No 304 of Living Life Series 1
Constellations refer to the groupings of stars in space as observed by Chinese astronomers in the days of old. There are 28 such constellations
Do you know that a set of five flags may adorn a Taoist temple but this practice may have varied from temple to temple.
They are said to direct the power of the 28 constellations to guard the temple and ward off bad influences.
With this set of flags, a temple can harness divine help from the celestial troops of the Taoism 28 Constellations to patrol the temple and secure the temple as part of heaven on earth.
The flags usually have words in the center of each flag to designate the name of the respective group of constellations.
There are four flags representing the four cardinal direction constellations.
Green flag is for east 7 constellations of the dragon.
They are said to direct the power of the 28 constellations to guard the temple and ward off bad influences.
With this set of flags, a temple can harness divine help from the celestial troops of the Taoism 28 Constellations to patrol the temple and secure the temple as part of heaven on earth.
The flags usually have words in the center of each flag to designate the name of the respective group of constellations.
There are four flags representing the four cardinal direction constellations.
Green flag is for east 7 constellations of the dragon.
Red is for the south 7 constellations of the phoenix.
White is for the 7 constellations of the west white tiger.
Blue is for the north 7 constellations of the turtle.
The black flag is the main commanding flag in a temple to connect all four
The are also five archangels in western belief system. Are they similar? God knows. Isn't there more than a coincidence and a parallel of sorts?
There is more that we need to know. Now with the global internet, cultures and beliefs do meet and mix.
Taoists center their belief systems based on the universe and thus there is reference to the stars in relation to the celestial army of heaven and we therefore have the five flags.
Man too has in him the universe, sort of a micro-model for the universe.
There is the axiom of "as above, so below". Taoism advocates that man by understanding himself may gain knowledge of the universe, and vice versa.
The universe is defined as everything that exists and nature has to do with five elements. The body too ties directly into the Chinese Five Elements.
The five elements were one of the additional last topics touched on by P. Philip in his book at Bo Tien Temple "Lord Bo Tien's guidance" and this book was edited by Peter. The book represented the final summary contribution of late senior Bro Philip for the lord saint Lord Bo Tien.
We must understand that the five elements concept enables more refined mindfulness of phenomena based on five stages, aspects or phases.
The elements are:
■metal (Chinese: 金, pinyin: jīn, )
■wood (Chinese: 木, pinyin: mù)
■water (Chinese: 水, pinyin: shuǐ)
■fire (Chinese: 火, pinyin: huǒ), and
■earth (Chinese: 土, pinyin: tǔ, ).
