Why are Taoists thin while monks are fat?

Taoist & Monks, they are all vegetarians. Why are Taoists thin while monks are fat?

In people's impression. The Taoist priests who become monks are all thin and hale, with an air of immortality. Monks are not like this. Whether in temples or the abbots of a certain temple commonly seen on the Internet, they are all fat. In contrast, the impact on people is not small. Since they are all vegetarians, why is there such a big difference in body shape? This is mainly due to the different cultivation concepts of Taoism and Buddhism.

For Taoist cultivation, the emphasis is on "cultivating both life and spirit." Simply understood, "spirit" refers to spiritual cultivation; "life" refers to physical cultivation. Generally, most religions attach great importance to spiritual cultivation. Only Taoism attaches special importance to the longevity of the physical body.

Therefore, there are many methods for strengthening the body in Taoism.
The most typical is Taoist daoyin technique. Exhaling, inhaling, imitating the movements of bears and birds are all for longevity. Famous ones include Baduanjin and Wuqinxi, which are all Taoist daoyin techniques. These skills are indeed effective in exercising the body and prolonging life. Through exercise and training, Taoists will also be thin and energetic, appearing with an air of immortality.

In addition, because Taoism attaches special importance to the physical body, it also pays special attention to health preservation. Under the guidance of health preservation theories, Taoists are also very research on the combination of food they eat. Exercising after meals is also a must for health preservation. It is not only beneficial to health but also has a great effect on maintaining body shape.
In order to practice in the mountains, Taoists also know some medical skills to some extent. With this knowledge, Taoists naturally know better how to maintain good health. Taoist medicine is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine and still has an impact until now.

After the late Tang Dynasty, Taoist cultivation mainly turned to inner alchemy. However, all major schools of inner alchemy cultivation attach importance to "life cultivation skills" and clearly state that "only cultivating spirit but not life is the first illness in cultivation." Therefore, Taoists have always adhered to the traditions within the religion and managed their own "physical bodies", thus giving outsiders the impression of being thin.

Monks are different. The basic concept of Buddhism is that all living beings suffer and that all four elements are empty. Since everything is "empty", they don't attach much importance to body management. What's more, some concepts in Buddhism also think that the physical body is a burden to cultivation. Therefore, the skills in Buddhism mainly focus on cultivating "spirit". In terms of body management, there are no cultivation skills. There is also a skill called "contemplation of the skeleton", which reflects the monk's aversion to the physical body.

There is also one point that must be mentioned. That is, Buddhism is a religion that came from India and is different from the inherent Chinese traditions. Chinese people have always had the concept that one's body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents and must not be damaged in the slightest. But monks are different. Sometimes, in order to show piety, they don't cherish their bodies as much as Taoists.

In fact, some monks have also realized that not paying attention to physical health is a problem. For example, Huisi, the third patriarch of the Tiantai Sect of Buddhism, due to his weak and sickly body, had the idea of learning from Taoism. He claimed that "relying on external alchemy to cultivate inner alchemy. To pacify all living beings, one must first pacify oneself." He also learned some physical cultivation skills, but after all, this is not the mainstream view of Buddhism.

Buddhism emphasizes the emptiness of origin and nature and also has a strong fatalistic view. So monks generally only cultivate "spirit". For example, in Zen meditation and concentration; in the chanting of the Pure Land Sect. These skills involve very little movement of the body. So even if monks are vegetarians, they gradually become fat.

In general, the reason why Taoists are thin while monks are fat is that their pursuit goals are inconsistent and their cultivation methods are different.