The structure of the head, belly and foot of the Taoist talisman from top to bottom symbolizes the unity of heaven, earth and man,with the upper part being heaven, the middle part being man and the lower part being earth. The reason why the Taoist talisman has the effect of summoning and commanding ghosts and gods is that it can demonstrate the innate way and the mysterious wonder, and conform to the spirit of the changes of gods.
At the beginning of Tai Chi, the primordial qi permeated between heaven and earth, and all things were born from the transformation of qi. The gentle and smooth transformation of qi became man, and man was the spirit of all things between heaven and earth. The spiritual energy of man is like the talisman orifice in the Taoist talisman, which is condensed by the essence of the three lights. Man is born between the universe and heaven and earth. He can look up at the vastness of all things and communicate with the changes of the sun, moon and stars in the sky; he can look down at the prosperity of all things and explore the changes of the birds, beasts, plants and trees. In response to this, it is determined that the words and symbols in the Taoist talisman have unpredictable and indescribable overall deformation possibilities. The characters in the belly of the talisman are like man in heaven and earth.
The key to writing talismans is the orifice in the talisman, which is hidden in the belly of the talisman. As stated in “Daofa Huiyuan”, “The master said that as the ancients said: If you draw talismans without knowing the orifice, you will make ghosts and gods laugh; if you draw talismans with the orifice, you will make ghosts and gods scream. Today’s practitioners do not understand the origin of Taoism, and they blindly use the orifice on paper as the orifice of the talisman, but they do not know that this orifice is not an ordinary orifice. Qian and Kun are combined together, which is called Shenqi. There are Kan and Li in the acupoints, and the essence is in the body, but it cannot be sought from other places. If you know this orifice, you can talk about Tao, not just the law.” The orifice in the talisman is born from the enlightenment of human spirit, and human spirit is the essence of Yuanqi, so there is a saying that “this orifice is not an ordinary orifice”, because this talisman orifice is directly derived from the origin of Taoism, the three lights are shining, and it is born from Qi.
For example, in the “Shangqing Nine Prisons Divine Talisman”, the upper part and the lower part of the talisman are runes similar to pictures. Taoists call them “fire-refined red characters”. The middle part of the talisman is the core of the talisman. It can be clearly seen that there are nine “prison” characters placed in a square frame. If you look closely, you will find that there are nine “nine” characters hidden in the talisman, which coincides with the name of the talisman “Shangqing Nine Prisons Divine Talisman”. The text on the left side of the talisman is an introduction to the use of the talisman. The general idea is that the “Shangqing Nine Prisons Divine Talisman” can subdue the evil spirits in the world that harm people’s daily lives, eliminate strange phenomena in life, and eliminate the disease troubles caused by ominous signs.
The reason why this talisman has such an effect is that when writing the talisman, the master “calms all movements into one stillness, gathers all things into one nothingness. Let my spirit return to the sea, and the original spirit is discovered. Hold the pen to the heart, stare at it with wide eyes, use the divine light in the body, from the two eyes to the center of the eyebrows, focus the eyes and burst out light, make an image, and then write the talisman on it. This light is like lightning, like a golden snake, flying around the pen with the talisman I write, shining brilliantly. From subtle to obvious, gradually expanding. Filling the universe, changing endlessly. In this way, a point of spiritual light, through the sky and the earth, wonderfully combined with nature. The divine machine responds, one spirit is all-pervasive. Infuse the inner secrets, change endlessly, and do not show it to non-people”.
During the process of writing the talisman, the master first closes his eyes and listens, meditates quietly, clears his mind and observes the Tao in the origin of the spirit, and then makes his heart bright, brilliant as a flower, condensing the spirit of the three lights. I am the heart of heaven and earth, and heaven and earth are also my heart. Then, the master uses my heart to inspire the spirit of the writing pen, stares with wide eyes, and the origin of heaven and earth naturally changes. He regulates his breath, circulates the divine light in his body, and closes it from his eyes to his eyebrows, like a heavenly eye. Wherever he looks, the divine light shines and naturally takes shape. This divine light is the guide for the master to write the talisman, and it is also the basis for the master to write the talisman. It flies on the tip of the master’s pen like lightning and a golden snake. It is precisely because this little spiritual light is extracted from the original qi of human beings, and the original qi of human beings is derived from the original qi, so this little spiritual light has the magical function of “through heaven and earth, wonderful combination of nature. The divine machine responds, one spirit is all-encompassing. It is filled with inner secrets and changes infinitely.”
The talisman in the Taoist talisman is transformed by this little spiritual light, so the talisman is ever-changing, it is like a shadow following the body, existing in the heaven and earth, popular and evolving, and cannot be described in words.
Translated & edited by German Daoist Association
Thank you for the lessoning talisman