Page 716 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

fall under nineteen rubrics whose content is sometimes at odds with the pre-
ceding table of contents. The opening chapters on altar arrangements (j. I),
gifts for various rituals and sketches for Retreat (*zhai) and Land of the Way
(*daochang) rituals (j. 2), pantheons (j. 3-7), details on the Nocturnal Invocation
(* suqi) and Audience (chaoye I?Ji I~) rites (j. 8--9), and hymn texts (j. IO-II) are
followed by ritual texts that could be used for both salvation and therapy (j.
12-41). The bulk of the compendium details ritual programs for Deliverance
and Salvation (kaidu FmHt,j. 42-135) and for Prayer and Exorcism (qirang tfr
.,j. 136-259).
Lowell SKAR

W Boltz]. M. I987a, 44-46; Davis E. 200I, 231-36; Kalinowski 1989--90, I05-6;
Lagerwey 1987C, 169

* Ning Benli; Lingbao dafa

Lingbao shoudu yi

Ordination Ritual of the Numinous Treasure

The Lingbao shoudu yi (CT 528) was composed by the codifier of the *Ling-
bao scriptures, *Lu Xiujing. While ordination rituals for the transmission of
scriptures are attested from the beginnings of the religion, the Shoudu yi is
particularly important in that it served as the prototype for subsequent ordina-
tions in the scriptures of the Three Caverns (*SANDONG).
The text is preceded by a memorial, also written by Lu, indicating that the
text may have been presented to the throne. This memorial is not dated, but
Lu writes that it has been "seventeen years since I presumed to receive (taoqie
!pJ~) [the scriptures]." Since Lu was born in 407 and was unlikely to have
encountered the Lingbao texts before the age of fifteen, the text was probably
composed within a few years of 437, the year in which Lu wrote the *Lingbao
jingmu (Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures), and certainly no later than 454.
Lu's memorial reveals that he pieced together his ordination ritual from the
simpler rites included in several texts in the Lingbao canon, a fact confirmed
by the extensive quotations found in the Shoudu yi. In that some of his sources
no longer survive as independent works, the Shoudu yi is valuable testimony
to the early Lingbao scriptures.
Lu's reason for composing this work is that Taoists of his day were con-
ducting ordination rituals in texts of all Three Caverns using a single oath