When working in Xi'an, I made an appointment with my friends and traveled to the ancestral home of the "Visual Sect" one of the "Eight Sects of Buddhism"- Jingye Temple . The temple is hidden in Zhongnan Mountain . The mountains are green and rustic, and it is indeed a good place for leisure and quietness.
But I am more interested in the endless crowd of people asking for signs: in the quiet and incense-filled temple, the pilgrims hold the signs devoutly, murmuring to the gods to express their wishes, and then shake the signs, and the sound of falling and falling echoes the entire temple...
Many people who travel to the temple like to ask for a sign, hoping to make the inexplicable future shine into reality. This is called "two things to enter the temple gate, burn incense and ask for a signature to ask for something."
driven by strong curiosity, I wanted to get to the bottom of the matter of "seeking a visa". Because my friend is a large number of "supporters" owners in "Jingye Temple", he provides the temple with a large amount of rice, flour and rapeseed every month, and the exploration process goes smoothly.
wanted to write down everything they knew, but was afraid of touching on the restrictions on publishing "feudal superstition". But then I think about it, as an ancient cultural custom that has been passed down to this day, as part of "national studies" and even "national quintessence", every Chinese should have some basic knowledge reserves. Write it out, even if it is to popularize readers with some common sense of Chinese studies culture.
Of course, people who like to "seek for a visa" can also compare their own behavior and process of seeking for a visa, and at least in the process of seeking psychological comfort, they will not make mistakes in basic operations.
Jingye Temple is hidden in the green mountains
people seeking signs
According to the history, the culture of seeking signs originated in the Tang Dynasty. In ancient times, people would go to the temple when they were helpless when they were helpless and would get guidance from the gods by asking for signs and deciphering them. Over time, it became the current cultural custom. Therefore, most temples and Taoist temples have no shortage of signs and divination cups for pilgrims to use. Especially during festivals, there are crowds of people in the temple, and asking for signs and things has become a popular event. The number of
signs may be different from temples, but it is roughly within the range of 81, 60, 36, 24, 12, and 8. Signs are divided into upper, middle and lower signs, and each sign has a sign poem.
In fact, there are many types of poems signed, but they have not achieved national unity. Even temples with different origins may use different signatures. Is
accurate? Although I knew this was a waste of time, I asked this when I met the host. The abbot told me: This depends on everyone's blessings:
"People should not be superstitious, but be righteous. As Buddhism says, planting good roots will bring blessings."
"If the blessings are good, do people still need to ask for a sign to ask for future?" At that time, I thought this was impolite.
Jingye Temple is very famous and can be ranked nationwide. It can be called "the most popular incense". Every day, many pilgrims always come to ask for signs and things, including business, family, marriage, career, study, etc.
Don’t think that those who come to ask for signs and ask questions are all middle-aged and elderly people. I saw many young figures that day. A friend told me that today's young people are eager to understand their career, marriage, family, and students want to know their academic future. There are no less than middle-aged and elderly people coming to ask for visas.
"Incense is soaring" Jingye Temple | Source: Internet
Interpretation
Interpretation lord Lao Liu is a local. He was very interested in the metaphysics of the Five Elements since he was a child. He felt that Interpretation can help people solve their worries and difficulties, so he became a disciple and learned his skills and actively devoted himself to the career of Interpretation and Fortune Telling. He said that the person who interprets the signature must have basic cultural cultivation, be able to understand classical Chinese and understand historical allusions in the signature poem, and cannot randomly speculate and mislead pilgrims.
In addition, not everyone can master the knowledge of interpretation: "If you want to learn interpretation, it depends on whether you have talent and fate for metaphysics. Some people feel it is very complicated when they come into contact with this kind of thing and cannot read it, but the more I read it, the more I like it." In
, a faint pride rose from Lao Liu's eyebrows.
Lao Liu has been in the industry for 5 years. In the past five years, in addition to going out to watch Feng Shui, he would sit in a corner of the temple almost every day. From 8 am to 8 pm, he would answer questions and answer questions for pilgrims one by one, and gradually accumulate some fame.
"If you are not here, no one will take over you to work. We should give people peace of mind and make people feel that the master has always been in the temple." Lao Liu said.
Lao Liu talked endlessly about the metaphysics of the Five Elements. He really likes to explain the sign, and also hopes to solve people's worries and difficulties through the sign.
"It is also a merit to explain the signature to others," he said proudly.
Signing and signing poems | Source: Internet
How to charge
The entire "sign-seeking" process, the signer can be said to play an important role. For the same signing poems, different signers may have different answers. A sign-in person like Lao Liu who has systematically learned "metaphysics" and has an understanding (his self-evaluation) can also obtain information from the person seeking a sign-in person's face and remind the person seeking a sign-in person to pay attention to.
After Lao Liu got off work in the evening, I invited him to drink and eat skewers. He talked about his past interpretation experience. Once, another offerer from Jingye Temple, , was also a devout believer who studied Buddhism. His father suffered a serious illness and looked like he was "destined to be long". The believer brought his father to the temple to pray for blessings and wishes for a signature. When deciphering the
, Lao Liu concluded based on the signature that the patient would be safe and sound. He didn't know whether it was the blessing of the offeror, the Buddha's appearance, or the fate of the signing, or that this was the same thing. In the end, the patient successfully defeated the disease and overcome the difficulties.
Many people who have no similar experience may be curious about how to pay for the interpretation service and how much is the fee. Regarding this question, Lao Liu answered: does not have a rigid and maximum charging standard, and everything depends on the wishes of the applicant.
"For ordinary elderly people or people with illnesses, I say I won't accept it. Just treat it as giving people guidance and making connections with others is also a merit."
Lao Liu, who loves his job and is dedicated and happy to work, does not care too much about the fees. He only hopes to leave people with a good impression that "his signature is very effective". Under the circumstances of population transmission, his signature career can become more and more prosperous.
must be admitted that Lao Liu still has universal values and a certain business acumen.
Shake action | Source: Internet
Sign seeking steps
0Sign informed me of the detailed steps: The person who asks for signing needs to hold the sign in both hands, kneel in front of the Bodhisattva, tell the gods name, date of birth (lunar calendar), address and what they ask for, and pray sincerely.
"It must be sincere, this is very important. Is it 's sincere heart that will make you feel'!" said the signer.
Then, the person who asks for the signing can start shaking the sign until one of the signs is dropped. When shining the tag, please note: the angle and posture of the tag are extremely important, and cannot be too high or too low, otherwise it may not be shaken or sprinkled out.
However, this is generally not a problem, because advanced signers like Lao Liu can always see their skills at a glance. Before the signing of the sign, Lao Liu would give some advice.
Then, the person who asked the sign to put the divination cup in his palm and throw it up slightly. If the thrown divination cup falls to the ground, it is a "holy grail", indicating that the gods agree to the request for advice and the sign belongs to the person who seeks the sign.
If the divination cup faces both sides (shuangyang), it is a "smiling cup". The laughing cup means that the opportunity is insufficient or the god's intention is not determined, and it needs to ask for instructions again; if the two sides face down (shuangyin), it is a "crying cup", and the crying cup means that the gods do not meet what they want; there is also an extremely special situation of "standing cup": one or all of the two divination cups stand, indicating that the person who seeks the visa "has nothing".
In principle, you cannot throw the "Holy Grail". If you ask for a sign, you should go back and come back to ask for instructions after a while. "Everyone is very busy, and it's not easy to get up and down, so just throw it." Old Liu looked very knowledgeable and threw the cup in line with the times.
Repeat the previous steps until the Holy Grail is thrown, and you can get the signature poem by your signature number.
divination cup (left yang and right yin), the picture above is "Holy Grail" | Source: Internet
Interpretation of the poem
The next day, I continued to go up the mountain, just sat next to the signer and watched him explain the sign.
The first sign is No. 56: Tongguan Meet Ma Chao
"After the dangerous mountains, don't think there are many roads. If you see the orchid gradually spread, the snake turns into a dragon."
The pilgrimage is a young woman, want to ask about marriage. According to the signature, her past marriages ended in failure, but all the bad things were gone. What came towards her was a smooth road, with beautiful flowers and trees on both sides of the road, and a snake in front would also turn into a dragon. It means that in the days that followed, the pilgrim's marriage has embarked on the road and it is likely that the marriage will be settled.
The second sign is No. 34: Jiang Taigong fishing for his wife and sends food
"I want to get out of the Yangtze River, but the future is not successful. Now Si Lun is always in my hands, just afraid that the fish and water will not meet."
The pilgrim is a middle-aged man, and I want to ask about his career fortune. According to the signature, fish refers to individuals, and water refers to financial resources. "Fish and water do not meet each other", which reflects that although this person's work is stable, his financial resources are not ideal and his future is not smooth.
Hearing this interpretation, the pilgrim was a little depressed, but Lao Liu added a few words in time: "Money has been ruined since ancient times, but although it seems unsatisfactory, it may not be a good thing for physical health."
The pilgrim was relieved and left. Two pink banknotes fell into Lao Liu's hands.
The crowd of people praying for blessings | Source: Internet
Looking at the bustling crowd, I felt something in my heart: People are always panicked about the unknown future. When they ask for a fortune teller, they psychologically comforted the unstable emotions. The "Question" culture can be passed down for thousands of years and has its own soil foundation.
When I left, I sincerely said goodbye to the host and Lao Liu, thanking them for their kindness and selflessness. Old Liu was very polite: "Next time I come, you will also ask for a sign, and I will help you solve it."
I smiled and didn't comment.
