Tian Guan Jing: Death-Transcending Rites of the Seven Stars

The True Grotto: The Supreme Clarity Scripture of the Three Diagrams of the Heavenly Pass and the Shift of the Seven Stars

As one of the early classic texts of the Shangqing School (Supreme Clarity School), it was probably compiled during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420 CE).

In Volume Five of The True Declarations (Zhengao), it is stated: “The Immortal Dao includes the Three Diagrams of the Heavenly Pass and the Shift of the Seven Stars”; The Catalogue of the Supreme Clarity Great Cavern True Scripture (Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing Mu) records “One scroll of the Supreme Clarity Scripture of the Three Diagrams of the Heavenly Pass and the Shift of the Seven Stars”—both references refer to this very scripture.

The present version in the Daozang (Taoist Canon) consists of two scrolls and is included in the Zhengyi Bu (Orthodox Unity Section). The entire scripture contains five Taoist practices, namely:

The Supreme Method of Shifting Death, Transcending Life, and Preserving Immortality;
The Method of Delivering the Dead Through the Six Palaces of Fengdu (the Taoist underworld) of the Northern Emperor;
The Supreme Method of Resolving Transgressions Through the Five Separations, Cutting Off Death, and Transcending Life;
The Supreme Method of the Emperor Lord Lighting Lamps for Internal Contemplation to Seek Immortality;
The Supreme Method of the Emperor Lord Making Five Vows to Seek Immortality.

Each of these practices focuses on “contemplating deities and reciting true names” (sishen nianzhen) as well as “wearing talismans and chanting incantations” (peifu songzhou). The deities contemplated include:

The deities of the Seven Stars of the North Pole (Big Dipper);
The ghosts and deities of the Six Palaces of Fengdu;
The Five Directional Emperor Lords;
The Supreme Yuan Lord of the South Pole.

It is claimed that practicing these methods can:

Open the “gate of life,” seal the “gate of death,” break through the Heavenly Pass, feast in the Jade Clarity (Yuqing, a celestial realm in Taoist cosmology), and ascend to become an immortal;
Or make one’s body radiate light, see clearly things thousands of miles away, and ascend to the celestial dawn in broad daylight.