People sometimes like to say that some people who don't work hard have no pursuit, and they like to say that some people have no faith now. In fact, in our culture, learning is the pursuit, and people often associate faith with superstition. Faith is actually the belief, respect and worship of an idea, a doctrine and a religion. Faith and superstition are twin brothers. People first have the goal of faith, and then the worship of faith. When they cling to faith, faith becomes superstition. Compared with rational people, some people's understanding of faith is like standing in the sun, looking up and only seeing the golden sun, but they can't tell the cloister. Just like some of our old ladies and grandfathers burn paper money to worship there, and some believers of other religions worship in the church and so on. They may not know what they are doing at all. Maybe they are kowtowing there, wondering if the meat in their pot is burnt now. Because no one knows what happened to those immortals, fairies and immortals. This is superstition. What exactly is faith? Different beliefs have different interpretations. First of all, faith is our worship of a thing, and this worship places our ideals and expectations on a thing. People regard this kind of thing as a belief because they worship it and trust it. Then this kind of thing is enlarged to the society, and faith is born. Faith should be popular first, and a single personal yearning can only be regarded as a pursuit, not a belief. Second, the belief is unknown. If you can understand these things, you will lose the admiration and awe for them, and you will not be able to believe them. It is precisely because of unknown reasons that I have the desire to explore and verify. Simply put, faith is something we don't know at present, and it has great temptation. Ever since human beings had ideas, they have been constantly seeking knowledge to explain themselves. Where are we from and where are we going? When simple cognition can't explain what is happening around us, some thoughtful people artificially set what they think they understand as a goal, which is actually ignorant, and then fabricate it around this goal to deepen development, so that faith is born. Numerous beliefs began. In ancient times, people only knew that fruits fell from trees and children were born from mothers' stomachs. So mother became the object of worship. Some ethnic groups even worship female genitals as national totems. Therefore, early human civilization was a society with matriarchal clan as the main body. Later, with the development of society, some people in the upper class confused people in the lower class in order to rule, and they invented things like gods and immortals. Early European and American civilizations lagged behind the East, and only the Greeks could make gods. In fact, God in the eyes of modern westerners is just a low-level joke. Why don't westerners want to be exposed themselves? Because it will confuse some people. For hundreds of years, western scientific civilization has been ahead of the world, but God is still in their hearts, because they put superstition above science. This phenomenon is actually one of the signs of complete superstition and stupidity in civilized society. Of course, there are differences between the beliefs of modern people and ancient people. Since the development of society has produced the poor and the rich, human beings have followed an ancient traditional logic. That is, birds of a feather flock together. Different people have different beliefs, and top people are the main force to promote civilization. They are a group of people with the least faith, because the competition is too fierce, they can't believe their previous beliefs, and no faith can solve the problems they face. They are a group of people standing on the moon and Mars. Because faith is torn by secular desires, people are left with superstitions. Ironically, in times of crisis, these elites will touch the cross and keep shouting "Amen". This shows the power of faith in people's hearts when it becomes superstition. Ordinary people in the lower classes, because they can't make up their beliefs, have to comfort themselves with fairy tales of ghosts and gods left by their ancestors. Believe in fate and luck. Because this is the helplessness of life. Faith is actually a kind of strength, which has positive effects whether it is blind faith in ancient times or progressive faith in modern times. If you have faith in your heart, you can transform yourself in the process of adapting to society. If you have faith in your heart, you will have a pioneering spirit. Therefore, we advocate a progressive and firm belief, which is neither blind obedience nor superstition. Faith and superstition are often irreconcilable. I just want to tell you, don't take superstition as a belief, or you will get lost. Whether it is Catholicism, Christianity, Buddhism or Islam, they all believe that there are monsters and gods (gods: Buddhism is called Buddha, Islam is called Allah), and monsters and gods are the embodiment of evil and good. The purpose of believing in these religions is to abandon evil and promote good: believers must carry forward the spirit of caring for and helping others-good, eliminate selfishness and the desire to harm others-evil, and make people's spirit enter the realm of perfection-beauty.
The same is true of the belief in productism. In those days, the people who formed and joined the * * * Production Party in China believed in * * * productism in order to prevent the proletariat from being exploited and oppressed, to liberate the proletariat all over the world and to realize the perfect paradise on earth of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". For this belief, they vowed to pay everything, even their lives. Most of them gave their lives and blood for this belief, practiced their vows and became faithful followers of productism.
Even believing in "things that don't exist, such as ghosts and gods" can be a kind of belief rather than superstition. According to folklore, after death, the soul (ghost) will be escorted to the underworld of the ghost city Fengdu for trial: those who do good deeds before their death will ascend to heaven and become saints and gods; Those who did evil before their death went into the oil pan, stuffed their eyes, and cut their axes with knives (similar to hell in the divine comedy). Although this legend is scattered, rough and lacking in humanitarian spirit, it still advocates punishing evil and promoting good, warning people to do more good deeds and stop committing crimes, thus benefiting society. Therefore, the underworld in Fengdu has not been regarded as superstition, but has been "eliminated", and it has also been expanded on a large scale and widely publicized. Although its statue is blue and fangs, the scene is bloody and horrible, but it is still full of incense and tourists, including many believers who advocate "great trust and respect" for it.
Let's see what superstition is all about.
The first is fortune telling. Fortune-telling is popular at present. Fortune teller, Little Cap Tsing Yi, sitting in the street. People go to fortune telling with "great trust and respect" for fortune tellers, and they are convinced of their eloquent guidance. They are like immortals. Its purpose is to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters, and to promote and make a fortune. Of course, this is for yourself, not for others, nor for the benefit of society.
The second is to look at feng shui. Relatives died, of course, to be buried. In order to choose a suitable period and an excellent place for geomantic omen, people invited a demigod, Mr. Yin and Yang, with the feeling of "great trust and honor", to summon spirits and send their relatives to a funeral in full swing and bury them in a place of good times. Its purpose is to get the aura of heaven and earth for the dead relatives, so as to bless their children and grandchildren to prosper from generation to generation. This is also for our own interests, not for others.
Of course, there are many forms of superstition, such as: kowtowing to Guanyin Bodhisattva and burning incense will bless the daughter-in-law to have a fat boy; When opening a business, we must make good use of the god of wealth, which will bring opportunities, luck and help to the nobles, so that business will flourish and financial resources will be extensive; Judging from personality and fortune, you can find the lost wallet of the rich and get a lot of other people's money when you go out; If you encounter four, you will die, and if you encounter eight, you will be sent; Swear to fight for capitalism and sacrifice, thinking that you will soon be promoted to a higher position and make a fortune; Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
As can be seen from the above description, belief is altruistic and superstition is selfish, and the two are not different because of whether they believe in ghosts and gods and other non-existent things.