In this blog, we have discussed the “souls and spirits” and the spiritual planetary body “Yuen Sun” a lot. Many things are used as a metaphor in Taoism, such as the sun, moon, star, mountain, etc. If an outsider tries to understand Taoist text without being a real disciple, they will be confused and misinterpret things, just like in western Taoism nowadays. It’s a disaster because they don’t want to learn the proper way officially. The sun is a metaphor for the source of light, or the source of life, which refers to your Yuen Sun by default. It could also be the celestial court for Taoists because that’s where their powers come from. However, what does the moon represents? This is the secret that many people don’t know!
The sun gives off light, and the moon absorbs light which bounces off to the world. This is a metaphor used in Taoism. When you see the words sun and moon on the FU talismans or even on Taoist robes, remember that they are not referring to the actual sun and moon.
The Yuen Sun is the “sun” which gives off the light. The soul is the moon, yes, but not 100% correct.
The Secret of the Ghost Altar
If you recall from our previous articles, we have mentioned that the actual location of the Yuen Sun is around where the sun is. You can read the details in the “Birthday” post. Imagine the sun is just one layer of the picture; you hide some layers and reveal what’s on the bottom, the Yuen Sun(s). That’s the preheaven dimension of the same location.
The moon is a metaphor, but you can imagine where the moon is and reveal the dimension 6 (spiritual dimension) layer. You won’t see the moon anymore, but a lot of other things, which we call the “ghost world” This is where all the ghosts are, and we call that zone the 幽冥 (Yiou Miong) or 靈界 (Nieong Jia), which means the spiritual zone. This place is what we call “space.” The moon is the center of that zone, and you might have your place somewhere around it, like how the Yuen Sun is somewhere around the sun, with the sun being the center of the location of the whole area of the Yuen Sun Palace 元辰宮.
The line of “blue light,” which you see on top of our “planet,” is what we call 凌霄線 (Nieong Xiao Cian), which is the line that separates our world and the ghost world. Those astronauts who travel to space and play around with things like the space station or whatever devices are like swimming in the ghost world but in dimension 8 of that same area. Dying in space or sending you into space after you die might be the best way for you to go back to the ghost world. It’s fast and direct!
Every one of us has a home in the physical world, which we sleep and live inside. When we need things from the outside, we leave our homes and get things. Some people, like me, love to stay home most of the time, and many people question why I never want to go out into “nature,” Here is the wisdom behind my actions.
In the ghost world zone, you have a piece of “land” there that belongs to you, and we call this your “ghost altar” 鬼壇 (Gwei Taan).
If you and a few live closely together, like you and your child and spouse, everyone will combine their ghost altar into one piece in that same area. You can connect to this big piece of land in D6 by calling it your family god, 家神 (Jia Sin). It is reachable by talking to the house! In our magic, we use the ground altar to connect to the family god, but anyone can do the same by just talking to the different parts of the house. It’s simple! You are already doing it daily.
In our ground altar sun paai (the signage), you see four words on top saying 地皇靈壇 (Di Hwong Nieong Taan); it means the ground emperor spiritual altar, which refers to the ground emperor of our lineage, and his “altar” or “station” is at the same area of where the ghost altar is. Still, this one is near the moon’s center because it is the biggest power of all the ghost altars. In a way, the ground emperor can also be referred to as the ghost king 鬼王 because of this property. However, the ghost king only deals with the ghosts, and the ground emperor deals with the communication between the celestial court and our altars in the lineage, so the name must be specific and precise according to their responsibility. Calling the ground emperor, the ghost king, would be like calling the boss a manager.
The Importance of Investing
Why are we here in this world, and all we know is to make money, buy things, and keep buying things in our life?
Everything you have will be a body; you will invest in it by putting your heart into it, pumping your soul into it, and making the container full of energy. When this object is trashed, destroyed, or you don’t want it anymore, the heart inside dies and the “spiritual embryo” God created will return to the Yuen Sun. At the same time, the soul energy portion will ascend upward and meet up at the ghost altar to become a part of the ghost altar. The more things you have and let go of afterward, the more energy goes to the ghost altar, and the bigger your ghost altar becomes. Remember that it can only happen when you let go and don’t want the object, or trash it away, because that is when the energy can leave the body and go to the ghost altar to submerge itself.
If you are throwing things out that belong to the house, like everyday trash, things you don’t need anymore, dust, hair, whatever is used and thrown away, including the food scraps, bones, potato skin, broken jars and glasses, used shirts and jeans, anything you call “garbage” will do the same thing, their body will push out the soul energy inside to merge into the ghost altar which goes to the family god, and that is what makes the family god stronger and bigger.
If you are those who buy things and never want to let go, as you keep them for many years, then the body of this thing containing the energy and not letting go, which is not benefiting the ghost altar at all since the energy is still inside the body and not coming out.
The Best Death
For ordinary people, the best ending is returning to their Yuen Sun after they die. However, how can you achieve that?
Drop the ball in mid-air; it will hit the ground and bounce back midway or about. This is a pattern you can observe in reality. The harder your throw the ball, the higher it bounces back up. If your ball bounces so high, it might reach the line where your Yuen Sun is, and that is how you can reach it.
Your ghost altar is the factor that determines if you can “bounce” back up higher. A weak ghost altar results in very little chance of returning to the Yuen Sun. The worse case is that you die, and the ghost altar energy cannot even get you back to the ghost altar location. So you might drop back down into this world where human lives, then you will become a wandering ghost soul, which we call 遊魂野鬼 (Yiou Win Yea Gwei), meaning the wandering soul that floats around, like a ghost in the wild. People who claim to “see ghosts” in this world usually see these ghosts as just sad souls that cannot even return to their homes when they die. They will be trapped in this zone, waiting to return home and regroup with their ghost altar. To do that, they need to find a body to possess, which allows them to merge into that object or person’s soul body, and when this body is going to the ghost altar zone, they can take a free ride and go together. For example, they would find something about to become garbage or some garbage about to be destroyed. Especially the big ones with lots of energy, like an expensive handbag or something with much energy, awaiting to be vented out when destroyed. After they get into these things, the energy flies to the ghost altar when the object is destroyed, and they can return home. However, nothing beats possessing a human because humans have way more energy to help them go to the ghost altar much quicker. That garbage might not be strong enough. Sometimes they will stick around the junkyard or dumping station, hoping to get a chance one day, but usually, they would see the human being as a better choice if they can possess them instead.
Now, do you see why people suddenly want to become burglars, thieves, or thieves from donation boxes or garbage? They already have a wandering host inside them; this is a real ghost possession you can see everywhere with your naked eyes. The ghost will make them steal more and more and keep those things because they are good energies for the ghost. Then when this person has collected enough energies, they will kill the person or make him suicide, which ends his life and jets out the whole package of energies in one go, and that is how the ghost might have a chance to fly up to the ghost world (home) or even straight to their Yuen Sun. If you suddenly have the feeling to steal out of the blue, you know a ghost is trying to attack you already. Sometimes if you live in an apartment or neighbourhood and you see packages being delivered to different doorsteps, and you suddenly think of taking it, STOP and beware, a ghost is around! Do some Taoist magic immediately and fend off the ghost so it won’t possess you and make you another victim!
However, since these wander ghost doesn’t have a home in the ghost altar zone, they might end up being there but without an actual home, and that makes them become a 幽靈 (Yiou Nieong) which is like a ghost or spirit that lives in that quiet zone, floating around and doing nothing but waiting. If you die and your ghost altar gets taken or looted away by evil tyrants in the other world, you could become homeless and one of the Yiou Nieong. It is a sad ending for you because it’s like being homeless!
What can you do if you are homeless in that ghost world? Get a job! You will find the ghost king, the biggest power there, and ask them for a job. See if they want you and hire you to become a worker. If you can help them, they will feed you, and eventually, you will have your ghost altar/home built soon. The life of a ghost in that world is like here, you need to find a job and work, and you cannot die anymore. Your goal is to earn enough so that you have a chance to fly up to the Yuen Sun. This would take quite a long time, longer than ten generations on earth. Therefore, use your life here while you are alive, don’t live like a dumb minimalist!
When you die, the process of your soul leaving the physical body and “bouncing” to the ghost altar location is called “crossing the silver bridge” 過銀橋 (Gwoh Ngin Chiao). Don’t you see the moon is silver in colour? The bridge is when you fly into the ghost world zone, fully crossing into that dimension. The ghost world is officially called dimension 9, which differs slightly from the “soul” dimension of living humans in dimension 6. The D9 is for the real ghosts who went into that world fully, and the D6 is just for the people still alive with their souls and bodies in a different dimension.
The soul bouncing over the space between the moon and the sun and reaching into the sun area is called “crossing the golden bridge” 過金橋 (Gwoh Gim Chiao). The sun is golden in colour! If you crossed this bridge, you would be into the Yuen Sun and become immortal in the “sky,” which is the best ending for an ordinary person. It’s like you have become a god already, and now you can stay in the Yuen Sun to beam down powers to your loved ones who are still alive and help them, or you can do things to curse people you hate and ruin their life! This is like your “god mode” time; how nice!
The distance between the silver and golden bridge is a bunch of black space to us, but to the ghosts, it is a big ocean, which we call 幽冥北海 (Yiou Miong Beh Haai); it is the northern ocean of the ghost world in the darkness. If the person died went to the Yuen Sun, they would be reborn in another world again. When they die from the Yuen Sun, that will give them a second life to live in another world with physical beings. When that happens, they will project through this ocean and cross the two bridges again, and enter the living world in another place. Once they have crossed the bridge, all memories will be left behind in the Yuen Sun, and that is when we say they have drunk the special water or “soup” from the ocean near the bridge. Once they do that, the memories are “gone.” Precisely, they are suppressed back to the Yuen Sun, which we say is pushed back into our deep subconsciousness of us and not readily accessible anymore. Some old stories would say that there is an old lady 孟婆 who will give you a bowl of soup to drink, then you will forget everything from your past life. Another version is that you will go through the river or stream, then all memories are gone etc. It’s the same thing being put in different metaphors. The truth is that your memories are kept in your Yuen Sun, and your soul goes to another place to be reborn into another world; another life begins.
Inside the black space, there are many weird things because that’s like the wild space of the ghost world, and if you are homeless and wandering around, you might see some greedy or evil ones who want to capture you or enslave you to become part of their clan. It’s scary, like many hungry ghosts wanting to grab you into their plates. However, you won’t die there; you will endure the torture like a never-ending nightmare.
When we die, that is the time when our heart is cut off from everything we own, and the time all the things related to you will “go” with us to the ghost altar. Everything you have in life, their energies will jet up to the ghost altar. This is why that’s the day that determines if you will return to the ghost world or will be lucky enough to be bounced back to the Yuen Sun.
Caveman Life
Why do I choose to stay home all the time? Besides, I love my home, but there is another reason! Staying home allows you and the house to be together, with the house containing you. That also means the ghost altar (personal) is also protected by the family altar (which contains my wife’s ghost altar too). You keep the soul and ghost altar aligned all the time that way, and it is the best way to keep yourself aligned with the Yuen Sun, too. The Yuen Sun must beam energy to the ghost altar to reach you! If you are out of your house, likewise energy from the Yuen Sun beams the ghost altar, and the ghost altar cannot find you right away until it searches around or you are back home. Being at a place you call home allows the ghost altar and family god to protect you and ensure the alignment between you and the Yuen Sun is always good and protected.
I always beam down wisdom and teachings from the preheaven, so I do not like to go outside all the time. If you are always travelling around, your ghost altar is like an octopus trying to pull here and stretch there constantly; it cannot be grouped well and become stronger. For those people who travel a lot, their ghost altar also cannot be built nicely because you are not letting the ghost altar settle. The ghost altar can only get stronger when it is settled!
Ordain now to learn more! Most importantly, you want to cultivate as a Taoist to protect your Yuen Sun, the ghost altar, or even your family god! Ensure you can have a good life after you die and not become a sad wandering ghost in midair! You can also understand why we need FU talismans for killing ghosts or cutting them off because they can cause thieves to come or even burglars to break into your house! Protect your home today, and have a strong altar built at home as the defence power that keeps you and your loved one safe!
