《太上十二上品飛天法輪勸戒妙經》

This scripture recounts the story of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun, the supreme deity in Daoism) who, with great compassion, delivers all sentient beings:

Originally dwelling in the Treasure Palace of the Great Canopy Heaven, amidst natural fragrances and blossoms of Dao and De (Virtue/Power), the Celestial Worthy was moved by boundless compassion to vow the salvation of all living creatures. With impartial wisdom, he opened various profound gateways of Dharma, employing the method of Wuwei (non-action, the practice of aligning with nature) to benefit beings across the three realms of existence.

Manifesting as the "Dao Lord of Empty Majesty," his emanations pervaded the three thousand great chiliocosms. In every world and every land, his manifestations appeared, each radiating immeasurable light. Within each beam of light, countless majestic Dharma forms manifested—their brilliance surpassing sun and moon, illuminating all darkness and penetrating every obstacle.

All beings thereby received his grace—even plants and animals expressed gratitude. Suffering ceased in the three lower realms (hells, hungry ghosts, and animal rebirth), and beings from all six destinies ascended. The celestial realms overflowed with joy, the hells emptied, and the entire cosmos became pure and luminous. Then the Celestial Worthy withdrew his radiance, returning to his original Dharmakaya (true form).

At this moment, bells and drums sounded spontaneously, celestial immortals rejoiced, and incense burners produced smoke without aid. All heavenly deities and innumerable beings received wisdom blessings, collectively realizing the truth of Wuwei. Forgetting worldly afflictions, they entered the source of meditative wisdom and beheld the true visage of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning.

Addressing the Perfected of Marvelous Practice (a realized adept) and the assembled multitude, the Celestial Worthy declared: "Today's auspicious opportunity is rare. Since your hearts are pure, I shall open for you the gateway of compassion to protect those in the world with meager blessings and insufficient merit, enabling their progress without regression. For this purpose, I shall establish the supreme protective precepts—the 'Nine Authentic Marvelous Precepts'—to illuminate the three realms and ten directions with wisdom's light, guiding all beings to take refuge and devotion."

Finally, the Celestial Worthy pledged to bestow peace and joy upon all beings, filling the assembly with heartfelt delight. This scripture primarily emphasizes the compassionate salvation of the Celestial Worthy and the vital importance of precepts.

This scripture passage depicts a scene where sentient beings devoutly beseech the Celestial Worthy (the supreme deity in Daoism) for precepts, along with the compassionate parable offered in response by the Celestial Worthy.

At that time, the cultivators knelt in reverence, imploring the Celestial Worthy to bestow the precepts upon them. After prolonged and earnest supplication, celestial immortals scattered flowers and offered treasures, while the assembly repeatedly bowed and entreated, never wavering in their faith. Seeing such sincerity, the Celestial Worthy was moved and graciously consented.

The Celestial Worthy then expounded: Sentient beings, due to ignorance and craving, have long been submerged in darkness, ultimately heading toward ruin. My care for all beings runs deeper than that of parents for their children. It is like a child who has fallen into a deep pit where venomous snakes dwell—when parents hear of this, they are filled with grave concern. First, they recite incantations to subdue the snakes, then they lower sturdy ropes and ladders, sending strong men to rescue the child. Yet foolish children, unaware of the danger, may fall in again and perish, forcing their parents to devise new ways to save them.

The Celestial Worthy continued: The precepts I now impart are like this parable. The bottomless abyss is akin to the Three Wretched Realms (hell, hungry ghosts, and animals), and the various sufferings are like the deadly snakes. All sentient beings are my children, and upholding these precepts is like a miraculous spell that dispels ignorance and afflictions, bringing peace and joy—it is the path of cultivation. These precepts have been revered by sages throughout the ages; even the heavenly emperors, empresses, princes, and princesses, as well as earthly officials upon assuming office, should recite them. Whether monastics or lay practitioners, noble or humble, all who follow the Dao must observe them.

This scripture expounds the ritual and merits of receiving precepts (religious commandments) in Daoism. It states:

Whether mountain hermits or worldly practitioners, all sentient beings seeking to receive precepts must first purify their body and mind, make solemn vows, and request the precepts from a master. If no master is available, one may also recite and receive the precepts before an altar consecrated to the Three Treasures (Dao, scriptures, and teachers).

What constitutes the true sign of receiving precepts? During cultivation and worship, if divine light appears in your vision—first faint like the rising sun, then gradually intensifying until it illuminates the Three Realms (Desire Realm, Form Realm, and Formless Realm), making heaven, earth, and all landscapes clearly visible without obstruction—this manifests the luminous purity of the precepts. Without such signs, one cannot be considered to have truly received the precepts. However, encountering a master of profound virtue indicates karmic blessings from past cultivation, making additional signs unnecessary.

The scripture then emphasizes in verse (a poetic form common in Buddhist and Daoist texts):

1. Receiving precepts requires treating all beings with equanimity

2. On the first and fifteenth days of each month, one should rectify body and mind before the altar and recite the precepts peacefully

3. When hearing the precepts, maintain quiet reverence

4. Before receiving precepts, first take refuge in the Three Treasures

Precept observance brings seven blessings:

1. Those with short lifespans may gain longevity

2. The dull-witted may attain wisdom

3. The lowly may become noble

4. The poor may obtain wealth

5. The unattractive may gain dignified features

6. The ill may gradually recover

7. Those facing misfortune may find peace

The scripture concludes by stressing that the merit of precept recipients is truly sublime—one should cultivate faith without doubt.

This scripture expounds the precepts that Daoist practitioners must observe and the karmic retribution for violating them, focusing primarily on the two major prohibitions against killing and stealing.

Regarding the precept against killing:

Practitioners must never engage in butchery, nor commit suicide, incite murder, indirectly cause death, take pleasure in witnessing killing (rejoicing at others' taking life), or even resort to justifiable homicide or retaliatory killing. One should show compassion to all living beings, regarding their lives as one's own. Violating this precept incurs six types of retribution:

1. Immediate misfortunes and frequent karmic punishments in this life

2. Forming enmity with all sentient beings

3. Attracting demonic disturbances and accumulating calamities

4. After death, falling into hell realms to suffer endless torment on mountains of knives and forests of swords

5. Rebirth as animals engaged in mutual predation

6. Even if reborn human, enduring execution or violent death

These constitute grave misdeeds wholly unbecoming of true practitioners.

Regarding the precept against stealing:

Practitioners must never steal nor acquire ill-gotten gains, including:

• Items found on roads that others have lost
• Goods blown by the wind
• Objects carried by birds or beasts
• Articles discovered in wilderness

None may be appropriated. Still less permissible are acquiring wealth through murder, abusing power, or cunning exploitation—not even the slightest amount. Thieves suffer five retributions:

1. Rebirth as beggars in poverty and low status

2. Chronic misfortune with possessions ruined by flood, fire, or pests

3. Frequent legal troubles leading to financial ruin

4. After death, descending to the Purgatory of Universal Torment with unspeakable suffering

5. Subsequent rebirth as draft animals like oxen or horses

These too constitute grave misdeeds unfit for true practitioners.

The scripture concludes by emphasizing that observing these precepts eradicates such negative karma. Practitioners must take refuge in the Three Treasures of Dao (the Way), Jing (scriptures), and Shi (teachers)—Daoism's highest objects of veneration—cultivating purity of heart and rectitude in conduct to attain the supreme Dao.

Interpretation of the Supreme Twelve Highest-Class Flying Celestial Dharma Wheel Admonition Scripture

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) instructs disciples that those who receive the true precepts (essential Daoist ethical codes) must uphold the following prohibitions:

First Precept: Against Sexual Misconduct

One must not engage in improper sexual behavior, including:

• Promiscuous relations with men or women
• Defiling the purity of spiritual practice
• Violating the chastity of others
• Disregarding distinctions of age, kinship, or social propriety

Violating this precept invites seven calamitous retributions:

1. Becoming bound to the cycle of birth and death

2. Attracting defilement and afflictions

3. Destroying the fruits of virtuous cultivation

4. Leading to a shortened lifespan and the scattering of the soul (Hun and Po)

5. Confusion of mind and loss of innate nature (Xing)

6. After death, falling into hell to suffer on iron beds, bronze pillars, and amidst icy blades

7. Rebirth as filthy animals such as pigs or dogs

This is a grave transgression, unbecoming of a Daoist practitioner.

Second Precept: Against False Speech

One must not lie or slander, including:

• Disparaging the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), rulers, or teachers
• Slandering monastics and laypeople alike
• Stirring disputes between different religious traditions

Violating this precept invites six calamitous retributions:

1. Contracting severe illnesses in this life

2. Dwelling eternally in darkness in future lives

3. Being reborn as blind insects for a hundred lifetimes

4. Being born mute

5. Earning hatred and receiving no respect

6. Lifetimes devoid of virtue, with words never trusted

This is a grave transgression, unbecoming of a Daoist practitioner.

Third Precept: Against Harsh Speech

One must not spread discord or speak cruelly, including:

• Gossiping and sowing division
• Uttering malicious words
• Earning the disgust of spirits (Shen), let alone sages

Violating this precept invites six calamitous retributions:

1. Constant humiliation in this life

2. Having one’s tongue pulled out in hell after death

3. Rebirth as a mute being

4. Being despised by others

5. Enduring perpetual misfortune

6. Rebirth as pigs, dogs, venomous insects, or even two-headed snakes and nine-headed birds

This is a grave transgression, unbecoming of a Daoist practitioner.

The scripture emphasizes that all such karmic transgressions can be eradicated through steadfast adherence to precepts and cultivation.

The Supreme Purity Twelve Supreme Flying Celestial Dharma Wheel Exhortation Scripture in Vernacular Interpretation:

The Celestial Worthy (the highest deity in Daoism) admonishes disciples: Those who receive the True Precepts (essential Daoist ethical codes) must not envy those superior to themselves, nor suppress the virtuous and wise. Those without virtue who maliciously slander others, employing various means to harm and undermine them—such individuals have already damaged their own blessings through these thoughts alone. How could they possibly attain ultimate good fruits?

Those harboring envy will suffer five karmic retributions:

1. They shall never behold the Three Treasures (Dao, Scriptures, and Master) or the sages

2. Their virtuous connections will be severed, replaced by inescapable malevolence

3. They shall become foolish, deaf, and blind

4. They will constantly encounter peril and calamity leading to self-destruction

5. They shall be trapped by evil circumstances with no liberation

These constitute grave misdeeds wholly unbecoming of Daoist practitioners.

The Celestial Worthy declares: Ordained disciples must not be miserly or covetous, harming others for gain. When witnessing beings consumed by insatiable greed, they should guide them toward contentment. Desire is like drinking saltwater—the more one drinks, the thirstier one becomes—or like a leaking vessel that can never be filled.

The miserly and covetous face four karmic consequences:

1. Whatever they gain in this life, they shall lose in equal measure

2. In future incarnations they shall know poverty, low status, hunger and cold

3. After death they'll become hungry ghosts forced to swallow fire and eat charcoal

4. They shall be reborn as jackals or other beasts

These constitute grave misdeeds wholly unbecoming of Daoist practitioners.

The Celestial Worthy declares: Ordained disciples must not indulge wrath or harm others with harsh words. The wrathful endure four karmic consequences:

1. Their vital spirit (Shen) diminishes as poisonous Qi assails them

2. All beings shun their presence and speech

3. After death they become venomous snakes or fierce beasts

4. Even if reborn human, they'll be base, dull-witted and despised

These constitute misdeeds wholly unbecoming of Daoist practitioners.

The Celestial Worthy declares: Ordained disciples must not persist in ignorance while rejecting admonishment. The stubbornly deluded face four karmic consequences:

1. Divine beings withdraw their protection

2. Their roots of virtue are severed

3. They stray onto heretical paths

4. They become haunted by demonic entities

These constitute grave misdeeds wholly unbecoming of Daoist practitioners.

The Supreme Flying Dharma Wheel Scripture of Twelve Supreme Admonitions expounds three fundamental precepts for Daoist practitioners and the karmic retribution for violating them:

The first concerns loyalty to ruler and country:

The Celestial Master (Tianshi) warns disciples that those who receive authentic precepts (high-level Daoist ordination) must never harbor disloyalty toward their sovereign. Those who incite warfare and harm the innocent will suffer sixfold retribution: 1. Immediate suffering in this life 2. Bringing calamity upon their lineage 3. After death, falling into the Three Wretched Realms (hells, hungry ghosts, animal rebirth) with prolonged suffering 4. Rebirth as venomous serpents or fierce beasts 5. Even if reborn human, enduring violent deaths 6. Perpetual rebirth in wretched circumstances without freedom. These constitute grave karmic offenses, incompatible with true cultivation.

The second concerns filial piety:

Ordained disciples must honor parents, never disobeying elders or abandoning ancestral ties. The unfilial incur six retributions: 1. Legal punishment 2. Public scorn 3. Hellish torment through ten great sufferings 4. Rebirth as owls or creatures that kill their kin 5. If reborn human, suffering reciprocal mistreatment from offspring 6. Divine retribution through thunderbolts. These too constitute grave offenses.

The third concerns dietary precepts:

Ordained disciples must abstain from alcohol and meat, nor encourage others to break these precepts. Drinkers face three woes: 1. Losing virtuous inclinations in this life, rebirth as dull-witted beings 2. Becoming deranged, reborn as bats or toads 3. Even with human rebirth, possessing clouded minds. Meat-eaters face two calamities: 1. Losing compassion, creating enmity with sentient beings 2. Family dissolution, rebirth as hungry ghosts or jackals.

The Celestial Master concludes: These twelve grave offenses demand urgent repentance. Otherwise, after death practitioners will endure the "Wind Blade" torment (Daoist belief that souls suffer dismemberment by cosmic winds) and perpetual rebirth in wretched realms, eternally severed from the Dao (the Way)—even spiritually attuned animals would shun such beings. Only through patient endurance and steadfast precept-keeping does one attain true wisdom.

This scripture describes how practitioners make grand vows (hongyuan) to uphold precepts (jiegen), making them as steadfast as Mount Xuandu (a sacred Daoist mountain) and their observance of precepts (jiexiang) as majestic as the Jade Capital Palace (the abode of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning). The virtue of upholding precepts (jiede) shines brightly like lapis lazuli. Celestial and earthly beings join together in chanting gathas (verse-form scriptures common in Buddhist and Daoist traditions):

We bow to the lords of the Three Realms

(the realms of desire, form, and formlessness),

Taking refuge in the supreme sovereign of the myriad Daos.

May you bestow the true and wondrous precepts,

Delivering all beings in heaven and on earth.

If even the smallest virtuous intention is aroused,

And sincere devotion remains unwavering,

Divine power will descend to protect and bless,

Until all ultimately return to the Seven-Jeweled Grove

(symbolizing the Pure Land or celestial paradise).