Saturday, September 19, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Lingbao Salvation Scriptures
Lingbao and Celestial-Worthy scriptures of rescue from suffering, release from grievance and sin, and the salvation of the dead — Good Works Translations from the Daoist Canon.
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Texts
Commentary on the Great Brahma's Hidden Language — Dongxuan Lingbao Duren Jing Dafan Yinyu ShuyiA Tang-era philological commentary explaining the untranslatable 'Brahma sounds' — the eight-character hidden names of the Thirty-Two Heavens — in the great Lingbao Scripture of Salvation, with its complete Daozang source text.Essentials for the Practice of the Inner Meaning of the Lingbao Great Refinement — Lingbao Dalian Neizhi Xingchi JiyaoA short, technical Lingbao ritual manual of undetermined date, teaching the priest's inward visualization for refining and delivering the souls of the dead in the Great Refinement rite — with its complete Daozang source text.Ritual Formulas and Glosses for the Scripture of Limitless Salvation — Dongxuan Lingbao Wuliang Duren Jing Jue YinyiA Tang-dynasty ritual handbook by Zhang Wanfu giving the recitation formulas, visualization methods, and a pronunciation-and-meaning glossary for the great Lingbao Scripture of Limitless Salvation — with its complete Daozang source text.The Blood Lake Scripture of Salvation Spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning — Yuanshi Tianzun Jidu Xuehu ZhenjingA Lingbao salvation scripture, likely Song–Yuan in origin, in which the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and the Celestial Worthy of the Great Unity open the Blood Lake hell and pardon the souls of women who died in childbirth — with its complete Daozang source text.The Scripture of Images and Names for Vast Blessings and the Effacing of Sin — Taishang Lingbao Hongfu Miezui Xiangming JingA Lingbao salvation scripture in which the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning teaches deliverance from sin through a great litany of names — with its complete Daozang source text.The Scripture of Untying Grievances and Deliverance — Taishang Daojun Shuo Jieyuan Badu MiaojingA short Daoist Canon scripture in which the Most High Lord of the Dao answers a disciple's plea for the suffering dead with a teaching on untying inherited grievances and delivering souls from the hells — with its complete Daozang source text.The Scripture on Dispelling Transgressions and Extinguishing Sins — Taishang Jiuku Tianzun Shuo Xiaoqian Miezui JingAn anonymous Daoist Canon scripture in which the Most High Celestial Worthy Who Rescues from Suffering teaches how the dead, judged before the Ten Kings, are freed from the hells of Fengdu through merit and the ritual fire that refines them for rebirth — with its complete Daozang source text.The Scripture on Relieving Suffering — Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Tianzun Shuo Jiku JingA Lingbao salvation scripture, of otherwise unfixed date, in which a Celestial Worthy promises rescue from sickness, imprisonment, and difficult childbirth to those who call on him — with its complete Daozang source text.The Scripture on the Essentials of the Way — Dongxuan Lingbao Dao Yao JingA Lingbao scripture of the Daoist Canon, attested already in a Dunhuang manuscript, in which the Dao itself teaches that filial devotion to one's parents is the cultivation of the Way — with its complete Daozang source text.The Scripture on the Original Vow of the Jade Emperor — Taishang Yuanshi Tianzun Shuo Yuhuang Benyuan ZunjingA Daoist scripture in which the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning recounts the fifty-eight vows made by the Jade Emperor as a crown prince — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Body-Protecting Scripture of the Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering — Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miao JingAn anonymous Daoist scripture in praise of Taiyi, the Great Unity Who Saves from Suffering, promising his protection and deliverance to all who call on his name — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture of Rescuing from Suffering and Uprooting Sin — Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Tianzun Shuo Jiuku Bazui MiaojingA Lingbao salvation scripture in which the Celestial Worthy Who Rescues from Suffering vows to empty the hells and free all sinners, then invokes the ten Celestial Worthies of the directions — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture of the Pure Offering — Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Jinggong MiaojingA Lingbao revelation scripture in which three Perfected Ones teach the immortal patriarch known as the Left Transcendent Duke of the Great Ultimate the rite of the Pure Offering, by which ancestors and the hungry ghosts of hell are freed on eight appointed days of the year — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Flying Immortality — Dongxuan Lingbao Feixian Shangpin MiaojingA Lingbao revelation scripture, spoken by a Celestial Worthy, whose central litany names fifty-one separate acts of devotion, charity, and service to one's master as each alone sufficient to attain flying immortality — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Dispelling Calamity and Protecting Life — Taishang Shengxuan Xiaozai Huming MiaojingA short scripture of the Daoist Canon, echoing the Buddhist Heart Sutra, in which the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning teaches that no category is ever fixed and promises protection to those who recite it — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Extending Life — Taishang Lingbao Tianzun Shuo Yanshou MiaojingA short anonymous revelation scripture of the Numinous Treasure (Lingbao) tradition, spoken by its Celestial Worthy, teaching that incense-offering, almsgiving, and scripture-recitation extend life and dissolve calamity — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Rebirth and Deliverance from Suffering — Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Wangsheng Jiuku MiaojingA Lingbao salvation scripture, attested in a Dunhuang manuscript as well as the Daoist Canon, in which a Celestial Worthy teaches the causes of hell's torments and the rites, recitations, and almsgiving that free the living and the dead from them — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Relieving Suffering and Restoring Joy in Fengdu — Taishang Shuo Fengdu Bagu Yule MiaojingA short scripture of the Daoist Canon's Lingbao salvation tradition in which a Celestial Worthy surveys the hells of Fengdu and proclaims their transformation into paradise — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Rescue from Suffering — Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Jiuku MiaojingA Lingbao salvation scripture spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Great Unity Who Rescues from Suffering, with an appended Song-dynasty tale of its efficacy — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Resolving Grievances and Extracting from Sin — Taishang Daojun Shuo Jieyuan Bazui MiaojingA short, undated Lingbao salvation scripture in which the Most High Lord of the Dao teaches the Perfected Guangxin how sincere recitation delivers suffering souls from hell — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Resolving the Grievances of Three Lives — Taishang Sansheng Jieyuan MiaojingAn anonymous Daoist salvation scripture in which a Celestial Worthy teaches a grieving queen to resolve, through scripture and talisman, the vengeful spirits of children lost to miscarriage and early death — with its complete Daozang source text.The Wondrous Scripture on Salvation from Suffering, with Commentary — Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Tianzun Shuo Jiuku Miaojing ZhujieA Daoist salvation scripture spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, together with a line-by-line commentary explaining its title, its images, and its inner-cultivation meaning — with its complete Daozang source text.