace stars. They are linked to one another, shaped like a pair of eyes, arranged in three levels from upper to lower, and they cover the bowl of the Northern Dipper. This is called the “Celestial Stairs.” If someone is able to see them, in life they may be free from the worry of punishment and imprisonment, and after death they will not sink into suffering.

Within the Northern Dipper there is also a venerable emperor, and there two stars as large as chariot wheels. If someone is able to see them, they can preserve their bodily form, remain long in the human world, and become an immortal who never dies. If one sincerely upholds this scripture (Jing) and entrusts one’s mind to the North Pole, one can resonate with the deities in the unseen realm, and may also obtain the blessings spoken of above: in life, freedom from punishment and imprisonment; after death, freedom from the suffering of perdition; and the attainment of long life.

The Northern Dipper is the pivot of heaven, and within it is the Tiangang, the key stellar position among the stars of the Northern Dipper. Inside the Dipper it corresponds to Lianzhen; outside, it corresponds to Pojun. The Thunder City has twelve gates, which shift according to the direction indicated by the Tiangang. When the Tiangang star points to the position of Chou—the earthly-branch direction slightly north of northeast—its proper station lies at the position of Wei, slightly south of southwest. The direction it points to is auspicious, and the direction where it resides is inauspicious; the other directions follow in the same way. If someone is able to see these stellar configurations, their lifespan may reach a thousand years.

The Celestial Worthy said: The way of the world has declined, and Dao (the Way) and De (Virtue/Power) have grown meager; people lack virtuous conduct. They are not loyal to their rulers, not filial toward their parents, do not respect their teachers and elders, are not affectionate toward their brothers, are not sincere toward their spouses, and do not treat their friends according to right principle. They do not revere Heaven, Earth, and the gods; they do not pay ritual honor to the sun, the moon, and the stars—the “Three Luminaries”—nor do they cherish the five grains. They commit evil deeds with their bodies and speak evil words with their mouths; they cheat others by taking in with a large scale and giving out with a small measure, injure living beings, and destroy human lives. They themselves give only a little, yet demand a thousandfold from others. They also practice cunning for private gain, deviant lust and demonic anomalies, and sorcery and rebellion.

These offenses develop gradually from the slight to the severe. The Three Officials (the Heavenly Official, the Earthly Official, and the Water Official of which Daoism speaks) then record the transgressions, and the Divine Lord Taiyi (a Daoist deity) transmits the documents, handing the person over to the Office of the Five Thunders for Beheading and Investigation (the divine bureau charged with punishment through thunder rites). First the spirit is beheaded, and then the bodily form is examined. The spirit is cut down and the soul slain, so that the person’s spirit and soul are thrown into confusion, and the person is despised, loathed, and resented by all. The bodily form is next put to proof, and thunder strikes the corpse until it bursts apart. There are also punishments of being driven and held in forced service, with inspections by the month and by the ten-day period, and in addition interrogation and flogging.

As soon as one hears this Jing (scripture), karmic offenses can be extinguished. If someone has been punished by the thunder gods so that the corpse cannot be encoffined, and neither water nor fire can dispose of it, one should invoke “the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation, of the Thunder Voice Responding to the Primordial of the Nine Heavens” (Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun), and contemplate in the mind as follows: “The myriad gods all come to bow in homage and together obey my command.”

The Celestial Worthy said further: The merit of this scripture is inconceivable. In a kalpa of the past, the Long-Lived Great Emperor, Perfected King of Jade Clarity of the Divine Empyrean (Shenxiao Yuqing Zhenwang Changsheng Dadi), once proclaimed this scripture.

The Celestial Worthy said further: The merit of this scripture is inconceivable. When those who have attained the Dao transmit this scripture, they should all prepare gifts such as gold and silk, swear an oath before Heaven, and only then transmit it. Thunder Master Haoweng knelt at length in salute and then made his report once more.

The Celestial Worthy said: Wherever this scripture is kept, it should be guarded by the local earth god and the Director of Fate—the deities who preside over a given territory and record a person’s allotted lifespan together with deeds of good and evil—while the divine generals of the Thunder Department patrol and inspect it at the proper times. If a household possesses this scripture and venerates it with utmost sincerity, auspicious Qi (vital energy) will fill the courtyard, clouds of good fortune will shelter the dwelling, calamities will not arise, and blessings will gather. Even if members of the family die, they need not undergo the sufferings of hell. Why is this? Because after death they may pass on and be reborn upon a good path; this is the numinous efficacy gained by receiving the power of the Celestial Worthy.

Whether going out, returning home, or in the course of daily life, if one carries this scripture on one’s person, one will be respected by others and held in awe by ghosts and spirits. When dangers and difficulties of every kind arise, so long as one single-mindedly recites the holy name of the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation by the Sound of Thunder, Responsive to the Origin of the Nine Heavens (Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun), one will obtain deliverance.

Thereupon Thunder Master Haoweng recited a gatha before the Celestial Worthy: The supreme and unsurpassed King of Jade Clarity presides over the thirty-six heavens. The Lord of Universal Transformation of the Nine Heavens manifests throughout the worlds of the ten directions. With hair unbound he rides a qilin and, barefoot, treads layer upon layer of cold ice; grasping the Qi of the nine heavens, he raises the wind with a whistle and, with a flick of the whip, commands the thunder. By the power of wisdom he subdues demons, monsters, and sprites of every kind, delivers the departed souls of the long night, and benefits all living beings. His grace, like the waters of the Milky Way, shines upon all beings, vast as a thousand eyes and a thousand moon-disks. He vows that in ages yet to come he will forever proclaim the teaching of the Celestial Worthy.

After Thunder Master Haoweng had finished this gatha, the Celestial Worthy said: This scripture has already circulated in the world, yet the people of the world do not yet understand it. Now, in the Palace of the Responsive Origin of the Nine Heavens which I govern, there are established the Envoys of the Thunder Gate of the Nine Heavens, assisted by those charged with investigation and record-keeping and by the associates of impartial inspection. The palace also contains four bureaus—the Bureau of Seizing Surpluses, the Bureau of Accumulated Arrests, the Bureau of Hidden Wrongs, and the Bureau of Retribution—each directed by a grand master. Under my jurisdiction, the divine officials of the ranks of minister, master, envoy, and chancellor together assist the working by which Heaven and Earth transform and nurture the myriad things.

When the Celestial Worthy had finished speaking this scripture, heavenly flowers fell in profusion upon the tiered dais of jade Brahma and the seven treasures, and precious fragrances drifted about. The imperial lords of the heavens of the ten directions together exclaimed in praise, “Excellent!” Heavenly dragons, ghosts and spirits, the officials of the Thunder Department, and the myriad numinous beings of the Three Realms were all filled with joy; they received the scripture in faith and carried it out in practice.

Om Hum—assisting Heaven and Earth in transforming and nurturing the myriad things.

After the Celestial Worthy finished expounding this scripture (Jing), heavenly flowers drifted down in profusion upon the jade-Brahma seven-treasure tiered terrace, and a precious fragrance lingered without dispersing. The sovereign lords from the heavens of the ten directions all praised it, saying, “Well spoken!” Celestial dragons, ghosts and spirits, the deities of the Thunder Ministry, and the myriad numinous beings of the Three Realms all rejoiced, received it with sincere faith, and practiced it in accordance with the scripture.

“Om hum zha li va ra” are the mantra syllables at the close of the scripture, used to express reverence for the text and its recitation; these syllables are ordinarily not translated according to their literal meaning.