《太上说朝天谢雷真经》

Long ago, in the first year of the Longhan era, the Celestial Worthy, observing living beings in the world of Fuluo, saw that some did not believe in the Three Treasures—the Dao (the Way), the Jing (scripture), and the teacher—while others had committed the “Five Perversions,” five kinds of rebellious offenses. After death these people sank into the Three Paths—hell, hungry ghosts, and animals, the three evil destinies—and fell forever into hell, becoming ghosts.

Some who offended against the celestial statutes were, when investigated, further falsely accused by the ghosts and spirits of the lower world. Living beings suffered every kind of hardship yet did not know how to avert calamity or confess their offenses. When their sinful karma matured, it brought grave illness or a strike of thunder; after death they would also fall into the paths of hungry ghosts and animals. Their souls and spirits were subjected to interrogation, and disasters followed one upon another—truly lamentable.

People did not know that the celestial court investigates and registers offenses against the celestial statutes, nor that thirty-six kinds of conduct may bring on a thunderstrike. The Celestial Worthy therefore proclaimed the True Scripture of Paying Homage to Heaven and Atoning for Thunder, setting forth these thirty-six articles so that people might pray, repent, and confess, dissolve their offenses, and understand the retribution of good and evil. How could such retribution fail to fill one with grief?

In proclaiming the celestial statutes, the Celestial Worthy wished people to revere Heaven and Earth, the sun and moon, and the spirits; to be loyal to the ruler and filial to their parents; and to understand destiny, the causes and conditions of good and evil, and the methods of prolonging life. He also made clear the principle that paying homage to Heaven and repenting and confessing one’s offenses can move the gods to respond.

Zhengyi Daoist priests—priests of the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) tradition—are to be invited, in a temple or at home and according to one’s own means, to arrange a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) and perform the rites, so as to avert calamity and confess offenses on behalf of others and to pray for extended life. The Investigating Envoys of the Void, divine officers who patrol the human world and examine good and evil, will at once memorialize the celestial court, causing sins to be eliminated and blessings and emoluments to increase; when meritorious deeds are brought to completion, good fortune descends. The sins and blessings of the people of the world are all administered by the Celestial Offices, the governing organs of the celestial court. How could human beings remain wholly unaware of this?

This scripture is a numinous text treasured by Heaven and is not lightly transmitted to the world. Celestial beings and all the sages revere and protect it; those who do not believe in this scripture will fall forever into Fengdu, the underworld of Daoist tradition.

The Celestial Worthy proclaimed the numinous talismans and celestial-script seal characters capable of requiting offenses, explaining that if people of the world violate the heavenly statutes and are struck by thunder, they may take these talismans and seal characters and compare them with the case. In this way ordinary people can understand how the Most High (the Daoist honorific for the Dao, the Way) responds to good and evil in the world; this is also the purpose of establishing the teaching and admonishing humankind.

The twelve matters under the charge of Heavenly Thunder are: disloyalty to the ruler; failure to be filial and respectful toward one’s parents; failure to revere the Three Treasures of the Dao, the Jing (scripture), and the master; squandering grain; railing against wind and rain; exposing the sun, moon, and stars (the “Three Luminaries”); publicizing evil deeds and concealing good conduct; not following the orthodox Way; being inwardly benighted and failing to revere Heaven and Earth; credulously trusting witchcraft, baleful enchantment, and invocatory prayers; cutting off others’ blessings and good fruits; and destroying scriptures and the teaching. Those who violate these heavenly statutes will be examined by Heavenly Thunder. The scripture lists these twelve in order to inform the people and let them know how to repent and acknowledge their faults.

The twelve matters under the charge of Earthly Thunder are: polluting water and pouring filth into rivers; insulting elders and superiors; doubting the orthodox Way and refusing to believe; slighting teachers and forgetting one’s roots; hanging unclean clothing out to dry; debauching the wives and daughters of others; steadily multiplying evil deeds; breaking vows before sacred images or deities; resenting one’s clan and kin; failing to relieve the poor; and lying to Heaven. These twelve fall under the surveillance of Earthly Thunder. The scripture tells the people these precepts so that they may understand how to repent and acknowledge their faults.

The twelve matters under the charge of Human Thunder are: squandering grain; using a heavy scale when taking in and a small measure when paying out; raising prices to profit from famine years; mixing water into rice; deceiving and misleading people; speaking foul words and stirring up discord; tampering with measures of length; skimping, exploiting, and harming others; bullying the good while fearing the powerful; leaving debts long unpaid; scheming after the wives and concubines of others; and indulging in wine and meat while killing living beings. These twelve are governed by Human Thunder, and people in the world often do not know them; therefore the scripture sets them forth so that the people may know how to repent and acknowledge their faults.

The final passage repeats part of the Human Thunder items, and what is listed after “the twelve of Heavenly Thunder” does not connect with the preceding text; the original appears to contain omissions or disorder.

Heavenly Thunder comprises twelve Thunder Lords (Leigong)—the divine generals who, as Daoism teaches, preside over thunder: the Divine Empyrean Thunder Lord (Shenxiao), the Thunder Lord of the Five Directions, the Thunder Lord Who Sends Rain, the Thunder Lord Who Sends Wind, the Thunder Lord Who Sends Clouds, the Thunder Lord Who Spreads Moisture, the Thunder Lord Who Sends Snow, the Thunder Lord Who Sends Ice, the Thunder Lord of Flying Sand, the Thunder Lord Who Devours Baleful Influences, the Thunder Lord Who Swallows Ghosts, and the Thunder Lord Who Subdues Demons. Heavenly Thunder belongs to the office of Heaven. If a person violates Heaven’s commands, the calamities governed by these twelve Thunder Lords must be ritually averted and dispelled, lest one suffer punishments such as being struck by lightning.

Earthly Thunder likewise comprises twelve Thunder Lords: the Thunder Lord Who Investigates the Good, the Thunder Lord Who Punishes Evil, the Thunder Lord of the Altar Command, the Thunder Lord Who Brings Forth the Rice, the Thunder Lord of the Four Sequences, the Thunder Lord Who Averts Calamity, the Thunder Lord Who Gathers Poison, the Thunder Lord Who Relieves Illness, the Thunder Lord Who Aids Those in Peril, the Great Ascent Thunder Lord (Taisheng), the Thunder Lord Who Patrols Heaven, and the Thunder Lord Who Inspects Earth. Here, “investigating the good” means examining good and evil; “the four sequences” refers to the four seasons; and “altar command” refers to divine orders associated with the gods of the soil altar (She). The original text repeats the enumeration in this passage; the list above has been arranged according to the statement that there are twelve. Earthly Thunder belongs to the office of Earth. When an ordinary person commits an offense against Earth, one may burn incense, petition Heaven, and confess one’s guilt, so as to avoid bringing on calamity and suffering; if one prays with sincerity, the prayer will be answered.

Human Thunder also has twelve Thunder Lords: the Thunder Lord Who Gathers Pestilence, the Thunder Lord Who Seizes Poison, the Thunder Lord Who Removes Harm, the Thunder Lord Who Averts Misfortune, the Thunder Lord Who Seals Mountains, the Thunder Lord Who Destroys Temples, the Thunder Lord Who Strikes Ghosts, the Thunder Lord Who Subdues Tigers, the Thunder Lord Who Dispels Miasma, the Thunder Lord Who Destroys Corpses, the Thunder Lord Who Sweeps Away Anomalies, and the Thunder Lord Who Governs Souls. Human Thunder belongs to the office of the human realm. When an ordinary person commits a human offense, one may burn incense and offer prayers to the Northern Dipper (Beidou)—the stellar official commonly addressed in Daoist rites of prayer—making supplications according to one’s own intention, so as to avoid these sufferings. This manifests the De (Virtue/Power) of the Great Dao (the Way) in cherishing life and rescuing all beings.

The Dao (the Way) says: These thirty-six thunder deities can distinguish the gravity of good and evil. If one reveres and observes the precepts of the thunder rites, one will not violate the statutes and may receive auspicious blessings; if one does not honor them and transgresses the statutes, one will suffer heavy punishment.

In this life a person will meet with poverty and hardship, and each day will be harder than the last. If one still refuses to believe, after death one will fall into hell and become a ghost, and then be reborn into another body. If one is later struck by thunder once more, after death one will be cast into Beifeng—the underworld hell of Daoist lore—from which it is exceedingly difficult to escape suffering. How could this not be a cause for grief?

Beifeng contains one hundred and twenty hells. Each has a prison master and prison officers, together with punishments such as venomous tigers, venomous snakes, venomous dogs, and mountains of bladed peaks. The officers drive the sinners onward with staves and force them to climb the mountains of knives. Venomous snakes coil about them; blades pierce their flesh; fresh blood covers the whole body; and venomous beasts drink their blood. The sinners die time after time and are brought back to life time after time, tormented day and night. All of this is the retribution summoned by what they did while alive. Once fallen into Beifeng, the sufferings they endure can scarcely be told in full, nor is it fitting to recount them all.

The Great Dao briefly sets out nine methods of cultivation and expounds this Jing (scripture), so that people of the world may be warned. If one has incurred guilt through certain actions and, while still alive, suffers the retribution of poverty and hardship, one may, according to one’s ability, burn incense and sincerely pray and confess before Heaven and Earth, acknowledging one’s offenses and clearing away one’s faults, in the hope of being spared retribution. If someone is poor in this life, one may also cultivate mind and nature, set one’s conduct aright, and recite this scripture again and again, so as to repent of one’s own wrongs and dissolve hardship; Heaven’s protection will then come of itself.

The teachings established by the Great Dao must not be taken as ordinary words, nor may they be lightly disclosed. This scripture is a secret book of Heaven, and ordinary mortals ought to hold it in reverence. Wherever the scripture resides, six marshals who guard the scripture, fourteen numinous officers, and ten thousand five hundred celestial soldiers keep watch, together with the local earth deity, the spirits of the community altars, the City God, the Earls of Wind of the Nine Provinces, and the celestial deities of the region.

To uphold and recite this scripture can cause demonic essences to lose their form. The living who obtain it may enjoy health and ease of body; the dead who obtain it may be delivered and ascend to the Southern Palace. If emperors, kings, empresses and royal consorts, and high ministers pray for abundant harvests on behalf of the state, they too may recite this scripture, so as to remove disasters within the realm, bring peace to the people and to all things, keep the four seasons in harmony, and remain long free of powerful enemies.

The Dao (the Way) says: Any superior adept intent on the methods of cultivating immortality who, while entering the mountains to gather herbs, encounters venomous snakes, tigers, wolves, or other fierce beasts should at once recite this scripture (Jing). The evil beasts will then recover their original nature, be unable to harm anyone, and withdraw of their own accord. The practitioner will also meet with genuine medicines, and his study of the Dao will advance day by day. In this way he can grasp the original source, come to know good companions of like mind, comprehend the mysterious principles in his heart, and receive a response to whatever he seeks.

In a prolonged drought, this scripture may also be recited repeatedly in order to dispel the calamity of want of rain. When insects and locusts damage the crops, burning incense and reciting the scripture can destroy the swarms and put an end to the infestation. When a locality is struck by flood, the waters do not recede, and the land is being washed away, one should hasten to recite this scripture; the waters will then withdraw and no longer inundate the land.

If pestilence, miasma, or other calamitous illnesses persist for years without healing, and if ghostly afflictions, lurking corpses, and similar baleful influences work harm and cannot be driven off, one may burn incense and recite this scripture. The baleful influences will then disperse and be unable to injure anyone, and the illness will heal of itself. Wherever this scripture reaches, the myriad spirits will stand guard; sprites and evil demons will slip away in silence, not daring to raise their heads and peer. This is the awesome numinous power of which the scripture speaks.

If an ordinary person offends against the statutes of Heaven, the celestial court gives warning by means of celestial seal script (heavenly writs and talismanic characters). After someone is struck by lightning, characters of the heavenly writ may appear on the back, the chest, beneath the ribs, or on the hands and feet. These may be compared with the celestial seal script in this scripture and examined, and thereby the response of the Most High may be understood. One should then burn incense and invite a Zhengyi Daoist priest (a priest of Zhengyi, Orthodox Unity) to recite this scripture, praying that the thunder of Heaven will pardon the offense; only then may the corpse be moved. The scripture further says that the corpse may be placed in a coffin, sealed with wooden boards leaving only a single opening, so that celestial thunder will pursue it no further, and that the body may afterward be buried. When oxen or horses meet with this circumstance, it seems the same procedure should be followed.

Those who reverently worship this scripture and do not violate the precepts will be born as human beings in life after life; their clothing, food, and emoluments will grow ever more abundant, and their lifespan will be lengthened. Those who do not revere this scripture will have their offenses reported to the celestial administration by the immortal officials who record good deeds and the envoys who register evil. When karmic offenses accumulate beyond measure and reach the limit fixed by the heavenly statutes, the Celestial Emperor issues an order, and the presiding deity of the City God immediately carries out the punishment. After the body has been destroyed under that punishment, one must still pass through Beifeng (the northern underworld of which Daoism speaks), with never a day of release.

The celestial seal script ought to be copied out and shown to the common people of the world, so that they may believe and revere it with sincerity. Ordinary people must not fail to know these principles.

Whenever someone in the world is struck by lightning, this talismanic script (Fulu) may be used to verify the case and understand the reasons behind it. It is the proof by which retribution becomes manifest. One may burn incense and recite this scripture (Jing) to relieve the suffering of a corpse left lingering, and one may also burn the celestial writ to dispel the calamity.

If the corpse lies fallen on the ground, use cinnabar and silver vermilion (a red pigment) on yellow paper, take up the brush, and write the talismanic script. Then place the talisman upon the coffin so that it faces the configurations of Heaven. Afterward recite ten thousand times the holy name of the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation by the Sound of Thunder Who Responds to the Nine Heavens (Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun). Then turn the corpse; if the corpse can move, place it in the coffin and bury it according to the funeral rites. The scripture says that a response of this kind is enough to make people understand that the laws of Heaven are strict and clear. Reciting this scripture regularly in ordinary times can remove every kind of suffering; after death from grave illness, one can also be spared the torments of hell. When one meets with lawsuits, quarrels, years of hardship, or debt, or when traveling far through places where bandits lurk and insects, snakes, tigers, and wolves run rampant, simply reciting this scripture will bring protection, and one will not be harmed. Whenever one encounters trouble, one may likewise recite and uphold this scripture, so that the household becomes pure and tranquil and the family remains at peace.

When houses are built, ground is broken, roofs are raised, or walls repaired, if one offends the local deities and baleful influences; or when funerals are conducted, if one violates the taboos of the burial ground—in all such cases one may burn incense and recite this scripture, offering rites of appeasement and thanks to the deities concerned. The scripture states that the various spirits will then withdraw and no longer harm the living.

Some sorcerers conceal their names and perform rites of suppressive sorcery and prayer, for example by killing a chicken and letting its blood drip. Others write the names of living people on temples or heterodox altars and, because their magic has failed to take effect, or on account of fields, property, disputes, and the like, cast spells upon people. If one knows the source of the misfortune, one may burn incense and recite this scripture to drive away the evil ghosts commissioned to claim lives. Where the case is grave, the scripture-bearing envoys and the officials spoken of in the scripture will, on command, destroy the evil beings; where the case is lighter, they will issue a warning.

The scripture further says that it can subdue every kind of evil haunting, including mountain goblins and ghosts, chimei sprites and corpse-demons, lonely souls who died unjust deaths, spirit-beings, demons, and devils, so that they do not harm the living, bring disaster, injure life, or cause illness that long fails to heal. Against those evil beings that seek blood offerings, work harm at altars and shrines in the mountains and wilds, and stir up epidemics, one may also burn incense and pray to the chief generals and military officers of the Thunder Ministry of Shenxiao (the Divine Empyrean), together with the numinous officers who guard the scripture and the commanders, and then recite this scripture, so that demons hide their forms and cannot harm human life. When going out at night, one may place the scripture in a cloth bag and carry it on one’s person. The scripture says that in this way the evil ghosts of water and land, and the wangliang sprites, can be driven off, so that they dare not injure a person’s hun and po souls, and in the end conceal their traces and haunt no more.

This scripture was bestowed by Heaven upon the common people, to help them recognize the karmic causes lodged in their own past lives and understand the intention with which the Most High (Taishang) established the teaching. When one meets with any of the great calamities, simply reciting this scripture brings protection; evil hauntings return to the correct Way (Dao), the work of cultivating the Dao proceeds auspiciously, and numinous powers become vast without measure.

In former times, Marshal Deng of Thunder (a divine general of the Thunder Ministry) cultivated himself for fifty-two years on Mount Yusi. He memorialized the Jade Emperor, setting forth his resolve to carry out Heaven’s mandate to teach and transform the people of the world, to uphold the teaching of the Dao, and to save all beings, and he vowed to put to death the disloyal and unfilial throughout the world, to stop ghosts and demons from harming people, to rescue the living, and to deliver the dead. Later, when his merit and practice were complete, he was summoned before the Jade Emperor and granted the Golden Elixir (Jindan). After he ingested it, his form changed to one with a phoenix beak and phoenix wings. He was enfeoffed as the Great God of Swift-Fire Ordinances (Huhuo Lüling Dashen) and was bestowed a golden hammer and a chisel. He stood one zhang in height, with red hair and a blue body, and hands and feet like phoenix talons, commanded to punish the disloyal and the unfilial, ghosts, monsters, and evil sprites, and every creature that harms the people. The scripture says that at noon on the fifth day of the fifth month he was summoned and ascended as an immortal, the fruits of his merit complete, and to this day he is still reverently honored.

If people of the world do not believe in and revere this deity, if they violate the statutes of Heaven and their sins reach fullness, they will be punished: escorted to Beifeng (a region of the underworld in Daoist lore), they fall forever into the path of ghosts, and through extremely long kalpas they do not obtain release. Such retribution makes cause and effect perfectly plain. If one offends while knowing full well that it is wrong, then to regret it only after retribution has come will be too late—truly a cause for sorrow.

While one lives in the world, one ought to revere the Three Treasures (Sanbao—the objects honored in Daoist belief and practice), together with Heaven and Earth, the sovereign, one’s parents, teachers and elders, friends, and persons of the correct Dao. One may quiet the mind and read and recite this scripture, burn incense and pay homage to Heaven and Earth, sit peacefully and recite, carefully taking in its meaning and examining one’s own faults. How can a person avoid being drawn along by every sort of cause and condition? One should at all times inspect one’s own conduct. If, because of what one has done from day to day, one is struck by lightning and after death suffers again in Beifeng, who then will be able to win release on your behalf? Karmic retribution is brilliantly clear; people of the world ought to cherish themselves.

If a woman is pregnant and, when her time comes, she still cannot give birth, or if it is suspected that a non-human, a ghost, an enemy bound by past grievance, or a spirit from the altars and shrines of the mountains and wilds is assuming human form and borrowing the womb in order to be reborn, so that the mother’s life is threatened and her pain is past enduring, one may burn incense facing east, recite forty-nine times the holy name of the Celestial Worthy Who Saves from Suffering (Jiuku Tianzun), and then recite this scripture. The scripture says that the woman in labor will then give birth smoothly and receive the protection of the host of deities; the children born, whether boys or girls, will all possess blessed virtue (De) and wisdom. If it is truly ghosts or aggrieved enemies working harm, the divine generals of the Thunder Ministry will seize them and take them to Beifeng; when the child is born, what is delivered will still be a stillbirth. When the stillborn fetus comes forth, one may take several bundles of chestnut wood, write upon them the great deity’s name, pray toward Heaven, and make this wish: “From this day forward the grievance is dissolved; you shall not again harm people’s hun and po souls or their lives.”

If for many years one has suffered lawsuits and the calamity of quarrels, and the hardship remains unresolved, one may also recite this scripture to exorcise and remove the disaster. If, in repairing gates and courtyards, altering orientations, or breaking ground, one offends a baleful spirit, so that illness does not heal, one may invite a Daoist priest to set up an altar and pray, petitioning Heaven concerning one’s life, write in cinnabar on yellow paper the name of the Great Sage, the Perfected Lord of the Seven Primordials (Qiyuan Zhenjun), place it in the direction where the taboo was violated, and recite this scripture. The scripture says that in this way the calamity can be removed, the household made pure, peaceful, radiant, and flourishing, and the protection of the deities obtained.

The Dao exists at the beginning of the Great Mystery, before Heaven and Earth and Yin-Yang have yet been divided. Among the myriad things, the human being is the most honored. Even insects and birds, though they hide and lie dormant, know how to accord with the seasons; how could the myriad things of the four seasons be an exception? Heaven and Earth manifest their brightness in order to enlighten the people of the world; the myriad things grow as the seasons require, and rain and dew moisten the human realm. Living in the world, how can a person fail to give thanks for the grace and virtue of Heaven and Earth?

While one lives in the world, one should respect Heaven and Earth, the sovereign, parents, teachers and elders, and friends, as well as the Buddhas, monks, and arhats who stand within the correct Dao. One should do good and accumulate virtue, honor and spread the teaching that transforms, and guide human beings and the beings of the heavenly realms toward goodness. If one does good from beginning to end, benevolent deities will protect one; if one afterward does evil, one will bring on kalpic disaster, fall into hell, suffer through kalpas, and find it hard ever again to obtain a human body. Even if one is reborn as a human being, one may be poor and of low station; if one still does not cultivate virtue and observe propriety, one will drift ever farther from the sagely Dao. It will then be hard to meet an exalted person able to lead one to realization of the Dao, and hard to rely upon the supreme gate of the teaching to leave suffering behind. If one never awakens, one will fall besides into the path of animals, revolving through the six paths of rebirth. Once one has sunk into that condition, it is very difficult to get free.

The Dao (the Way) tells everyone: to encounter this scripture (Jing) is the result of wholesome deeds accumulated in the past; only after many generations does one have the good fortune to come into contact with the scriptures of Heaven. Those who aspire to learn, upon reading this true scripture and hearing it, are able to awaken to its meaning. If someone reads it yet does not believe, and even slanders it, they will fall, life after life, into other kinds of beings, ever farther from the Great Dao.

If someone steadfastly persists in cultivating and reciting this scripture, after death they need not undergo the judgment of the underworld. Their soul-spirit, bearing this scripture and maintaining right awakening in every thought, ascends to the Southern Palace of the Vermilion Mound Fire Bureau (in Daoist lore, the place where the souls of the dead are refined and delivered). Continually receiving refinement and deliverance there, they are able to dissolve the grievances and debts of past lives.

While alive in the world, people enjoy life, drink, and make merry, yet do not know that pleasure may become the source of suffering; they greedily seek profit, yet do not know that the joy before their eyes may also bring sorrow. People rush north and south, busy making a living, yet do not know that when the harsh frost of winter descends, the trees will wither; only when the root is firm can one await the return of spring. Those who do not follow the fundamental Dao of being human will in the end go toward death.

The Celestial Worthy proclaims this true scripture so that people of the world may awaken, turn toward the correct Dao, and recognize the source of life, and thus no longer remain caught in the cycle of rebirth. The scripture reminds us once more: if, while alive, a person does not lay a firm foundation for life, they are like trees that wither in the depth of winter; only when the root is solid is there the possibility of welcoming spring. Those who do not follow the fundamental Dao of being human will in the end go toward death.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) said that this true scripture (Jing) is expounded so that people of the world may grasp its teachings, turn toward the correct Dao (the Way), recognize the root of life, and thereby avoid remaining trapped in the cycle of rebirth. In the world one may attain long life, and among others one may also accomplish extraordinary merit and blessings; so long as one cultivates with unceasing diligence, one’s name will be entered in the registers of the immortal capital. When good deeds and merit are fully accumulated, the gods will of themselves extend their protection. In the end one may depart through shijie—the Daoist manner of leaving the fleshly body, attaining the Dao, and ascending as an immortal—transcend the ordinary, rise into the immortal realm, advance in immortal rank, and receive office before the Celestial Emperor.

The meaning of this scripture is profound and weighty; it must not be slighted, but treated with care and reverence. If one treats it with utter contempt, gives rise to disbelief, and refuses to uphold it, then after death one will remain for a long time in Beifeng, the underworld realm spoken of in Daoism, and by then regret will come too late. To cherish and practice this scripture brings blessings that are by no means slight.

At this time, as the Celestial Worthy was about to finish expounding the scripture, dragons, cranes, celestial immortals, the host of sages, and Perfected Ones came to receive him. When the Celestial Worthy rose from his seat, the demon kings of the various heavens, together with humans, ghosts, and spirits, all accepted the ordinances and precepts of the scripture. This scripture is transmitted into the world in the hope that people will understand the Way of returning to the root and reverting to the origin, recognize what is fundamental, and penetrate the path of life’s flourishing, so that they are no longer born in places without the Dao and are freed from the suffering of fixed fate and worldly rebirth. On seeing this scripture one ought to uphold it and must not disclose it carelessly. If anyone violates this, the offense will be judged according to the Xuanke, the precepts and regulations of Daoism, and punishment will be received clearly and unmistakably; one should be cautious and filled with awe.

Eulogy of the Primordial Emperor Lord (Yuanhuang Dijun):

Both the human world and the celestial realm should revere this scripture; the blessings it brings must not be taken lightly. The creative transformations of Heaven and Earth accord with the Dao and with De (Virtue/Power), and the power of cosmic operation and salvation is carried downward. Thunder moves in response, vowing to rescue all living beings; evil and defilement are removed, and Heaven and Earth are assisted in nurturing the myriad things. It pervades the myriad methods; its transformations are profound and hard to fathom. Reverence allows one to accord with the Great Dao, to revive the methods of the Dao and guard their rules; defiance brings severe punishments under solemn vow, and later regret will be difficult to undo.

Practitioners cultivate in the mountains and respond to the teaching, assisting the transformation of the Dao and complying with Heaven’s will. They punish evil kinds and destroy baleful spirits; they cause the myriad things to grow and, over long ages, dissolve the sufferings of the dark netherworld. Beings of every form and appearance are in the end all gathered and guided by this, returning to the correct Dao. People must not fail to believe; whether one slights the scripture or holds it in esteem, each will be examined accordingly. Once the human body has perished, how can it be obtained again? Those who seek the peace and wondrous principle of the immortal Dao should constantly recite this scripture. Only by first cultivating the medicinal methods transmitted from antiquity is there a ladder for delivering oneself; one must also cast off the old and bring forth the new, cultivating with refined diligence. Teach all beings universally, so that they become reverent and compliant, and the merit will be without measure.

The Transformation-Body Celestial Worthy of the Golden Portal (Jinque Huashen Tianzun) personally composed a poem.

I am the sovereign who instructs and transforms all living beings, solemnly guarding the celestial realm of the north. I distinguish the affairs of the human world from those of ghosts and spirits, and the celestial soldiers and generals are duty-bound to charge at the forefront. The deities of the Thunder Ministry jointly wield the authority of thunder, slaying the vicious and reducing them to dust and smoke.

The Heavenly Lord of the Three Mao, whose wondrous practice is complete, personally composed a poem:

The commands of the Heavenly Court display their majestic power and are made plain among the people. So long as the people keep uprightness in their hearts, they can preserve themselves.

Averting disaster and relieving adversity depends on the actual efficacy of one’s cultivation. The Thunder God takes the hammer and the chisel as ritual implements, and specifically punishes those who commit the grave crimes of the Five Rebellions. The “Five Rebellions” refer to conduct that gravely violates ethical norms and is profoundly criminal.

The Primordial Sovereign of the Nine Heavens, the Numinously Responsive Heavenly Lord Zitong, personally composed a hymn:

The Dao (the Way) of Heaven rewards good deeds and punishes evil; the chastising punishments of thunder are meant to awaken human hearts. I now manifest divine powers so that all may know awe and reverence, enabling living beings to be spared profound offenses.

He composed a further hymn, saying:

Manifesting divine powers to instruct the people and turn them toward the correct Dao, thereby displaying the Heavenly Emperor’s benevolent intent to cherish life. Chao Ying reverently upholds it, and has had this Jing (scripture/classic) carved onto printing blocks for wide circulation, conveying the teachings of the Heavenly Court.

He composed yet another hymn, saying:

The Heavenly Court issues its commands to warn the people of the world. If one does not know awe and reverence, one will only go on accumulating misfortune. The celestial statutes are clearly proclaimed, and those who violate them may lose their lives on that account. If one can reflect upon one’s own faults, the deities will of themselves keep watch. The text of the Jing fully sets forth methods for delivering people from disaster and adversity. When Chao Ying prints this Jing and distributes it, blessings and prosperity will gather accordingly.

A passage following the “Azure Emperor Heavenly Lord” says further:

If one does not know awe and reverence, one will only go on accumulating misfortune. The celestial statutes are clearly proclaimed, and those who violate them may lose their lives on that account. If one can reflect upon one’s own faults, the deities will of themselves keep watch. The text of the Jing fully sets forth methods for delivering people from disaster and adversity. When Chao Ying prints this Jing and distributes it, blessings and prosperity will gather accordingly.

The Azure Emperor Heavenly Lord says:

I bear the title Fierce Officer of Thunder, rewarding the good and punishing the evil. Toward the slanderous and the flattering, and those who are disloyal and unfilial, I show no leniency at all. Thunder-fire descends in an instant and burns the treacherous to destruction. Their acts of resenting Heaven and Earth are also reported to the Heavenly Emperor, and in the end they suffer the punishment of the annihilation of both bodily form and Shen (spirit).

Since the text and incantations of the Xie Lei Jing (Scripture of Thanking the Thunder) are already at hand, everyone ought to recite them, and thereby reflect on the causes and conditions they themselves have created and spread the moral principles of how one ought to live and conduct oneself. Those who revere the methods of the Dao should gladly give of their wealth and have this true Jing carved and circulated. If one can observe the celestial laws and not transgress the prohibitions, food and clothing will be sufficient and life will be at peace.

“Lei Hongzhao” appears to be a signature in the scripture, or the name or title of one who transmitted it. The end of the text states that the verses of praise for this Jing are appended to the written record of “Cheng Zhenjing.”