《黃籙五苦輪燈儀》

The Yellow Register Five Sufferings Wheel Lamp Rite Explained in Plain Terms:

This Daoist ritual employs sacred lamps to deliver departed souls. It begins by describing cosmic formation: the light and pure Qi (vital energy) ascended to form Heaven (Qian), while the heavy and turbid Qi descended to form Earth (Kun). Mount Kunlun stands as the earth's central axis, surrounded by immortals like spokes of a wheel, with oceans flowing around it. Below ground lie thirty-six underworld realms (the Nine Yin Layers), dark realms of suffering where tormented souls struggle for liberation.

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) and Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) established this liturgy (Keyi). Through the Dharma Wheel Merit Field and the Lamp Illumination Ritual, they use radiant light to penetrate the Nine Dark Hells, assisting souls to escape suffering. Now, a practitioner lights the Radiant Wheel Lamps according to the Jade Casket of Covenant Truth regulations, performing deliverance for deceased loved ones. May their karmic obstructions dissolve and their six senses purify, while nine generations of ancestors (Nine Ancestors and Seven Mysteries) and all beings in the six realms escape darkness to reach the Pure Land of Light.

The first cycle of suffering is called "The Agony of Sensory Bondage": those who indulged in carnal pleasures and lustful confusion in life fall into the Mountain of Blades Hell after death. The ritual host now lights deliverance lamps, praying that the Nine Pure Heavens show compassion, that the Three Lights (sun, moon, stars) shine forth, and that the Compassionate Savior Celestial Worthy manifests divine power to shatter the blade mountain and rescue these souls.

Included is the ritual chant:

"Alas, the Mountain of Blades Hell's agony—

Frost-white edges pierce the frozen void.

Ox-headed demons drive the wretched onward,

Forced to climb these razor slopes.

Flesh scatters as blades descend—

All for lust that bound the heart.

By the Savior Celestial Worthy's might,

May this blade-mountain crumble tonight."

(The merit of this ritual transcends ordinary comprehension.)

This scripture describes the salvation rituals for the second through fourth paths of suffering in the Daoist "Yellow Register Five Sufferings Wheel Lamp Ceremony," which employs sacred lamps to liberate souls from hellish torments.

The second cycle is called the "Gate of Suffering from Love's Burdens," referring to how people lose their Shen (spirit) through obsessive desires, resulting in postmortem punishment in the Sword Forest Hell. By lighting ritual lamps to commemorate the deceased, practitioners pray that souls may escape the six paths of reincarnation. The text invokes the boundless compassion of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun) from the Great Canopy Heaven (the highest Daoist celestial realm) to deliver souls from the forest of blades. The scripture describes how the swords and knives in this hell will shatter, ceasing the suffering and restoring wholeness to the souls, allowing them to transcend hell through the lamp's radiance and reach the Western Paradise.

The third cycle, named the "Gate of Suffering from Greed's Burdens," addresses those who exhaust their Qi (vital energy) pursuing fame and wealth, condemning them to the Bronze Pillar Hell's tortures. Through lamp lighting, devotees beseech the venerable deities of the Jade Void Palace (Yuanshi Tianzun's abode) to extend grace—extinguishing the pillar's flames, resolving karmic debts, and elevating souls heavenward by the lamps' sanctifying light.

The fourth cycle, the "Gate of Suffering from Vanity's Competition," explains how chasing glory dissipates one's Jing (essence), leading to the Cauldron Hell of boiling liquid. Vivid passages depict souls scalded until flesh and bones dissolve in seething broth. Supplications are made to the True Sovereign of Wuwei (non-action, representing the Dao itself) to pardon transgressions, so the lamps may illuminate the Nine Springs of the underworld, granting souls carefree joy.

Each ritual segment concludes by chanting "Harmonize with Inconceivable Merit," acknowledging the immeasurable virtue generated. The entire ceremony—combining lamp illumination, scripture recitation, and divine invocation—serves to liberate souls from infernal suffering, guiding them toward celestial realms or paradisiacal rebirth.

This scripture passage describes the fifth form of cyclic suffering—"the Gate of Soul Burdened by Physical Toil"—in the Daoist "Yellow Register Five Sufferings Wheel Lamp Ritual."

The fifth cyclic suffering is called "the Gate of Soul Burdened by Physical Toil," referring to how people become entangled in worldly affairs during their lifetime, where constant fluctuations of honor and disgrace disturb the heart-mind (Shen), causing the ethereal and corporeal souls to suffer. After death, the soul must further endure the torment of "drawing water from the underworld river" (a punishment involving endlessly hauling water in the dark waters of the netherworld). Now, the ritual sponsor (the one conducting the ceremony) lights sacred lamps to commemorate the deceased, praying that their physical form and soul may ascend to the celestial realms.

We devoutly beseech the supreme Celestial Worthy (Tianzun) and the majestic Great Emperor (Dadi), with their incomparable virtue and power (De), to deliver the sunken souls of the departed, specifically repenting the suffering of "drawing water from the underworld river." We pay homage to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the highest Daoist deities) and the compassionate Celestial Worthy of Salvation from Suffering in the Three Realms (desire, form, and formlessness realms), praying that they descend to Mount Fengdu (the Daoist underworld) to deliver souls trapped in the Three Tortures (fire, blood, and blade) and Five Sufferings.

May all frigid waters and turbid waves transform into sweet dew. Tonight, through the power of Daoist practice, we summon the departed souls, letting the radiance of the sacred lamps illuminate the Ninefold Netherworld. Such merit is inconceivable.

We praise the Celestial Worthy of the Turning Wheel, recite the scriptures, and dedicate the virtuous fruits. Hearing of the Celestial Worthy’s sacred power to deliver all beings, the numinous texts of the Primordial Celestial Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun) can eradicate all karmic obstructions. Earlier, we lit the wheel lamps to illuminate the Three Tortures and Five Sufferings, chanted the true scriptures, and offered spirit money and paper horses (symbolic ritual offerings)—all for the sponsor’s virtuous cause of delivering the deceased.

We pray that the underworld officials show mercy, elevating the form and soul of the departed to the celestial realms while also benefiting other lonely souls, granting them all rebirth. May each lamp brighten the underworld, bringing peace to every layer of hell, enabling the deceased to swiftly ascend to heaven and never again fall into the infernal realms. Through the power of Daoist practice, may this supreme virtuous bond be fulfilled.

Invoking the sacred name of the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering (Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun), this merit is immeasurable and boundless.

(Here concludes the Yellow Register Five Sufferings Wheel Lamp Ritual)