Immortality and Precious Life
The doctrine of the Immortal Way of Life is the core tenet of Taoist beliefs and embodies the distinctive characteristics of Taoism. The so-called “Immortal Way” is the Taoist pursuit of immortality. Taoism believes that the immortals are learnable and real, and that the life of the immortals is free and unobstructed, and that they will never die, and that they are real people who have attained immortality, and that they are the images of the personalities that people who study Taoism and practice Taoism learn from and believe in.
The important content of becoming immortal and attaining Taoism is to achieve long life through self-cultivation. Therefore, Taoism teaches people to value life, be reborn, enjoy life, and improve the quality of existence to the same realm as the immortals, and to achieve the unity of life and the Way, which is to attain the Way. The Taoist Sutra summarizes this principle as follows: “The Tao of Immortality is noble in life, and there is no limit to the number of human beings.
The Taoist doctrine of “immortality is valuable to life” comes from two main sources, the first being the belief in the Founder Immortals during the Qin and Han Dynasties. In the South China Sutra, it is said: “In the mountains of Gushu, there are gods living there. The gods could not eat grains, but only sucked the wind and drank dew. He could ride on clouds and dragons and travel beyond the four seas.
It is also said that there is a kind of person who is tired of the world for a thousand years and goes to the immortal. The Book of Han? Art and Literature Zhi” summarizes immortals as those who protect the truth of life and share the realm of life and death. Secondly, the Tao Te Ching (Tao Te Ching) is the rationale for practicing the Way of Eternal Life and Longevity. When Zhang Daoling, the ancestor of the Heavenly Master, established his religion, he integrated the beliefs of the immortals and the doctrine of the Way of Eternal Life into one, completing the system of Taoist beliefs. He said in his Commentary on Lao Tzu: “Life is a separate body of the Tao.” He also said, “Taoism emphasizes death and immortality”. The purpose of Taoism is to “wish for longevity” and to “live without end”. This constitutes the important doctrine of “immortality and noble life”.
Taoism believes that through cultivation, one’s material life can be extended and one’s spiritual life can be sublimated, so that one can eventually become immortal and attain Taoism. For this reason, successive generations of Gaozhen in the pursuit of immortal faith, and actively explore the way of life cultivation, summarized a wealth of cultivation doctrines and cultivation methods. Driven by the spirit of “my life is mine, not heaven and earth”, they aspire to “help themselves and others”, reflecting Taoism’s humanistic attitude of valuing life and caring for the world.
Cultivation of Taoism and the attainment of immortality require people to live with a positive and transcendent attitude towards life. Human life is born from the spirit of heaven and earth, which is hard to come by and should be cherished. The requirements for cultivation are mainly the cultivation of the heart and character and the cultivation of the body and life. Taoism calls it “double cultivation of life”, so that both God and form can be perfected. The cultivation and improvement of the heart and virtue is the basis for the cultivation of the physical life. The standard for cultivating the heart and character is to learn to cultivate the same virtues as the Tao, to be quiet and uninterested, to be weak and uncontentious.
To eliminate all selfishness and lust, to be indifferent to fame and fortune, and not to be weighed down by external objects, so that life can be maintained. At the same time, we should also do good deeds, help others, and accumulate merits and virtues. Cultivation of life is based on the cultivation of character and virtue, and the cultivation of essence, qi and spirit is promoted through the cultivation methods such as taking food and guiding, keeping thoughts and keeping one, sitting in oblivion, refining essence and qi, and performing static and dynamic feats, etc. to promote health and longevity of life. Eventually, one can achieve the contract of God and form, and become immortal and attain Taoism.
