Foundations of Daoist Ritual, 10 & 13-4

Foundations of Daoist Ritual, 10 & 13-4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10.

Z^i-jiao Fast of Caelestial Master Daoism

Lu: Pengzi

165-88

p. 173 deities in charge of holy-days, according to the Z^i-jiao Jin

*holy day*	*deity*
1^st day of the month	Big Dipper
8^th " " " "	Big Dipper in Charge of Killing Daimones
14^th " " " "	Emissary of the Great One
15^th" " " "	Heavenly God
18^th " " " "	Heavenly Oneness
23^rd " " " "	the 8 Emissaries of the Great One
24^th " " " "	North Star
28^th" " " "	Lower Great One
29^th " " " "	Middle Great One
30^th " " " "	Higher Great One
jia-zi days	Great Emissary of the Central Terrace
the 8 nodal points	the 8 Spirits of the Great One
gen-s^en days	the Worm Corpses Hidden in the Body

p. 174 "The Pali Anguttara-Nikaya ... also embraces an account of the semi-monthly fasts". (Frank Lee Woodward : The Book of the Gradual Sayings, I. London : Luzac & Co, 1932. pp. 126-8)

pp. 179, 181 types of fast of the Lin-bao

p. 179	According to the Wondrous Formula (DZ 1321:3a), "There are five types of fast ... : the first is used for relieving the emergency and treating diseases. ... The practitioners perform the ‘oriented confession’ (fangxie ...) of the Three Primes to beg for life."
p. 181	According to the On Orthodox Unity (DZ 1138:50.19b), there is adoption of "the method of confession twenty directions of the Yellow Register (huanglu ...) fast described in the Tablet Writs of the Yellow Register of the Lower Prime (Xiayuan huanglu jianwen ...)".

p. 183 composers of Lin-bao scriptures

"According to some records in Daoist scriptures, the ancient Lingbao scriptures created by Ge Chaofu ..., a grandson of Ge Hong’s ... brother, in the Long’an era (397-402) of the late Eastern Jin," spread until "Lu Xiujing not only ... compiled the Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures (Lingbao jingmu ...) (437 CE), but also "added elements and complete the rituals", so that "the Lingbao teaching became prevalent."" (Z^en Gao ... DZ 1016:19.11b; Tai-s^an Don-xuan Lin-bao Da-gan C^ao ... DZ 393:2b)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13.

Gesture & Meaning in Early Daoist Jiao Rites

Stephen R. Bokenkamp

217-26

p. 217 earliest development of jiao rite

p. 217	"the third chapter of the Taishang dongxuan lingbao wufu xu ... and, in a revised form, chapter two of the Taishang dongxuan lingbao chishu yujue miaojing ... is ... the earliest script that we possess for the Daoist jiao, or Libation".
p. 217, fn. 2	"Passages cited from the Taishang dongxuan lingbao chishu yujue miaojing ..., HY 352, occur [in Lu Xiu-jin’s 406-77] on pages 2.20a8-28b5. Lu Xiujing further revises the rite in his Taishang dongxuan lingbao shoudu ..., HY 528."
p. 217	"red and green cloth used in the rite are specifically presented as
p. 218	replacing the hair-cutting and smearing of the lips with blood ... that are said to be been traditionally used to seal oaths."

pp. 220-1 description of the Libation rite

p. 220	B1) "Now the cleansed spirits of his body -- named are the three hun ..., seven po ..., and the Perfected of the Three Palaces [fn. 10 : "the gods of the three registers of the body"] ... – ascend to the Nine heavens, the five directional heavens, the eight reaches of space and the palaces of the Five Thearchs, to invite them to temporarily descend to the location of the ritual".
	B2) "Then ... the officiant invites each of the Thearchs and his retinue. A sixth invitation is also issued to the Thearch Lord Yu ..., the Perfected of the Five Marchmounts, the officers of the earthly waterways, earthbound transcendents and jade ladies, and ... Transcendent ... Lu Li ... with his Transcendent officers.
p. 221	D) [quoted] "the Lingbao text ... celestial script is vast, hidden in the Mystic Towers ... . ... When I wear the talismans to ascend mountains, ... Metals will break and stones open ... . ... Mountain sprites will immediately submit to me ... . Cause me to command ghosts and spirits and to live long with eternal vision. Numinous qi will surround me and protect me; ... wangliang demons will scurry to a distance. ... Spirit commanders will protect my body, eliminating the three corpses."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.

The Secret Incantation of the Northern Thearch

Terry Kleeman

227-38

p. 227 divine recommendations [via spirit-medium] for treatment against paralysis

"The Perfected Beings of the Heaven of Supreme Purity ... were concerned for the spiritual and physical health of their intermediaries with this mortal realm and frequently offered advice ... . ... Xu Mi, the primary patron of the revelations and a recipient of some of is messages, suffered from an illness affecting his hands ... and his deceased mother, now mistress of the Easy Promotion Palace ..., repeated recommended acupuncture ... . A series of revelations preserved in chapter ten of Tao Hongjing’s massive compendium of Declarations of the Perfected address in particular ... cases of stroke [apoplexy], leaving the victim partially or completely paralyzed."

p. 228 supernatural aitiology of paralysis

[quoted from DZ 1016 Z^en-gao 10/11b7-12a3] "Wind illnesses ... are born when the [burial] mounds and barrows are shadedand damp, when the Three Springs [fn. 3 : "an alternate term for the Yellow Springs (huangquan ...), ... subterranean home of the dead."] are clogged. It is for this reason that the Earth Officer strikes [a descendant] with water pneumas; most contract Wind Numbness [fn. 4 : fen-bi]. In severe cases of Wind Numbness, the entire body is paralyzed; in light cased, only half the body is involved ... .

If you frequently dream of an abandoned building to the northeast or northwest of [a family member’s tomb], or you see the place of the burial couch, then you are about to come in direct contact with the tomb.

To the northeast of the tomb corresponds to the tone Zhi ... and represents expired lifeforces; to the northwest is the Nine Perils. All this is the ill-omened territory of sepulchral plaints."

pp. 231-2 ritual response to dream-omen of impending ailment

p. 231	["Secret Incantation of the Thearch of the North", quoted] "The exalted mystery of the Great Prime The purple heavens of the Nine Capitols, The Perfect of High Simplicity Who sorts out souls and protects lives : ... I will live long to see the future Flying like a god and taking on the body of a transcendent. ...
p. 232	Cloud- and earth-souls will be harmonious and happy ... . ... Having received by register by the August on High, I reverently memorialize the [Lord of the] Jade Dawn." {Could "Jade Dawn" be the "green flash" (visible at sea) of the rising (or setting) sun?}

p. 232 "The chant is said to eliminate all dreams about tombs or the dead ... . ... . ... ghostly indictments (guisong ...) ... assume a Daoist heaven of routinized bureaucratic administration in which the Daoist, as a heavenly official in mortal flesh, is alone able to intervene in the workings of the otherworldly courts and quash whatever legal entanglements were responsible for the petitioner’s disturbed dreams."

p. 233 spell to cure paralysis

["Incantation of the Thearch of the North for Physical Deformities", quoted]

"O Four Mysteries of the Most High,

Five Blossoms and Six Courtyards,

Three Cloud and Seven Earth Souls,

The Heavenly Barrier and earthly sprites ... .

The Heavenly Embryo shines on high,

The hundred gods of the four limbs,

The myriad spirits of the nine joints ...

I ... Engraved my name in the Jade Citadel.

Jade Maidens wait upon my person,

Jade Lads protect my life.

As eternal as the Two Phosphors (sun and moon),

Flying I ascend to Supreme Purity. ...

Spiraling up, I climb to the transcendents,

Where I can get the whole Great Peace. ...

Infusing demons fly in five directions.

Hobgoblins and sepulchral pneumas

Yin pneumas twist around. ...

Heavenly stalwarts of the Most High,

Dragon and tiger of dazzling power, ...

Hidden will be the indictments of interrogating infusions, ...

Allow me to return to normalcy

Sharing the same corona as the sun and moon. ...

If there is one who tries to interfere

Interfere with the bright Power on high."

p. 234 "The enforcement mechanism of this suspension of legal obligations invokes the fell Northern Asterism ..., but presumably ... with legitimate rescripts from on high."

pp. 235-7 applications of acupuncture to hand and arms

p. 235

[revelation of the Lady of Palace Attendance, quoted from DZ 1016 Z^en-gao 10/13b10-14a4] "After thirteen applications of the needle and three applications of moxibustion, there is nothing that will not heal. ... The Lesser Yang in the left elbow is intertwined with ... the hand, so you should make ... acupuncture; only then will you be able to ... enter the Lesser Yang meridian. ...

It is vital to apply moxa to three spots on the hand :

the Dark Barrier,

the Windstring, and

the Five Fords."

p. 236

[quoted from DZ 1016 Z^en-gao 10/14b4-6] "Of old, just as Deng Yunshan was about to attain the Dao, suddenly both arms were paralyzed. I sent someone to tell him that all he had to do was apply moxa to the two points :

Windspiral (fenghui) and

the Crooked Ford (qujin)."

pp. 234-5, 237dotes about paralyzed saints

p. 234	"Of old, Tang Lan, who lived in the Linlu: Mountains, was attacked by a demon. His entire body was paralyzed, as if he were a silk sack. ... [quoted from 10/13b9-10] Tang Lan is now on Blossom Mountain (Huashan). He obtained the formula for the Rainbow Elixir, compounded and consumed it. He attained the state of no-death". {Would this imply that the "Rainbow Elixir" caused paralysis resulting in death? Death by voluntarily consuming lethal poisons is commonly designated "no-death".}
p. 235	"Zheng Zizhen was grandson of Zheng Kangcheng (i.e., Zheng Xuan ... 127-200). Currently he is in the Sunwashed Mountains.
	Of old, ... he ... suffered ... paralysis of both legs, which persisted for years."	{Upon touching a corpse, temporary (for some months) paralysis of the legs can be caused by the sub-Saharan spirit Kuri (S, p. 15).}
p. 235, fn. 15	*"Zheng Zizhen, like Tang Lin, occurs in DZ 167 Dongxuan lingbao zhenling weiyetu* in association with Yangzhuo Mountain, and in DZ 1032 Yunji qiqian (27/4a10-4b2) he is said to preside over the fifth of the thirty-six Minor Grotto-Heavens, the North Marchmount Constant Mountain Cavern ... Quyang county."**
p. 237	[quoted from DZ 1016 Z^en-gao 10/14b7-15a2] "Of old, both feet of Zhao Gongcheng dragged and he could not rise. From morning till night he constantly visualized in his heart and paid obeisance to the Most High. ... This is what is called "internally studying the Supreme Mystery. practicing a numinous enterprise in one’s heart, perching in the Three Palaces , and taking repose in the Divine Storehouse"!" "Later he attained the Dao and now is under Swancall Mountain."

S = Richard C. Jankowsky : Stambeli : Music, Trance, and Alterity in Tunisia. U of Chicago Pr, 2010.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASIEN- UND AFRIKA-STUDIEN DER HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITA:T ZU BERLIN, Band 33 = Florian C. Reiter (ed.) : Foundations of Daoist Ritual. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2009.