Wusheng Laomu

Wusheng Laomu (Chinese: 無生老母; pinyin: Wúshēng Lǎomǔ; literally: "Unborn Ancient Mother, Eternal Ancient Mother, Limitless Ancient Mother"), also known simply as Unborn Mother, or as the Wujimu (无极母 "Mother of the Unlimited"), is a goddess in Chinese folk religion and the central figure worshipped in many sects of the Chinese salvationist religions.[1] Another of her names is Yaochi Jinmu (Chinese: 瑶池金母; pinyin: Yáochí Jīnmǔ; literally: "Golden Mother of the Jade Pond / Jasper Pond / Shining Pond"),[2] shared with Xi Wangmu.

In the tradition of folk sects, Wusheng Laomu is the personificated symbol of the absolute principle of reality, known through the more abstract symbols of Zhenkong ("True Emptiness" or "Void"), Wuji (the "Everlasting"), Zhen (the "Truth"), Gufo (the "Ancient Buddha [Awakening]"), or Zu (the "Patriarch").[3] The abstract symbols are favoured in early Luoism, while female personification was preferred in later sect traditions, such as Xiantiandao.[4]

These symbols are commonly combined together in books of the sect tradition to express the impersonal absolute principle (for example Wuji Zhenkong, "Limitless True Emptiness") or its personal representation (for example Wusheng Laomu, Wuji Shengzu the "Limitless Holy Patriarch", or Wuji Gufo the "Limitless Ancient Buddha [Awakening]").[5] The source of all being is also traditionally represented as the Big Dipper asterism.[6]

Origins

The absolute principle of the universe/being as Wusheng Laomu ("Unborn Ancient Mother") or Zhenkong ("Emptiness").

Wusheng Laomu is considered a derivative form of Xi Wangmu,[7] the ancient mother goddess of China associated to the mythical Kunlun, the axis mundi. As early as the Han dynasty, there were millenarian movements centered around Xi Wangmu.[8]

Other symbols

Other symbols or names for the Matrix are the Ancient Patriarch of the Primordial Cause (Hunyuan Laozu), the Ancient Patriarch of Infinity (Wuji Laozu), or the Archaic Buddha as It Originally Is (Tinzhen Gufo).[9] In the earliest sect traditions female representations are considered as counterparts of male representations, as the yin and yang.[10]

Scriptural definitions

Wusheng Laomu is described in many ways in the many scriptures of Chinese folk sects.[11]

Excerpt from "The Precious Dragon-Flower Scripture Verified by the Ancient Buddha as It Originally Is" (Gufo tianzhen kaozheng longhua baojing) or simply Dragon Flower Scripture, section "Heaven and Earth of the Ancient Buddha" (Gufo qiankun pin):

After the emergence of the Ancient Buddha, heaven and earth were established; after the rise of the Eternal Venerable Mother, Former Heaven was established. The Eternal Venerable Mother conceives from herself and begets yin and yang. The yin is the daughter and the yang is the son. Their names are Fuxi and Nüwa respectively.[12]

From another section of the Dragon Flower, "It is required that all male and female members gather with neither difference nor discrimination."[13]

Equality of men and women is a characteristic element of the Chinese sect tradition, for both males and females are equally children of the Unborn Ancient Mother,[14] and both of them are the same in the "Anterior Heaven" or "Original Heaven", that is to say the original state of burgeoning from the Matrix.[15]

The aim of every follower of the Unborn Mother is to return to her: from "The Precious Scroll of Explaining the Great Vehicle" (Xiaoshi dacheng baojuan):

After preaching the wonderful message with an enlightened mind and manifested nature, they return home in complete pleasure. [...] All children are redeemed and reunited [...] and they will resume a long life. They see the Mother sitting on the Lotus Throne, surrounded by golden light. They are received and led to their original place.[16]

Suffering as the "Lake of Blood"

In the sect tradition, for example as explained in "The Precious Repentance of Blood Lake of Red Sun of the Primordial Origin" (Hunyuan hongyang xuehu baochan) of Hongyangism, the condition of suffering is inherent to human experience and the material world, as a necessity of its creation.[17] The condition of the material world is likened to the "Lake of Blood", filthy and dirty waters that necessarily flow out of women's body when a child is born.[18] Suffering is a condition of creation itself.[19]

See also

In other religions

References

  1. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 11
  2. ↑ Goossaert, Palmer. 2011. p. 98
  3. ↑ Seiwert, 2003. p. 387
  4. ↑ Seiwert, 2003. p. 387
  5. ↑ Seiwert, 2003. p. 387
  6. ↑ Seiwert, 2003. p. 387
  7. ↑ Pregadio, 2013. § Views of Human Society: Messianism and Millenarianism
  8. ↑ Pregadio, 2013. § Views of Human Society: Messianism and Millenarianism
  9. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 319
  10. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 319
  11. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 316
  12. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. pp. 316-319
  13. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 316
  14. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 316
  15. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 316
  16. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 321
  17. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 318
  18. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 318
  19. ↑ Ma, Meng. 2011. p. 318

Sources

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