《道門科範大全集》Vol. 79

This is the ritual text for the Dongyue Salvation Grand Rite (Zhaijiao ceremony) in Daoist practice, documenting how priests prepare and conduct this major liturgical event.

The ceremony begins with the presiding priest (referred to as "this humble servant") offering incense and prayers. They light three types of sacred incense: Dao incense, De (Virtue) incense, and Wuwei (non-action) natural incense, devoutly inviting the descent of various deities. First summoned are the highest celestial beings: the Seven-Treasure Celestial Sovereign of the Golden Portal from the Void and Naturalness (the supreme deity in Daoism), the Eastern Palace's Lord of Salvation, the Celestial Worthy of Supreme Oneness Who Saves from Suffering (the primary deity for redeeming souls), along with lineage patriarchs and perfected ones who transmitted the teachings through generations. Next invited are the Dongyue (Eastern Peak) pantheon, including the Heavenly Equal Benevolent Sage Emperor of Mount Tai (Dongyue Dadi), the Virtuous Luminous Empress, the Crown Prince and Imperial Consorts, as well as auxiliary deities like the Bright Spirit Duke and the Western Qi Numinous King, alongside civil and military officers responsible for examining human virtues and transgressions.

The priests report to the deities: though the Dao’s movement follows its own principles, human conduct varies between good and evil. Though Mount Tai lies eighty thousand miles from the mortal realm, the deities perceive all with perfect clarity. The Dongyue Dadi governs life, death, fortune, and misfortune across the twelve provinces, recording all deeds, virtuous or wicked. Now, with reverent hearts, this ceremony is conducted to beseech the Dongyue Dadi’s descent upon the altar, to heed the devotees’ prayers, to deliver souls from the sufferings of hell, and to aid their ascension to the immortal realms.

The text then explains the fasting precepts: Daoism considers fasting the foundation of cultivation. Ancient rites always began with purification, where the "dispersed fast" (sanzhai) spanned seven days as a preparatory phase, requiring adepts to uphold precepts and maintain proper conduct. The "focused fast" (zhizhai) lasted three days as the formal fasting period, demanding even stricter discipline. This tradition of seven-day precepts and three-day fasting reflects Daoism’s emphasis on physical and spiritual purity.

The fundamental purpose of fasting rituals (purification ceremonies before Daoist cultivation and worship) is to purify the heart-mind, eliminate distracting thoughts, and concentrate one's spirit to commune with the divine. In ancient Zhou dynasty rituals, the Grand Steward (official overseeing sacrifices) would lead divination for auspicious dates ten days before worshipping the Five Directional Celestial Emperors, admonishing all participants, while the Grand Minister of Justice would supervise to maintain ceremonial solemnity. The Book of Rites records that the Zhou king would personally receive admonitions when divining sacrificial dates, instructing officials at the treasury gate and commoners in the ancestral temple. The ancients believed only through strict observance and sincere fasting could celestial deities descend, earth spirits manifest, and ancestors partake of offerings.

Yet this represents only external ritual fasting, not the true "fasting of the heart." When Yan Hui told Confucius he had abstained from wine and meat for months, Confucius countered this wasn't heart-fasting. True heart-fasting requires: hearing not with ears but with the heart; perceiving not with the heart but with Qi (primordial vital energy). Because Qi embodies emptiness and stillness, only by maintaining this void-like state can one unite with the Dao. The Book of Changes states sages purify their minds through fasting - when worthy students learn from sages, and sages commune with spirits, all achieve this heart-fasting state.

Later Daoist zhaijiao (ritual ceremonies), though named differently from ancient sacrificial fasts, share the same essence. For instance, in Dongyue fasting rites (Mount Tai deity worship), sincere fasting summons the Nine Grades of High Truth (hierarchically ranked immortals) to descend upon the altar, enabling the Benevolent Sage Emperor of Heavenly Alignment (Mount Tai deity) to examine the ceremony's merits and liberate wandering souls. Thus celestial beings descend, earth spirits manifest, and the deceased receive salvation.

Now addressing precepts through fasting: all participants must remember to discipline body-mind, eliminate distractions, and visualize the Supreme True Saints - only then can prayers ascend to the celestial court and receive responses. The Celestial Worthy (Daoism's supreme deity) admonishes us that upholding precepts forms the foundation of cultivation - only with a purified heart-mind can one unite with the Dao.

The Daomen Kefan Daquanji (Comprehensive Collection of Daoist Liturgical Norms) records seven essential precepts that practitioners must sincerely uphold:

The first precept prohibits killing. One should cherish all living beings as one cherishes one's own life. Killing brings six karmic consequences: shortened lifespan, frequent illness, unsightly appearance, physical disability, descent into hell after death, and rebirth as livestock to repay blood debts. Special emphasis is placed on abstaining from harming life before and after performing Daoist rituals (daochang).

The second precept forbids excessive drinking. Drunkenness leads to four transgressions: worldly ruin, obstructed spiritual progress, lethargy, and mental derangement. During rituals, alcohol and indulgence must be strictly avoided to prevent defiling the sacred.

The third precept mandates loyalty and integrity. The disloyal suffer five retributions: punishment in this life, family decline, hell after death, rebirth as predatory beasts, and reincarnation in barbaric lands. In places of practice, one must maintain unwavering integrity under divine scrutiny.

The fourth precept requires filial piety. Unfilial conduct incurs five punishments: legal prosecution, social ostracism, infernal torment, rebirth as mutually destructive birds of prey, and—even if reborn human—destitution. Upon hearing this precept, one must forever honor parents as witnessed by heaven.

The fifth precept cultivates universal compassion. One must pray for dying beings, sparing even insects and plants. Respect the elderly, aid the poor, and liberate all beings—never squandering the rare opportunity to receive these teachings.

The sixth precept prohibits slandering the Three Treasures (Dao, scriptures, and teachers) or fellow practitioners. Slander brings four calamities: chronic illness, postmortem confinement in darkness, loss of speech, and wrongful persecution. Hearing this precept, one must revere the Three Treasures and accumulate virtue.

The seventh precept emphasizes reverent diligence in rituals. Progress must be steady—neither rushed nor slack—with unceasing cultivation day and night, harmonizing inner and outer practice.

This scripture expounds the paramount importance of observing precepts in Daoist cultivation and the karmic consequences of upholding versus violating them.

It begins by presenting seven fundamental precepts, inquiring whether practitioners present can abide by them. The Celestial Master (Tianshi) admonishes disciples: after receiving these true precepts, one must vow to make their foundation as steadfast as Mount Kunlun, their conduct as dignified as the Jade Capital Palace (the highest celestial abode in Daoism), and their radiance as luminous as the sun and moon. They should diligently cultivate in the sacred space of the Dao, maintaining tranquility while taking the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) as their root and the precepts as their teacher, never straying into heterodox teachings.

The scripture provides two contrasting cases: in the past, 26,000 Daoist priests faithfully upheld the scriptures and precepts, devoting themselves to cultivation for twelve years. As a result, underworld deities recommended them for advancement, and their names were recorded in the celestial registers. Those who persisted for a hundred years achieved daylight ascension to immortality. In contrast, 72,000 women not only violated the precepts but also slandered them, suffering misery in their present lives and falling into the Ninefold Nether Hell after death. This illustrates how the merit of upholding precepts is inconceivable, while the karmic retribution for breaking them is inexorable.

It particularly emphasizes the need for heightened diligence in observing precepts during ritual ceremonies (Keyi). At such times, celestial youths, vajra deities, the Five Emperors of the Three Realms, and heavenly soldiers gather to offer protection. Within Mount Tai reside the formless deities of the Three Palaces, where golden couches and jade tables in divine chambers serve as gathering places for immortals. If one strictly adheres to the precepts, the True Lord of Sacred Protection—the Chief Minister of Destiny from the Eastern Peak—along with a hundred deities will descend to the ritual space, recording the merits of the purification rites (Zhaijiao) and absolving the sins of departed souls.

Conversely, negligence, irreverence, or violation of precepts will not only fail to liberate the deceased but also incur punishment from underworld deities, subjecting offenders to the torment of "wind-blades." The text concludes by urging fellow cultivators in the same ritual assembly to act with utmost caution. The closing lines express the scribe's humble reverence in presenting this teaching.