The Three Purities

Except, of course, for the unspeakable Tao itself, The Three Purities are the highest deities in the Taoist pantheon. For ceremonial Taoism, The Three Purities - The Jade Pure One, The Supreme Pure One and The Grand Pure One - function in a way similar to the Trinity of Christianity or the Buddhist Trikaya. They are honored, revered and worshiped as external deity-forms, and understood also to symbolize aspects of awakened mind, i.e. to be reflections of the divinity inherent in each practitioner. Of the three, The Jade Pure One (pictured above) is believed to have manifested spontaneously at the beginning of the Universe. Laozi is considered to be an emanation of the Grand Pure One.

I think of The Three Purities as being analogous to the Three Treasures. These deities provide a focus for those whose devotion is expressed outwardly, in ritual and ceremony. For Inner Alchemy practitioners, it is jing, qi and shen that are the focus of a more inwardly-expressed devotion. In both cases, the object of worship is understood, ultimately, to be inseparable from the practitioner him- or herself.