《上清靈寶大法(一)》Vol. 17

Interpretation

The master said: “The Sacred Sounds of the Great Brahma—holy sounds used in Daoist recitation—are formed from the Qi that the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning spontaneously generated and that flows without end. Reciting and chanting them can subdue the myriad spirits and liberate those who suffer. If a practitioner, on one of the six Bing days (days whose cyclical day stem is Bing), faces east, writes this text in cinnabar on yellow silk, and carries it on their person, they can drive away and subdue the demons and eliminate every kind of calamity.

When writing, visualize yourself as the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure. Form the Shangqing hand seal, draw in the ancestral Qi of Primordial Beginning and pour it into the brush, then write this secret talismanic incantation.”

Secret Talismanic Incantation:

The ancestral wheel of Primordial Beginning gathers and condenses Brahma Qi, spreading throughout the celestial heavens. It is naturally numinous and wondrous, without beginning or end. Deep, mysterious, and far-reaching, it gathers the many ways. It grasps the vast and lofty realm; its spirits are exalted, its understanding penetrating, and it transcends the infinite. Act swiftly in accordance with the commands of the foremost Numinous Treasure.

Sacred Sounds of the East

Spread life-giving force far and wide, shine brightly upon all things;

Awaken to the primordial source and penetrate the empty realm;

Respond in harmony with the mystery and accord with the Nine Truths;

Transform, nurture, and unite; establish the patterns of the teaching;

Let eloquence move with numinous power, shaping transformation;

Honor the ancestral model of the Mysterious Capital;

Gather all transformations of the myriad things under your command;

Make your majesty manifest and bring things naturally to completion;

Move the verdant mountain ridges and shift the scene;

The imperial Way conceals radiance within;

The Heavenly Grove displays its authority;

Qi and essence nourish the hun and po souls;

Blend and arrange, bearing and establishing all things;

The perfect splendor hides in the blue heavens;

May the spirits make themselves manifest;

May the vast guiding order proclaim peace.

Sacred Sounds of the South

Illumine the bright flames and let them reach everywhere;

Raise and spread them, clarifying the ancestral source;

The empty image holds mysterious radiance;

The Qi of Dragon Yang dances across the vault of heaven;

Subtle, upright Qi shines upon the clouds and skies;

In the deep, boundless Great Void, settle the Qi of balanced harmony;

The mysterious hinge binds the three knots;

The Qi of Great Brahma soars through the air;

Hidden awareness shines forth, increasing prosperity;

The order of the Heavenly Way appears as auspicious signs;

The gates of the spirits interweave and connect;

The true origin spreads essence and Qi;

Hold fast to purity, and let radiance shine;

Circle, converge, and rise upward;

Guide exalted spirits to feast and wander among the clouds;

Numinous response and resonance lift them to the heavenly realm.

Sacred Sounds of the West

The firm and vigorous Qi is subtle, yet able to command all things;

Yin Qi rises steeply, presenting an image of solitary loftiness;

It courses through primordial Qi and merges in darkness with pure emptiness;

The palaces of the Heavenly Emperor open wide, revealing the subtle mystery;

It transforms and nurtures everywhere, answering through the hidden realms;

Clear radiance shines upon the Imperial Terrace;

Gaze calmly into the distance and draw in the Qi of emptiness;

Vast and flourishing, it nourishes the Pond of Youth;

Condense the tempestuous wind, bringing it down to nurture;

The Qi at the mountain’s foot meets no obstruction and spreads abroad;

Yang Qi extends through the number one hundred and six;

A hidden glimmer lies concealed before the steps;

Deep and vast, silent and still;

The true wind rests in the numinous realm.

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Interpretation

Firmness that does not accord with the Dao is reported to the Forest of Qian; the orthodox sounds of the north, the dragon brings peace to the transformation of the grotto; pure Yang conceals the mystery, and the square foundation returns to Qi; the image lies hidden in the lofty realm, the spirit transforms among ordinary people in the east; the numinous root is released and refined, red essence follows the pure Dao; its completed title is majestic and honored, benefiting the clouds and those who befriend them; within the central mound of ten thousand ren, the jade ramparts of Yu City rise; the melodic sounds of praise flow on, and one receives a rank in the Jade Chamber; Heaven’s statutes are hidden in the Dao, and mysterious writings shine forth and descend; thus the governing order and its cycles are brought to completion.

The Register of the Flowing-Gold, Worked-Jade Phoenix Qi and Dragon Writings comprises 166 strokes.

The master said: “The books of dragon writings and phoenix Qi are all texts of worked jade and flowing gold, refined in the Three Heavens—the upper celestial realms spoken of in Daoism. They can be gathered and drawn as talismans, or combined and written as characters. Since they govern the true ranks, the stages leading to the realms of cultivation, there is nothing they cannot investigate. Therefore, when writing incantations and talismans, you must not presume to use them for other purposes. The Three Officials—the Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, and Water Official—will keep watch over this. Revealing Heaven’s prohibitions is an offense of equal gravity, so they must be kept secret.”

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand; sun, moon, year, hour, moment; Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.

The following lists, in the order given in the original, the components or forms that make up the talismanic signs or characters. Parentheses indicate components or directions. Some forms may be incomplete because of differences between editions or difficulties in reading the text:

(from Metal), (from Wood), (from Water), (from Fire); (Earth below), (Fire scattered), (from Earth), gate; woman, (from woman), (grass radical), (bamboo radical); mountain, cave, cliff, again; walk, illness radical, above, step; person radical, speech, dog radical, good fortune; page, sun, sound, great; great, pungent, see, city radical; pill, broad, mouth, inch; king, life, bean, great; talent, below, above, premature; mountain, Earth, nine, Wood; stand, finish, ghost, extend; towering, white, yellow, change; open, axe, booklet, do not; hair strokes, evening, strength, hundred; again, stop, Yin, carriage; again, return, dish, summon; feet spreading, king, jade, brush; seven, knife radical, rise, cinnabar; boat, ▲, person, old; south, Wei, platform, sun; Water, ancient, straight, true; not, urgent, strength, without; extreme, urgent, intermediary, hidden; broad, stand, cloth, emperor; also, great, minister, clothing; govern, together, command; measure, not, separate, stretch; night, light, surplus, complete; ride, heart, kindness, must; hall, Si, work, registers; record, numinous, sheep, Ling; palace, horse, Chou, honored; offer, sun, bone, Hai; oversee, east, purple, it.

The True-Form Diagram of the Five Sacred Mountains: a depiction of the forms of the five mountains—Mount Tai in the east, Mount Heng in the south, Mount Song in the center, Mount Hua in the west, and Mount Heng in the north.

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Interpretation

The Perfected One of Taiji said: “The Forbidden Book of Yuanshi records that anyone transmitting the most essential teachings of methods such as the Lingbao and Lingxu must understand the forms of the Five Sacred Mountains. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to succeed in learning the Dao or to hope to become an immortal; the hun and shen grow dull and clouded, making it difficult to enter the Great Dao. Those who study the Dao should make drawings of the forms of the Five Sacred Mountains and place them in a clean room. In this way, demons will not come to trouble them, all ghosts will disperse, and the hidden realm will be opened and brought to peace. This text is included among the Fulu (talismans and registers) and serves to define the boundaries between the human and celestial realms.”

The master explained: “Black in the drawings represents the mountain forms, red represents water sources, and yellow dots mark the entrances to caves. Smaller drawings represent hills, while smaller caves represent mountain ridges. The height, shape, and length of each mountain must be modeled on the actual landscape. If this drawing is kept in the home, benevolent beings will also guard it, and evil ghosts and calamities will naturally be dispelled. If a person of the highest attainment in cultivation carries it, all the gods will come to pay homage.

“Mount Tai, the Eastern Mountain, has a circumference of two thousand li. It lies within Langya and commands ninety thousand immortal officials.

“Mount Heng, the Southern Mountain, has a circumference of two thousand li. It lies east of Changsha and commands seven thousand seven hundred immortal officials.

“Mount Song, the Central Mountain, has a circumference of one thousand li. It lies within Luoyang and commands thirty thousand divine youths and immortal maidens.

“Mount Hua, the Western Mountain, has a circumference of four thousand li and stretches from north to south. It lies east of Changping and commands seven thousand immortals and Jade Maidens.

“Mount Heng, the Northern Mountain, has a circumference of three thousand li. It lies within Changzhou and commands twenty thousand immortal youths and Jade Maidens.

“The springs at the foot of the mountains and the courses of their waters were once transmitted by the Queen Mother to Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu passed them on to others, but the transmission was subject to strict restrictions and solemn rules; they were not to be disclosed casually.

“The names of the spirits corresponding to the upper forms of the Five Sacred Mountains are: the Eastern Mountain, ‘Lingwei Yang’; the Western Mountain, ‘Bai Zhaoju’; the Southern Mountain, ‘Chi Biaonu’; the Northern Mountain, ‘Ye Guangji’; and the Central Mountain, ‘Han Shuniu.’

“The lower forms of the Five Sacred Mountains include the true-form diagrams of Mount Tai in the east, Mount Hua in the west, Mount Heng in the south, Mount Heng in the north, and Mount Song in the center. They also include a true-form diagram of Mount Fengdu, the underworld realm described in Daoism.

“Careful examination of the Scripture of Yuanshi’s Six Heavens for Subduing Demons shows that anyone who transmits the Way of the Shangqing Great Cavern, or the essential instructions of the great methods of the Three Caverns and Three Perfected Ones, must understand the true form of Mount Fengdu. Otherwise, their ancestors for seven generations cannot be fully freed from the jurisdiction of the ghost officials, and their corpses and blood-qi cannot be cleansed away…”

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Interpretation

The text further states that this writing is the “Jade Register of the Six Heavens,” carved in stone and placed in the palace at the base of the Xuanchi Terrace. When a departed soul is being delivered from suffering, a scholar of Zhuling wears it, or it is placed for veneration in a ritual chamber. It is said to disperse the myriad ghosts and bring peace to the netherworld. This document is kept at the Northern Gate of Shangqing and is used to stabilize the order of the Six Heavens.

To deliver the dead from suffering, one may draw the deceased’s true-form image in cinnabar and write the petition and the deceased’s name in ink, then burn them and let the smoke drift away on the wind. According to the text, the Northern Emperor will then release the soul from its bonds, while the Three Officials will dissolve its entanglements, allowing it to ascend to the Northern Hall.

Incantation for Delivering the Dead by Burning Ashes

The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning issues a talismanic command to subdue demons and malign forces. Carrying out this command, protect and recommend the departed soul so that it may be delivered from suffering and proceed in order to the Southern Palace. Let the sins of Mount Fengdu be erased like ashes; let the Three Officials release the soul’s bodily restraints and disperse its bonds, closing off past karmic ties so that the soul may undergo transformation and be reborn. Let it receive refinement and deliverance according to its rank, and ultimately ascend to the Court of Blessings.

After reciting the incantation, press the tip of the tongue against the upper palate, visualize yourself becoming the intention of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, and recite the hidden words once more. Then visualize golden light filling the mouth, form the Jade Clarity mudra with both hands, and blow toward the northeast as you release the mudra. According to the text, the departed soul can then ascend to the Vermilion Palace, receive refinement and deliverance according to its rank, be reborn, and return to the Court of Blessings.

True-Form Image of Mount Fengdu

Petition for Delivering the Dead

This document is entrusted to the deceased, [name omitted], as his everlasting body-treasure. May the departed soul respectfully receive it, be freed from suffering, undergo deliverance, and be registered at Zhuling. The accompanying command is to be conveyed by the courier of wind and fire.

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