Lu Dongbin said with a smile: "You stupid girl, you mean that the environment should be quiet and elegant, then the essence of the heavens, earth, sun and moon you absorb is pure qi, but you have to run to a place where the air is turbid, everyone thinks differently in their hearts, do you say that the qi you absorb is too complicated......

Xuan Chu smiled: "Hahaha, I see, the master is right, otherwise, everyone's qi will be absorbed a little, wouldn't it be fatal!" ”

Zhong Liquan smiled: "Hahaha, you master and apprentice, it's really interesting to chat......"

Xuan Chu thought to himself, when this Taoist practice is practiced, he always has to purify his body, and he doesn't know what it means to clean his mouth, doesn't the mage usually know that he loves to be clean?

Xuan Chu smiled and said: "Master, don't be idle, tell me why we Taoism do it, we have to clean our mouth and body?" ”

Zhong Liquan said with a smile: "When Taoism conducts the Jiao ceremony, the source of the idea of purifying the mouth, purifying the body, and purifying the heart comes from the "Nanhua Sutra". During the ritual ceremony, the "Three Jewels" recited have rhymes for the removal of the three obstacles of oral karma, physical karma, and mental karma. ”

Xuan Chu said: "I know, but is it true that the mage usually doesn't like to be clean, and by the way, he still has to bathe and fast, isn't this usually done if he loves cleanliness?" ”

Zhong Liquan smiled: "Hahaha, you kid, Taoism is a religion that attaches great importance to the rituals of Zhai Jiao. Before performing the religious ceremony, every believer involved in the ritual must bathe and change their clothes to ensure that their body and mind are not stained with dirt before they can invoke the gods. The original meaning of Zhai Jiao refers to a series of preparatory activities for people to bathe and change clothes, prohibit alcohol and meat before performing sacrifices or some major activities, so as to express their respect and devotion to the heaven and earth, gods, and ancestors sacrificed. ”

"I thought it was just a ceremony......

Lu Dongbin said with a smile: "The Jiao fasting advocated by Taoism does not only refer to specific religious rituals, that is, it is not only the worship of gods and ancestors, but also includes the binding effect of the practitioners' own "precepts". ”

He said, "Where did the history of fasting originate? ”

Zhong Liquan smiled: "The concept of fasting has existed since ancient times. In the final analysis, the belief of the Chinese is the belief of worshipping the heavens and ancestors, and the ritual of "fasting" is an indispensable part of the sacrifice to the gods and distant ancestors. In the "Book of Rituals and Rituals", which is dedicated to the ritual of sacrifices, it is said: "Those who fast are shrewd and complete, and then they can be handed over to the gods." The annotation in "Shuowen Jie Zi" reads: "Fasting, abstaining from purity." "Meaning, the original meaning of fasting was cleansing and abstinence." "Zhai" is largely equivalent to the meaning of "precept", so the use of the two words can often be seen in pre-Qin classics. ”

He also said: "For example, the cloud of "Mozi Tianzhi Chapter": "The Son of Heaven has a disease and calamity, he must fast and bathe, and Qi (fasting) to abstain from ghosts and gods." Not only that, but in Confucianism, which has always been "respecting ghosts and gods and staying away", there are also statements about fasting and worshipping gods. "Mencius: Lilouxia" says: "If you fast and bathe, you can worship God." Although he did not talk about ghosts and gods, Mencius still retained his reverence for "heaven" and "God" in his words, and told him the way to pass through heaven and gods - fasting. ”

Lu Dongbin said with a smile: "In the Book of Changes, it was mentioned that "the sage fasts with this", and the later Han Bokang further explained in the commentary that "washing the heart and fasting, preventing troubles and saying precepts", which raised the behavior of "fasting" from the simple reality of bathing and changing clothes, abstaining from alcohol and meat, to the psychological level. The so-called "prevention before it happens" refers to abstaining from one's own misdeeds in order to avoid harm, which is similar to the purpose of taking vows in religion on a certain level. The idea of physical and psychological fasting is brought into full play by Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi wrote a short story in "The World": When Yan Hui asked Confucius if he could go to defend the country and deal with political affairs, Confucius showed Yan Hui the method of being able to unite things and self, that is, "heart fasting". ”

He said: "If you have a will, you will listen to your heart without listening to it, and you will listen to it with your heart without listening to it!" Hearing stops at the ear, and the heart stops at the symbol. Those who are angry are also those who are empty and treat things. Only the Tao gathers the void. The void is also fasting. In Zhuangzi's view, the state of "heart fasting" that purifies the mind and does not detain the dust is more worthy of promotion than the fast that is done specifically for sacrificial activities by "not drinking alcohol and not eating meat for months".

"Since these rituals are so important, what should be done? ”

Lu Dongbin said with a smile: "The Taoist Jiao ceremony

When Taoism conducts the Jiao ceremony, the source of the idea of purifying the mouth, body, and heart is from the "Nanhua Sutra". During the ritual ceremony, the "Three Jewels" recited have rhymes for the removal of the three obstacles of oral karma, physical karma, and mental karma. Volume 37 of the Seven Signatures of the Cloud Ji reads: "Those who fast, Qi Ye, must complete the three karma, which is fasting. ”

It is also explained here that not only do the participants have to perform a cleansing activity before the ritual begins, but the ritual itself also has the effect of cleansing sins and removing karma. In the same volume of the Seven Signatures of the Clouds, there are also three different fasting methods: "One is to set up an offering to fast, which can accumulate virtue and relieve sorrows. The two diets and fasts, which can be with God to protect longevity, Si is said to be a sacrifice of fasting, and the sergeant is also doing it. The three are fasting, which is said to sparse their hearts and remove desires; Bathing in the snow spirit, to get tired and tired, to attack its wisdom, and to think about it. The sergeant did the same. "As a result, the cause and effect of the Taoist Jiao Zhai Jiao ritual have been combined into one."

Zhong Liquan said with a smile: "The purpose of "there are two kinds of fasting, one is to save the way, and the other is to help the earth" mentioned in the "Seven Signatures of the Cloud Ji", which is hoped to be achieved through the Jiao ceremony, and there are also specific religious rituals to help it achieve the effect of reaching the heavens and the earth, which then involves the concept of "Jiao". "Jiao" originally had two meanings, one refers to the ceremony of holding a crown and a marriage ceremony, and the other refers to the ritual of sacrifice. With the development of the times, the first meaning of "Jiao" gradually disappeared, and it was used exclusively to refer to sacrifices. The "Jiao" in Taoism, such as Luo Tian Da Jiao (Taiping Jiao for blessing and peace from the gods), Merit Jiao (a dojo made to remember the merits of the ancestors), and Wenchang Jiao (a dojo that prays for the smooth progress of the scientific field and the prosperity of the official fortune), are all through the incredible merit of the people chanting in the dojo and the blessing of the Dao power of the high-level masters, to achieve the role of feeling the gods and spirits, so as to achieve the wish of praying for blessings and eliminating disasters.

Zhai and Jiao were originally carried out separately, until the Tang Dynasty Du Guangting added the content of Xie Enjiao to Huang Xuan Zhai, and Zhai Jiao was called one, which is what we now commonly call "doing the dojo". Although there are differences in rituals and rituals between different sects in the past dynasties, the original intention of fasting Jiao has not changed. The "Sacrificial System" chapter also mentions: "The outside is all things, and the inside is all will, and the righteousness of this sacrifice is also." Only by "the purity of the form and spirit" can we feel the high truth, the lower ghost, and truly realize the immeasurable power of the Taoist Zhaijiao. This is also the reason why Taoism must require believers to purify their bodies and minds when chanting sutras. ”