In ancient times, they were called laity. What does "layman" mean?

Laity refers to the general name given by the old monk to people who enlighten at home; At the same time, this term still pretends to be a scholar. For example, Taoist Li Bai calls himself a violet Buddhist, Su Shi calls himself a Dongpo Buddhist, Tang Yin calls himself a six-elephant Buddhist, and Sun Yue calls himself a bright moon Buddhist.

The word "lay man" in ancient China originated from the jade algae in the Book of Rites. In Han Feizi's book, it is also said that there are laymen such as Ren Ti and Shihua, all of which refer to those who are quite good at art and do not seek official positions. Since then, both China and Japan have not followed the original intention of Confucian classics, but generally called those who have the means "laity".

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Taoist practitioners also claimed to be laymen, which had a great influence on middle and upper-class intellectuals, so many people took the name of "laymen". For example, Li Bai, who believes in Taoism, is a "violet layman"; Bai Juyi calls himself "Xiangshan laity"; Su Shi was named "Dongpo layman" and Fan Chengda was named "Shihu layman"; Li Qingzhao named herself "Yi 'an Jushi" and so on.

Extended data

According to the eighth paragraph of Article 6 of the Management Measures for Taoist temples issued by the Chinese Taoist Association, "Taoist temples can accept citizens who believe in Taoism as laymen. Taoist laymen should abide by the management system of temples and must not interfere in temple affairs. " I voluntarily applied for and chose my master, and got the approval of Qingtian Temple in Maoxian East.

A Taoist believer who has reached the age of 18, loves his country and religion, abides by laws and disciplines, and respects teachers and attaches great importance to religion. The layman's card is the identity certificate issued by the Taoist temple and the teacher's identity certificate of the layman.

Buddhist "home" practice mainly includes: conversion to three treasures, five commandments, fasting, practicing Bodhisattva for six degrees, and eight methods at home.

1. Convert to the Three Treasures, do good deeds wholeheartedly, and be sure that the Three Treasures of Buddhism and monks are the places you can rely on for your physical and mental return, not to mention converting to other religions and temples other than Buddhism. This is a necessary condition for releasing disciples at home.

2. Secondly, observe the five precepts, do not kill, steal, commit adultery, talk nonsense or drink alcohol. Although there are many Buddhist precepts, the five precepts are the most important. From learning Buddha to bodhisattva, we must abide by the five precepts, but we can never get rid of the dust, and everything remains the same.

3. Fasting, fasting is a kind of self-denial life on certain days of every month, that is, not eating, burning incense, singing and dancing, and not sitting on a high bed after noon. The fasting days are generally the first, eighth, fourteenth, full moon, twenty-third and twenty-ninth (dark days) of the lunar calendar.

4. The Mahayana classic tells how a bodhisattva at home should cultivate six degrees, radiate and so on.

5. Eight methods at home, eight methods at home are the eight practices that the Buddha aimed at seeking reality and future happiness in the family, namely convenience, protection, knowledge, righteousness, faith, restraint, charity and wisdom. If you practice according to the Eight Ways of Living at Home, you will not only get happiness in this life, but also get happiness in the afterlife.

Observe three conversions, five fasts, do good to others, purify one's body and mind, and read Mahayana to advise practitioners. These are the standards for Buddhist believers to practice at home. In fact, some are lower than this standard and some are higher than this standard.

Baidu encyclopedia-layman