The importance of spiritual belief?

Faith is an important part of human spiritual life. Faith means more than just believing in gods and ghosts. The so-and-so doctrine, so-and-so theory and so-and-so thought we often talk about are actually a kind of belief. It's not a bad thing to have your own beliefs. In a sense, everyone should have their own beliefs. The so-called "no faith" actually means believing in yourself or "solipsism". Laozi is the best in the world. He only believes in me. This is the product of the development of independent personality and independent will in modern society. "No faith" is not a good thing, because human society is not made up of one person. The so-called human society actually refers to the sum of the relationships between people and between people and nature. Ignoring this sum, ignoring the existence of others and objective things, not afraid of heaven, earth, people, ghosts and gods, trying to get rid of the constraints of any social contract and natural laws, that is the most terrible belief!

Belief is closely related to worship, and any belief is manifested in the worship of something or people. In the early days of mankind, natural forces such as wind, rain, thunder and electricity dominated, and human beings' ability to resist and transform nature was very low. The fate of mankind is basically dominated by natural forces, so all kinds of nature worship came into being. God, earth god, mountain god, water god, tree god, stone god and other natural gods came into being. With the gradual enhancement of human's ability to resist and transform nature, the gradual emergence of human's own ability, the social forces that dominate human destiny gradually keep pace with natural forces, and the continuous occurrence and intensification of man-made disasters such as war, plunder and disparity between the rich and the poor, the objects of human worship gradually shift to social aspects, resulting in various social worship or worship of gods and men. The "heaven, earth, monarch and teacher" enshrined in many people's shrines is a combination of nature worship and human-god worship. "Heaven" is a god, and "earth" is a land god. Are representatives of natural gods. "Jun" refers to the emperor, "Qin" refers to the ancestor, and "Shi" refers to the teacher or capable person. Are representatives of social gods or human gods. Therefore, worship comes from faith. Without faith, there is no worship. The so-called "endless" personality cult is also a manifestation of social beliefs.

Generally speaking, the current Dong society is in the development stage of combining nature worship with human-god worship. God, land god, mountain god, water god, tree god and stone god are still in a very important position in the minds of many Dong people. At the same time, Sa Sui, Yang Zaisi, Wu Mian and Weng Buxu (ancestor gods) also occupy a very important position in the minds of the Dong people. Some even rose to the supreme social god, and the grandmother god-"Sa Sui" widely worshipped in the southern dialect area of Dong language is such a supreme goddess.

Belief is closely related to superstition, and sincere belief can be called superstition even if it reaches the level of madness. Superstition is not necessarily a bad thing. There is such a record in the Grand View of Dong Tongdao's Belief:

In some Dong villages, a water tank must be installed at the same time to install Satan (an altar dedicated to grandmother Shensa). These columns are about 5 meters apart on the right side of the "Sa" altar and are in the same straight line. Fill the jar with water, and put in three red live fish and captive flat. Corresponding to the water level, a water tank was installed on the mountain to increase the water side so as to "make a fire" with water. It is said that before the installation of the "Sa" altar and water tank, the village suffered from many fires. Later, the foreign teacher pointed out: "The village is feng shui, and fire is heavier than water, so water must be added to control it." People in the village think it makes sense, so they do it.

What an interesting superstition! As we all know, in ancient times, Dong people had to create a "Satan" before building a village, so every Dong village should have a "Satan". The building materials of Dong Village are all Chinese fir, which is easy to catch fire, so "fire is heavier than water", so "water must be added to control it". The clever Dong people not only put a water tank near Satan, but also raised three fresh red fish and some duckweeds in the tank to warn future generations to "aggravate the water side". As we all know, if there is no water in the tank, the red fish will die, the duckweed will die, and disaster will come soon! The tank is the water side! Clever ancestors of Dong people dug many fish ponds in the village, in which there were not only fish, but also duckweed, indicating that the "water side" lived forever, and Dong village was in Chang 'an. Now many fish ponds are buried. Even if the fish pond is still there, because there is no water, no fish and no duckweed, the era of "fire is heavier than water" has appeared again, so disasters frequently come to Dongcun! What a superstition that deserves our attention!

The protection of nature in ancient Dong society is also based on the concept of "superstition". For example, the "holy mountain" and "holy tree" around the village are sacred and inviolable. Even in the era of "breaking superstition" and deforestation, many "sacred trees" have been preserved today because of the concept of "superstition". Therefore, as long as it does not harm society or others, "superstition" should be given due respect. Of course, for those "feudal superstitions" that endanger society and others, we should actively and effectively limit or stop them and actively guide people to establish a correct view of faith.

Belief is closely related to religion, but it is not the same. Religion is based on belief. Without faith, there is no religion. Belief is generally a psychological activity or spiritual phenomenon of individuals. Religion is an organized and active social phenomenon or collective will. Generally speaking, Dong society is in the transitional stage from primitive religion (polytheism) to artificial religion (monotheism). At present, although the Dong people still believe in polytheism, the supreme goddess "Sa Sui" has appeared in some areas, and there have been regional or village-wide collective sacrificial activities. This is the basic feature of Dong folk belief.