Discussion on Orthodox Taoist Beliefs II: Cultivation Paths and the Way of Spirits
Why is it commonly said in folk traditions that "it is easy to invite a deity but difficult to send them away"?
Why is it commonly said in folk traditions that "if one shows disrespect to the deities, punishment will follow"?
Why, in Hakka regional culture, is it said that after inviting deities for tomb construction, one must send them away; otherwise, if the deities do not leave, they become malevolent spirits that harm people?
Why do some families who enshrine statues of deities or Buddhas not only fail to receive blessings but instead experience continuous disasters?
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the Taoist pantheon system is projected by Yuanshi (the Primordial Beginning) and then manifests into myriad forms. These myriad manifestations are distinct from one another, with varying levels of power and ability. This is because in this world, where there is the sun, there are influences; where there is Yang, there must be Yin. If viewed from the perspective of Yuanshi, everything projected is considered Yin. This is the principle of yin-yang dialectics. Similarly, if we subdivide further, what is naturally generated by heaven and earth is Yang, while what is not naturally generated is Yin. This represents another layer of the yin-yang concept. Among those not naturally generated, what is achieved through cultivation is Yang, while what is not cultivated is Yin. This is yet another layer of the yin-yang concept, which must be clearly distinguished.
I have created a structural diagram for clear representation.
For ordinary people, since the innate (pre-heaven) is invisible and unknowable, while the current visible and knowable is perceived as Yang, they consider the present moment as Yang and everything else as Yin, including the achievements of cultivation. However, in Taoism, it is the opposite. As the saying goes, "The Dao moves by reversing." In Taoism, the innate (pre-heaven) is Yang, the present moment is Yin, and the achievements of cultivation are Yang. The saying goes, "Following the natural flow makes one mortal; reversing it makes one an immortal; it is merely a reversal in the middle." This requires deep contemplation.
Here, let us define the concept of the "Way of Spirits" (Shen Dao). For orthodox Taoist belief, it must be understood that only the path of "saving the world and delivering people -> cultivating the Yang Spirit -> following the Dao of Nature -> returning to the Pre-heaven" can be called the Yang Path. All other paths are Yin Paths. The spirits on the Yin Path are Yin Spirits, collectively referred to here as the Way of Spirits.
Therefore, excluding the founders of Taoism and some immortals and deities who are clearly achieved through cultivation or pre-heaven attainment (which belong to the Yang), the deities worshipped by the general public, especially local deities, mostly belong to the level of Yin Spirits. The deities worshipped by common people are usually divided into the following categories:
1. Deities achieved through customary sacrifices
These are mostly deities who became deities through folk customary sacrifices and were simultaneously bestowed titles by the imperial court. The actual bestowal by the court is not the key factor; rather, it is because after the court bestowed a title, more people worshipped them, and the incense fire and vow power increased significantly, leading to their deification. It should be noted that among such deities, upright ones are considered heroic spirits and benevolent deities that can protect the living. Similarly, there are also malevolent deities, typical examples being the Wutong Deities. Benevolent deities are generally compassionate and do not hold grudges even if believers make mistakes, while malevolent deities are more sensitive and actively bring disaster to believers. One must clearly distinguish between good and evil to determine safety.
2. Deities self-proclaimed by religious organizations
Religious organizations are special collectives. Within religions, there are often self-proclaimed deities that the general public may not all worship, but these still belong to the category of deities. These deities are mostly the founders or deities of specific religions, who have not necessarily achieved great success through cultivating the Yang Spirit. However, due to special factors, they were enshrined as deities, supported by the incense and chanting power of religious believers, making them a type of Yin Spirit. These are often related to the interests of the sect itself and tend to be aggressive. If believers' faith is not firm or they have doubts, they may be subjected to disaster, posing a certain danger.
For example, minor deities established by small sects, or the founders of sects deified as gods, are relatively common abroad. In China, deities established by other religions, unless they follow the Yang Path, all belong to Yin Spirits.
3. Deities achieved through cultivation in the void
In cultivation, there is a shortcut method: simply solidify the soul and spirit, jump out of the body, and settle in the void, thereby achieving cultivation success. This also belongs to the Way of Spirits. Examples include the cultivation methods of various folk sects during the Ming and Qing dynasties, or the majority of cultivation methods of Chan Buddhism during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Through continuous sudden enlightenment, using the power of enlightenment to jump out from the crown of the head at once, thus achieving success. Such types lack the step of cultivating the Yang Spirit, and when leaving the world, all Yang energy dissipates, resulting in pure Yin attainment. They similarly fall into the category of Yin Spirits. These are mostly various practitioners and often consider their own incense benefits, so they usually do not cause trouble and are relatively safe.
If classified according to the later immortal hierarchy, these can also be called Ghost Immortals. However, it is important to note that this "immortal" is not the true immortal in the ancient sense, and a clear distinction must be made.
4. Distorted projections of orthodox deities
These deities originally include both Yang and Yin spirits, but mostly they are orthodox deities. However, due to the distortion and change of images during folk worship, the projected entity is not the orthodox deity or orthodox belief, but rather something similar to a shadow. Although nominally using the titles of orthodox deities, believers think they are worshipping orthodox deities, but in reality, they are worshipping the distorted image, which is a byproduct existing in the incense and vow power. There are many such deities, and one must be careful to distinguish them and not confuse them with orthodox deities. They also rely on incense for existence. While sometimes effective, they often bring disaster to believers, posing a certain danger.
5. Yin, evil pseudo-deities or malevolent deities
These are more deceptive. They usually attach themselves to statues in mountains, temples, mostly in old or abandoned temples, and there are many in modern commercial temples. The characteristics of these pseudo-deities or malevolent deities are that incense worship enhances their cultivation. They make deals with humans: if sacrifices are abundant, they grant blessings; if slightly dissatisfied, they create disasters. When believers seek help, they provide solutions, tempting believers to fall further. The danger here is extremely high, often leading to cults, and requires special caution. Do not be deceived by small gains, or you will regret it too late.
Currently common examples include so-called Thai amulets, or statues hyped by unscrupulous merchants, or consecrated statues provided by amateur feng shui masters. Although believers worship them with sincere incense, in reality, because they did not undergo the formal consecration process, they often fall into evil influences.
6. Spirits belonging under the chariot of deities
This type is relatively common, mostly consisting of Yin spirits, ghosts, or demons, etc. However, having received the grace of deities, they guard temples under various deities across the world and enjoy incense sacrifices. The number is large and somewhat representative. However, with so many, quality varies. Different spirits have different ways of handling matters, and depending on local customs and the power of offerings, there are those who are magnanimous and those who are narrow-minded. Careful discrimination is needed.
That is to say, from the perspective of Taoist cultivation, all the deities achieved through the above methods belong to Yin Spirits and can be classified under the level of Ghost Cultivation. Because according to Taoist cultivation methods, any entity that has not achieved the Yang Spirit belongs to the category of Yin Spirits. This is the most basic principle.
The characteristics of the above categories are that they must rely on the existence of incense and vow power. Yin spirits need this vow power for offerings just as they need food. When people offer incense and worship, they provide this. If believers are more devout, they will also add essence and qi when offering vow power.
Incense and vow power is just a general term. It does not mean that burning incense is the only way to provide it; it is just that burning incense has become a custom and a way of寄托 (entrusting).
For example, Russian Orthodoxy involves lighting candles, with believers taking turns lighting candles to offer to deities. Larger activities involve burning incense, but not everyone burns it, only the leaders do. Christianity involves worship or breathing chanting methods invented by some priests. Islam involves a fixed kneeling ritual. Buddhism involves burning incense, kneeling, and offering sacrifices. Hinduism is basically the same, but with less incense burning and more emphasis on offering sacrificial items. Zoroastrianism, or the Fire Worship religion, mainly uses fire offerings and once favored live sacrifices.
Regarding the typical use of the Way of Spirits, taking real-world examples, such as the statues worshipped in various places around the world, whether deities or Buddhas, as long as they are worshipped through incense, essentially, they are worshipping Yin Spirits. After receiving incense sacrifices, Yin Spirits will gather the vow power and project it separately to believers, allowing believers to receive blessings, thereby strengthening their devout faith. Theoretically, this path is humans nourishing deities, and deities blessing back, forming a virtuous cycle. However, this method also has its limitations. For example, when the gathered vow power is exhausted, no amount of praying will be effective.
Some people may be unhappy hearing this, saying how can the Buddhas of Buddhism be Yin Spirits. Please note, I am not saying that Buddhas are Yin Spirits, but that incense worship can only target Yin Spirits. Buddhas are enlightened ones, humans who achieved enlightenment through cultivation. Buddha's cultivation is a type of enlightenment-based cultivation. For example, Buddhism says that everyone is a future Buddha, and all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. So where does this Buddha-nature come from? Actually, sentient beings are originally Buddhas, but due to ignorance and mixed consciousness since the beginning, they have created illusions of the world and are trapped in samsara, unable to escape. In original Buddhism, setting up deity statues and burning incense for worship were not allowed. Later Buddhism began to set up Buddha statues, similar to ancestor worship, but later Buddhism religiously mystified it, bringing in elements of the Way of Spirits, and Buddha became a symbol of a deity. In reality, the Buddha worshipped by the masses is not the Buddha, but the Yin Spirit attached to it. At the same time, the essence of deities is actually Yin Spirits, which is a very normal thing. There is no need to fear Yin Spirits; they can be good or bad, depending on the mindset of the incense worshippers.
It is not only worshipping Buddhas or deities; worshipping Taoist immortals is the same. If one cannot resonate with the Three Pure Ones or the Pre-heaven Qi, or the righteous energy of heaven and earth with a pure mind, then what is resonated with will not be orthodox deities, but distorted projections caused by the distortion of the human heart. In this case, it is not cultivating the Dao.
Therefore, in Taoism, those with lineage carefully select disciples, requiring upright character. Only in this way can one resonate with orthodox deities and immortals, and subsequently truly help the world and benefit the people. Otherwise, if one accidentally resonates with evil spirits, it will harm others and oneself, causing disaster in the region.
Let me emphasize again: Do not worship the Three Pure Ones as deities! If you do so, you are far from the Dao. Ancient cultivators with great achievements never revered deities. Remember this well.
In the world, most believers feel that worshipping in large temples is very effective when it works, but serves as comfort when it doesn't. Moreover, when facing major disasters, believers' worship is often ineffective. The reasons are twofold: first, such incense vow power is not enough to counter huge natural disasters or human disasters; second, when believers worship, deities always need to give feedback. If there is no feedback for a long time, no one will worship anymore. Therefore, the accumulated vow power cannot satisfy everyone, so the effect is limited.
There was once a religious attempt to see if believers could be made to worship continuously without demanding anything from them, so that the vow power gathered by deities would increase more and more, and could be useful when necessary. The result was that the whole thing got out of control. Therefore, this path should not be tried lightly. The power of the Way of Spirits, when it reaches a certain extent, is uncontrollable. Things turn into their opposites when they reach the extreme.
Some people feel that worshipping evil deities or small temples is more effective. In such cases, one needs to be careful. Some temples seem to enshrine orthodox deities, but in reality, they have become malevolent deities. They are effective at first because they give believers benefits. Once believers are attracted, they start harvesting the results. For example, deliberately creating disasters and then solving them, making believers more superstitious, like drinking poison to quench thirst, making believers fall deeper and deeper. Some people might ask, isn't it good that the created disasters can be solved, and nothing bad will happen?
Regarding this idea, I can only say, "Too young, too simple." If disasters do not actually occur, how can these malevolent deities make believers feel true fear? For example, they might cause continuous disasters for believers' relatives or themselves. These disasters will actually occur and pose a real threat to believers. Thus, believers will naturally strive to believe and worship. At the same time, to make the worship more powerful, they often recruit others to believe, to please the malevolent deities. As a result, cults are formed, leading to harm to others and oneself.
After clarifying this concept, one must correctly understand that all incense worship activities targeting deities are actually targeting Yin Spirits. If given a name acceptable to the masses, it can be called "deity," because the masses find it hard to accept the reality. So how it is said and promoted is another matter.
What is the attitude of Taoism towards deities? Those with lineage should know that in many lineage traditions, there are specific mantras and methods for dealing with deities, such as the Lushan Deity Detention Mantra, which is actually a variation of the Ghost Detention Mantra, and the Pangu Mantra can strike down all ghosts and deities. Also, in common general methods, there are mandatory Deity Withdrawal Mantras. When deities cannot be sent away, one can directly use talismans to forcibly withdraw them. Additionally, there are some ritual implements, such as the Deity Beating Whip, made of thirty-six joints, which can be used to beat deities. Hence, Taoism has the saying, "Talismans drive away all unrighteous ghosts in the world; the Law governs the unrighteous deities of mountains and rivers."
These are for malevolent deities. What about orthodox deities in Taoism?
For example, the God of Wealth Zhao Gongming Yuan Shuai, commonly worshipped by the folk. In orthodox Taoism, the purpose is not achieved through worshipping deities and sacrifices, but through "Summoning Generals." It is summoned through the method of summoning generals and then dispatched to act. For example, in the Tianxin Orthodox Law, "..........Summon righteous generals at will and speedily, descend rapidly. The Supreme Emperor has issued an edict, obey and execute. Quickly, according to the law. Right hand Dipper Seal, Heaven's Gate Qi summons generals, use at will."
Unlike sacrificing and worshipping deities, the orthodox deities (actually Yang Spirits) summoned through summoning generals rely on pure Yang manifestation, so there will be no side effects, and their power is extremely strong.
Regarding the details of summoning generals, I will write a special article later. This involves many internal secret operations and is quite complex.