Answering Questions from the Message List

1. What is the relationship between the separated soul and the Three Souls and Seven Spirits after a person passes away?

Answer: The Three Souls and Seven Spirits are an integral whole and cannot be separated. After a person passes away, one part of the soul goes to the earth, one part returns to the ancestors, and one part wanders. Each of these parts contains elements of the Three Souls and Seven Spirits, but they are not necessarily complete. Therefore, some wandering souls may experience memory loss or changes in temperament due to the incompleteness of the Three Souls and Seven Spirits.

2. Which part is being liberated?

Answer: Liberation specifically targets the wandering part, also known as the wandering soul, which is the deceased spirit and what ordinary people refer to as a ghost. Ancient texts state: 'The wandering soul brings about change,' referring to this.

Even after liberation, ancestral tablets can still be worshipped, and graves can still be visited, which is the principle behind this.

The parts that go to the earth and return to the ancestors will dissipate after a certain number of years.

3. What does 'soul flying and spirit scattering' refer to?

Answer: 'Soul flying' refers to the separation of the three souls, while 'spirit scattering' refers to the dispersal of the seven spirits. Thus, it is called 'soul flying and spirit scattering,' indicating the process of transforming into a single energy.

4. What special forms of existence remain after a person passes away?

Answer: In the illusory world, if there is enough incense offering and mental power, one can become a local deity. In ancient times, with abundant incense offerings, a single region could generate enough mental power, and there were many yin temples. Many were enshrined as City Gods or Earth Gods, serving in temples to receive offerings. In the modern era, with fewer offerings, most have reincarnated, and the population has increased.

5. Is there a case of animals reincarnating as humans?

Answer: Understanding the principle of a single energy makes it simple. It is not just animals; plants and other organisms are the same. All come from a single energy and return to it. During the formation of the soul and spirit, if some information does not dissipate, traits from other organisms may be mixed in. For example, some people have animal-like habits or quirks, mostly due to this.

6. Does the 'First Seven Days Return of the Soul' exist?

Answer: I say it is true, but you may not believe it. Please verify it yourself, and you will naturally understand.

7. What is the difference between cultivating the Yang Spirit and the Yin Spirit?

Answer: The Yang Spirit is visible to the naked eye of ordinary people and can affect the material world, such as plucking a flower from a thousand miles away and bringing it back. The Yin Spirit cannot do this. For more details, refer to the story of Immortal Ziyang and a high monk inviting each other to travel with their spirits.

8. Why is your sect called the Daoist Yin Fu Sect?

Answer: 'Daoist' sounds smooth when spoken.

9. What is the difference between Daoism and the Daoist religion?

Answer: The Dao is a school of thought that can be studied without necessarily entering the Dao. The Daoist religion is a religious organization that inherits Daoist thought, but historically, it has undergone many distortions. Therefore, the Daoist religion is quite secular and often loses its Daoist elegance.

10. Can Master Sanfu introduce your sect?

Answer: My sect belongs to the Zhengyi Tian Shi Dao, and the lineage received is the Yin Fu lineage, starting from Immortal Daguanzi. After Immortal Daguanzi retired, he passed down this lineage, hence the name Yin Fu Sect, which later returned to Longhu Mountain. In modern times, although it is a unique sect, it is still under Zhengyi Dao.

11. What is Yin Fu?

Answer: 'Observe the changes of heaven and earth, examine the mechanisms of all things, imprint them in the heart, and emit them from heaven. The universe is in your hands, and all things are born within your body.'

12. What is 'Jie Sha'? What are Tiangang Qi and Yongquan Qi?

Answer: It is merely the energy of life and death. However, fellow Daoists consider it a secret and do not speak of it. I also find it inappropriate to speak too much to avoid ruining people's livelihoods. I will only point out a path: study ancient texts. Among the common ancient texts on the market, one clearly writes out the specific methods of application, but it is often overlooked. If you understand it, you will surely laugh. Please keep this secret.

13. Is Master Sanfu an officially recognized Daoist priest?

Answer: I consider myself quite official. My sect, lineage, Dharma lineage, and Lu rank are all in place. Regarding official recognition, I have formal filings with the Chinese Daoist Association and the State Administration of Religious Affairs, and I have the necessary certificates. I lack none of these.

14. What is 'Shou Lu'? Is it the same as 'Chuan Du'?

Answer: 'Chuan Du' is merely entering the Dao, equivalent to becoming a Daoist novice. Only after 'Shou Lu' can one be called a Dharma Master. Do not mistake someone who shows a 'Chuan Du' certificate as a legitimate Dharma Master.

15. What is 'Xin Yin'?

Answer: All Dharma Masters who have received 'Shou Lu' have a 'Xin Yin' (Heart Seal). There are distinctions between the 'Flower Seal' and the 'Emergency Seal', used for summoning one's本命 (destiny) divine generals. Some sects have more subdivisions, such as Destiny Generals, Heart Generals, and Subordinate Generals, but most of these are additions from later generations. Dharma Masters proficient in Daoist arts usually specialize in cultivating one general; once one general is perfected, ten thousand gods retreat.

16. In folk practices, people often see 'inviting gods' for magical battles. They all invite the same gods, but why are some stronger and some weaker?

Answer: The difference lies in the person, not the god. A Dharma Master's ability depends on their cultivation level. True gods do not descend in their original form. In folk magic sects, they mostly invite projections of deities. The number of divine shadows that can be summoned depends on faith and the intensity of focused meditation. Orthodox Dharma Masters, however, summon the分身 (avatars) of deities, and the number summoned depends on the Master's internal cultivation.

16. Are the living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism actual Buddhas?

Answer: The term 'Living Buddha' is a misnomer; it should be called 'Rinpoche,' meaning a reincarnated practitioner. However, this is a religious term. In reality, the status of a Rinpoche is only equivalent to that of a Dharma Master in Han Chinese Buddhism. Nowadays, most titles are bought. A general Living Buddha title costs 100,000 to 200,000 RMB, medium ones cost hundreds of thousands, and great ones are even more expensive. In Beijing's arts circle, there is a joke: 'There are 100,000 Rinpoche in Beijing, all selling spiritual chicken soup.' For those in the circle, whether you believe or not is not important; what is important is whether outsiders know whether you believe in Rinpoche. Therefore, 'Living Buddha' and 'Buddha' are two different concepts. Do not confuse them.

17. Does Daoism oppose Buddhist cultivation methods?

Answer: Everyone has their own aspirations. Some people like being primary school teachers, while Daoist practitioners pursue the Great Dao. Therefore, it is not a matter of opposition.

18. How should we view practitioners of other sects?

Answer: For true practitioners who save the world, deliver people, and accumulate virtue through good deeds, we should naturally show respect. Conversely, we should not. When discussing matters, we should evaluate them as objectively as possible and not be influenced by sectarian distinctions.