Deities and Faith
How do deities, immortals, Buddhas, and becoming a deity differ in Master Shengyuan's teaching?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
Discussing deities, immortals, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas aims at gradually understanding different states, qualities, and service. I sometimes use numbers, distance, or jobs to make abstract matters easier. These are teaching comparisons, not tools for measuring spiritual scores or a ranking shared by every religion.
Becoming or being appointed a deity also depends on context. Some accounts involve later generations honoring historical figures' virtue; others are folk legends or practitioners' experiences of recognition. I have heard stories of family dreams or divination blocks confirming divine appointment. These concern folk religion, not a universal Taoist procedure. A title cannot directly establish ability, and rituals are not all one certification system.
For practitioners, conduct and character deserve more attention: understanding others better, reducing greed, anger, and ignorance, and bearing what is possible. Gradual growth in outlook and generosity of heart should become human care and responsibility. Comparing ranks without corresponding cultivation misses the original reminder.