dao ablution

ablution Washing at dawn Rinse away dreams. Protect the gods within, And clarify the inner spirit. Purification starts all practice. First comes cleansing of the body—not to deny the body, but so that is is refined. Once cleansed, it can help us sense the divine. Rinsing away dreams is a way of saying that we must not only dispel the illusions and anxieties of our sleeping moments but those of our waking ones as well. All life is a dream, not because it isn’t there, but because we all project different meanings upon it. We must cleanse away this habit. While cleansing, we naturally look within. It is believed that there are 36,000 gods and goddesses in the body. If we continually eat bad foods, intoxicate ourselves, allow filth to accumulate anywhere outside or inside ourselves, then these gods abandon us in disgust. Yet our concerns must ultimately go beyond these deities in the temples of our bodies to the universal One. After we clear away the obscuring layers of dirt, bodily problems, and delusions, we must be prepared even to clear away the gods themselves so that we can reach the inner One. ablution 365 Tao daily meditations Deng Ming-Dao (author) ISBN 0-06-250223-9 duckdaotsu.org tao hub Taoist Ritual at the Imperial Court (left) detail Jiao Bingzhen (active c. 1689—1726) Qing dynasty, 1723/26 Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk 358 x 157 cm Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; purchase, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and partial gift of Richard G. Pritzlaff cat. no. 44 thank you to the Art Institute of Chicago Taoism in Art exhibit and lessons Taoist Ritual at the Imperial Court This hanging scroll depicts a Taoist ritual at the court of the Qing dynasty in Beijing. On the altar, an aristocrat kneels beside the Taoist priest leading the ceremony, who is shown under an umbrella. Four additional priests of lower rank stand to the sides. Below the altar, there is an orchestra of chimes, bells, and wind instruments playing music, an essential part of many Taoist rituals. The most distinctive feature of this ritual is the altar, made from three levels of stacked tables. Taoist altars were usually made of pressed earth. These traditional earthen altars resemble the one shown here in that they were often temporary structures that would be dismantled after the ritual. The ritual depicted here was probably a repentance (zhai) ceremony. In such a ceremony, the participants would confess their faults and perform different acts of contrition. Taoist Ritual Despite its associations with individual spiritual pursuits, Taoism has always been a religion of nation, community, and family. Ritual was the primary expression of the religious needs and hopes of the community, and most Taoist rituals were developed in response to these needs. Rituals were performed for individuals at important transitional periods in their lives, such as birth and death. The significance of such moments, however, deeply affected their families. In the case of the imperial house, such moments affected the entire nation. Taoist priests used a number of sacred implements during rituals, each of which held symbolic significance. Smoke from incense burners both attracted the gods and carried messages from the community to the heavens. Swords were used for exorcism and purification ceremonies, and robes worn by the priest symbolized his power over the energies of the cosmos. Scriptures and other religious documents were also considered sacred and worshiped as embodiments of the Tao. Among the most magnificent works of Taoist art to be preserved is the Ordination Scroll of Empress Zhang. receive a full HTML copy of the daily meditation sent directly to your inbox, please send a note with the words "subscribe tao" in the subject line to duckdaotsu