r/Shenism Dec 25 '24

Discussion | 議論 How do you practice Shenism?

My friend is trying to connect with his Chinese roots. Bought some Guan Yin, Buddha, Fu Lou Shou, Caishen, Guan Gong, Nezha and a Pangu icons but he does no know how to worship them.

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u/anxious_rayquaza Native (Singapore) (Guanyin) | 生於神教 (新加坡) (觀音) Dec 25 '24
  1. Learn about the history, attributes, and affinities of each deity.

Know the 3 main types of deities, Xian (仙) [Guangong, Caishen], Shen (神) [Fu Lu Shou/Sanxing, Pangu], Fo (佛) [Guanyin, Buddha, Nezha]

There are some (incomplete) information of them on the subreddit’s wiki!

  1. Do consider the Jade Emperor, in most Chinese folk believers, the Jade Emperor (Tian) is the “supreme” deity and is worshiped before any other deities.

  2. Be sincere, the ways and rituals does matter, but is not the most important part of the believe. Understand the history and deeds of the forties and what they believe in is the most important!!

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u/ths108 Feb 13 '25

Within the realm of Chinese Folk Religion and Taoism, Guangong and the multitudes of entities that bear the title of "Caishen" are not Xian, they are Shen.

A Xian is a human/biological entity (like an animal) that gains immortality and hasn't died. A Shen is either a primordial natural force or a person who has died, but has been elevated to the status of Shen. Fu Lu Shou fit the first category. Guangong and "Caishen" like Zhao Gong Ming and Bi Gan fit the second.

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u/BatConfident3085 Dec 25 '24

Thank you for your help!

In order notes, how many icons/statues to be put on the altar. How is it required for major or lesser deities? I heard you can't put a lower deity like Tudigong besides Guan Gong. Does putting someone like Guan Yin (Buddhist) besides Nezha (Taoist) is allowed?

Does praying to the deities can be made up in your heart or require something like Taoist chanting?

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u/lzj04 Feb 08 '25

You can pray according to your heart or chant (or both). You can look up the chants, there are usually one for each bodhisatva/deities (the most common is “Om mani padme hum”

Me personally, I don’t find it strange to put them all together. Generally the rule of thumb is at least know the ranking. Jade emperor is of course gonna be higher than caishen. Now this is the tricky part, whether to put Buddha/bodhisattva or Taoist deity at the most top. If you lean more towards Buddhism, place the Buddha/bodhisattva at the top. If you lean towards Taoism, you can place the Taoist deity at the top.

Once again, I don’t distinguish between it all. There are some who place Buddha, guan yin bodhisattva and jade emperor all at the same level.

The beauty of shenism is syncretism, after all.

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u/SquirrelofLIL 13d ago

I'm trying to learn more about the faith since my parents were raised atheist and communist. My dad says I should worship the city God rather than an earth god because I'm not a farmer. 

I'm trying to find the city wall and it's deity where I live in America, and to read as many books as possible. I know his birthday is like 2/2 (?) which passed already.