Rituals

Taoist Religious Advice and Services

Any one who would like to enquire about Taoist religious services may e-mail me at chung@weiyi.sg or contact me at 9382 6418. I am happy to provide any advice on religious issues. Religious services and rituals are strictly by referral only. Thank you. =)

Introduction

I am fortunate to learn the traditional Taoist rituals “keyi” (科仪) under distinguished Hong Kong Taoist Master, Master Leung Tak Wah, since 2000 at the Hiang Tong Keng Temple in Tampines. I am ordained as a 34th disciple of the Complete Perfection Dragon Gate Tradition “Quanzhen Longmen Pai” (全真龙门派) in August 2003, and became formal disciple “rushi dizi” (入室弟子) to Master Leung in July 2004. I am promoted to a High Priest “gaogong” (高功) in Hong Kong back in 2009.

Transmission of the Scriptures and Rituals

The rituals and scriptures used in the temples of the Complete Perfection tradition of Hong Kong was originally spread into Hong Kong via the Triple Origin Temple of Guangzhou ( 三元宮 Sanyuan Gong ), from the Temple of Emptiness ( 沖虛觀 Chongxu Guan ) on Mt. Luofu in Guangdong. Mt. Luofu is the seventh Grotto Heaven—-the Grotto Heaven of Vermillion Brightness and Shining Perfection (朱明耀真洞天) and the 34th Blissful Realm—-the Blissful Realms of Spring Origin (泉源福地). Many famous Taoists including Ge Hong (葛洪) lived a secluded life at Mt. Luofu, and refined elixirs there. During his stay on Mt. Luofu, four huts were built for cultivation, and they were subsequently enlarged into temples, one of them the Temple of Emptiness (沖虛觀).

Taoism of Mt. Luofu remained prosperous till the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Qing dynasty, a branch of the Dragon Gate Sect ( 龍門派 Longmen Pai ) propagated its teachings there. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu (光绪皇帝), the abbot of the temple, Chen Jiaoyou, wrote Evolution of the Daoism of Changchun’s Lineage (長春道教源流), an important work on the history of transmission and inheritance of the Dragon Gate Sect.

The orthodox rituals and scriptures of the Dragon Gate Sect was transmitted from the Hong Kong Fung Ying Seen Koon to the Hiang Tong Keng temple in Singapore, where I received the transmission and lineage.

Mt. Luofu Temple of Emptiness –> Guangzhou Triple Origin Temple –> Hong Kong Fung Ying Seen Koon –> Singapore Hiang Tong Keng –> me!

 
Complete Perfection Dragon Gate Sect (全真龙门派)

Founded by patriarch Qiu, a disciple of the first patriarch Wang Chongyang between the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Dragon Gate sect (龍門派) is a branch of Wang Chongyang’s school, which advocates carrying on the Patriarch’s teachings:

Control of anger and desires: keeping the mind and spirit stable, and pursuing the eternal spirit in spite of the short life of the physical body.

Synthesis of Confucianism and Buddhism: patriarch Wang Chongyang required all of his disciples to read the Heart Sutra “Xinjing” (心經), the Book of Filial Piety “Xiaojing” (孝經) and Laozi’s Daodejing (道德经) in order for them to have a comprehensive understanding of the Three Teachings (Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism).

Obedience to rules and commandments: the Dragon Gate sect follows the Great Commandments of the Three Altars “Santan Dajie” (三壇大戒), namely the Commandments of Elementary Perfection “Chunzhen Jie” (初真戒), the Commandments of the Middle Ultimate “Zhongji Jie” (中極戒), and the Commandments of the Heavenly Immortals “Tianxian Jie” (天仙戒). The transmission of the commandments lasts 100 days, and there are over hundreds of commandments.

Diligent practice of Inner Alchemy “Neidan” (內丹): influenced by The Three Ways Unified and Normalized of the Book of Changes “Zhouyi Cantonqi” (周易參同契), this school advocates the cultivation of Inner Alchemy to integrate the Inner Water and Fire so as to attain long life.

In the fourth Xingding year (AD 1220), patriarch Qiu, together with his eighteen disciples, including Yin Ziping, Li Zhichang, and Song Defang, etc., set off with the envoy Liu Zhonglu by imperial order from Laizhou to the great Snow Mountain to meet Genghis Khan and advise him to abandon killing and do kind deeds. The journey lasted two years and took the party ten thousand miles west. The emperor granted him the title “Immortal” and “Great Master”. His disciple Li Zhichang gave a relatively detailed account of the journey in his book The Journey to the West of the Perfect Man of Eternal Spring “Changchun Zhenren Xiyou Ji” (長春真人西遊記 ).

The first emperor of the Yuan dynasty conferred upon patriarch Qiu the Tiger Talisman and the imperial seal. Patriarch Qiu was thus put in charge of all Taoist institutions in the world. He exempted Taoist temples and Taoist priests from all taxes and corvees. Thus the Taoist priests gathered and The Doctrine of Mysteries “Xuanjiao ” (玄教) became very prosperous. Eight Daoist communities, named Equality, Numinous Treasure “Lingbao “(靈寶), Longevity, Bright Perfection, Peace, Elimination of Disasters, Eternal Spring, and Ten Thousand Lotuses were established in the Yanjing capital, and temples, altars and offerings were set up in different places so as to propagate the Complete Perfection “Quanzhen ” (全真) doctrine. In the 22nd year of the reign of the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty (1227), the Temple of the Supreme Ultimate “Taiji Gong” (太極宮) was proclaimed to be the Eternal Spring Temple, and Qiu Chuji was given the Golden Tiger tablet to take the lead of Taoism. In the seventh month of that year, patriarch Qiu passed away, and his coffin was laid in the Chushun Hall of the White Cloud Temple “Baiyun Guan ” (白雲觀). The Dragon Gate School thus became less prosperous than before.

In the years during the reign of emperor Kangxi, Wang Changyue, Master of Commandments “Lushi” (律師) of the seventh generation of the Dragon Gate sect, obtained the Great Commandments of Heavenly Immortals “Tianxian Dajie” (天仙大戒) in person from Zhao Zhensong, the sixth patriarch of the Dragon Gate sect. Wang Changyue made a trip to the capital in the autumn of the twelfth year of the reign of emperor Shunzhi. On the fifteenth day of the third month of the lunar calendar in the following year, he preached commandments at the White Cloud Temple. He ascended the altar to preach commandments three times, and took over one thousand disciples. From then on the Dragon Gate sect became prosperous again.

Later, Wang Changyue led his disciples to the south. They set up altars to spread their teachings on Mt. Wudang, and in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Huzhou and so on. The influence of the Dragon Gate sect spread to both sides of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

Wang Changyue was posthumously entitled the “Devotee Who Embraces Oneness (抱一居士)” by Emperor Kangxi, who also ordered to construct a shrine and set up his statue at his tomb, and sent officials to hold a memorial on the date of his death annually. One of Wang Changyue’s disciples wrote The Mind Skills of the Dragon Gate Sect “Longmen Xinfa ” (龍門心法) in two volumes. The Dragon Gate sect has continued to be prosperous till today.

Reference: http://en.daoinfo.org/