Repentance Canon for Thunder Deities 太上说朝天谢雷真经
Paul PengRepentance Canon for Thunder Deities
Author unknown.
As the title "The Nine Heavens Primordial Lord of Universal Transformation of Thunder" appears in the text, it was presumably composed by Taoist priests during the Song and Yuan dynasties.
Repentance Canon for Thunder Deities
One scroll, included in the Original Texts category of the Dongzhen Section of What is The Daozang.
This scripture is attributed to the Supreme Lord of the Dao. It mainly expounds the method of worshiping heaven and apologizing to the thunder. It holds that people struck by lightning have violated the heavenly laws. There are thirty-six heavenly laws, each supervised by one of the thirty-six thunder dukes.
Common violations include disloyalty and unfilial piety, disrespect for the Three Treasures, discarding grains, insulting elders, violating the wives and daughters of others, and other such deeds.
Those who do not violate the heavenly laws will receive blessings from heaven. Those who violate them will surely be struck by lightning and fall into hell after death.
Those who have broken the heavenly laws should wear and recite the scripture, worship the stars and constellations, and pray for the thunder gods to pardon their sins. It also states that those killed by lightning may be absolved of their crimes and spared from hell by means of the "heavenly registers" (talismanic diagrams).
