《太上洞渊北帝天蓬护命消灾神咒妙经》

In the Fragrant Grove Garden, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) expounded the methods of the Dao and the precepts to the divine youths of the heavens. When the teaching was finished, a youth seated in the assembly, named Guangshan, stepped forward out of rank, paid his respects, and addressed the Celestial Worthy:

“Today, attending at your feet, we have heard the twenty-four articles of the Mingzhen statutes, and we have come to understand the causes and conditions of good and evil and the principle of retribution. Filled at once with awe and with joy, we have all offered praise. Through this we have been able to realize the unsurpassed Dao, and no doubt or obstruction remains in our minds. You have further revealed the causes and conditions of sinful karma and the rites of purification, which can save the souls of the dead in the dark netherworld, releasing them from the suffering of the endless night so that they may ascend to the halls of blessing, where clothing and food are naturally complete. This teaching brings wide deliverance to all beings, and the dead all benefit from it.

“Yet among the men and women of this life and of lives to come, some have never read the scriptures (jing) and precepts; some lack the strength to persevere in cultivation; and others lack the power to withstand calamity, so that they are often harmed by the evil spirits and malignant ghosts of the world, die before their time, and cannot live out their allotted years.

“In great compassion the Celestial Worthy has already taught living beings, bringing relief to both the living and the dead. In life and in death alike, we all receive your grace. We earnestly beg you to extend your compassion once more and reveal, for the men and women of later generations, methods of protecting the body and preserving life, so that they may be spared the three calamities and nine untimely deaths of the present age, the five pestilences and seven lingering afflictions—the plagues and clinging illnesses spoken of in Daoism—sickness and poisonous vapors, every kind of evil spirit and goblin, and other disasters, and thus keep their lives safe from violent harm. If we may receive your pity, we shall gratefully bear your holy grace.”

Hearing this, the Celestial Worthy answered with joy: “Excellent, excellent! What you ask is indeed of the greatest importance. I have compassion for all living beings, just as a mother cherishes her child. I shall now explain this for you. Listen carefully, and from beginning to end hold it firmly in mind; do not forget.”

At this the whole assembly rejoiced greatly and listened together with undivided attention.

The Celestial Worthy said: In remote antiquity the people were simple and sincere, and they had no thought of harming others. The length of each life was fixed by destiny; all could peacefully enjoy their allotted years. There was no untimely or violent death, nor did ghosts and specters injure people without cause.

But in the present age, worldly customs have grown shallow and frivolous, and human hearts have become corrupt. People suspect one another, put no faith in the orthodox Dao (the Way), and do only wicked things. They turn away from what is genuine and rush toward what is false; they do not follow the correct Dao, they defy Heaven and Earth, and they damage the root. People are neither loyal nor filial and lack a heart of compassion. They deceive and entice the common folk, cruelly abuse the people, kill living beings, and injure life, and thus bind themselves to countless enmities.

These evil deeds cause men and women of the present age to meet often with calamity. Some are harmed by robbers; some are harassed by evil ghosts; some, for no reason, fall into lawsuits and disputes and even lose their lives; some are injured by snakes, venomous insects, tigers, and wolves; some suddenly suffer disaster at the hands of the authorities, are thrown into prison, and endure whipping or punishment. In other households plague breaks out, the body is invaded by poisonous Qi (vital energy), old and young fall ill, family members die, the kin are cut off, and flesh and blood are scattered.

Calamities of every kind arise, for the most part, because the Qi of the Three Heavens has declined and been exhausted while the Qi of the Six Heavens circulates, so that humans and ghosts mingle and the deviant and the orthodox are hard to tell apart. Thereupon the baleful Qi of dark confinement, the baleful Qi that brings grief, the Qi of evil sprites, and the licentious demonic Qi invade the living at random, spread abroad, and give rise to pestilence.

Among these, the Qi of confinement is born from the One and rises in the north; the One generates the Two, and the grievous baleful Qi arrives in succession; the Two generate the Three, and the Qi of evil sprites seizes the moment to inflict harm. Thus the Qi of the kidneys weakens, the Shen (spirit) of the heart is depleted, the Qi of the lungs is cut off, and the Qi of the liver withers. The yellow cloud-Qi cannot gather and congeal, and the black Qi and the white Qi turn against each other. The evil demons of the Six Heavens therefore come to invade, and the ghosts and spirits of the Eight Divisions also descend without warrant, causing people to suffer disaster.

If one wishes to dispel calamity and relieve adversity, one should know the names of the palaces of the Six Heavens and recite the Great Incantation of Tianpeng. In reciting, one must set one’s thoughts upright, concentrate and become settled, and visualize with care. In this way one can behold the great deities, so that the former baleful Qi disperses; body and mind thereby grow secure, and the household is peaceful and flourishing. The Celestial Worthy then spoke in a clear, ringing voice and openly proclaimed the names of the palaces of the Six Heavens.

Here the “Qi of the Three Heavens,” the “Qi of the Six Heavens,” and the related ghosts and spirits are religious conceptions by which the Jing (scripture/classic) explains calamity and epidemic disease; “reciting incantations” and “visualization” mean concentrating on chanting divine incantations and contemplating the deities in the mind.

The first palace is called the Cavern-Heaven Palace of Auspicious Brilliance and Assembled Numina (Xiuming Zongling Dongtian Gong); the second is called the Heavenly Office of the Primordial Bureau of Redoubled Rectitude and Ancestral Numina (Yuansi Chongzheng Zongling Tianguan); the third is called the Heavenly Palace of Commanding the Immortals, Ascending Numina, and Seeking the Rare (Tongxian Shengling Xisou Tiangong); the fourth is called the Heavenly Office of Orthodox Perfection, the Numina of Shao, and the Bureau of Search (Zhengzhen Shaoling Sousi Tianguan); the fifth is called the Heavenly Palace of Cloud Towers, Jade Ordinances, and Luminous Origin (Yunlou Yuji Mingyuan Tiangong); and the sixth is called the Heavenly Office of Exalted Numina, Crimson Radiance, and Winding Clouds (Chongling Chiying Yunqu Tianguan). These heavenly palaces stand among the northern mountains of the stems ren and gui, within the territory of Luofeng, and are commanded by the Divine Lord of Northern Yin (Beiyin Shenjun). Around them are further halls and chambers, each governed by ghosts and spirits. Within the palaces they preside over the guiding order of the Yin-Yang of the Six Heavens; outside them they hold authority over the dark realm of Luofeng of the Six Heavens. They reward good and punish evil without the slightest error.

If a single thought in a person is upright and sincere, the Six Palaces manifest auspicious good; if a single thought gives rise to deviant desire, the Six Palaces manifest baleful evil. Even when malign Qi (vital energy) is spreading, it is still drawn forth by the human heart. To cut off the root of evil thoughts, the mind must be made quiet. Chant the names of the palace gates of the Six Heavens and bow facing north, and the spirits will reverently comply and will not dare to inflict harm as they please.

At this, the Lad Guangshan (Guangshan Tongzi, the Lad of Broad Goodness) and the assembly, having heard these words, felt both awe and joy. They bowed again and said to the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun): “We, your servants, have quieted our minds and realized our affinity with the Dao, passing through many kalpas. We have known only to uphold mindfulness of the Dao, to gather in mind and spirit (Shen), and then to look down and observe the human world. Whenever we think of pestilence harming the people, causing them to sink into delusion from which they cannot be freed, we feel deep sorrow, yet we did not know that such causal conditions and virulent Qi were working evil unchecked in the world. Now that we have received the Celestial Worthy’s instruction, this is something never heard through the long course of kalpas. The kindred of this present life thereby also know what to hold fast and where to take refuge, and the benefit gained is without limit. We revere the Celestial Worthy’s great kindness. The names of the palaces of the Six Heavens are already inscribed in our hearts; the Great Spell of Tianpeng (Tianpeng Dazhou) we shall likewise hear with quiet minds, and receive and uphold.”

The Celestial Worthy’s countenance was grave, and the resonance of his thought reached far and deep. He commended them, saying: “Guangshan, the causal conditions of this great spell are of great weight, and the prohibitions attached to it are exceedingly strict. That I now transmit it to you is indeed because I take pity on the beings of the lower realms and would save and deliver them. Were I to proclaim it with my own mouth, heaven and earth would shake into solemn stillness, divinities would come forward to bow and receive it, the statutes of the heavenly realm would be renewed in turn, and both the heavens and the human world ought to celebrate.”

Thereupon the Celestial Worthy turned and ordered the Perfected of the Left Primordial (Zuoyuan Zhenren), in the Court of Dayou (Great Possession), to open the cloud-brocade case of Purple Yang (Ziyang), take out this great spell, and transmit it to the ritual assembly present. The Lad Guangshan, having received the great spell, was stirred with joy and at once chanted it aloud from his seat:

“Tianpeng, Tianpeng, Killer Lads of the Nine Primordials. Five Stalwarts of the Metropolitan Command, Gaodiao, Duke of the North. Seven Regulators and Eight Numina, the vast ferocity of the Most High. The long-skulled giant beast holds the Emperor’s bell in its hand. The three spirits of the white owl set the chariots in strict array and ride the kui-dragon. Divine King of the Awesome Sword, cut down every deviant specter and leave no trace. Purple Qi ascends to heaven; cinnabar-red clouds surge up in fierce blaze. Swallow demons and eat ghosts; stretch the body and drink the wind. Blue-gray tongue and green teeth, the four-eyed old man. Celestial stalwarts and strongmen overawe and suppress baleful evil in the south; the Tianzou beasts, roused to fury, stand guard in the north with blades clenched in their mouths. Three hundred thousand celestial soldiers protect my ninefold dharma-realm, cleaving and slaying deviant specters a thousand li away and sweeping away every inauspicious thing. If any petty ghost dares to show itself and make mischief, then the celestial stalwarts and strongmen shall suppress baleful evil in the south, the Tianzou beasts, roused to fury, shall meet the foe in the north with blades in their mouths, and the three hundred thousand celestial soldiers shall guard the ninefold realm, cleaving and slaying deviant specters across a thousand li and sweeping away the inauspicious. With the great axe that splits heaven, sever the bodies of ghosts and monsters; with the blazing blood of the Flame Emperor and the divine might of the Northern Emperor, burn their bones. Siming (Four Brilliances) destroys their remains, and Tianyou annihilates their kind. At one sweep of the divine blade, the ten thousand ghosts scatter of themselves. In accordance with the orally decreed statutes of the manifest might of the Northern Emperor, let this be carried out at once, at once.”

After the incantation had been recited, the whole assembly was filled with gratitude. They marveled that they possessed such a karmic affinity from past lives, and rejoiced that they were able to encounter the Hidden Name (a deity, or an honored title, whose true name is concealed).

Before long, many great deities appeared in the east. Robed in clouds and roseate mists, they traveled through the void: some held banners and command standards, some grasped halberds and spears, some trod upon divine turtles of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), and some bore the Fire Seal of the Three Heavens. Dragon and tiger spirit-beasts guarded them on either side; bells and drums sounded together, and a brilliant radiance shone about them. They came straight to the ritual arena, struck up the sacred music of the rite, and its sound shook through the sky. They then circled before the arena, advanced, and bowed twice, saying earnestly:

“Our attainment in the Dao (the Way) is shallow, and we dwell in the realm of pure emptiness. Born of the Qi (vital energy) of the Zhen quarter, the East, we bear the office of yang firmness; coalesced into form by the Qi of pure Jing (essence), we bear the title Tianpeng. Above, we assist the Jade Emperor and share in governing the Brahma realms (the sacred heavens); below, we oversee the springs and abysses, set in order the hosts of the Primordial Sovereign, and hold overall command of the Six Heavens. We have always taken sincerity of heart and awesome might as our sole charge.

“Why, today, does red light fill the sky and illuminate the vast heavens and earth, and why do hidden characters fly aloft and fall upon the territory under our jurisdiction? We are greatly alarmed and do not understand the cause. We have therefore followed the light to this place, and we earnestly ask you to explain it to us.”

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) nodded and, walking unhurriedly, replied: “Very good, Great General. Only when the two Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang congeal, and male and female unite, do Jing (essence) and Qi arise in mutual generation. In the world there is a Dao (the Way) of life and also a Dao of death; there is the Dao of human beings and also the Dao of ghosts. While living, one becomes a human; after death, one becomes a ghost. Although birth and death each have their own destination, the fundamental principle of nature and life is one and the same. It is only because what people do differs that the retribution they receive also differs.

“Together with you celestial youths, I today set forth the essentials of the prohibitions and of Keyi (liturgy), explaining in order the causes and conditions of birth and death. I see that the people of the world are even now being invaded and stained by the Qi of six kinds of celestial demons. Deviant Qi spreads in every direction; the orthodox Dao cannot appear, while deviant thoughts linger long and will not disperse. They sink into the sea of suffering and drift upon the river of passion and desire. When the primordial spirit is depleted, a hundred evils seize the chance to encroach. The Shen (spirits) of the five viscera fall into disorder; the three Dantian (energy centers) are blocked; the Celestial Emperors of the five directions cannot make their rounds; and the spiritual residence is covered with dust and grime. Flesh and muscle can scarcely grow; souls and spirits suffer chastisement; illness clings for a long time and will not leave; and the pain is hard to endure. This is truly sorrowful. Putting myself in their place, I feel deep compassion.

“You spirits who assist and guard the Northern Emperor have power enough to subdue every foe and sweep away deviant Qi, to settle the earth and uphold the celestial realms; your merit is profound. Therefore I reveal the methods kept secret and unspoken through ten thousand kalpas, and transmit to you the true divine names. I tell you youths to carry these methods into the world, so that people may uphold and recite them forever. By means of your awe-inspiring virtue, descend into the human realm, subdue the host of demons, destroy evil and baleful spirits, sweep away foul and poisonous Qi, and protect the world in purity and peace.

“You now lead your retinues to this ritual arena, and you should further transmit these teachings and admonitions to the men and women of the world. They are bound by lust and entangled in acts of killing; they cling vainly to life, and through minds of love and hatred they instead harm themselves. Yet they do not know that the false arises from the true, and that the true may also be stirred and shifted by the false. When a single false thought arises, every kind of evil spirit seizes the moment to run riot. I now entrust this matter to you: distinguish the orthodox from the deviant, guide deviant thoughts back to the orthodox Dao, and subdue evil by means of the orthodox Dao.

“If in the world there are good men and good women who meet with the disasters of Yang Nine and Hundred-Six, and with such adversities as the Three Declines, the Eight Difficulties, the Nine Violent Deaths, and the Five Sufferings, and who further encounter essence-demons and poisonous Qi, pestilence and calamity—so long as they recite the great divine incantation, you should, upon hearing the sound, respond, go at once to their aid, enable them to escape danger and recover health and peace, live out the years allotted by Heaven, and assist the great Dao in teaching and transforming the people of the world.”

At this, Guangshan Tongzi (the Youth of Vast Goodness), hearing the Celestial Worthy entrust the charge with such gravity, once more paid his respects from his seat, rose, and said to the assembly present: “The Great General Tianpeng has in person received the instruction bestowed from the Celestial Worthy’s compassionate countenance and has made clear the divine intent. His awe-inspiring virtue is vast, and he possesses divine power such as this, able to save and deliver all living beings. That we have heard this together is truly a cause for deep rejoicing.”

If someone comes forward to pray and petition, he then intones:

I bow my head and entrust my life to Marshal Tianpeng (Tianpeng Dajiang), a guardian deity of Daoism. He is a great god able to destroy hosts of demons, and his power is immense.

Riding the kui dragon (kuilong), a mythical divine beast of legend, he descends in solemn majesty upon the ritual arena, displaying awe-inspiring divine might, his radiance shaking heaven and earth. He commands the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions, the stellar deities of the heavens, together with the great divine kings of the Thirty-Six Departments. In his hand he holds a divine sword to cut down demons and evil, and he wields a divine seal to slay sprites and anomalous beings.

He swings his mattock-axe to cleave open the hells and rings the Emperor’s Bell, the ritual implement of Marshal Tianpeng; the sound of the bell reaches straight to the celestial palace. He drives thunder and lightning, wind and cloud, and leads divine troops clad in armor and bearing halberds. The fire officials of the Southern Dipper remove poison and harm, while the water spirits of the Northern Emperor extinguish calamity.

He subdues the great ghost-kings of the Six Heavens and sweeps away the pestilential, evil qi (vital energy) of the ten directions. When he grows angry, even the sun and moon lose their brilliance; between one breath and the next, mountains and rivers seem to boil. Purple qi comes riding upon the heavens and lingers in the sky, while three hundred thousand divine soldiers stand in strict vigilance.

At that time, after Marshal Tianpeng had finished reciting this hymn, celestial music and mysterious, wondrous strains sounded in the air, as if playing of themselves; flowers drifted down and fragrance spread abroad. Countless living beings, together with the divine generals of Marshal Tianpeng’s retinue, all bowed in reverence to the Great Dao (the Way) and together offered praise before the altar. Clouds of compassion bestowed their bounty widely, and grace was carried far and wide. The assembly vowed to propagate this scripture (Jing), teaching and delivering beings of every kind. They then bowed, took their leave, and withdrew.