This is a translation of the excerpts text from the Song Dynasty’s Tàishàng Gǎnyìng Piān (太上感应篇), a Taoist classic on morality and retribution.
The Supreme Lord said:
“Fortune and calamity have no gate; they are summoned by humanity alone. The consequences of good and evil follow a person like a shadow follows their form.
Therefore, the Heaven and Earth have gods who oversee transgressions. Based on the severity of a person’s offenses, they deduct from their life span. When one’s life span is reduced, they become poor and depleted, encountering many troubles. People despise them, and punishment and misfortune follow them. Good luck and joyous occasions avoid them, and evil stars bring them disaster. When their life span is completely depleted, they die.
Moreover, there are the divine lords of the Three Terraces (三台星) and the Big Dipper who reside over people’s heads, recording their sins and deducting from their life spans. There are also the Three Corpse Gods within a person’s body who, on every Gēngshēn day, ascend to the Celestial Bureaucracy to report a person’s transgressions. The Kitchen God also does this on the last day of every month.
Any transgression, if major, deducts a ‘record’ (100 days), and if minor, deducts a ‘count’ (1 day). There are hundreds of these offenses, and those who wish for a long life must first avoid them. One should advance on the right path and retreat from the wrong path. Do not tread on wicked ways, and do not deceive anyone. Accumulate virtue and meritorious deeds. Be compassionate to all creatures. Be loyal, filial, and brotherly, and correct yourself to influence others. Pity the orphaned and help the widowed, respect the elderly and cherish the young. Even insects and plants should not be harmed.
It is proper to pity the misfortune of others, rejoice in their good fortune, help them in their crises, and rescue them from danger. When you see others’ gains, feel as if they were your own. When you see others’ losses, feel as if they were your own. Do not expose others’ shortcomings or flaunt your own strengths. Curb evil and praise good. Take more blame and less credit. Do not resent being insulted, and be as if startled by being praised. Give kindness without seeking repayment and do not regret helping others.
This is what is meant by a good person: everyone respects them, the Dao of Heaven protects them, fortune and blessings follow them. All evil is kept away, and the divine spirits guard them. Whatever they do will succeed, and becoming an immortal can be hoped for.
Evil Deeds and Their Consequences
Those who wish to become a Celestial Immortal should complete 1,300 good deeds. Those who wish to become a Terrestrial Immortal should complete 300 good deeds.
If a good thought arises in one’s heart, even if the good deed has not yet been done, a benevolent spirit is already following them. If an evil thought arises in one’s heart, even if the evil deed has not yet been done, a malevolent spirit is already following them.
Those who have done evil deeds but later truly repent should do no evil and practice all good deeds. In time, they will surely receive blessings and joy. This is what is meant by ‘turning calamity into fortune.’
Therefore, a good person speaks, looks, and acts with goodness. If a person has three good deeds in a single day, Heaven will certainly send down blessings within three years. A wicked person speaks, looks, and acts with malice. If a person has three evil deeds in a single day, Heaven will certainly send down calamity within three years.
Why not make an effort and act accordingly?”
In the Faqimen course we are taught by our lineage teachers to pay homage, making offering by lighting the lamp to the three terraces (三台星君). There are rituals, mantras recitation, talisman’s and mudras involved. In the past this secret ritual are only performed in temples by an accomplished priest. Without the proper transmission it’s not even possible to perform the ritual.
To seek blessings and forgiveness for the shortcomings we had done in the past. This is taught in the Advanced Faqimen (Wealth Activation Invoking The Northern Dipper Stars). The Faqimen practice adhere to the teachings of righteousness and accord to the principles of Tao.
Dr.Wilson Yong Copyright 2025
