What is sex and life?

The universal significance of "double cultivation of life" Professor of Philosophy Department of Central University for Nationalities 1. An important feature of Taoism is that its culture is closely related to the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, which permeates, influences and complements each other. Although there are only a few Taoist monks, Taoist culture goes far beyond the scope of religion and affects the whole society and ordinary people. For example, from the perspective of faith, the old gentleman, the jade emperor, the Dongyue emperor, the Zhenwu emperor, the Guan emperor and so on. It is not only the object of worship of Taoism, but also the senior deity that China people generally worship. From the perspective of literature and art, Taoist fairy tales, such as casting a tripod by the Yellow Emperor, crossing the sea by the Eight Immortals, alchemy by the old gentleman, enlightenment by Lv Zu and salvation by the autumn ancestors, have all become important sources of popular folk stories and literary creation. From the aspect of cultivation, the cultivation of Taoism is closely related to Chinese medicine, and hundreds of qigong techniques have been derived from its inner alchemy method, which has spread in the society and made positive contributions to improving the physique of the Chinese nation. Taoism is rooted in the fertile cultural soil of China society, which is the reason for its vitality to continue; Extending the reasonable core of Taoist culture to the public is also the social responsibility of Taoist scholars inside and outside the church. Secondly, the content of Taoist culture that has the most practical value and can benefit the world and people is its health-preserving culture. In addition to its strong professionalism, some of its inner alchemy can cure diseases and strengthen the body, purify the soul, be reinterpreted, reveal its universal value, be more easily popularized in society, and be of great benefit to people's physical and mental health. I think the cultivation principle of Neidan, that is, the dual cultivation of life, is a universal principle, which is not only the cultivation essence of Taoism, but also the cultivation essence of all people who pursue a healthy life. Third, Taoist books say that sex refers to people's spiritual consciousness, life refers to people's qi and blood, sex is the heart, and life is life. Life Gui Zhi said, "What is nature? This was the case at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and so was a bright spirit. What is life? Congenital to fine, but also arrogant. " He also said: "Nature depends on the heart, and fate depends on the body." Master Chen said: "Sex is our spiritual consciousness, and life is our vitality." Both profound and vivid. In fact, human life is a double fusion of two kinds of life, namely spiritual life and physical life. People usually say to be physically and mentally healthy, and one of them is incomplete. Therefore, the word life highly summarizes the two major elements of life. The Neidan family all advocate double cultivation of life, that is, paying equal attention to psychological cultivation and physical cultivation, but the order and proportion are different. Fourth, the core of China's thought and culture is Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Confucianism pursues saints, Buddhism pursues Buddhism, and Taoism pursues immortality. Judging from the early situation, Confucianism paid attention to cultivating moral personality, while Buddhism paid attention to relieving the pain of life. Both schools pay attention to the mind and ignore the body. Taoism, on the other hand, pays attention to fitness and longevity, but ignores the mind. Later, Taoism absorbed the theory of mind and nature of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, carried forward its traditional theory of health preservation, and formed the theory of dual cultivation of health preservation. Sexual merit is the place where Taoism communicates with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, while life merit is a unique tradition of Taoism, not Taoism. Master Chen Guangying believes that immortalism is life-oriented, which is the most distinctive feature of Taoist immortalism. He believes that life is interdependent and life is the most important. He used the metaphor of lamp, lamp oil is life, light is sex; There are lights without oil, and the lights are not bright; If you have lamp oil but can't shine, you can't explain that you use oil lamps to illuminate; The purpose of practice is to teach people to accumulate enough oil and lamps, so that life will be full of brilliance. Five, Taoism's theory of double cultivation of life, as far as its general principles are concerned, applies to both Taoist believers and secular people, both to ancient society and to modern society. In a sense, non-believers and modern people should pay more attention to the dual cultivation of life, because a considerable number of people in modern society are seriously ill in both sex and life, which will endanger human physical and mental health if they are not solved. Spiritual life, that is, psychological life, is mainly manifested in the lack of beliefs and ideals, the utilitarian and short-term tendency of behavior, and life is becoming more and more shallow and narrow. Physiological life, that is, physiological life, is mainly caused by environmental deterioration, bad habits and excessive enjoyment, which leads to physiological damage, fragile vitality and malignant diseases. To solve these problems, we should not only improve the environment, but also rely on people's subjective cultivation and transform the environment. If most people understand and practice the double cultivation of life, the healthy process of life and society will be greatly accelerated. 6. As a general principle, the key points are: 1. Pay equal attention to mental health and physical health. We should not only pursue a strong body, but also a sound psychological quality, so that both spiritual life and material life can be lively developed. Only in this way can we have a truly happy life. The expression in the book "A Noble Life" is: "God can't live without Qi, and Qi can't live without God" and "Sex can't live without life, and life can't live without sex". 2. Change psychology with physiology, and change physiology with psychology. The infirm and sick start with life skills, refine qi to eliminate diseases and strengthen the body, then calm the mind, refine qi to restore deficiency and improve the spiritual realm. People who are psychologically fragile or have bad behavior should start with sexual performance, refine their own foundation, eliminate selfish distractions, adjust balance, improve the level of pursuit, open their minds, and cooperate with taking medicine to exercise qi, so that their performance will be easy to test. Sex work and life work can have different emphases at different times, but they should promote each other and grow together. 3. Life cultivation should be gradual, from low to high, from shallow to deep. Neidan's family has the theory of "first communication, communication and communication", "epiphany, self-cultivation, harmony, medicine and birth", and "first cultivate the mind, then refine the essence, and finally crush the void". Otherwise, there will be three stages: primary, intermediate and advanced, and the younger brother will go up and cannot fall behind. Whether it is the purification of the soul, the promotion of the realm, the regulation of qi and blood, or the enhancement of physical fitness, it will not happen overnight. It is necessary to study hard, persist for a long time, and constantly experience and reflect, so as to get better gradually. Of course, rice is gradually available, naturally available, and cannot be forced. 4. Double cultivation in life is a comprehensive cultivation process. At least include the following activities: ① rational cognitive activities, reading, consulting, introspection, so as to have a clear understanding of their own state and the pursuit of life goals. ② ① Moral cultivation activities, establishing lofty thoughts, forming altruistic habits, coordinating interpersonal relationships and enhancing kindness. ① Physical exercise activities, including medical treatment, strange stones, sports, nutrition, good lifestyle, work and rest system, etc. Don't need difficulty and greed, just be simple and suit yourself. ① In social practice, Neidan emphasizes "both internal and external cultivation" and "both merits and demerits", which means not only cultivating sexual merits and life merits, but also benefiting the people and things, participating in society and accumulating merits and demerits, so that the double cultivation of life can see practical results in social life. The facts of the above activities are still combined and intertwined, and cannot be separated mechanically. As a layman, it is difficult to understand and appreciate the advanced spiritual realm of Neidan's family with religious mystery, but ordinary people can still learn the wisdom of being a man, doing things and keeping fit from the theory of double cultivation of life, so as to make life healthier and better.