《九天應元雷聲普化天尊玉樞寶經》

Jade Pivot Treasure Scripture of the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation Who Responds to the Primordial with Thunderous Voice – A Modern Interpretation

At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation Who Responds to the Primordial with Thunderous Voice (a revered Daoist deity who governs thunder) was in the Jade Clarity Heaven, gathered with the Celestial Sovereigns of the Ten Directions in sacred halls such as the Jade Void Nine-Light Palace, the Sublime Azure Canopy Pavilion, and the Purple Extremity Winding Chamber. They pored over celestial scriptures like the Great Mysterious Blue-Green Jade Case and the Subtle Illumination of the Dawn Book, quietly discussing profound mysteries while countless immortal officials stood reverently by.

The Celestial Worthy sat in meditation, chanting the scripture, as the Celestial Sovereigns intoned the transcendent "Pacing the Void" hymns (a form of Daoist ritual music). Celestial maidens scattered flowers in offering, and the assembled immortals wandered freely through the jade-green palaces. Immortal guides led ceremonial processions, with dragon banners and phoenix chariots drifting across the heavens, until all gathered at the Seven-Jeweled Terrace of the Jade Brahma.

Then, the Thunder Master Hao Weng (an immortal official of the Thunder Department) stepped forth from the ranks of the immortals, bowed deeply to the Celestial Worthy, and knelt to speak: "O Most Compassionate and Sagely Celestial Worthy, you are the father of all beings and the teacher of myriad spirits. Today, the celestial immortals and sages have assembled to witness you consulting the secret texts of heaven. We know that the Jade Azure Palace governs the Thirty-Six Heavens, overseeing the Four Bureaus, Six Courts, and various offices, commanding the Five Thunders (five divine thunder powers in Daoism) and supervising the Three Realms (heaven, earth, and the underworld). Though you are so exalted, you personally attend to these duties. How is it that we, humble immortal officials, have the fortune to serve you? We implore your guidance."

The Celestial Worthy replied: "Thunder Master Hao Weng and all assembled immortals, it is due to your accumulated virtue from past lives that you now serve in the Jade Palace. Your merits in this life surpass those of the past. If you devote yourselves wholeheartedly to the Thunder Department, accumulating effort day by day, you will ultimately attain the rank of high transcendence (higher immortal realization). Yet the spirits and deities of the Thunder Department toil ceaselessly, often facing punishment—those who commit grave offenses endure even harsher penalties. Their work is endless, like carving clouds and snow; at times summoning divine dragons, at others dispatching spirit ravens (referring to the Thunder Department’s various tasks). Have you all heard and understood these causes and consequences?" Thunder Master Hao Weng and the celestial immortals listened with reverence.

The Heavenly Worthy of Universal Transformation through the Thunderclap of the Nine Heavens, Who Responds to the Origin (Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun), sat amid a nine-phoenix red-cloud screen (yǐ, pronounced yǐ), holding aloft a golden-radiance ruyi (a ritual implement). Clear, bright breezes gently brushed; fine, delicate patterned clouds were dense and beautiful. The Heavenly Worthy remained silent for a long time.

The Heavenly Worthy said: Fifteen hundred kalpas (extremely long aeons) ago, my mind united with this Dao (the Way), and so I realized the rank of a high immortal true being (a high-ranking realized immortal); I nurtured this merit with my intent, and so I took charge of vast teaching and transformation. I once stood before Daluo Yuanshi Tianzun (one of the highest deities in Daoism) and, with a pure mind, made a vast vow: may all sentient beings, heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits in future ages—once they call my name—all be liberated; if there be any who are not so, I myself will bear their suffering in their place. Wash your minds clean, and I will proclaim it for you.

The Heavenly Worthy said: You heavenly beings wish to hear the ultimate Dao. The ultimate Dao is profound, deep, hidden, and subtle; it is not elsewhere. Since you wish to hear it, you should know that “not hearing” is true hearing; to see something within not-hearing is the true Dao. When hearing and seeing are both obliterated, only “you” remain; but since even “you” is not truly existent, how much less the Dao? In “hearing without hearing,” what Dao is there still to speak of?

The Heavenly Worthy said: The Dao is entered through sincerity, maintained through silence, and applied through softness. To use sincerity looks foolish; to use silence looks dull and tongue-tied; to use softness looks clumsy. In this way one can forget form with it, forget self with it, and forget forgetting with it. One who enters the Dao knows how to stop; one who guards the Dao knows how to be cautious; one who applies the Dao knows the subtle. If one can know the subtle, the light of wisdom arises. If one can know caution, sagely wisdom is complete. If one can know stopping, there is great stillness and peace. With great stillness and peace, sagely wisdom is complete. With sagely wisdom complete, the light of wisdom arises. When the light of wisdom arises, one becomes one with the Dao; this is called true forgetting. It is precisely through forgetting that one does not forget. Forgotten until there is nothing left to forget. That which has nothing left to forget is the ultimate Dao. The Dao is in heaven and earth, yet heaven and earth do not know it. Sentient and insentient alike, it is only one, without a second.

The Heavenly Worthy said: How do I now benefit sentient beings in the world? By expounding this wondrous treasure for the heavenly beings. Those who gain awakening, I cause to ascend the immortal ranks (xianzuo). Those who study the Dao do indeed have qi (vital energy) and number (endowed qi and allotted fate). Because climates and soils differ, natural endowments naturally differ; hence it is called “qi.” Because wisdom and folly differ, purity and turbidity naturally differ; hence it is called “number.” Number is bound to destiny; qi is bound to heaven. Confined by qi and number and shackled by heavenly destiny, one cannot attain the true Dao. Foolishness can be turned to wisdom, turbidity to purity; this is governed solely by destiny. The foolish are dim, the turbid are benighted; this too is the movement of climate, soil, and natural endowment upon them. Heaven and earth wondrously turn their mechanism, preventing people from knowing themselves; and so people say that this is the work of qi and number.

Naturalness lets the myriad things know that there is something they do not know; this too may be called naturalness. Although the mystery of naturalness is wondrous in “knowing,” the reason it is mysterious is rooted in “not knowing.” Yet as for the Great Dao, there has never been anything that makes it ignorant or muddled. When the various heavens heard this, the fourfold assembly (four categories of the great assembly) all rejoiced.

The Celestial Worthy said: What I now speak is precisely the Yushu Baojing (Precious Scripture of the Jade Pivot). If in future ages there are sentient beings who hear my name, they need only quiet their minds and silently contemplate, reciting as follows: “Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun” (the title of the honored deity of the Thunder Department). Whether they recite it once, five or seven times, or hundreds or thousands of times, I will immediately manifest incarnations in the ten directions and direct my mind throughout the three realms, causing all who invoke my name to obtain their wishes. In the ten directions and three realms—all the heavens and all the earths, the sun, moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, grasses, and trees, flying birds and running beasts, and all crawling creatures, whether knowing or unknowing, along with devas, nagas, ghosts, and spirits—when they hear a sentient being invoke my name once, if any are contrary and disobedient, their heads shall be cut off, their hearts split open, and they shall be reduced to fine dust.

The Celestial Worthy said: I am the Great Sage Zhenming of the Nine Heavens. On the sixth day of each month and on the xin days within each ten-day period, I inspect the myriad heavens and wander through the three realms. If there are people who wish to study the Dao, wish to seek immortality, wish to free the Nine Mysteries (the nine generations of ancestors) from the suffering of sin, or wish to remove the three disasters (three kinds of calamity), they should commission a Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoist priest, or, together with relatives and friends, do it themselves, offering water and flowers and reciting this scripture in a Daoist temple, at home, or in a local shrine. Whether they recite it once, three or five times, or even tens or hundreds of times, they will become clear in spirit and refreshed in Qi, broad of heart and at ease in body (here “pang” is read pán, meaning comfortable and relaxed). Whatever they seek will be fulfilled according to their resonance and response.

The Celestial Worthy said: There are nine spirits within the body (nine deities within the body); why not summon them? The first is named Tiansheng, the second Wuying, the third Xuanzhu, the fourth Zhengzhong, the fifth Zidan, the sixth Huihui, the seventh Danyuan, the eighth Taiyuan, and the ninth Lingtong; summoning them brings good fortune. There are three Jing (essences) within the body (three kinds of spirit within the body); why not call upon them? The first is named Taiguang, the second Shuangling, and the third Youjing; calling upon them brings auspiciousness. When the five centers (the center of the chest and the centers of the two hands and two feet) are vexed and oppressed, the six pulses (pulse conditions) are disordered, the four limbs are uneasy, and the hundred joints (all the joints of the body) are in distress, one should recite this scripture.

The Celestial Worthy said: If someone’s Five Phases (the fate calculations of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth) are strangely obstructed and unfavorable; if the positions of the Nine Luminaries (the nine stars such as the sun, moon, and five planets) are ominous; if the passing year meets punishment and clash; if the major luck cycle encounters conquest and conflict; if one meets the Solitary Star and Widow Star (baleful stars of loneliness and widowhood); if one meets Yangren and Jianfeng (names of baleful influences); if one meets Jiesha and Wangshen (names of baleful influences); if one meets Guimen and Goujiao (names of baleful influences); if one’s fortune and lifespan suffer ruin and defeat; if the Post Horse falls into Kongwang (void and annihilation)—then all one’s actions and undertakings will be ominous, dangerous, and calamitous.

This scripture passage explains how people can resolve various calamities by reciting the Jade Pivot Treasure Scripture (Yushu Baojing). The main content is divided into four sections:

I. Methods for Resolving Calamities

When facing difficulties, one may recite this scripture to:

• Invoke celestial officials to dispel heavenly disasters
• Summon earthly officials to remove terrestrial misfortunes
• Request water officials to avert aquatic calamities
• Petition the Five Emperors (Wudi) to neutralize disasters from the five directions
• Appeal to the Four Sages to dissolve seasonal afflictions
• Seek the Southern Dipper Star Lord (Nandou Xingjun) to relieve misfortunes of one's birth year
• Entreat the Northern Dipper Star Lord (Beidou Xingjun) to eliminate all calamities

II. Roots of Illness and Misfortune

Persistent severe illnesses unresponsive to medicine may stem from:

1. Karmic grievances incurred before deities:

• At altars of the Five Emperors and Three Officials (Wudi Sanguan), Mount Tai deities, or celestial bodies
• Sacred sites, City God temples (Chenghuangmiao), wells, or hearths

2. Underworld punishments:

• Debts from the Thirty-Six Hells or Seventy-Two Bureaus of the netherworld

3. Other causes:

• Broken vows or curses
• Unsettled karmic debts across lifetimes
• Accumulated enmities through multiple incarnations

In such cases, sincere repentance coupled with scripture recitation is advised.

III. Resolving Slander and Legal Disputes

1. Types of bureaucratic afflictions (Guanfu):

• Celestial and terrestrial bureaucratic obstacles
• Time-related afflictions (yearly, monthly, daily, hourly)
• Directional and orientation-based misfortunes

Minor cases provoke gossip; severe ones trigger lawsuits.

2. Deities of discord:

• The Red-Mouth White-Tongue Gods (Chikou Baishe zhi Shen) govern disputes
• Disregarding taboos invites:
• Constant public criticism
• Malicious slander
• Blasphemous curses against deities
• Eventual legal prosecution

3. Resolution:

Reciting this scripture eliminates slander and permanently neutralizes bureaucratic afflictions.

IV. Geomantic Taboos for Construction

1. Earthly deities and malignant forces:

• The Ninefold Earth Sovereign (Tu Huang Jiulei) and 1,200 subordinate spirits
• Including the Grand Duke Jupiter (Tai Sui), Generals, Crane Deities, etc.
• Particularly dangerous forces:
• Sword-Point Sha, Male-Female Sha
• Metal Spirits, Blood-Fire Sha
• Triple Sha, Sevenfold Sha

2. Consequences of violation:

Disturbing these forces during construction may cause illness or even death.

3. Protective measures:

After reciting this scripture:

• Ten thousand deities offer protection
• All yin-yang restrictions are lifted
• Absolute freedom from taboos

The passage primarily teaches devotees to resolve life's adversities through scripture recitation, emphasizing three common misfortunes—illness, legal troubles, and construction taboos—with detailed explanations of their causes and remedies.

The Heavenly Worthy said: When men and women in the world marry and unite, some offend Xianchi (the inauspicious star governing marital and romantic fortunes), some offend Tiangou (the inauspicious star governing harm and conflict), and others are beset by the intersecting influences of the Three Punishments and Six Harms (xinghai malefics in fate calculation) and Gejiao (the Gejiao malefic configuration). With Yin-Yang disharmony, loneliness and widowhood, the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web (a binding malefic that is hard to escape), and other unfavorable conditions, they find it difficult to have heirs and often fall into isolation.

If one wishes to seek a son, one should recite this scripture. Then the Great Spirit of the Nine Heavens Who Supervises Birth, who governs childbirth, will draw in divine Qi and gather wind-Qi, and a worthy son will be born.

When she comes to give birth, Taiyi, the deity who protects childbirth, is at the door, and Siming, the deity who governs the registers of life, is in the courtyard. If grievances, ghostly apparitions, taboo violations, or baleful misfortunes cause difficult labor, one should recite this scripture. Then the Holy Mother Who Guards the Chamber of the Nine Heavens, a goddess who protects childbirth, will secretly support and deliver her, so that the birth will be auspicious and the labor free from danger.

Whenever an infant in swaddling clothes is afflicted by the fifteen kinds of ghosts under the Candana Divine King (Zhentan Shenwang), and thus suffers frequently from fright seizures (jingxian, infantile convulsions and epilepsy-like illnesses), this scripture should be recited.

The Heavenly Worthy said: If in a person’s dwelling birds and rats bring uncanny portents, snakes and insects transfer calamity and karmic evil, bricks are thrown and tiles hurled, chickens are startled and dogs are teased—all to demand sacrifices; or if beings coerce people through appearances and shadows, oppress them in dreams, or even villains and robbers dare to occupy the dwelling as a den, causing the living to be deluded and the household to be impure; if at night they howl on the beams and by day they peer into the rooms; if oxen, horses, dogs, and pigs also suffer epidemics, disaster affects one’s own flesh and blood, and calamity reaches the breeding of livestock; if licentious shrines and demonic societies band together to shelter evil gods and treacherous ghosts, and the Mourning Guest and Funeral Cart (Diaoke and Sangche, death-omen malefics) appear frequently and without cease—if one recites this scripture, ghosts, monsters, and spectral spirits will be destroyed, and both people and creatures will be at peace.

The Heavenly Worthy said: The Thunder Duke Generals of the Nine Heavens, the Thunder Duke Generals of the Five Directions, the Cloud-Thunder Generals of the Eight Directions, the Manlei Envoys of the Five Directions, the Commander-in-Chief Envoys of the Thunder Department, and Judge Mozhuan of the Thunder Department issue orders and commands as swiftly as wind and fire. Evil temples can be attacked, evil altars smashed, demons removed, and hauntings expelled.

In the degenerate final age and the end of the Dharma, there are many male and female shamans (wu and xi); heterodox methods are widespread, and they secretly and recklessly perform nightmare curses and incantations. Therefore, in Shangqing (the Highest Clarity realm) there are established the Court of Tianyan That Restrains Ghosts and Records Treachery—an office that suppresses ghostly apparitions and records wickedness—and the Chamber of Diyou That Binds Demons and Examines Evil—an office that restrains demonic hauntings and investigates heterodox falsity. Those who can recite this scripture will receive a response like an echo.

The Heavenly Worthy said: The twenty-five plagues, such as heavenly and earthly plagues; the twenty-four gu poisons, such as heavenly and earthly gu; and the thirty-six zhai (consumptive wasting diseases), such as heavenly and earthly zhai—if one can recite this scripture, pestilential disease-Qi will be purified, gu poison eliminated, and consumptive wasting healed. These illnesses and misfortunes each have their causes, or are brought about by corresponding conditions.

Deceased ancestors involve their descendants, or stale Qi from old corpses causes hauntings, or disputes over graves and tomb afflictions cause harm, or deceased souls become tainted and entangle others, or corpse Qi resonates and draws [spirits] in. These ghosts and spirits, whether through sorrowful longing or through resentment, become entangled and press their claims; they seize the opportunity to invade, watch for gaps, and only then find the chance to act. Therefore this scripture (Jing) reaches upward to the Three Heavens (Daoist celestial realms) and penetrates downward to the Nine Springs; it can make memorial offerings for the dead and liberate ancestors. Taishang (Lord Lao) dispatched the Great General of the Plain Chariot and White Horse (a protector deity) to oversee and inspect.

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun), the Nine Heavens’ Responder to Origins, Thunder Sound, and Universal Transformation (Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun), said: If someone packs and travels far, and bandits perpetrate violence or weapons cause harm; on land, tigers, wolves, mountain goblins, and water-spirit ghosts gnash their teeth; on water, dragons, giant turtles, and crocodiles open their jaws; or dangerous shoals harbor ghosts of unjust death, or wind and waves bring fated calamities together, and ghosts of those who died before and transformed afterward seize the living to die in their place—if one can take refuge and sincerely submit to this scripture, one will be safe on water and land, and auspicious in movement and rest.

The Heavenly Worthy said: When fierce sun brings drought and the rainy season is delayed, bow one’s head and reverently recite this scripture, and timely sweet rain will fall in due season. When prolonged rain accumulates harm and floodwaters overflow, bow one’s head and reverently recite this scripture, and the heavens will clear in due season. When the fire god Zhurong stirs calamity, flying fire falls on people’s homes, and red rats (an omen of fire) roam the city, alarming and scorching the people, this scripture can avert them. When Hairuo (the sea god) loses order, fish and turtles move wildly, floodwaters reach the sky, and the people drown, this scripture can stop it.

The Heavenly Worthy said: If people in the world wish to escape the calamities of the three disasters and nine untimely calamities (disasters of water, fire, wind, and so on, and nine kinds of sudden misfortune), they should bow their heads to the North Star (Polaris) on a quiet night. Above the North Star are the Three Terrace stars (Santai): three stars in a row, shaped like a pair of eyes, stacked in three tiers and covering the Dipper’s bowl (the bowl of the Northern Dipper); they are called the Heavenly Steps. If a person sees them, in life there will be no worry of punishment or imprisonment, and after death one will not sink into suffering. In the Dipper there are also two stars, Zun and Di (Honored and Emperor), as large as chariot wheels; if a person sees them, one can retain one’s form and remain in the world, attain long life, and become an immortal. Taking refuge in this scripture and devoting one’s heart to the North Star brings a hidden response. The Dipper is the celestial pivot (Tianshu); within it is Tiangang (the handle star of the Northern Dipper). Inward it is Lianzhen; outward it is Pojun (both names of Northern Dipper stars). The twelve gates of Thunder City all follow the direction indicated by Tiangang; when the Gang star points to Chou, its body is at Wei. Where it points is auspicious; where it resides is inauspicious; the other positions are the same. If a person sees it, one’s lifespan may reach a thousand years.

The Heavenly Worthy said: When the world declines and the Dao (the Way) grows faint, people lack virtue: they are disloyal to rulers, unfilial to parents, disrespectful to teachers and elders, not fraternal toward brothers, insincere between husband and wife, and unrighteous toward friends.

There are those who do not revere Heaven and Earth, do not fear the deities, do not pay respect to the three lights of sun, moon, and stars, and do not cherish the Five Grains. They commit three evils with the body and four evils with the mouth; they take in with a large scale and give out with a small measure; they kill living beings and harm life; when others get a hundred, they take a thousand for themselves; they engage in illicit sexual misconduct and debauchery; they act as sorcerers and shamans and commit treason, accumulating from tiny matters into obvious ones. The Three Officials Great Emperors (the Heaven, Earth, and Water Officials) take up their brushes and record it; the Taiyi deity forwards the documents and hands them over to the Office of Five Thunder Slashing and Investigation (the agency within the Thunder Department responsible for judgment and punishment). First they behead the spirit, then they inspect the physical form; beheading the spirit and executing the soul, they cause the spirit and soul to be thrown into confusion, so that the person is despised and treated as base by everyone, shunned and harmed, resented and loathed. Even to the point of inspecting their form and striking their corpse with thunder so that it bursts apart, they drive the guilty souls to haul water, pull carts, and perform hard labor; they are checked monthly, reviewed every ten days, and beaten as well. As soon as they hear this Jing (scripture), their offenses are extinguished. If someone incurs the wrath of thunder, so that their corpse cannot be lifted and is impervious to water and fire, they should at once invoke “Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation through the Sound of Thunder, Who Responds to the Origins of the Nine Heavens”; the Celestial Worthy then forms the thought and says: “All deities bow their heads and heed my command.”

The Celestial Worthy said: The merit and virtue of this scripture are inconceivable. In past kalpas, it was once proclaimed by the Great Emperor of Long Life, Jade Purity True King of Shenxiao. When adepts (those who aspire to cultivate the Dao) transmit this scripture, they should all set aside gold and prepare silk offerings, swear a covenant to Heaven, and only then transmit it. Thunder Master Haoweng knelt for a long time, made obeisance, rose, and again addressed the Celestial Worthy: Wherever this scripture is present, it causes the Earth deities and Directors of Destinies to guard it everywhere, and the Thunder Department to descend at the appointed times to inspect and verify. If a household possesses this scripture and enshrines it with utmost sincerity, it will obtain auspicious smoke filling the courtyard and felicitous clouds shading the pavilion; disaster and disorder will not arise, and auspicious blessings will gather. The deceased will not pass through the hells. Why? At death they are immediately reborn and return to the good paths; by the power of the Celestial Worthy they have this spiritual efficacy. Carrying this scripture when going out and coming in, in daily life, people will revere them, and ghosts and deities will fear them. When encountering dangers and difficulties, if they single-mindedly invoke “Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Universal Transformation through the Sound of Thunder, Who Responds to the Origins of the Nine Heavens,” they will all be delivered. Thereupon Thunder Master Haoweng spoke a gatha before the Celestial Worthy: “The Supreme King of Jade Purity governs the thirty-six heavens; the Lord of Universal Transformation of the Nine Heavens manifests bodies throughout the worlds of the ten directions; with hair unbound, riding a qilin, barefoot treading layered ice; holding the Qi (vital energy) of the Nine Heavens in hand, summoning wind and driving thunder; by the power of wisdom, subduing all demonic spirits; saving the souls in the long night and benefiting living beings; like the waters of the Milky Way and the thousand-eyed, thousand-moon wheel; I vow that in future ages I will forever spread the Celestial Worthy’s teachings.”

After the Thunder Master Haoweng (a divine teacher of the Thunder Department) finished speaking this gatha, the Heavenly Worthy (the Heavenly Worthy of the Nine Heavens Who Responds to Origins and Universally Transforms through the Sound of Thunder) said: This scripture has circulated in the world, yet people still do not understand it.

The Nine Heavens Responding-to-Origins Palace that I now govern—the heavenly administrative office of the Thunder Department—has in it an Envoy of the Thunder Gate of the Nine Heavens, assisted by the Director of Inspection and Recording and the Director of Integrity Investigation. There are also four bureaus: the first is the Bureau of Seizing Surplus, the second the Bureau of Accumulating and Pursuing, the third the Bureau of Hidden Wrongs, and the fourth the Bureau of Retribution. Each bureau has a Great Officer to oversee its affairs. In the palace I govern, the ministers, masters, envoys, and chancellors all jointly assist the creative transformation of the Heavenly Origin.

After the Heavenly Worthy finished this scripture, heavenly flowers fell in profusion upon the Jade Brahma Seven-Treasure Tiered Terrace, and jade-like incense curled around. The celestial lords of the ten directions all praised it, saying, “Excellent!” The heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits, the assembled officials of the Thunder Department, and all myriad beings of the Three Realms were filled with great joy; they believed, accepted, and practiced according to the teaching.

The string “Om Hum Zhali ... Waluo” is a phonetic transliteration of the mantra; retain the original sounds when chanting it. The title The Precious Scripture of the Jade Pivot of the Heavenly Worthy of the Nine Heavens Who Responds to Origins and Universally Transforms through the Sound of Thunder is the title of this scripture, indicating that this is the Precious Scripture of the Jade Pivot proclaimed by that Heavenly Worthy.