How does Taoism respect God?

Rituals to salute the gods, such as opening the gods, decorating temples, offering sacrifices to the gods, burning incense, etc., all belong to the category of worship. Since the worship ceremony of Taoism begins with statues, let's start with statues.

(1) sculpture

There are many kinds of statues, including wood carving, clay sculpture, bamboo carving and stone carving. When carving idols, we should pay tribute to them. There are mainly two ceremonies: (1) The groundbreaking ceremony was held on an auspicious day. First of all, offering sacrifices, burning incense and chanting. In the case of wood carving, the sculptor has to chop 37 times on the wood with an axe to show three delights or give it three souls and seven spirits. (2) In the process of sculpture (production) of idols, there must also be a ceremony of "dressing dirty", the purpose of which is to enable gods to penetrate into idols and make idols truly become spiritual bodies to which gods attach themselves. In the case of wood carving, open a hole in the back of the statue to reach the chest, and then choose an auspicious day to "pretend to be dirty." The contents of "pretending to be dirty" usually include: classics, representing god and wisdom; Bronze mirror, symbolizing that the gods can reflect the good and evil on earth; Almanac and grain symbolize that the gods can bless the good weather and good harvests; Aquilaria sinensis, cinnabar and realgar indicate that evil spirits can be avoided; Five lines of red, yellow, cyan, white and black should be complete; Gold and silver jewelry means that gods can help people to be rich and auspicious; Amulets and incense ashes represent magical power.

(2) the statue is opened.

After the statue was formed, a ceremony of "opening eyes" was held on an auspicious day. Prepare cinnabar, bletilla striata, golden rooster, mirror, towel, new writing brush and other things in advance. At that time, there will be offerings, incense burning, chanting, chanting ("Golden Mantra"), burning watches and chanting imperial edicts. Gao Gong takes off the red cloth on the statue, wipes the statue's face with a new towel, and then dips the mixed liquid of cinnabar, bletilla striata and golden rooster blood with a new brush, and dots the eyes of the statue (by the way, dots the nose, mouth and ears to show enlightenment). The ceremony of "opening the light at this moment" is held to sincerely pray that the spirit of God will come to the gods attached to the world and make it a spiritual body with the spirit of God. Therefore, its ceremony is grand. Taoism has a set of instruments specially used for lighting.

(3) Temple decoration

Temple, also known as shrine or temple. In order to increase the majesty and solemn atmosphere of God and make people feel hot and pious after entering the temple, various decorations should be arranged in the temple. There are canopies, curtains, banners, buildings, chandeliers and so on. The canopy was originally decorated with an umbrella to cover the top of the emperor's throne. Ancient and modern notes: "The canopy was also made by the Yellow Emperor." Taoism is used by later generations and hung on the top of the statue, symbolizing the dignity and majesty of God. Hanging in front of the statue, embroidered with patterns such as white clouds and cranes. Great, hanging on both sides of the curtain in front of the statue. "Taiqing Jade Book" Volume 5: "A banner used by Taoism to express the image of heaven and earth". In front of idols, you have to wait, symbolizing the glory of the gods.

(4) offering sacrifices to the gods

The god worshipped is the spirit of God, which was provided for at that time. Offer, enjoy offering; Raise, worship with food. Its offerings are usually incense, flowers, lamps, water and fruits, which are permanent offerings. When doing the Dojo, on the basis of the previous five offerings, five offerings of tea, food, treasure, pearls and clothing were added, becoming ten offerings. There is one confession, three confessions, five confessions, seven confessions and nine confessions. Every five plates (or bowls, or plates) are provided as a class. At present, the offerings provided by Taoist temples generally include tea (tea or tea) fruit (fruit or dried fruit), rice (rice or rice products), pasta (steamed bread or flour products) and vegetables (green vegetables or dried vegetables). God's offerings should also be arranged according to the ceremony. Its order from inside to outside is: one tea, two fruits, three meals, four dishes and five steamed buns. When offering a sacrifice, first raise the offering with both hands (in line with the forehead), bow and salute, and then gently put it on the table. Burn incense and worship after offering.

(5) Burning incense

The most common way to worship God is to worship incense. Worship incense, also known as offering incense, is commonly known as burning incense. The purpose of burning incense is to "make a letter with incense", that is, to reach the gods through cigarettes with people's sincerity. As the saying goes, "a column is really fragrant, and the sacred height is blessed." There are two ways to burn incense: burning incense and burning incense.

Burning incense is more common, and it is a ritual for Taoist priests and believers to sacrifice to God with thread incense (or incense or Tibetan incense) on weekdays. Specific method: (1) Choose three sticks of incense, and don't cut off the incense. (2) ignite the incense (if there is an open flame after ignition, it can be extinguished left and right, and cannot be blown out with breath). (3) Facing the idol, hold the incense with both hands (flush with the forehead) and bow down and salute. (4) burn incense with your left hand. The incense sticks should be straight and flat, and the interval is only one inch wide (indicating an inch of heart). If you are a Taoist, you should recite the mantra when burning incense: "Always burn your heart and make your heart calm." If there are many gods in a temple, the ceremony is the same: take your places first, then take your places, and then give each person a stick of incense. ) (5) When the incense is finished, bow down. As the saying goes, burn incense and worship God.

Burning incense is the most solemn, and it can only be carried out when the gods set up a ceremony for Christmas or fasting, and there is a host (abbot, supervisor) or a great success. There are five kinds of incense, namely sandalwood, agarwood, cloud incense, red sandalwood and eggplant incense, which are "precious five fragrances". Sandalwood is the most commonly used, so burning incense is also called burning sandalwood. Burning sandalwood is more particular. The incense should be split into one minute thick and one inch long; There must be a special incense burner (called sandalwood burner) and some fragrant noodles (usually ground into powder by thread incense instead). Before burning incense, use a spoon (such as a small spoon) to dig a small hole in the middle of the sandalwood stove, bury it in the fragrant noodles, smooth it with the spoon, and cover the fragrant noodles with a layer of fragrant ash. Then, light a little thread incense that has been folded into an inch in advance, and insert the burning end into the incense surface. When burning incense, throw three sticks of incense into the furnace three times with your left hand, and put them down (first in the middle, then left and then right) or something. Meditate while burning incense.

"Zhu Xiang Mantra": "The Tao is taught by the heart, and the heart is fake (borrowed). Incense burns a jade furnace, and the heart is in front of the emperor. It's really the elves looking down, and the fairies are on the porch. It took me nine days to pass the notice. " After the incense is finished, go back to the kneeling mat and knock three times and nine times.