Three things to enter the door: kowtow, burn incense, on the offerings, these are the three things that ordinary people must do when they come to the Taoist temple, although they may not know the reason for such a worship, but such customs have been retained from generation to generation, offering offerings, not only in the palace, but also ordinary people will use, such as Qingming sacrifice, of course, to the palace must be more exquisite.
In the ashram, the offering of offerings is also a very important and indispensable procedure, and the main offerings are incense, flowers, lamps, water, fruits, etc. The display of these offerings, in terms of form, is splendid and makes the ashram spectacular.
Incense: Eliminate impurities and communicate with the gods
Incense is the most important offering of Taoism to worship the gods, worship the gods, and practice the main offerings of the dojo.
Taoism believes that there are two main uses for burning incense:
One is that the faint fragrance and curling cigarette smoke can regulate and purify the air in the temple, which is helpful to people's physical and mental health, and at the same time, it can also eliminate all the impurities in the world of ghosts and gods.
Second, it is also the most important meaning of incense, Taoism believes that incense is the medium and channel for the Taoist to communicate with the gods. In other words, the thoughts, thoughts, prayers, wishes, and hopes of the master who presided over the dojo were all conveyed to the heavens and the underworld through cigarettes.
The mantras and recitations of the Gaogong Taoist people in the green words and green chapters can only be conveyed to the gods and ghosts through incense, and the wishes of the lord can be realized.
The incense burned is mainly sandalwood (sandalwood is not available in ceremonial fighting), cloud incense, agarwood, purple incense, eggplant incense and other "precious five spices".
When describing the religious significance of incense, the Sazu Tin Pot Feeding Sacrifice Kefan says:
"Incense offerings, golden tripods release auspicious light, treasure covers the realm of bliss, auspicious clouds surround the Daluo sky, in front of the Ruiyu Emperor; Ciyun cloth, fly down the nine heavens, the earthly government Cao Gong casts magic rain, the underworld mountain descends spiritual smoke, incense disperses the soul of sin. ”
Flowers: Praise the abode and revere the gods
The ultimate goal pursued by Taoism is to cultivate both life and become immortals.
The heavenly realm is a blessed land of flowers and colorful caves, which is beautiful and wonderful. Flowers are placed in the ashram and efforts are made to create a beautiful and warm atmosphere in the ashram in order to express the lord's praise for the gods and the place where they live, and to express their devotion to the gods.
"Flower offerings, thousands of years of wonderful and difficult to measure, birui peony blooms beautifully, crimson peony is fragrant, jade girl scatters colorful, golden boy holds out a thousand auspicious ......"
Lights: Turn on the light and bring hope
According to Taoism, the ghosts that people become after death enter the underworld, where it is dark, there is no light, and it is extremely eerie and terrifying, and the ghosts are tortured by all kinds of torture instruments there, and they are miserable.
Ever-bright lamps (usually lit candles) are placed in the dojo in order to open a ray of light to the dark and gloomy ghosts of the underworld, illuminate the path to escape from the sea of suffering and transcend to the heavenly immortal land, and bring light and hope to the ghosts.
The ritual of "Almsgiving" says:
"The lamp is offered, and it shines in the middle of ten thousand days, and it illuminates the night hell. The silver lamp opens at dawn, until the Ruizhu Palace, the Three Realms, the fire tree is exquisite, the ten thousand rays of the glow are blue, the five colors shine on the underworld, the heaven and the earth are all connected, the salvation degree, and the deceased return to the fairy land. ”
Water: Benefiting all things and nourishing all living beings
"The Must-Use Collection of Taoism" says: There are seven kinds of treasure syrup in the dedication to the heavens, "the essence of the day, the moon syrup, the starlight syrup, the nectar syrup, the gold liquid syrup, the spiritual light syrup, and the jade treasure syrup", saying that "the chaos is not divided, the yuan is a pot of spiritual liquid; the magic has been possessed, scattered into nine boils and clear the mess", "if you drink three cups, you will lead to the avenue", "drink endlessly, flow in ten directions", can purify the yin soul, restore the true form.
Water can also bathe and purify the ghosts, in the rituals, Gao Gong writes the golden light and the two heavenly honors of immortality in the water bowl, and in the thoughts, the water bowl turns into a lotus pond, and collects all the ghosts in the pool, bathing and purifying.
"Water offerings, a natural birth, the bottom is a sweet spring through the earth's veins, the upper is the rain and dew sprinkled with dust, and all things are completed. Seven joys should be divided at any time, and the cool water shows three abilities. Wonderful power to help the wish come true, but wish to descend to the ashram and worship the water offering. ”
Fruit: Worship the gods and give favors
The fruits used in the Dharma Ceremony Ashram are generally commonly used seasonal fruits, which are of good quality, bright in color, generally singular, and avoid fruits such as pears, plums, and pomegranates, which are mainly used to offer to the heavenly gods and goddesses, and also represent the devotion of the lord. Fruits are generally suitable for five, seven and nine kinds, such as peaches, lychees, longans, apples, pineapples, bananas, oranges and other fruits.
"Fruit offerings, five-colored gold plates. The peach knot in the ten thousand trees and flowers, Li Chengdan in the garden of thousands of trees, before the citrus full of courts, the purple apricot can make the old man few, and the yellow plum can make the sick safe"
Fasting: Revenge and release, early exaltation
Rice is generally used in the dojo of the underworld, such as in the soup kitchen, usually using the bridge face, that is, using chopsticks to pick up the noodles and place them horizontally on top of the bowl. There are also steamed buns, rice, and so on.
"Two days of immeasurable food, full of the Dharma realm, to help the hungry and fed, quiet and immeasurable. Natural heavenly kitchen food, I am today and blessed, a grain all over the ten directions, the soul of the river sand is offered, the hunger and thirst are eliminated forever, and the feast of food is Yaochi. Now it will be offered to ghosts, and the merit is inconceivable. Futian is high and towering, the food is quiet, the three ways of pulling out Ru are bitter, Shi Ru Jiu Xuanqing, when receiving the Dharma food, all the heavens are praised. ”
Of course, due to the influence of different customs and habits in different places, the fasting offerings in the ashram can be increased or decreased, but the above six types of fasting offerings are essential.