Prayer for the Yellow Register fast黃籙齋詞
1As the sea of learning returns at last to the great sea
啓請如科儀。臣身拘俗網。志仰眞筌。雖窈窈冥冥至道則無形可扣。而勤勤懇懇精心則有感必通。是以。每勵焚修。敢安晷刻。所冀學海而終歸巨海。好龍而不懼眞龍。豈貪輕擧之名。但效勤行之旨。然以早分相印。久握兵符。當扶危靜亂之秋。有戮暴誅奸之役。伏慮政條失所。刑律乖宜。愆違暗積於玄司。殃咎難逃於黑籍。今則景銷木德。節啓火威。稽首昊天。叩心靈地。跼蹐而謹陳薄奠。禱祠而仰獻微誠。伏乞太上三尊。十方衆聖。俯矜丹悃。深降洪慈。使電滅千災。雲興百福。永資玄蔭。漸茂靈根。掃閫外之煙塵。早成勳業。玩壺中之日月。免役夢思。臣無任悔過祈恩懇迫惶恐之至。謹辭。
The opening petition is as the ritual code prescribes. Your servant's body is caught in the net of the world, and his will looks up to the true teaching. Though the utmost Way, deep and dark, has no form to knock at, still the pure heart, diligent and earnest, is sure to get through when it is stirred. So he strives always at incense and cultivation. How should he dare to rest for a moment? What he hopes is that the sea of learning flow back at last to the great sea, and that loving dragons he may not fear a true dragon. How should he covet the name of one who rises lightly? He only follows the meaning of diligent practice. But he received the seal of a chief minister early, and he has long held the army tally. In an autumn when peril must be propped up and disorder quieted, there is the task of killing the violent and cutting down the treacherous. He humbly fears that the articles of governing lose their place and the penal law goes against what is fitting, that his offenses heap up in secret in the dark office, and that his disasters will be hard to flee in the black register. Now the light melts away the power of wood, and the season opens the majesty of fire. He bows his head to the ground before the vast heaven, and he knocks at his heart before the numinous earth. Bending low and stepping small, he reverently sets out a slight offering. Praying at the shrine, he looks up and presents his small sincerity. I humbly beg the Three Most High Honored Ones and the host of saints of the ten directions to look down in pity upon this red heart, and to send down their great mercy deeply. Let lightning destroy a thousand calamities, and let clouds raise up a hundred blessings. Let him rest forever upon the dark shade, and let the numinous root grow lush little by little. Let him sweep away the smoke and dust beyond the gate, and complete his work of merit soon. Let him enjoy the sun and the moon within the gourd, and be freed from service in his dreaming thought. Your servant cannot bear the fullness of his repentance of fault, his prayer for kindness, his earnest urgency and his fear. This he submits with respect.