辯正論 2.3

2.3

The young gentleman asked: "I have privately examined the fasting rituals of the Daoist tradition, and they comprise roughly two classes: the first is the Ultimate Dao, and the second is Salvation. As for the Ultimate Dao, the *Dongshen jing* says: 'Fasting of the mind and sitting in forgetfulness reach the ultimate Dao.' As for Salvation, according to the scriptures there are three registers and seven classes. As for the three registers: the first is called the Golden Register, which averts heavenly disasters above, protects and preserves emperors and kings, sets proper order and measures, and brings Great Peace to the realm; the second is called the Jade Register, which delivers the myriad people, causes them to abandon evil and follow good, repent transgressions, apologize for sins, and seek grace and blessing; the third is called the Yellow Register, which rescues the ninefold darkness and the ancestors of seven generations, transcends the five sufferings and eight difficulties, saves the souls crying out in the gloomy night, and delivers the long-grieving sinners of the hells. As for the seven classes: the first is the Fast of Dongshen (Cavern Spirit), a method for seeking immortality and preserving the state; the second is the Fast of Ziran (Spontaneity), the Dao of studying truth and cultivating the person; the third is the Fast of Shangqing (Highest Clarity), the marvel of entering sagehood and ascending to emptiness; the fourth is the Fast of Zhi Jiao (Instruction), an urgent rite for saving the sick and averting disasters; the fifth is the Fast of Tutan (Mud and Charcoal), the essential rite for repenting errors and begging for life; the sixth is the Fast of Mingzhen (Luminous Truth), for delivering the consciousnesses in the gloomy night; the seventh is the Fast of Sanyuan (Three Primes), for apologizing for crimes before the Three Officials. These various fasts last either one day and one night, three days and three nights, or seven days and seven nights, fully detailed in the ritual codes. Beyond these, there are also the Six Fasts, Ten Monthly Fasts, the cyclical fasts on Jiazi and Gengshen days, and the Destiny Fast, which generally apply the method of the Fast of Spontaneity. 'Sitting in forgetfulness' alone surpasses the source of life and death; the ten fasts of salvation jointly abandon the root of sorrow and grief. Examining them from beginning to end, their merit is exceedingly great. Moreover, their deportment, rules, halls, and altars model the mysterious void and possess all standards. Their robes, caps, and manners are stately and resonant; their morning salutations and bows are solemn and reverent. Walking in circumambulation while chanting praises, the true qi is spontaneous. Burning incense and scattering flowers, the spiritual presence is magnificent. When body and mind are both concentrated, resonance and response are sure to arrive; when hosts and guests are in mutual harmony, great blessing naturally tallies. The *Mingzhen yi* says: 'Erect a tall lamp with nine flames atop it placed in the center, so as to illuminate the mansions of the long night in the ninefold darkness. On the nights of the first, eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of the first month, erect a tall lamp nine chi in height, and upon the one lamp burn nine flames to shine up to the ninefold darkness.' Now, Buddhist fasts such as the Śāla, Bhaiṣajyaguru, Star-Deliverance, and Fangguang rituals originally had no cosmic archetypes in deportment or rules. When worldly people observe them both, what do they manifest?"