Founding Yuan Ling (he has 4 apprentices, Hongjun Patriarch, Hun Kun Patriarch, Nuwa Empress and Lu Yadaojun)
At the beginning of the birth of the universe, there was a primordial spirit who was born with mixed primordial origin. His spiritual orifice was first opened, and he gradually became sane. This Yuan Ling accidentally obtained the artifact from the beginning of the universe in West Kunlun. After several generations of practice, the Yuan Ling's merits and virtues were completed, and Taoism was achieved. In the long and unbearable chaotic universe, the founding Yuanling became the only "conscious person" in the universe, enduring unimaginable loneliness. It seems that in order to fulfill a certain agreed and mysterious mission, the founding Yuan Ling used the supreme spiritual power of the artifact to teach the four apprentices a practice method. The eldest, Hongjun, cultivates "Xuanqing Qi", the second eldest, Hun Kun, cultivates "Xuan Lingqi", the third eldest Nuwa, cultivates "Xuanqing Qi", and the fourth eldest, Luya, cultivates "Xuanming Qi". The spirit is clear." Later generations respected him as Hongjun Patriarch, Hun Kun Patriarch, Nuwa Empress and Lu Ya Daojun respectively.
1, the ancestor of Hongjun
There are three major disciples: Taishang Laojun (Dao De Tianzun 33 heavens), Yuanshi Tianzun
Lao Tzu is the Supreme Lord. He is the eldest disciple of Patriarch Hongjun, and he is in charge of teaching people. He went down the mountain three times to help explain the teachings and retreat to teach the immortals. He also transformed the Sanqing with one breath and defeated the leader of the Tongtian sect. In "Journey to the West", he lives in Lihentian, one of the leaders of the Sanqing sect, the founder of the Hunyuan religion in the Holy Land of the Taiqing, the Taishang Daozu, also known as the Taishang Laojun. Master Xuandu is the only disciple of Taishang Laojun.
Yuanshi Tianzun
Pangu, the second disciple of Patriarch Hongjun, was playing and having fun with a group of teachers, uncles and disciples on that day. The ax opens up a world (this one is really a fierce man!), and makes the mountains, rivers, rivers, lakes and seas become by magic. Pangu is not only good at making an axe, but also cultivates the realm of "Yuxuanqingqi" in the "Xuanqingqi" passed down by the ancestor Hongjun, and single-handedly created a sect called Chanjiao, with high mana and superb power . The mortals of later generations felt his merits in opening up the world, and they all respected Pan Gu as Yuanshi Tianzun. (Khan...Pangu is actually Yuanshi Tianzun), and later he became the supervisor of the Sanqingjiao-the ancestor of the Yuqing Holy Land in "Journey to the West".
There are countless disciples from the disciples, among which the "Yuxu twelve disciples" are the most proficient in practice. Which twelve disciples do you know? They are:
Manjusri Guangfa Tianzun (later became a Buddha: Manjusri Bodhisattva) Cave: Yunxiao Cave, Wulong Mountain
Apprentice: Jin Zhabao is the post of chasing the dragon
Samantabhadra (later became a Buddha: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva) Cave House: Baihe Cave in Jiugong Mountain
Apprentice: Mu Zha Magic weapon: Wu Hook Sword
Cihang Taoist (later became a Buddha: Avalokitesvara) Cave House: Luojia Cave in Mount Putuo
Apprentice: none
Magic weapon: jade bottle
Fear of Liusun (later entered into Buddhism: Fear of Liusun Buddha) Dongfu: Jialong Mountain Feiyun Cave
Magic weapon: Immortal binding rope
Apprentice: Tu Xingsun
Yuding Immortal Cave Mansion: Jinxia Cave in Yuquan Mountain
Apprentice: Yang Jian Magic weapon: Immortal Sword
Taiyi Immortal Cave Mansion: Golden Light Cave in Qianyuan Mountain
Apprentice: Nezha Magic weapon: Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield
Chijingzi Cave House: Yunxiao Cave in Taihua Mountain
Magic weapon: yin and yang mirror
Huanglong real person
Cave House: Magu Cave in Erxian Mountain
Apprentice: None
Master Lingbao
Cave House: Yuanyang Cave, Kongtong Mountain
Guang Chengzi
Cave House: Taoyuan Cave in Jiuxian Mountain
Apprentice: Yin Jiao
Magic weapon: Fan Tianyin
Daoxing Tianzun Cave Mansion: Yuwu Cave in Jinting Mountain
Apprentice: Wei Hu
The True Monarch of Purity and Virtue
Cave House: Ziyang Cave in Qingfeng Mountain
Apprentice: Huang Tianhua
Antarctic Immortal Cave House: Kunlun Mountains
Apprentices: He Tong, Lu Tong
Cloud Neutron Cave House: Yuzhu Cave in Zhongnan Mountain
Disciple Lei Zhenzi
Lantern Taoist became the ancient Buddha of Lantern, Yuanjue Cave of Lingjiu Mountain, disciple Li Jing
Master Tongtian is the third apprentice of Patriarch Hongjun, and he is in charge of Jiejiao. He has the most disciples, but most of them are just making up for it. But he also made a lot of contributions to God. For example, the Twenty-Four Stars, Thunder God and Lightning Mother, and Universal Astrology under the Jade Emperor are almost all his disciples. Master Tongtian listened to the slander of his disciples, and set up two formations of "Zhu Xian" and "Wan Xian", blocking Jiang Ziya's way. Later, thanks to the concerted efforts of the four major sect masters, this formation was broken. He is another leader of the San Puritanism—the ancestor Lingbao Tianzun of Tongtianjiao, the Holy Land of the Qing Dynasty.
2, Master Kun Kun
Patriarch Hun Kun practiced "Mysterious Spiritual Qi" and had countless disciples, such as pythons, cows, snakes, beasts, dragons, lions, monkeys... all kinds of creatures of different shapes would never refuse to come. The most proud thing is that there are two big disciples. The first disciple is called Jieyin Taoist, and the second disciple is called Zhunti Taoist, both of whom have extraordinary immortal hearts and profound Taoist deeds. The two founded a sect called Western Sect, and they served as the master and the minor sect leader respectively.
The big disciples lead the Taoists to learn the method of the Supreme Old Monarch, and the primordial spirit incarnates in the prince Gautama-Siddhartha of Kapilavastu, doing the reincarnation penance, but this little prince Gautama-Siddhartha is also an immortal. A person with a flood of hearts and a genius. Later, the prince sat alone under a bodhi tree, and he suddenly realized that his skills were perfect and he realized the Tao. Everyone called him "Buddha" and respected him as Sakyamuni. Since then, Sakyamuni's immortal heart has been swaying, and he actually created a sect called Buddhism. That is to say, to lead Taoists to cultivate into a golden body, that is, the Buddha Lord Tathagata, who belongs to the present Buddha. Later, it annexed Western religion and became its Buddhism;
The second disciple, Zhunti Taoist, is the Bodhi, the patriarch of the Western Miaodharma mentioned in the book. He didn't know what happened with the Taoist guide, but disappeared mysteriously, and has never been heard from since. Many years later, a stone monkey was born one day, and he was taught an amazing Taoism by a mysterious Bodhi Patriarch. (Sweat...the Taoist who received the guide was actually the Tathagata Buddha, and the Taoist Zhunti was even more sweaty...he was the master of Sun Wukong, and the Taoist Zhunti was actually the teacher of the Tathagata Buddha...Oh my God...) After the disappearance of Western religions, Hidden in Fangcun Mountain, Lingtai, Hezhou, Xiniu, after the Xieyue Sanxing Cave, he established a Taoist temple for self-cultivation and self-cultivation. Except for the residents in the mountain, no one knows where he lives. Even the Tathagata doesn't know where his junior brother is. I don't even know that there are immortals in Xiniu Hezhou.
Heng San Buddha refers to Amitabha Buddha in the Western Paradise, who is in charge of the Western Paradise. He has two attendants, "Dayong" Mahasthamaprapta and "Great Compassion" Avalokiteshvara; Sakyamuni, who is in charge of the central Saha world, has two attendants, "Great Wisdom" Manjushri and "Great Action". "Puxian Bodhisattva; the pharmacist Wangfo of the Eastern Glazed World, in charge of the Eastern Glazed Light World, he has two attendants, the Sunshine Universal Shining Bodhisattva and the Moonlight Universal Shining Bodhisattva.
The vertical three Buddhas refer to the ancient Buddha who burned lamps in the past, the current Buddha Sakyamuni and the future Buddha Maitreya.
3, Empress Nuwa
Empress Nuwa, who cultivates "Xuanqi", this Nuwa has the appearance of a human head and a snake body. She is withdrawn by nature and doesn't talk much, but she has a broad mind and has always had the ambition of compassion. After her nephew Yuanshi Tianzun chiseled out a world with an axe, Empress Nuwa took pity on the creation of the universe and all living things, so she made countless clay figurines of men and women with water and yellow mud, imitating her younger brother Lu Ya, and blew them again. He took a deep breath, and when he put it on the ground, he came back to life. Later, people appreciated Nuwa's merit in creating human beings and respected her as Nuwa Empress.
Humanity is in a desperate situation. The compassionate Nuwa empress smelted and burned red, yellow, blue, white, and black multicolored spiritual stones, repaired the sky with supreme Taoism, and cut off four legs from a deep-sea giant tortoise to serve as the four pillars supporting the world. The world finally returned to peace. But when Nuwa Empress was patching the sky, there was a stubborn stone, which seemed unwilling to be a mediocre patching stone, and sneaked out. That is the natural stone monkey Sun Wukong of later generations.
4, Lu Ya Daojun
As the saying goes, "the ancestor of Hongjun was the first immortal, and his disciple Pangu opened the sky at the beginning. Hongjun came first and then there was heaven, and Daoist Lu Ya is still in front." That means that the appearance of the people who came later came from Daoist Lu Ya. The four founding disciples of Yuanling: Patriarch Hongjun, Patriarch Hun Kun, Empress Nuwa, and Daoist Lu Ya. , a mischievous nature by nature, never a day of seriousness, but has no reputation left. His nephew, Taishang Laojun, Tathagata, etc. still respect him as a junior martial uncle, and those who know him also respect him as Lu Yadao Lord, but among the junior gods, those who have heard of it are rare. Taoist Lu Ya is the spirit of Lihuo. Flying out of the three realms is not in the five elements. The three holy emperors of Huoyun did not go to the top, and Yaochi and the emperor of heaven were ignored in the middle (it seemed that the Jade Emperor was not in charge of the heaven at that time). Not in the Three Religions, not in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you don't belong to the king, you don't accept the government of the underworld. Xiaoxiao is free to let me swim, and she is free to scatter the saints.
Buddha - the highest state of Buddhist practice is that human beings can reach Nirvana by chanting Buddha or practicing Zen, and are reborn in the Western Paradise. Because they are separated from the body, they can reach the state of no suffering mentioned by the Buddha, which is an advanced state. Spiritual body, this is the pursuit of the Buddha, what the Buddha pursues is "extinction"
Immortals—the highest level of Taoist cultivation is that humans or other animals can achieve the unity of humanity and nature by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
This is the pursuit of immortals, and what immortals pursue is "the way of heaven"
God - the soul after death
1. First of all, let's talk about monsters and monsters. This word is often called a monster in the West, and generally refers to animals or orcs with terrifying appearances. In the East, it is often called monsters. Monsters are a general derogatory term that generally refers to everything with superpowers. Or magical objects that are neither gods, immortals, nor humans, but cultivated by animals and plants that have transformed into human shapes (some may not necessarily transform into humans).
Among them, most of the monsters are cultivated from animals, such as snake monsters, free from demons; while most of the monsters are cultivated from plants, such as tree monsters. But this is not absolute.
It should be pointed out that animals and plants are fully qualified to cultivate into immortals if they focus on goodness and enlightenment in the process of cultivation. In Chinese (that is, before becoming monsters or immortals, but having some mana), these animals and plants are often called spirits, such as Zhongfangjing, ginsengjing, etc. They are slightly more kind than monsters, but they can also be called monsters collectively. (Note that it is not a monster in the essential sense), monsters can be active during the day and night.
2. Next, let's talk about demons. In a narrow sense, demons are basically the same as demons, but there are two differences. One is that demons are far more powerful than demons in mana, and ordinary gods are not necessarily their opponents. He is a veteran monster with a bit of an anti-government nature. The second is that demons may be degenerated by immortals and gods who strayed into evil ways, while demons are born and raised by animals and plants. Demons can be active day and night.
3. Let's talk about ghosts again. Many people talk about ghosts and demons together, thinking that they are similar, which is extremely wrong! Ghosts are the most yin things, and they are commonly called souls. The implication is that the life span of the yang is exhausted, and the body in the yang world is gone, leaving only a hazy, non-physical unit. The vast majority of ghosts are formed by the soul leaving the body after death. They can only move in the underworld. If they return to the underworld, they can only come out at night. Because the balance of yin and yang is broken, they become pure yin bodies. Naturally, there are more ghosts. A little superpower, but extremely weak. So the power of ghosts is very weak. There are generally three ways out for ghosts, one is reincarnated as a human or animal or plant, the other is to suffer in hell, these two are the most common, and the other is to be dismembered into a god, generally speaking, people do good deeds in the world , Or practice Taoism, or be instructed by an expert, or be granted a royal title, but have no chance to become a fairy in the flesh and can only be dissected after death and ascended to a god. In fact, these people have never been so-called ghosts. Ghosts can only be active at night, absolutely impossible during the day.
4. Let's talk about immortals. In a broad sense, there are five kinds of immortals: heavenly immortals, earth immortals, human immortals, human immortals, and ghost immortals. Immortals in a narrow sense refer to heavenly immortals and earth immortals. Here I will only talk about immortals in the narrow sense, that is, immortals who are different from gods. The concept of immortals is also purely religious in nature. It is closely related to Taoism. A celestial being is a person whose physical body is sanctified and whose merits and virtues are perfect. All objects can become a celestial being. There are two ways to become a celestial being.
The first is to become a fairy passively. Whether it is a person, animal, plant or even a non-living thing, it can become a fairy passively. For example, being enlightened by immortals, or infected by immortal energy, or taking Taoist elixir, or the growth environment absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, can make objects become immortals. There are many examples here, so I won't give them any more.
The second is to take the initiative to cultivate immortals. "Anyone with nine orifices can cultivate immortals." Therefore, only humans and a small number of animals can cultivate immortals. When they believe in Taoism, actively practice the authentic magic of Taoism, and do many good deeds, those who are destined can become immortals. Immortal. But it is necessary to practice authentic spells. If you practice the sect, even if you are successful, you will not be able to become a fairy, you can only be a demon.
After becoming an immortal, if he is not officially recognized, he can only be regarded as a loose immortal. He has not entered the true stream, but he has obtained the body of eternal life. If it is officially recognized, it will enter the real stream and become a real immortal. At this time, you can choose to be an official in the Heavenly Court, or you don't have to. After all, you are an immortal who cultivated by yourself, and you don't want to obey the Jade Emperor. At this time, you can find a famous fairy mountain and a famous island, enjoy yourself freely, play chess, drink and visit friends all day long, listen to the teachings of the gods when you have nothing to do, and don't ask about world affairs, what a joy!
5. Let's talk about God again. The concept of God is not religious in nature. Unlike Buddha and Immortal, God is a concept of belief and a concept of system. This point needs to be paid attention to in detail. We don't talk about the ancient gods here, only the gods of later generations. Some ancient gods such as Nuwa, Gonggong, Zhurong, Xingtian, etc. were congenital gods of nature, which are strictly different from the so-called gods of later generations. They are generally called great gods or ancient great gods. In a broad sense, the Five Immortals are gods, men and ghosts of heaven and earth. The immortals mentioned above refer to the two immortals of heaven and earth. The gods mentioned here refer to gods and ghosts. God is a person who is authorized to work in heaven or hell after death. Please note that after death, the implication is that God must be formed after the soul returns to heaven. The work in the sky, such as the last one on the list of gods, is all gods.
People who become gods do not need to have a religious background, do not need to study and practice related religious scriptures, and do not need to be Taoists or monks. As long as you have fate, or you are a very good person in the yang world, or a person who does many good deeds, or a person who is respected by the people in the world, you may be conferred as a god by the heaven after death, and you will be assigned as an official in the sky or in the underworld. serve. For example, Bao Zheng, Wen Tianxiang, Guan Yu and others in the later generations did not believe in Taoism and Buddhism, let alone practiced it. It was only because of the great influence in the yang world that they were excellent people, and they were absorbed by the heaven as gods after death. Therefore, the concept of God is not a purely Taoist concept. It is different from immortals and Buddhas, but it is often ignored by many people.
So much has been discussed above, especially about gods and immortals, so it is inevitable to fall into the old-fashioned question of which level is higher between gods and immortals. In fact, it is confusing the level of official position with the level of perfection in practice. The issue of the ranks of gods and immortals is that they have different levels of perfection in their cultivation, and the paths to achieve true fruition are different. One is sanctification of the flesh, and the other is ascension after death. Immortals are indeed higher in level and level of perfection than gods. But it has nothing to do with the so-called official positions. For example, gods such as Emperor Ziwei of Zhongtian North Pole and Emperor Rensheng of Taishan Tianqi are all at the emperor level, and their official ranks are very high, far higher than ordinary ones. Immortals are much taller, not to mention ordinary immortals have no public office yet!