Zhang Daoling, the ancestor of Shi Tian, clearly put forward that life is the embodiment of Taoism at the beginning of teaching, thus creating the cultivation tradition of Taoist precious life. This idea was inherited and spread by later generations. The popular view in modern times is that Zheng He only paid attention to Zuo Fu's fasting and ignored health preservation, which is not in line with historical facts. From the three most important Shi Tian discourses in history, we can know that it is a consistent tradition to cherish life and pay attention to self-cultivation. It is true that Zheng Yi is famous for endowing Zhai Yong well, in order to play the social role of Taoism in enriching the country, enriching the people and helping the world, which can be played on the basis of superb internal cultivation. As Zhang Yuchu, the 43rd generation Shi Tian, pointed out, "Although science and education have been established, it is only the study of life." "If you don't know the foundation of life, do you have to be fully prepared?"
From Shi Tian, the ancestor, to Shi Tian, the thirtieth generation, to Shi Tian, the 43rd generation, which emphasized that life is the foundation of learning Tao, it shows a long-standing tradition of cultivating noble students. By clearing the fog of history, we can clearly see the deep internal roots hidden behind the external form of ofuda science and education. It is not only the essence of Zhengyi, but also the essence of Taoism as a whole.
First, life is a variant of Tao.
Life is another body of Tao, which is an important teaching thought of the ancestor Shi Tian. He said in "Old Xiangzi Jules": "Tao is big, Tao is big, Tao is big, Tao is big. Of the four, which is the biggest? Tao is the biggest. " In the universe, Tao is the origin, it gives birth to heaven and earth, nurtures all things, is the base of natural creation, is the endless internal force, and is the law of things' operation. Tao is the highest belief of the followers of Masada's Taoism, and the process of establishing a religion by his ancestors is also the process of carrying forward the Avenue. As for life, the note says: "There are four domains, and life is one. One of the big four is one of them. Life is different. " The reason why "fate" lives next to avenue and heaven and earth is because it is the presentation of Tao and the other body of Tao. Zu deeply realized the close relationship between life and Tao, and endowed "life" with great significance. Starting from caring for life, he promoted human life to the same position as Tao.
Life is the most precious thing for people. Health and longevity are people's universal aspirations. Zu founded Taoism and opened up the road to immortality. Zu Shi Tian pointed out that the root of life lies in the avenue, and life itself is the presentation of the avenue. As the Neiguan Classic of Taishang Laojun said: "Tao is invisible, and it is clear because of life; Life can't be constant, keep it with Tao. If life and Tao are one, they will live forever and become immortals. "
Since life and Tao are actually one, the key to health preservation lies in body, law and harmony. "Xiang Zhu Er" said: "If you want to live a long life, you must be in the Tao." When people are close to the Tao, they can integrate individual life with the nature of the universe and make individual life eternal, that is, "those who walk in the street will live, those who lose in the Tao will die" and "those who can learn the Tao will live for a long time." Between heaven and earth, life is the most spiritual because of its spirit of Zhong Xiu, which can understand the flow of vitality in the universe and make Tao come true in response to nature. The ultimate goal of health care is to "wish to live forever", so that this vitality is endless like a road. This "wish" is not intentional, but as natural as "the grain and grass in the world want to flow eastward to the sea" and as natural as the operation of heaven. It emphasizes the tacit combination of life and Tao, that is, a natural combination, an innate combination, and a seamless integration of life and Tao.
I just hope to live forever, in order to live forever. First, self-discipline. Xianger notes that "essence" is the foundation of human existence, and "essence is the foundation of entering the human body." Therefore, only by not losing the treasure can people live forever. The note reads: "The ancient gods lived with essence, but today's people die with loss of essence." So, how can we keep the essence of the treasure? The method proposed in Xianger's note is "concentration". This is the origin of Neidan's theory of "refining qi" and "refining god" in later generations. The premise of accumulating essence into god is "self-discipline". "Essence becomes god, and if you want to make god immortal, you must be self-disciplined." Second, quiet without desire. Xiang Er Zhu holds that quietness without desire is the nature of Tao: "Tao often has no desire, and its quietness is fun, so heaven and earth are always right." Therefore, "the Taoist should respect the spirit of self-respect and be quiet-oriented" in order to achieve "emotion is motionless, anger is not aroused, five internal organs are in harmony, and the Tao shares the same light and dust". Third, accumulate more good deeds. "Xianger Note" holds that "to do good, follow the path; If you do evil, harm will follow. " In order to achieve the goal of longevity, we must accumulate more good deeds. Therefore, those who seek a long life, "each does his own thing and does his own good."
Second, keep it full of vitality.
Zhang Daoling, the ancestor of Shi Tian, respected Taoism and founded the Taoist tradition, especially the doctrine of precious life. In Song Dynasty, Zhang Jixian, the 30th generation Shi Tian, put forward the important conclusion of "keeping him alive". Zhang Jixian, the 30th generation Tianshi, was deeply trusted by Song Huizong. I have been asked many times about the way to govern the country. Chongning for four years (1 105) was awarded the title of "Mr. Xu Jing" by Song Huizong. Although Mr. Xu Jing is indifferent by nature, he has no intention of being secular, but out of his responsibility to the country and the people, he prayed that the people would return to an upright and harmonious country. He had no choice but to face the luxury of Hui Zong dynasty, and all he saw was disappointment. In the end, he refused the title of "Doctor Xu" and lived in seclusion in Longhushan, Jiangxi. Although Mr. Wang's life is short, he has a good knowledge of Taoist magic and internal and external alchemy. His thoughts are mainly contained in the quotations of Xu Jing Shi Tian. After careful reading, we can get a glimpse of his attitude towards life, which is the same as that of his ancestor Shi Tian.
The first sentence in Xu Jing Shi Tian's poem "Tit Xu Chong Soup" is: "Keep it for life". We can understand it as his outlook on life. The word "chong qi" can be found in the Tao Te Ching written by Taizhang Daozu: "Everything is negative and holds Yang, and chong qi thinks it is harmony", which means that Yin and Yang in the universe agitate and interact with each other, resulting in neutralization. For the explanation of this sentence, Tang Xuanzong explained it most thoroughly in his annotation "The Classic of Tao Te Ching": "On the one hand, impulse also moves out impulse and wonderful spirit", from which we can understand that impulse is produced in the operation of the avenue, which is the Taoist spirit. Breathing harmoniously, yin and yang are pregnant, and then everything becomes rich. Therefore, the spirit of harmony can be regarded as a medium to connect everything in Yin and Yang with Tao, and it is also a medium for individuals to cultivate Tao. Through this annotation, it is not difficult for us to understand Xu Jing Shitian's concept of "nourishing qi for a lifetime", that is, nourishing qi is the primary condition for raising life, and your life and health preservation are based on harmony. Those who have the spirit of harmony must be harmonious, humble and weak, and their essence is by the way.
As for monasticism, Xu Jing Shi Tian emphasized the internal motivation and will of individual life, just as he said when exhorting Song Huizong: "There is no road outside, the important thing is to cultivate your own heart." The idea contained in it is that cultivation is in oneself, not by others. He also expressed the same idea in Song of the Avenue: "The Tao is not far away, but in the body, everything is empty." As I said before, people are born with aura and have a way in their bodies. What we have to do is to find and inspire this Tao ourselves. The next sentence says: "If the nature is not empty, the spirit will return to Yuanhai and live forever." What is sex? A real person in southern China said, "Sex is the quality of life", and Cheng explained that sex is the characteristic of life endowed by nature. From the point of view of Taoist Inner alchemy: "Nature is God", and God dies when he is deformed. Therefore, we can regard everything as vanity, but we should always take care of our divinity, so that the spirit of harmony can stay, because: "God controls the spirit, the spirit stays in shape, and it does not need acrobatics to live forever." Divinity can stabilize the harmonious qi in the body. With this harmonious qi, you can live forever without other complicated cultivation techniques. As for how to recuperate and soothe the nerves, Song of the Avenue said: "If you want to keep your mind on your body, don't leave anything behind. Things are unclear in my heart, and it really hurts to dissipate. " Ggong is our soul. If you want to be full of energy, you must keep your heart from being touched by foreign objects and entangled by desires. He said: the magical use of immortals is the most difficult to see, and learning Taoism is mostly due to the desire for Taoism. The key to keeping spiritual clarity is to cultivate the mind, which is also the foothold of Shi Tian's life accomplishment. He said in "The Theory of Mind": "A man with a husband's heart is the master of all laws, the master of nine tricks, the foundation of life and death, the source of good and evil, and the master of gods." Heart is the embodiment of Tao in human body and the main body of human body. Life and death depend on it, and good and evil also come from it. Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate one's mind and keep one's heart pure in order to maintain the spirit of harmony: "When Shen Yuan comes out, he will receive it, and when God is resurrected, he will return to the spirit. This will naturally give birth to a real child. " Based on the cultivation of the mind, the pursuit of cultivation of the mind is to achieve the elixir of life, that is, to cultivate the mind and nourish the nature, to form a true fetus through intensive cultivation of life, and to achieve the elixir of life. For this reason, Xu Jing Shi Tian wrote 49 poems about then, which were handed down from generation to generation, and comprehensively expounded the way of then. The poem says: "My body and life are in harmony with nature, and I am fascinated by the elixir. When I grow up, I will live in the Jade Palace, and my son will take the ladder."
Third, life is the foundation of Taoism.
"Life is the foundation of learning Tao" was advocated by Mr. Zhang Yuchu in the 43rd generation. Zhang Yuchu's Shi Tian is known as "a master of Confucianism" and is a representative work of Shi Tian's thoughts in past dynasties. He once said, "Words show Tao, and Tao is written in words." Therefore, he not only wrote a lot, but also presided over the compilation of Taoist scriptures, which was favored by future generations. Zhang Yuchu's Shi Tian combs the origin of Taoism in his works, emphasizing that Taoism originated from the Tao Te Ching written by Taoist ancestors. In Ten Doors, he said: "Although there were three treasures of Tao, Jing and Shi, it began when the old gentleman in Taishang gave Guan Lingyin five thousand virtues." Ask the monks to study the right path: "Anyone who practices my Tao will be reformed according to the classics." The so-called righteousness belongs to the teaching of empty inaction established by the emperor. Shi Tian of Zhang Qianchu believes that Li Jiao, the Emperor's Father, is intended to teach people to understand life and death: "Gai Tai Huang Li Jiao teaches people to transcend illusions and understand life and death." In his view, the theories of Laozi and Guanyin, Kang Cang and Zhuang Lie are all too high. "His words are all about self-cultivation, and so is his life. Repair, embrace and defend from the inside out, so they are all born. It is also beneficial to give it outside, not to argue inaction. " The so-called understanding of life and death, the so-called life, are all out of concern and respect for life. Zhang Yuchu's concern for life is based on the cultivation of life. He said, "If you have no life after all, what is the so-called scholar?" His ideological interpretation of the Tao of life can be summarized by a sentence in Ten Rules of the Door: "What is the basis of learning Tao, not life?" The so-called life is two things, sex is the soul, life is life, sex is human spirit, and life is human vitality. Learning Tao and practicing should not only cultivate people's mind, but also cultivate people's qi and blood.
Zhengyi Taoism has always taught people with blessings, but Zhang Yuchu pointed out that the study of life is the foundation of Taoism. He said: "All practitioners must first abstain from practice, and then take investigation as their task ... If they can practice spirituality in the morning and evening, they will not be lazy in practice, and their words and deeds will be indifferent. Why not suffer from the invalidity of the law and not help it! " It is emphasized that people should put self-discipline first and practice methods should be based on internal cultivation. Before practicing spells and methods, you need "know life Roots to accumulate true merits". He also said in "Three-Yuan Biography of Du Pu" that on the one hand, Yi Fa can "swear external evils", on the other hand, it should "be internal" to drive away external evils and practice at home.
The cultivation of life should be in nourishing qi and spirit. Zhang Yuchu Shi Tian said: "If you know how to raise your husband, you can cultivate your self-cultivation." In Wenxuan, he said: "Those who are good at talking about immortals stop talking and listen, and hold the spirit to be quiet, so they forget their form and nourish their spirit, forget their spirit and nourish their deficiency." The way to make up for deficiency is modesty and prudence. He said: "If you are open-minded and careful, it will be empty and useless, and it will not be dry." But with an open mind and a clean mind, it is necessary to "get rid of powder, forget things and forget me, get rid of the atmosphere and dirt, so as to keep the meditation work incisively and vividly." In this way, "if you want to resume your life, you will be deeply rooted, get rid of the mysterious concept and persevere."
From Shi Tian, the ancestor of Taoism, to Xu Jingshi's upbringing all his life, and to Zhang Yuchu's establishment of learning Taoism all his life, the three most important Shi Tian in the history of Taoism, although living in different times, all focus on the core life problems of Taoism, and come down in one continuous line. Although there has been a saying since the Song and Yuan Dynasties that fasting is more important than health preservation, we know from the feelings of the above three generations of Shi Tian about life that the religious feelings of immortals and Zhengde are the same throughout the long history of Zhengyi school. The exploration of the way of whole life and life has been explored for thousands of years, but it still has no end, and it needs generations of monks to explore. There is still more room for us to dig deeper, expecting people of insight to pay more attention and research, and to show Taoism's unique cognition and understanding of the value of life, thus helping people care about life and death and develop a good attitude towards life. That is to sublimate life and better life.