《太上洞玄靈寶上品戒經》

This passage describes a sacred ordination scene recorded in the Supreme Lingbao Highest Precepts Scripture from Daoist tradition, along with its teachings on encouraging virtue and prohibiting vice. Here's a modern interpretation:

In the Fragrant Mulberry Grove of the Floating Radiance celestial realm within Mount Yucha of the Western Jade Kingdom, at high noon on the first day of the seventh month during the Kaihuang era, the Celestial Worthy (the supreme deity in Daoism) transmitted the Great Precepts of Supreme Wisdom to the Supreme Dao Lord. The Dao Lord prostrated himself in reverence, sincerely taking refuge in the Ten Directions while contemplating the Three Treasures (the Dao, the scriptures, and the master).

At this moment, celestial immortals descended to the Dharma assembly riding dragon chariots and tiger carriages, phoenix palanquins and simurgh carriages, accompanied by ceremonial banners of kingfisher feathers and feather fans, amid colorful clouds and celestial blossoms, with divine music resonating. The immortals circled while burning incense, chanting hymns, and paying homage to the Celestial Worthy. The Celestial Worthy smiled radiantly, his entire body emitting light as he began expounding the precepts to deliver sentient beings—all who heard them could eliminate calamities.

The Celestial Worthy admonished devotees: Every month on the first day, the celestial bureaucracy sends two youths to the mortal realm to record people's good and evil deeds. Those who perform virtuous acts are registered in the celestial records of merit, while wrongdoers have their misdeeds recorded by the underworld. After death, the virtuous receive blessings while the wicked suffer retribution.

Therefore, the Celestial Worthy exhorted people: On the first day of each new year, they should wear new clothes corresponding to the Five Phases' directional colors and participate in Dharma assemblies, inscribing their names on bamboo slips and silk (similar to merit ledgers) to report their annual good deeds to the celestial court. On the first day of every month, they should visit spiritual temples to hear the precepts and understand their karmic connections for cultivating virtue that month. During these precept assemblies, all attendees—regardless of gender—should sit quietly, attentively memorizing the precept names, using this listening practice to awaken to the Dao.

Those who truly comprehend the wisdom of the patience with the unborn (transcendental insight beyond life and death) will manifest the forms of jade maidens and golden perfected (immortal beings), harmonizing with Dao-Qi. When the Celestial Worthy expounds the precepts, earth deities present treasures, while devoted celestial maidens and immortals who cultivate forbearance arrive wearing starry crowns and moonlit robes to make offerings. Finally, the scripture lists the first two of the Ten Great Vows: The first vow offers one's flesh to feed starving animals; the second vow dedicates one's entire bodily essence (referring to extreme ascetic commitments).

This passage reveals the sacred ordination rituals of Daoism, emphasizing the karmic principle of moral retribution, along with cultivation methods for achieving immortality through regular precept observance and merit recording.

This scripture expounds on the ten virtuous vows and six admonitions that Daoist practitioners should uphold.

The ten virtuous vows include:

1. Vowing to light lamps to illuminate others

2. Willing to pause one's own cultivation to help those carrying heavy burdens

3. Giving food and clothing to the poor when encountered

4. Providing medicinal decoctions to the sick

5. Offering timely assistance when seeing others in need

6. Helping the sorrowful and suffering find joy

7. Willing to endure punishment in place of prisoners

8. Assisting pregnant women in safe childbirth

9. Praying for soldiers at distant borders to return home soon

10. Making vows with sincere repentance, tearfully beseeching the Celestial Worthy (the supreme Daoist deity) for forgiveness

The scripture describes how the Celestial Worthy, seeing the heavy karma of sentient beings, reveals methods of liberation for all. The Supreme Lord of the Dao (an important Daoist deity) teaches people to practice six admonitions for dispelling calamities:

The six admonitions are:

1. Reverently serving the Three Treasures (Dao, scriptures, and teachers), supporting Dharma masters, studying classics, and teaching others through virtuous conduct

2. Copying scriptures for others to recite, thereby increasing wisdom

3. Establishing fields of merit at Daoist temples and offering fine food to sages

4. Donating oil to light lamps, which brings intelligence and wisdom

5. Providing immortal robes and ritual garments for teachers, leading to rebirth in wealthy families

6. Teaching both men and women to be filial to parents and harmonious with relatives

The scripture emphasizes wholehearted practice of these admonitions while maintaining inner purity, as this is the path to transcend suffering and attain blessings. Practitioners should sincerely repent and take refuge in the true Dao.

This passage from the Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Shangpin Jiejing (Supreme Scripture of the Numinous Treasure from the Cavern of Mystery on the Highest Precepts) presents ten exhortations and six sensory precepts, teaching the principles of accumulating virtue (De) through good deeds and restraining desires.

[Ten Exhortations]

Seventh Exhortation: Aid the sick by providing food, drink, and medicine. Healing them with compassion brings the greatest blessings. Those who do this become as revered as the Great Healing Kings (master physicians).

Eighth Exhortation: Relieve the poor—even by sacrificing your own clothing and food—so they may be fed, clothed, and sustained in life. Such acts bring immediate rewards: family honor and prosperity in this life.

Ninth Exhortation: Never harbor jealousy toward others. Maintain goodwill and avoid creating enmity. Abandon harmful intentions, and meet all circumstances with joy.

Tenth Exhortation: Erect and venerate sacred images of the Celestial Worthy (the highest Daoist deity). When encountering hardship or others suffering calamity or death, extend aid to your fullest ability.

The Celestial Worthy declares: These ten exhortations form the most essential precepts. Retribution for good and evil is clear—those wealthy in this life who mock the poor will be reborn in poverty; the beautiful who ridicule the ugly will be reborn deformed; the wise who refuse to teach will be reborn ignorant; the healthy who scorn the ill will themselves be plagued by sickness; those who disbelieve the Dao and mock its scriptures will become obstinate fools; those who steal husbands will be widowed; those who seduce wives will die alone; couples united in body but not heart will struggle to regain human form; killers will die young. Thus, goodness begets blessings, evil begets suffering—none escape this law of karma.

[Six Sensory Precepts] (restraints for the six senses)

Advanced practitioners should understand:

1. Eyes: Avoid gazing at dazzling colors to preserve vision. Those who master visual desires attain radiant clarity, and immortals (perfected beings) will manifest.

2. Ears: Shun chaotic music to protect the spirit (Shen). Those who master auditory desires attain divine harmonies, and immortals will manifest.

3. Nose: Resist inhaling mixed fragrances. Those who master olfactory desires attain pure aromas, and immortals will manifest.

4. Mouth: Abstain from rich flavors to safeguard the organs. Those who master taste desires attain the joy of Dharma (spiritual delight), and immortals will manifest.

(Note: The original text’s sections on bodily and mental precepts are incomplete here. The core teaching emphasizes cultivating goodness by restraining sensory desires.)

The Supreme Scripture of Precious Precepts from the Numinous Treasure Cavern Mystery presents two main sections of teaching:

The first section expounds six essential cultivation precepts:

1. The Fifth Precept: Master your desires, preventing external things from disturbing body and mind. Maintain the stability of Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), preserving your fundamental nature. Those who achieve this will retain wisdom when engaging with worldly matters, and such practitioners may attain the immortal Dao.

2. The Sixth Precept: Keep the inner mind tranquil, free from distracting thoughts, returning to one's original purity. Those who can transcend all external disturbances will master the methods of cultivation and achieve the immortal Dao.

The Celestial Venerable declares that these six sensory faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) constitute humanity's greatest affliction. Though people are born human, their six emotional desires remain impure. Never having heard proper teachings, they remain ignorant of cultivation principles, unwittingly sinking into sin. This leads to shortened lifespans and rebirth in woeful realms—a truly pitiable state. Thus these precepts were established to deliver sentient beings. Sincere devotion to them, coupled with mental serenity, can prolong life. Upon hearing these six precepts, the Great Ultimate Perfected Being attained six supernatural powers and rejoiced in praise.

The second section addresses ten mental afflictions and their antidotes:

The Celestial Venerable proclaims that any virtuous man or woman present who upholds these precepts may realize the true Dao. Those who recite these precepts will not be bound by evil karma after death, and their transgressions will dissolve. Human illnesses mostly arise from failure to properly nurture the body and from deluded attachments, though most remain unaware. Ten representative mental afflictions are listed:

1. Using gu poison to harm others

2. Wishing death upon those one hates

3. Lust undermining virtue (De)

4. Harboring old grudges

5. Rejecting admonishment

6. Obstinate self-righteousness

7. Instigating harm to others

8. Forcibly seizing others' property

9. Habitual complaining

10. Bullying through power

The ten wondrous medicines for these afflictions are:

1. Gentleness and pliancy

2. Magnanimity and equanimity

3. Drawing near to virtue while distancing from lust

4. Refusing ill-gotten gains

5. Relieving suffering and aiding the distressed

6. Supporting the elderly and weak

7. Enduring humiliation without resentment

8. Restraining anger

9. Avoiding gossip and contention

10. Maintaining mental serenity

These remedies precisely counteract their corresponding ailments. If left untreated until death approaches, it will be too late. Finally, the Celestial Venerable proclaims these authentic immortal precepts with impartial compassion, hoping to universally deliver all beings.

This scripture passage describes the ritual of transmitting precepts in the Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) tradition of Daoism. It consists of several key sections:

The text first depicts the ceremonial setting at the Hall of Ten Thousand Blessings: On auspicious days like the new moon (shuori) and full moon (yuewang), the high priest (Gaogong) sits upright in meditation, harmonizing his Qi (vital energy), and ascends the lion throne to expound the Lingbao Precepts Scripture for all beings. The scripture laments how worldly beings fail to revere these profound precepts, remaining adrift in the sea of suffering.

It then enumerates ten meritorious benefits of upholding the precepts:

1. Maintaining clarity during the Dharma-ending age

2. Spreading orthodox teachings with virtue matching Heaven and Earth

3. Following nature's way while bestowing universal grace

4. Showing compassion to departed souls through talismanic salvation

5. Blessing future generations with accumulated merit

6. Transforming evil tendencies and cultivating virtuous roots

7. Prolonging one's lifespan

8. Eradicating karmic debts across lifetimes

9. Attaining liberation from karmic obstacles

10. Ultimately achieving supreme Dao-realization

The Perfected Being admonishes that the present moment offers ideal conditions for practice, urging disciples to cherish time and cultivate in secrecy - for only those who attain genuine realization can comprehend these profound mysteries.

The subsequent exhortation verses employ vivid metaphors about life's impermanence: Human existence resembles a flickering lamp flame, while the body is like leaves and blossoms - practitioners should diligently study the Dao during their prime. When merit exhausts, the Shen (spirit) scatters, potentially leading to hellish rebirths. Even celestial sages fear such downfall, hence the imperative to seek Daoist methods for transcendence.

Finally, the scripture describes how after the Heavenly Worthy finished expounding the precepts, all beings present - including celestial kings, earthly monarchs, dragon deities, and sages from the ten directions - attained true realization. The blind gained sight, the mute spoke, and the lame walked, demonstrating the precepts' miraculous power.

This passage emphasizes the crucial importance of precept observance, showing how upholding precepts brings both worldly blessings and ultimate liberation from the cycle of rebirth, culminating in immortal attainment.

This scripture describes the blessings and spiritual attainments bestowed upon devotees of the Supreme Dongxuan Lingbao Superior Precepts Scripture (Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Shangpin Jiejing).

Those who cultivate this scripture will find the deaf regaining their hearing, the sick recovering from illness, and the torments of hell ceasing. They will forever escape the path of hungry ghosts (referring to the suffering of samsara). At that time, there were five thousand learned scholars who had once pursued fame and worldly success but later turned their hearts back, reverently bowing and taking refuge in the Dao.

The Celestial Worthy (Tianzun, the supreme deity of Daoism), moved by compassion, immediately delivered them, granting each a jade tablet (Yujian, inscribed with immortal methods) and bestowing golden crowns, ritual robes, and celestial garments. The heavenly deities attended upon them with reverence, allowing them to wander freely in serene and expansive realms, soaring through the azure heavens (Biluo, the Daoist celestial realm). Through practices of breath cultivation (Fuqi) and absorbing the essences of clouds and mists (Canxia), they attained the ability to ride dragons and command cranes.

With joy, they sang praises and ascended as immortals through the void, their names recorded in the secret registers (Milu, the roster of celestial beings). Immortals descended from the clouds to guide them toward the Heavenly Gate (Tianmen, the entrance to the celestial realm). By awakening to the Dao and realizing its truths, they dwelled in tranquility, eternally abiding in peace and bliss. All who revere and uphold this scripture should receive it with sincere hearts and practice it faithfully.