Scriptures for the Morning and Evening Rites of the Orthodox Oneness

Tenets

Worshiping Heaven and ancestors, cultivating the Dao and practicing its teachings, and benefiting the world being the tenets of Daoism, Daoists free themselves from sins since birth and spread to others the highest Dao of the ancestral masters through recitation, prayer and repentance in Daoist rituals. Enabling mental communication between man and deities, scripture recitation is the ladder leading the cultivators to the realm of transcendence.

Contents

The contents of the recited scriptures, mainly comprising the Precious Declarations ( 寶誥 Baogao ) expressing respects for the holy and perfected ones, and the Divine Incantations ( 神咒 Shenzhou ) purifying the mundane mind, include Pure and Clear Tones, the Heavenly Lord of Eternal Purity and Tranquility ( 常清常靜天尊 Changqing Changjing Tianzun ), the Heavenly Lord of Manifest Might ( 神威如在天尊 Shenwei Ruzai Tianzun ), the Divine Incantations for Purifying the Mind, the Divine Incantations for Purifying the Mouth, the Divine Incantations for Pacifying the Earth, the Divine Incantations for Purifying Heaven and Earth, the Divine Incantations for Blessing the Incense, the Divine Incantations of the Golden Rays, the Hymns for Opening the Scriptures ( 開經偈 Kaijing Ji ), the Book of Eternal Purity and Tranquility Revealed by the Supreme Venerable Sovereign, the Lofty Jade Emperor's Sublime Book on the Mind's Correspondence ( 高上玉皇心印妙經 Gaoshang Yuhuang Xinyin Miaojing ), the Precious Declaration of the Jade Clarity, the Precious Declaration of the Highest Clarity, the Precious Declaration of the Supreme Clarity, the Precious Declaration of the Jade Emperor, the Precious Declaration of the Heavenly Emperor, the Precious Declaration of the Stellar Ruler, the Precious Declaration of the Imperial Earth God, the Precious Declarations of the Mysterious Northern Heaven, the Precious Declaration of the South Pole, the Precious Declarations on Salvation from Misery, the Precious Declaration of the Big Dipper, the Precious Declarations of the Three Officials, the Precious Declarations of the Mysterious Northern Heaven, the Precious Declaration of the Ancestral Celestial Master ( 老祖天師寶誥 Laozu Tianshi Baogao ), the Precious Declaration of Celestial Master Xujing, the Precious Declaration of Elder Immortal Ge, the Precious Declaration of the Perfected Sovereign Xu, the Precious Declaration of the Sacred Mountain of the East ( 東嶽寶誥 Dongyue Baogao ), the Universal Declaration of the Thunderbolts ( 雷霆總誥 Leiting Zonggao ), the Incantation of the Soil Agency ( 社司咒 Shesi Zhou ), the Pious Conversion Ritual ( 志心皈命禮 Zhixin Guiming Li ), the Incantations of the Earth Spirits, etc.

Differences between Morning Rites and Evening Rites

The texts recited in Morning Rites and Evening Rites are the same with slight differences in the last several texts. With the Universal Declaration of the Thunderbolts, the Morning Rites begin with "To report reverently" ( 仰啟 Yangqi ) and end with "please come on my invitation" while the Evening Rites begin with "seating the deities " ( 安奉 Anfeng ) and end with "seating the deities in the altar". With the Incantations of the Earth Spirits, the part "To report reverently and invite" in the Morning Rites is replaced by "seating the deities" in the Evening Rites.