Lingbao Pai

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Lingbao talisman

The Lingbao School ( Chinese  靈寶 派  /  灵宝 派 , Pinyin Lingbao Pai  - "School of the Sacred Jewel or School of the Divine Treasure") is a school of Daoism that emerged from the 4th century. The school refers to the Lingbao Jing, a group of around 40 texts. The Lingbao texts were seen as revelations from heaven, accessible only to saints.

Lu Xiujing (406–477), originally a member of the Heavenly Master School , systematized the Lingbao scriptures and gave them a new form as a corpus . He spread the opinion that the Lingbao scriptures were the most venerable scriptures of Daoism.

In the Lingbao School, the rituals of the Heavenly Masters were renewed in complex forms and the recitation of texts as liturgy took on an important place, while the meditating adept almost disappeared. The Lingbao school was particularly important in medieval Daoism and its Daoist rituals and liturgies have been handed down to the present day and shape almost all Daoist rites.

The teachings of the Lingbao School go back to the Fangshi and are strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhism . From this a universal goal of salvation was adopted as well as teachings of karma , reincarnation and kalpas . Nevertheless, there is only a superficial knowledge of Buddhism in the Lingbao. Likewise, the teachings of the Lingbao School refer to Ge Xuan and his grandson, the famous alchemist Ge Hong . Other influences are those of Shangqing Daoism and Heavenly Master Daoism . In addition, the Confucian virtues were respected in the Lingbao .

to teach

The oldest teachings of the Lingbao School relate to the five phases of change and the five rulers of the five cardinal points. Later teachings are influenced by Buddhism, such as B. the doctrine of the Kalpas, which are considered particularly important in the Lingbao. The Lingbao texts describe past kalpas in detail and eschatologically record the violent end of a world age after which the Lingbao scriptures will be revealed and all other religious teachings will disappear.

The Lingbao School saw their texts as talismans . The texts were considered holy divine revelations, which explains their talismanic character. The Lingbao scriptures may be about a. from a complex cosmology that goes back to earlier Taoist and Buddhist scriptures. Like certain Buddhist scriptures that deal with Mount Meru and the spheres surrounding it, the Lingbao scriptures speak of 32 heavens that surround the Jade Capital Mountain (Yujingshan). The 32 heavens are divided into three areas of desire, form and formlessness and in groups of 8 heavens each, which correspond to the cardinal points. These heavens are ruled by heavenly rulers and in them live the Heavenly Perfect ones (Zhutian Zhenren) from earlier ages.

The pantheon of the Lingbao School , as in other Taoist schools, is a heavenly bureaucracy .

One of the most important deities of the sky Very worthy of primeval (Yuanshi Tianzun). It symbolizes the original beginning of the cosmos, i.e. that is, he himself comes from the cosmic emptiness and is considered the creator. He is the origin of all Lingbao sacred scriptures related to this god.

Another important deity of the Lingbao school is the Taishang Daojun, the god of the Dao . He is considered to be a student, spokesman and ambassador of the Venerable Heaven of the beginning. It is also associated with the revelation of sacred texts.

Deities that exist in the body correspond to gods of the sky masters and the Shangqing school.

In addition to the rituals, the practices of the Lingbao School consisted of prayers, bans, commands and recitation of the texts.

See also

literature