Transmitted in the Zhengtong Daozang, DZ 1453
The Morning Aspiration and Confession (朝真發願懴悔文) is a Daoist liturgical text for daily temple practice. In nine movements — three purification mantras for speech, body, and mind; two invocations calling on the Merit Officers and incense spirits; a grand summoning of the full celestial assembly; a dedication of merit; a long confession of karma accumulated over countless lives together with twenty-one vows of transformation; and a closing thanksgiving — the practitioner approaches the Perfected with a purified body and heart, confesses the weight of past deeds, and dedicates whatever merit has been gathered to the liberation of all living beings. The text belongs to the Orthodox Unity (正一) tradition and was compiled in the Zhengtong Daozang (1445).
I. Purification of Speech Karma
淨口業咒
Flowery falsehood, flattery, slander, and double tongue —
Perverse words, revilement, wantonly overriding others —
I vow to speak of the Way and Virtue, amending all past wrongs;
May my words accord with the Heavenly Heart, my mouth made holy.
II. Purification of Body Karma
淨身業咒
Freed from killing, stealing, licentiousness, and defiled conduct —
Compassionate, incorruptible, upright, able to commune with the spirits —
This is called the pure and natural body:
The Four Beasts and the hundred numinous ones shall guard it forever.
III. Purification of Heart Karma
淨心業咒
The state of the Way is clear and luminous, pure without defilement.
Greed, anger, delusion, and blindness — these are called demons and deviance.
Clarify the heart, extinguish thought, become equal to empty space:
This is the Great Empyrean, the Formless Realm.
IV. Invocation over Incense
祝香
Divine transformation has no fixed abode — sincerity can reach it;
A sincere heart, with prayers, uses incense to carry the message.
Clouds of incense float and canopy the Great Empyrean Heaven;
The immortal retinue drifts through the void, answering the call.
V. Invocation to the Merit Officers
祝功曹
I respectfully summon the Merit Officers and the Talisman Envoys on duty,
The Earth God of this place, most numinous among spirits —
Ascending to heaven, entering the earth, pervading darkness and light —
Convey my sincerity, carry the incense, let the holy sages hear.
VI. Opening to the Holy Ones
啓聖
We with one heart take refuge and pay reverence —
To the Heavenly Numinous Spirit Treasure, the Great Compassionate Honored One;
To the Mysterious Vault, the Nine Celestials, and all the Perfected Emperors;
To the Golden Mother and the Wood Lord, the Ministers and High Counselors;
To the Sun, Moon, and Stars governing each one's natal fate;
To talismanic seals, scriptures of the Way, and all the true texts;
To the Five Elders, the Three Officials, and the Great Emperor Lords;
To the Four Sages, the Four Aspects, and the Great Masters of the Law;
To those who transmitted the Way, the Dharma, the scriptures and registers;
To all the ancestral masters whose lineage and fragrance endure;
To all the dharma bureaus and the true numinous beings they govern;
To the Thunder Bureau, Mountain and Fengdu officials, generals, and functionaries;
To the innumerable divine immortals of the ten directions —
Together descend, answer the call, come to this sacred ground;
In compassion receive and guide all who study the immortal way;
May each vow be fulfilled — may all attain the Supreme Way.
VII. Dedication of Merit
經誥隨意念誦畢回向
The merit of scripture, the power of sacred names — beyond all reckoning;
Dedicated to all the holy assembly of the ten directions —
May they witness our sincere hearts as we seek repentance;
Let all sins and obstacles, countless as river-sands, be wholly erased.
VIII. Confession and Vows
懴悔願發
We confess: from beginningless kalpas to this present life, borrowing fire, wind, earth, and water to form these bodies — we have craved fragrance, taste, form, sound, and touch, grasping at phenomena; consumed by anger, foolishness, and envy; with evil speech and false words; killing, stealing, and illicit desire, following every passion and indulging every craving; dishonoring parents, betraying lord and teacher; disrespecting heaven, earth, and the spirit lords; cursing the wind and scolding the rain; refusing to believe in karmic consequence; blinded in principle and deceiving our own hearts — thereby facing retribution, rising and sinking, turning on the wheel of rebirth, enduring all manner of suffering without rest or end. All of this arose from a single moment's deviation: we fell into confusion about our true nature, falsely clinging to the illusions of the six dusts, drowning in the river of attachment.
Now, having obtained a human body and received the true teachings — is this not the fortune of a thousand lives? Having encountered this path at last, one must examine the heart and seek liberation early. If one drifts on as before, one will ultimately lose one's original nature; once fallen into the dark paths, one is transformed into alien forms.
Therefore, reflecting on the suffering of sinking and drifting, we raise a pure heart and take refuge in reverence of the Holy Perfected. We specially seek repentance: we beg compassion for our foolishness and blindness; we seek pardon for our transgressions; the dissolution of karmic bonds; the elimination of demonic obstructions. We hope that fate may encounter prosperous circumstances; that our names be inscribed on the Crimson Terrace; that we meet true teachers and hear the Supreme Way in person; that we refine our practice of wondrous conduct; that we nurture the sprouts of goodness; that we serve the Mysterious Gate with complete dedication; and that our spirits be refreshed in the true realm. When the appointed time comes, may our original nature achieve liberation without falling into confusion; may we be reborn directly into a household of ten virtues, able to fathom past lives, and return to certify the Supreme Vehicle.
Serving the Void Emperor, we further vow: may the nation be at peace and the people prosperous, the seasons harmonious and the harvests abundant;
May the true wind never remain hidden — may the Way's transformation flourish and spread;
May the fierce and wicked be transformed to the worthy — may the deviant and demonic return to the upright;
May punishment by arms go unused — may the prisons stand empty;
May the stagnant advance and old grievances be reconciled;
May those who study the mysterious enter the Way and achieve the real;
May all kindred of past kalpas be guided across together in harmony;
May teachers and friends of all lifetimes together certify the Eternal True;
May all conditions increase in blessedness and wisdom;
May all living creatures we have harmed be reborn soon among humans and in heaven;
May we moderate food, wine, and meat, and not cause harm to one another;
May we hold our bodies upright and not tread the path of licentiousness;
May we wholly shatter miserliness and greed — wholly remove harshness and severity;
May our words be free of falsehood — may our conduct treasure sincerity;
May we humble ourselves and be generous to others, quietly enduring anger;
May we be compassionate and humble of spirit, respectful of all;
May we not fall into remote border-lands — may we not follow deviant views;
May we associate with immortal friends, dwelling in stillness to dissolve the self;
May wisdom become luminous and spiritual powers become vast;
May we practice expedient means broadly and bring universal salvation to all living beings;
May we forever cut the bonds of attachment and delusion, returning all to the Supreme Way.
The dust-kalpas have an end; my vows have no end.
Looking earnestly to the Perfected Emperors to condescend in rescue and guidance — we take refuge, pay homage, and give thanks to the Three Treasures of the Supreme Right-True.
IX. Closing Thanksgiving
祝謝
For all the merit of reverences and recitations just performed —
Everything relies on compassion as the sovereign bond.
We look up in reverence at the immortal retinue hidden in the void:
May the dharma bureaus' true numinous ones forever guard and protect us.
We bow our heads to the ground, taking refuge in the Boundless Wondrous Way.
Colophon
Morning Aspiration and Confession (朝真發願懴悔文). Source text: Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏), DZ 1453, KR5h0022, Orthodox Unity tradition (正一派). The text is a complete daily morning liturgy in nine movements: three purification mantras (口業, 身業, 心業), two invocations (祝香, 祝功曹), a grand summoning of the celestial hierarchy (啓聖), a dedication of merit (回向), a long confessional prose section with twenty-one vows (懴悔願發), and a closing thanksgiving (祝謝). The five verse sections preceding the confession follow the 7-character regulated style also used in the repentance texts; the confession itself is liturgical prose with a formulaic vow-list. One unclear rubric marker (𣾰三) appears in the Mandoku source directly after the first section heading; it may indicate a triple repetition instruction (×3) but the character is corrupt and has been noted without translation. Colophon line 55 in the source shows 臣 as a marginal insertion marking the transition from personal aspiration to the world-dedication vows — rendered as the connecting phrase "Serving the Void Emperor, we further vow." First English translation. Translated from Classical Chinese by Vāyu (iron-age Translator, instance 09), 2026-04-25.
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Source Text
朝真發願懴悔文
淨口業咒
綺妄謟讒兼兩舌
悖辭詬詆恣凌人
願談道德改前愆
語合天心口靈聖
淨身業咒
殺盗滛邪污行免
慈廉正直可通神
是為清淨自然身
四獸百靈長擁護
淨心業咒
道境清明無穢淨
貪嗔癡昧曰妖邪
澄心滅念等虛空
是即大羅無色界
祝香
神化無方誠可格
誠心有禱假香傅
香雲浮蓋大羅天
仙仗浮空隨應感
祝功曹
奉請功曹直符使
此間土地至靈神
昇天入地徧幽明
達悃傳香聞聖哲
啓聖
我等一心皈命禮
天靈神寳大慈尊
玄穹九辰諸帝真
金母木公卿宰輔
日月星辰司本命
符章經道總真文
五老三官大帝君
四聖四相大法主
傳道傳法傳經籙
流芳演派衆宗師
諸階法部統真靈
雷霆岳鄷官將吏
十方無量神仙侣
同垂應感赴靈塲
慈悲接引學仙人
隨願克成無上道
經誥隨意念誦畢回向
經功號力不思議
回向十方諸聖衆
願鑒真情求懴悔
河沙罪障盡消除
懴悔願發
懴悔我等自從曩刧廼至今生假火風地水以成形戀香味色聲而觸法食嗔痴妬惡口妄言殺盗邪滛恣情縱欲逆辱父母背負君師不敬天地神祇呵風罵雨不信罪福因果昧理欺心遂致報對升沉輪廻展轉受諸苦惱無有休停皆由一念之差陣迷自性妄認六塵之幻沉溺愛河今而既獲人身叨親正教豈非千生慶幸一旦遭逢自合省心早求度世若復似前流蕩畢竟迷失本來一墮𡨋途化為異類是故思沉淪苦發清淨心皈奉聖真特求懴悔丐憐愚昧原赦罪愆解釋報緣蠲消魔陣所覬命逢昌運名注丹臺際遇真師親聞至道精修妙行增長善芽盡節玄門怡神真境他日運應滅度自性不至昏迷徑生十善之家䏻通宿命還證上乗之道臣事虛皇尚願國安民豐時和歲稔願真風不闡道化興行願兇惡化賢邪魔皈正願兵刑罔措囹圄空閑願沉滯昇遷冤仇和釋願參玄學者入道成真願歷刧種親均諧超度願歷世師友同證真常願所有緣增崇福慧願所傷物命早生人天願節食酒葷不相殺害願持身端正不履滛邪願悉破慳貪悉除嶮峻願言無誑妄行貴真誠願弱己饒人潛忍忿怒願慈心下氣恭敬一切願不墮邊夷不隨邪見願結交仙友棲集消虛願智惠開明神通恢廓願廣行方便普濟群生願永斷執迷咸歸至道塵刧有盡我願無窮端望帝真曲垂濟度皈命禮謝無上正真三寳
祝謝
向來禮念諸功德
全賴慈悲為主盟
仰瞻仙仗隱空玄
法部真靈長擁護
稽首皈依無極妙道
朝真發願懴悔文終
Source Colophon
朝真發願懴悔文. Source: Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏), DZ 1453 (三家本, 1988 edition, vol. 34, p. 771). One fascicle, Xu Daozang supplement. ID: KR5h0022, base edition: HFL. Transcribed in Mandoku format by the Kanripo project, 2015-08-29. The original Mandoku source uses ¶ for line breaks and <pb:> tags for page breaks; these have been stripped for readability. The source presents the 懴悔願發 confession section as continuous prose without line breaks.
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