The Most High Offering Rite for Dispelling Calamity and Praying for Blessings

Zhengtong Taoist Canon, Dongshen Division, Rites Category

1. First, announce and dispatch the warrants and seal the altar, with invocations in the usual manner.

2. Next, the hymn for opening the hall.

3. Next, each pays homage to the masters, with visualization according to the rules.

4. Next, proclaim the Divine Incantations of the Guardian Spirits of the Five Directions.

5. Next, the invocations:

(1) The East

Blue Heaven of the nine qi, great god of the bright star, shining over the eastern quarter, illuminating the nine gates. Turning the candle of yang light, sweeping away filth and foul vapors. Lad of Opening Brightness, stand guard at my gate. Seize the demons and bind the goblins, and report above to the Divine Lord. Upholding the true Tao, the red writing and jade script. The talismanic command of the Nine Heavens, the dragon relay carries it. Across all heaven there is peace and order, and I attain flight as an immortal.

(2) The South

Cinnabar Heaven of the south, the three qi flow with light. The Sparkling Star turns its candle, illuminating the great yang. Above is the Red Essence, the numinous Lad of Opening Brightness. He commands the fire troops and stands guard over the three palaces. He beheads the wicked and binds the goblins, cutting down demons and evil. Upheld by the Northern Emperor, wind and fire strike in eight directions. The flowing bells blaze together; who dares not obey? The true Tao flows and spreads, and I enjoy the highest merit. Preserving heaven to endure forever, through a hundred million kalpas without end.

(3) The West

Heaven of the seven qi, the Great White flows with essence. Its light illumines the Golden Gate, illuminating the great darkness. Within is the White Sovereign, whose title is Emperor Spirit. He protects the spirits and keeps order, guarding my bodily form. He cuts off the source of evil, and the true Tao opens bright. The palaces are solemn and ordered, and the three luminaries join in the fast. My Tao is one with what is so of itself, and I fly up to the Purple Court. The talismanic command of Lingbao universally benefits all living beings. Merit is added to all things, and heaven and earth are all at peace.

(4) The North

Dark Heaven of the north, the five qi circle and linger. The Hour Star blazes brilliantly, its light shining on the Supreme Subtlety. The venerable god, the Black Spirit, a flying immortal in feathered robes. He guards the five gates, inspecting essences and seizing wrongdoers. Should any dare to intrude, they are cut down in an instant. As the jade talisman proclaims, the gods stir the eight awesome powers. The gate of evil is shut, and the true Tao opens bright. It shines upon my body, the three lights shining together. Riding the void and mounting the floating air, I raise my body and fly as an immortal.

(5) The Center

The yellow center regulates the qi, governing all the mysterious Perfected. The Quelling Star sends forth its radiance, flowing and shining through the Nine Heavens. The Lads of Opening Light, twelve in all. Primordial qi and yang essence rise as flames in vermilion smoke. They illuminate all under heaven, and the bodies of us your servants. The hundred evils are crushed and fall, and ghosts are slain by the ten thousand. The divine incantation of the central mountain makes it so throughout all heaven. The five spirits keep order, and my body flies up as a high immortal.

6. Next, the chief cantor chants, and the ritual drum is struck twenty-four times.

7. Next, lighting the burner

Supreme True Mysterious Old Lords of the Five Spirits: summon at once the Merit Officers and envoys, the Dragon and Tiger Lords of left and right, the incense-bearing envoys, and the upright gods of the three qi, to go up swiftly and announce to the Lord of the Tao of True Origin of the Three Heavens. Your servant now burns incense, observes the fast, and sets out the offering, reverently on behalf of the disciple XXX, sponsor of the offering, for the purpose of the fast; the rest of his sincere entreaty is set out in full in the green memorial. May the true, upright living qi of the Most High of the ten directions descend and flow into the bodies of us your servants, so that what your servant announces may swiftly reach, directly and without delay, the Perfect and Limitless Great Tao, the High Holy Ones of the Three Pure Ones, and the presence of the Jade Emperor, Supreme Emperor of Vast Heaven.

8. Next, all the officiants kneel upright and send forth the officers

Reverently I send forth from within my body the true officers and Merit Officer clerks of the five bodily parts, to go forth to the Three Heavens above, to uphold the law and open transformation. The Merit Officers of yin and yang, and the lords and clerks who deliver by the Tao, dispel calamity, scatter misfortune, and resolve hardship, twelve of each, come forth. From the parish of the ritual registers your servant has received: the Great General Who Holds the Staff and Supervises Merit of the front division, the rear division that records merit, the relay-court officer who records slayings, the relay deputy, the supervisors of merit of the four divisions, the high immortals and high spirits, the envoys of the left and right offices of the Merit Officers on direct duty, and the officers of the yin and yang divine decisions, two of each, come forth. Those who come forth are in stately dress and resplendent robes, with caps, sashes, and hanging tassels, their dignified bearing in order. The Merit Officers wear the headcloth of vermilion yang and the Crown Reaching to Heaven, are clad in single robes of black silk, and wear at the waist swords with dragon-head hilts. The envoys who hold the visiting registers wear the headcloth of dark yin and the crown of nine virtues, are clad in single robes of crimson pattern, wear tiger tallies at the waist, and all hold jade tablets. The Merit Officers on duty stand at the four quarters. The Merit Officer of Orthodox Unity stands in the center. The Merit Officer of healing guards and protects your servant's body. The envoy of the left office holds the staff in front; the envoy of the right office holds the banner behind. The clerk of yang divine decisions stands on the left; the clerk of yin divine decisions stands on the right. The Merit Officer of the upper division stands above; the Merit Officer of the middle division stands within the body; the Merit Officer who hastens the qi urges on the ten directions. The envoy of the upper division gazes far toward heaven above; the envoy of the middle division looks far to the eight directions; the envoy of the capital office circles around your servant's body. The gentlemen-clerks and tiger guards, the horsemen who investigate treachery and hook them in, the archery marquises of the capital office, the heavenly troops and strongmen who govern uprightly, the clerks who hold uprightness; the clerks who seize spirits and devour spirits, the clerks who seize ghosts and devour ghosts, the clerks who seize qi and devour qi, the clerks who seize poisons and devour poisons, the clerks who seize essences and devour essences, the clerks who seize the wicked and devour the wicked, the clerks who execute by talisman and destroy shrines, the mounted couriers of the hard wind, the clerks who submit petitions by post-horse, and the riders of flying dragons—all of these are stationed to the left and right, before and behind your servant, to receive your servant's words and to announce to the upright gods of the Earth God and the village altars of this place, and to all the officials, lords, generals, and clerks of the jiazi (sixty-day) cycle who supervise, examine, and summon. Together in sincerity we reverently announce to: the Most High Limitless Great Tao, Lord Lao the Most High (Taishang Laojun), the Most High Elder, the Lord of the Immortal Capital of the Nine Elders, the Elder of the Nine Qi, the hundred, thousand, and ten-thousandfold layers of the qi of the Tao, and the one thousand two hundred official lords. Beneath the jade steps of Grand Clarity: we respectfully consider that heaven and humanity respond to one another, and prayers for protection are answered in accordance with what is sought; the spirits ascend and descend, hidden among us, and without utmost sincerity nothing is reached. Only by inner restraint of pure devotion may one look up to the gate of the Primordial's gaze. How much more so with the true teaching of the stamen-bound books, which open wide the numinous rites to show the teaching. The great images of the jasper vault, the divine radiance of the empyrean luminaries: there are the stellar stations that look down below, and there are auspicious signs bound to the world outside. Now XXX, sponsor of the offering, for such-and-such a matter, solemnly prepares the altar offerings, looking up to detain the gods in their wanderings. May he express the sincerity of the duckweed and water-plant offerings, and await the response of the gods who watch over us. May the words of the memorial communicate and move them, and not betray his earnest heart. We humbly beg the Merit Officers and envoys, the generals, clerks, and numinous officers, to go up swiftly and present this report, and to respond and descend in due time, so that what is prayed for may be obtained and what is wished for may be granted. Your servant and the sponsor of the offering, in sincere trepidation and awe, bow our heads and bow again to make this known.

9. Next, each states his name and ritual rank

I, your servant XXX and others, of full ritual rank, together in sincerity reverently announce to: the Primordial Heavenly Worthy (Yuanshi Tianzun) of emptiness and nothingness and what is so of itself; the Most High Lord of the Tao of the Limitless Great Tao; Lord Lao the Most High, the Emperor of Supreme Virtue of Primordial Unity; the Jade Emperor, Supreme Emperor of Vast Heaven, the Most High Who Opened Heaven, Holds the Talisman, Governs the Calendar, Contains Perfection, and Embodies the Tao; the Great Heavenly Emperor of Purple Tenuity; the Great Emperor of Purple Tenuity of the North Pole; the Great Emperor of the South Pole Who Records Births; the Heavenly Worthy within the Dipper and the Jade Emperor Star Lords; the True Lord Taiyi of the Ten Spirits; the Star Lords of the Eleven Luminaries; the Star Lords of the Seven Primordials of the Northern Dipper; the Star Lords Fu and Bi of left and right; the Star Lords of the Six Bureaus of the Southern Dipper; the Three Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water; the Star Lords of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions; the True Lord of the Nine Heavens Who Stores Blessings and Fixes Destinies; the True Lord of the Nine Heavens Who Responds to the Origin and Protects Fortunes; the True Lords of the Nine Heavens, Controller of Destinies and Controller of Records; the True Lords of the Nine Heavens Who Keep the Registers and Keep the Reckonings; the Great God of the Nine Heavens Who Supervises Birth and Prolongs Life; the Great Ritual Master of the Mysterious Center, the Perfected of Orthodox Unity, the Great Ritual Master Who Assists the Mysterious in the Three Heavens; the True Lord of Ten Thousand Blessings of the Great Sovereign of the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lord of the Jade Calendar Who Fixes Names in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lord Who Prolongs Life and Protects Destiny in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lord Who Supports the Weak and Delivers from Hardship in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lords Who Keep the Registers and Keep the Reckonings in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lords of the Treasury of Wealth and Register of Emoluments in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lords, Controller of Destinies and Controller of Records, in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Lords, Controller of Wrongs and Controller of Dangers, in the Celestial Bureaus; the True Officer Who Introduces Petitioners at the Gate of the Celestial Bureaus; the officer on daily duty who submits petitions at the Gate of the Celestial Bureaus; the numinous bureaus of the Water Bureau of the Grotto Abyss and of the blessed lands; the True Lords of the stars and Dippers of those now living; the True Officer of the natal star (benming yuanchen); the City God, the village altar, and the True Officer of the Earth God; the officials of the Three Realms; and all the awesome spirits. Your servant has heard that the Jade Heaven is solemn and far away, and it is hard to ascend to the abode of vast kalpas; the Golden Grotto is remote and pure, and one can only look up to the hall of the white spirits. Now the Emperor-Worthy is on high, holding the order of transformation and dwelling at the center. Opening the ten directions without obstruction, his heart moves in response to things; called the great compassion of the Three Realms, he looks upon people as a father looks upon those who are hurt. Looking up and down upon the terrace of Yulo, he rolls up and unrolls kalpas as small as mustard seeds cast away. Looking back over the countless multitudes, he grieves at the lives of mayflies passing in a day; looking down on the nine dusty realms, he sighs at the palaces of Han as the doings of ants. We ever reflect that the common people below were fundamentally cut off from the steps of perfection. It is only by relying on the rites of opening deliverance that one is permitted to exhaust one's subtle and earnest entreaty. Now the disciple XXX, sponsor of the offering, for such-and-such a matter, solemnly holds tokens of faith and secretly makes his entreaty at the immortal court, hoping that heaven's gift will come to look upon him and that the human heart may reach it directly. We humbly hope that the Three Pure Ones will set out together and leave their hidden, flowered chambers; that the Ten Poles will send their flowing carriages and follow the ritual chariot that flies through the void; that ten billion Heavenly Emperors will follow behind on the cinnabar whirlwind; that the twelve hundred official lords will come ahead to meet them with kingfisher staffs. Casting fire ten thousand li, below they call the yang and summon the yin; turning incense in three circuits, above they go out of the sun and enter the moon. To the farthest east they float on the blazing waters; to the end of the western light they reach Yuyi. To the south they visit the Palace of the Vermilion Mound; in the center they circle the Bureau of Yellow Qi. The hall of northern yin reaches in the north to the City of Night; the springs of the cold hills reach below to the Valley of Spirits. As for Lu, where he is called the Father of the Teaching, he goes in the train of the Supreme Ultimate; in the West he is called the Buddha, and from Yanzhen he attends in secret. The talismanic command of the Primordial—who would dare not revere it? We presume to set out these humble words, looking up and opening the clouds to gaze. We knock at the azure heaven in performing this sacrifice, and call on the holy names to bring down the gods. We humbly pray that you will graciously consider our mortal feelings and grant to send down your windborne carriages. Your servant and the sponsor of the offering reverently bow our heads and bow again to make this invitation.

10. Next, invite the holy ones to their seats, offer incense, offer tea, and present wine.

11. Next, perform the ritual service of the first offering.

12. Next, state the ritual names again.

I, your servant XXX and others, of full rank, together in sincerity reverently announce to: the High Holy Ones of the Three Pure Ones, the high Perfected of the Ten Poles, the numinous immortals of the offering seats, and the rulers of the Three Realms. Your servant has heard: the One Truth spread out its radiance and fundamentally had no foundation of high and low; the countless multitudes take form, all nurtured by the qi of clarity and harmony. With birth and death they gradually grow distant, and following likes and dislikes they multiply thickly. Though the defiled body indulges and drowns in delusion, the Great Tao still extends its rescue. Where the root of sin grows ever worse, then hidden punishment is secretly added; but if one awakens to one's hundred wrongs, then ten thousand misfortunes are dispelled. Now the disciple XXX, sponsor of the offering, his conscious spirit dark and stagnant, his hun and po souls shaken and alarmed, has sunk together with the rest through vast kalpas, leaving his primordial spirit restless and agitated. He did not hasten along the road of awakening but delighted in climbing the paths of delusion; he did not rest in the true court but was content to rush about in the net of the world. He recalls his return in former days and passes through toil and suffering of the utmost hardship. Now in this present body, his life too is as precarious as a flash of lightning by day; reflecting again on his accumulated deeds, his merit is not yet half a hair's tip. Perhaps he turned against the Tao and deceived heaven; perhaps he profaned the venerable and offended his superiors; perhaps he was careless and disrespectful toward the scriptures and the teachings; perhaps he insulted his father and teachers; perhaps in running his household he lost the joy of filial piety and brotherly love; perhaps in handling affairs he abused the bounds of public and private; perhaps he concealed filth in a sacred temple; perhaps he offended the high spirits; perhaps he violated the great prohibitions concerning the three luminaries; perhaps he neglected the solemn sacrifices to seven generations of ancestors; perhaps he harmed and destroyed living creatures; perhaps he made illicit sacrifices to ghosts and spirits; perhaps he was sunk in drink; perhaps he was infatuated with music and women; perhaps he amassed wealth unrighteously; perhaps he used his cunning on many crooked paths; perhaps he was stubborn and self-righteous; perhaps he was gluttonous without restraint; perhaps in serving the Tao he fell short in deeds of merit; perhaps at home he lost sight of the proper rites of instruction; perhaps in the bonds of human relations, perhaps sunk in weakness toward women. Together he has sunk into the five desires, already grievous through a thousand lives. We reflect only that the high holy ones proclaim compassion, greatly shelter all living beings, and open deliverance. XXX, sponsor of the offering, comes to the Tao to confess himself and prays for heaven's broad tolerance. We humbly beg the High Perfected of the Jasper Pole, the Great Emperor of Jade Emptiness, to extend grace to withered bones and grant life to walking corpses, to resolve the hidden faults of this single body and remove the underworld trials of a hundred million generations of ancestors. May the review of sins first melt away like ice, and may auspicious blessings come in order like gathering clouds. Prostrate, we respond and extol, anxiously awaiting the reply; wishing to set out the meaning of our words, we look up and present the cinnabar casket. Though your servant has examined it in detail, he still fears errors and confusion. Reverently risking the prohibitions of heaven, trembling in fear, we proclaim it:

13. Next, proclaim the green memorial

All is as set out in the memorial, prepared with the utmost purity and devotion. We hope to express our reverent, waiting hearts, and to give thanks for the gift of being given birth and raised. The disciple, sponsor of the offering, humbly prays that the merit of the fast be recorded in the registers and the fruits of the Tao sustain his person, that his longevity and emoluments increase in the future and his years be preserved in the time ahead. Looking up, he receives the virtue of the true spirits and prays only for the grace of blessing and protection. Your servant and the sponsor of the offering, overwhelmed with the utmost earnestness, reverently bow our heads and bow again.

14. Next, offer incense again and present wine.

15. Next, perform the ritual service of the second offering.

Your servant reverently and again in sincerity announces to: the High Holy Ones of the Three Pure Ones and the awesome spirits of the Ten Poles. Your servant has heard: the Jade Emperor looks down and observes; the golden Perfected see all. Moved by the multitudes of living beings, they receive their entreaties; gathering the many kinds of offerings, they send down grace. When the superior person longs for immortality, the ten thousand immortals come to meet him; when the good person seeks blessings, the hundred blessings come in wondrous array. The principle is precious in its subtlety, and the matter accords with the gods' acceptance and response. Now the disciple XXX, sponsor of the offering, humbly for such-and-such a matter, raises his words in the clear night and sends his thoughts to the purple palace gate. Having early opened the orchid rites, he looks up to receive numinous gifts. We humbly pray that the disciple XXX, sponsor of the offering, may cast off the net of the world and advance to fill a place on the steps of immortality. As Xu Ying's whole family together entered the Grotto of Huayang, as Liu Gang's entire household together rose in the cinnabar-green carriage, may the reckonings of yin and yang be escaped and the root of birth and death forever renounced. If he seeks office and emolument, may he rise to high position; if he counts his savings and stores, may he grow abundant in trade and wealth. May those high and low be blessed, may those at home and abroad rejoice and prosper; may the dark world cease the wrongs of humans and ghosts; whether in office or at home, may he meet with prosperous and fine occasions. May blessings extend equally to his descendants and shelter reach his kin near and far. May the calamities and dangers of flood, fire, war, and banditry not invade his village; may the misfortunes and hardships of the sun, moon, and stars not afflict his body. May he long meet with the flourishing of all things and forever escape the nine hardships. Your servant and the sponsor of the offering, overwhelmed with the utmost prayer, shall now reverently report, facing the offering feast, the rite of the full list of the paper money and horses offered.

16. Next, present the paper money and horses, offer incense three times, and present wine.

17. Next, perform the ritual service of the final offering.

Your servant reverently and again in sincerity announces to: the Supreme Emperors of the Three Pure Ones, the high Perfected of the Ten Poles, the officials of the Three Realms, and the true spirits of the offering seats. Your servant has heard: “When importuned, it does not tell”—the sage handed down words of simplicity and ease; even heaven does not go against it—the Great Tao accords with what is sincerely laid out. XXX, sponsor of the offering, has in secret made his utmost entreaty and looks up to knock at numinous grace. How could he dare not exhaust his reverent, loyal heart, and in his conduct guard against the one who controls death, uphold the bright rites in watching his steps, and keep the immortal prohibitions in fulfilling his words? Having made his covenant on one day, he will not tire of it through a hundred lives. Moreover, the ritual has been roughly completed, and precious eyes have beheld the great rite to the full; how goes the night? The Silver River sinks in the clear Han. The flames of the phoenix-crown lamps will soon dim their ninefold light; the incense of the magpie-tail burner is nearly spent of its hundred blends. The eight stanzas of the grotto verses are done, and the three rounds of jade wine completed. Vermilion fire burns the heavenly money, which returns at once to the sky; the jade bells are hastened with immortal pipes, soon to return to the empyrean. The crimson staffs wind away; the purple banners move at ease. Those returning to the Jade Capital are the Limitless Venerable Emperors. Those returning to the Golden Gate are the True Sovereigns of the Most High. The host of spirits all follow the cinnabar shafts; the ranks of holy ones all ride beside the purple whips. Flying beside them, the moon-phoenixes point to the grotto chambers and part to hasten away; looking down, they rein the cloud dragons and, overlooking the vast sea, go down. The divine officials return to their posts, and the generals and clerks return to heaven, leaving blessings to fill the court and a glimpse of numinous light before our eyes. As for all things born again and again, may all equally share in the gift of joyful nurture; in the silent Nine Abysses, may all receive the grace of deliverance upward. Your servant and the sponsor of the offering fix our gaze on the ritual retinue and fix our thoughts on the great void, weeping with regret at the forks of the dusty world, unable to detain the holy footsteps. We your servants, overwhelmed with the utmost longing, prayer, and hope for grace, reverently bow our heads and bow again to send you off.

18. Next, the hymn for sending off the gods.

19. Next, dismiss the officers back to their places

Your servant's offering and report are finished. The Merit Officers and envoys sent forth earlier each go back in through the Gate of All Wonders: those on the left return to the left, those on the right return to the right. The Merit Officer on direct duty takes charge of inspecting and sealing them, and settles them again in the golden hall and jade chamber, to arrive at once when summoned, just as before.

20. Next, restoring the burner

Incense officers and envoys, Dragon and Tiger Lords of left and right, and all the numinous officers who attend the incense: cause this place of offering and report to produce of itself golden liquor, cinnabar and azure numinous mushrooms and flowers, and let the hundred spirits and the host of Perfected gather here before this burner of incense and fire. We humbly pray that the sponsor of the offering receive blessings and his whole household receive grace, that the immortal lads and jade maidens of the ten directions stand guard, and that the incense smoke carry up the words announced here so that they swiftly reach, directly and without delay, the Perfect and Limitless Great Tao, the High Holy Ones of the Three Pure Ones, and the presence of the Jade Emperor, Supreme Emperor of Vast Heaven.