Sutra of Merit and Absolution
Author unknown. It is believed to have been composed during the Tang Dynasty.
Author unknown. It is believed to have been composed during the Tang Dynasty.
Consisting of one volume, it is included in theTaiqing Divisionof theDaozang (Daoist Canon). With a text of just over a thousand characters, it purports to record the Supreme Lord Laozi expounding Taoist doctrines. It states that all people in the world do not believe in the Three Jewels, abandoning the righteous path and following heresy.
On eachShangqi Day(the seventh day of each lunar month), the Envoys of the Dipper’s Mouth record people’s good and evil deeds, submit them to the Heavenly Ministry, and deduct their lifespan accordingly. Lord Laozi then dispatches the Seven True Lords of the Northern Dipper to act as the Heavenly Worthies who Eliminate Sins, Disperse Disasters, Promote Blessings, and Assist Virtue, and expounds thisScripture of the Shangqi’s Wonders.
He instructs pious men and women to perform memorial and altar rituals on the Shangqi Day of each month, offer sacrifices and burn incense, and recite this scripture. Those who cannot afford to hold such ceremonies may instead offer purified water and flowers, bow in homage to the Northern Dipper, and recite the names of the Ten Great Heavenly Worthies of the Northern Dipper and their personal tutelary True Lords.
By doing so, one can dispel disasters, repent sins, pray for blessings, and prolong their lifespan.
Those who refuse to believe will have their lifespan seized by celestial deities, be reincarnated as birds and beasts, and lose their human form forever.
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