《太一救苦護身妙經》

The scripture title of The Wondrous Scripture of Taiyi for Saving from Suffering and Protecting the Body makes clear the wondrous method by which Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun (the Heavenly Worthy Who Saves from Suffering and Hardship) saves beings from suffering and protects the body.

At that time, Yuanshi Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, one of the highest deities of Daoism) was above the Mysterious Radiance, in the nine-colored jade hall of Qingwei Heaven (the name of a heavenly realm). He ascended the seven-jeweled throne and emitted a great radiance, universally gathering the myriad spirits and, together with Heaven, carrying out teaching and transformation.

The Celestial Worthies of the ten directions, Daojun (Daoist Lords), Laojun, Imperial Lords, Yuanjun (Primordial Ladies), Elders, Sages, and millions upon millions of immortals all came before the throne to hear the wondrous Dharma proclaimed.

Thereupon the Brahma King declared it good, and Indra rejoiced and sang; celestial music arose spontaneously and came with the light.

At this time, Taishang Laojun (Supreme Lord Lao) left the jade throne, his feet treading upon lotuses, with Zhenren (Perfected Ones) attending at his left and right and Jade Maidens supporting his trailing skirt. He came before the Heavenly Worthy and addressed him, saying: “We have been opened and transformed by the Master and receive blessings in heaven. The Master’s merits are inexhaustible, and his grace and virtue cannot be measured.

I observe that within the Three Realms (the Desire Realm, Form Realm, and Formless Realm) and within the sea of suffering, innumerable beings encounter calamities and hardships, are entangled in the net of offenses, and beings of every kind cannot escape birth, death, and transmutation.

I cannot remain at ease in Taiqing (the heaven where Laojun resides). I wish to borrow your majestic radiance and divide my body throughout the Three Realms to save beings. I only hope the Supreme Honored One will look upon this with compassionate regard.”

Then Yuanshi Tianzun slightly stirred his dharma-body and said to Laojun: “Good, good.

You leave the jade throne and alarm the myriad heavens to save from suffering and save life; there is no need for you to say more. You may return to your seat, and I will proclaim it for you.”

The Heavenly Worthy said: “All things are born from me; all spirits are transformed by me. Those who meet suffering and calamity should be saved.

There is no need for you to use your mighty power and transformation bodies to save them.

In the Eastern World of Long Bliss there is a greatly compassionate and benevolent one, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun. His transformation bodies are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges (a metaphor for an extremely great number), and he appears in response to the voices of beings.

Sometimes he dwells in heavenly palaces, sometimes descends into the human world, sometimes resides in the hells, and sometimes subdues all evils.

Sometimes he appears as immortal youths and jade maidens, sometimes as imperial lords and sages, sometimes as celestial worthies and Zhenren, sometimes as vajra spirit kings.

Sometimes as demon kings or strongmen.

Sometimes as Celestial Masters (Tianshi) and Daoist priests, sometimes as Huangren Laojun, sometimes as heavenly physicians and merit officers (subordinate officials of the heavenly realm).

Sometimes as men or women, sometimes as civil and military officials, sometimes as great commanders-in-chief, sometimes as teachers and Chan masters.

Sometimes as Masters of Wind and Rain. His supernatural powers are immeasurable and his deeds inexhaustible. He follows the cries of beings to save them from suffering, responding to beings according to circumstances.

I now tell you this so that you may know it.”

Laojun again addressed him, saying: “This mighty deity has limitless transformations. How can he come before my Master’s presence?”

The Wondrous Scripture of Taiyi, the Heavenly Worthy Who Saves from Suffering and Protects the Body is a scripture that recounts the protection and salvation from suffering bestowed by Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun (Taiyi, the Heavenly Worthy Who Saves from Suffering).

The Heavenly Worthy (Tianzun, a Daoist honorific for divine worthies) told Laojun (Lord Lao; Taishang Laojun): “You may loudly chant the name of Taiyi (that is, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun), causing the immortal officials (officials charged with duties in the immortal realm) to chant in unison; Taiyi will naturally respond and manifest.” Thereupon Laojun and the assembled immortals, following his teaching, recited in unison the name of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun. Suddenly they saw, among the ranks of the Emperor Lords (Dijun), a youth walking step by step on lotus flowers, performing the qishou (kowtow) rite as he came before the Heavenly Worthy. The youth reported: “I am indeed Taiyi. Because my master opened the transforming teaching and expounded the Dharma, I gathered my manifested forms to come and hear the wondrous sound proclaimed. The bliss of heaven is but momentary, while below the earth one may at every turn pass through ten thousand kalpas (immeasurably long periods). Sentient beings of the Three Realms (the realms of desire, form, and formlessness) suffer and cry aloud, ‘Suffering! Suffering!’ They surround the Heavenly Worthy, bow and prostrate themselves, and beg you to descend from the heavenly palace.” Then the assembled immortals, seeing the youth’s reply, wept so that tears fell upon their garments, and choking with sobs they sighed: “In heaven there is bliss, below there is disaster. When will karmic retribution within the cycle of rebirth ever be still?”

The Heavenly Worthy told Taiyi: “Your vows of practice (your vows made in cultivation) are compassionate. Since sentient beings suffer, according to your vows manifest divided bodies (transform into multiple forms) to save them.” The youth, joyful and smiling, bowed again and withdrew.

The assembled immortals saw the youth transform into a Heavenly Worthy, treading on lotus flowers, illumined by a circular halo, holding a willow branch and pure water, with nine-headed lions (protective divine beasts) attending on left and right, departing through the air. Again they saw the Heavenly Worthy transform into an Emperor Lord, treading on lotus flowers, holding a ruyi (a ritual implement), illumined by a circular halo, with nine-headed lions attending on left and right, departing through the air. Again they saw the Emperor Lord transform into a Zhenren (a Daoist Perfected Person), treading on lotus flowers, emitting divine light from his hands that reached upward to the Nine Heavens (the highest heavenly realms) and downward to the Nine Earths (the deepest terrestrial realms), with nine-headed lions attending on left and right, departing through the air. Again they saw the Zhenren transform into a woman, wearing a brocade undergarment patterned with fire, her hair unbound and feet bare, treading on lotus flowers, holding a golden sword, illumined by a circular halo, while the nine-headed lions emitted flames from their mouths that encircled her form, and she departed through the air.

Laojun addressed the Heavenly Worthy: “From what do such transformations of sacred and virtuous power, which save sentient beings, arise? Through what kind of kalpas of cultivation must one pass? May you, in accord with the opportunity, proclaim it for the assembly.”

The Wondrous Scripture of Taiyi, Who Relieves Suffering and Protects the Body (the scripture of the wondrous method by which Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, the Heavenly Worthy Who Relieves Suffering, protects the body).

The Heavenly Worthy said: This sage is called in heaven the Taiyi Deity of Blessing; in the world he is called the Great Compassionate and Benevolent One; in hell he is called the Emperor Lord of Sun Radiance; among the outer paths, when he subdues and overcomes heterodox multitudes, he is called the Lion Wisdom King; in the Water Palace (the abode of the water deities) he is called the Emperor Lord of the Cavernous Abyss. You are my Qi; I am your root. You know it and I know it; each knows it in the heart. This is the Jing of the Nine Yang (pure yang essence). It is exceedingly efficacious, exceedingly efficacious. You may keep it secretly; it must not be fully told.

At that time Lord Lao (Laojun), hearing the words of the Heavenly Worthy, closed his eyes, settled his Shen and calmed his mind, snapped his fingers, bowed his head, and recited an incantation, saying: The Yuanyuan (original source) ancestral Qi wondrously transforms and gives birth to the Jing of the Nine Yang. Its awe-inspiring De spreads throughout the ten directions. In a blur and indistinctness it manifests its true body. The wind of the Three Nines is stirred and issues forth; it lingers, then leaves the realm of Shiqing (Beginning Green, the eastern blue heaven). Reverent cultivation can generate jade liquid (sweet-dew fluid); upholding it can avert hunger and thirst. The myriad spirits should believe, revere, and worship it; the eight sufferings (all kinds of suffering) cannot follow and harm one. Accumulating meritorious practice and observing the Keyi precepts (liturgical precepts and rules), one is guided to realization and entry into the Jade Capital (the Daoist immortal capital).

At that time the Heavenly Worthy again solemnly told Lord Lao and the assembled immortals: If there are living beings who at times encounter pestilence, illness, and lingering suffering, they may burn incense and recite the holy name (the holy name of Taiyi Jiuku), read and recite this scripture (that is, “kanzhuan” means to read and recite it); then illness will retreat and disperse, and they will be able to obtain peace. If there are living beings seeking official posts and positions, and crooked, flattering, and sycophantic affairs arise without cause, they should only recite the holy name and read and recite this scripture; then envy will naturally not arise, and official rank and emoluments will rise high. If there are living beings sailing on rivers and seas, frightened by the waves, with fish and dragons and the like wishing to harm them, they may visualize, recollect, and recite the holy name, and they will be able to reach the shore and will not suffer injury or harm. If there are living beings who encounter thunderclaps, wind, and rain and are terrified, they should only visualize and recite the holy name; their Shen and Qi will be clear and refreshing, and their hun and po souls will be settled and unshaken. If there are living beings whose parents, teachers and elders, and six relations (relatives) are not harmonious, whose brothers are estranged and alienated in heart, they should only visualize and recite the holy name and read and recite this scripture; they will naturally be moved to harmony among the six relations—father compassionate, son filial, elder brother friendly, younger brother respectful. If there are emperors and kings in whose courts rebellious ministers appear, war and fire cause chaos, wind and rain are not seasonable, and the myriad people fall into hardship and resent heaven and earth, they should only observe fasts and precepts, recite the holy name, and read and recite this scripture; then wind and rain will be seasonable, rebellious ministers will be exposed, and the state will be peaceful and the people secure and happy. If there are living beings harmed without cause by evil spirits, ghosts, and thieves, they should simply respond according to the body-protecting method of this scripture.

One should practice cunsi (focused visualization in the mind) and recite the holy name of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun (the Great One, Heavenly Worthy of Salvation from Suffering); then malevolent spirits will naturally cease, and harmful ghosts and thieves will naturally perish.

If sentient beings travel through mountains and forests and are pursued and harmed by insects, snakes, birds, and beasts, they need only visualize and recite the holy name; the birds and insects will naturally retreat and will not dare to harm them.

If a woman is pregnant and encounters difficulty at the time of childbirth, she need only visualize and recite the holy name; she will naturally receive the protection of true Qi (zhenqi), give birth without pain or injury to a wise boy or a proper girl, complete in the six roots—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—and mother and child will be reunited.

If men or women aspire to the Dao and seek immortality, whether as householders or renunciants cultivating nature and nurturing life, they need only visualize and recite the holy name and read and recite this scripture; then their merits and practices will be perfected, and they will ascend to heaven in broad daylight.

If sentient beings repeatedly suffer shackles and imprisonment, groaning in prison with no way to express their plight, they need only visualize and recite the holy name; then they will be freed and leave the prison.

If sentient beings wish to help the deceased—such as the seven generations of ancestors and nine ranks of forebears, disciples and fellow students, spouses, men and women, and others—who after death linger in the Cold Court and are unable to take rebirth, they need only visualize and recite the holy name; then the deceased will naturally leave the yin realm and attain birth in the heavenly realms.

If sentient beings are dragged along by enemies and karmic creditors and entangled by fulian (interlinked retribution), they need only visualize and recite the holy name; then enmity will be dissolved and fulian severed.

Thereupon Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun told Taishang Laojun (Supreme Lord Lao): This holy venerable is the most noble, the most sacred, and the most efficacious; on the third and ninth days of each month he often descends into the human world.

One should always burn incense and bow in a pure room, and make offerings according to method with willow branches, pure water, seasonal fresh flowers, and medicinal sprouts; then one’s lifespan will naturally reach one hundred and twenty-five years, blessings will constantly arrive, and the Eight Hardships will remain far away.

One must especially avoid stove ashes, pomegranates, and other impure things; all these are unclean, and they must not be allowed to come into contact with the offerings.

At that time, after Tianzun had finished expounding this scripture, all the immortals in the great assembly praised it in unison; lions could speak, phoenixes could talk, fish and dragons transformed into human form, the withered and decayed revived, and all crawling sentient beings endowed with feeling universally received blessings; the scene was solemn and grand, and all attained ascent to immortality.

Then Daojun, Laojun, and countless true beings praised in unison: Today we have heard the wondrous sound and greatly obtained benefit; thereupon they respectfully took their leave and withdrew.