No 87 of Living Life Series 1
Lord BoTien, through the 1978 anniversary message, reminds that the oil lamp at a temple represents the members and devotees of the temple, and the image represents a heavenly saint like the lord saint.
A temple's members must keep faith with the temple, and keep the flame of the temple burning. They are the life of the temple. A temple is made of flesh and blood and not a concrete building.
In 1978, He commented on the oneness of heart and attire of those who were in his temple to listen to His message. He reminded that all have to be one in heart and actions for the mission for every day of their life. The purpose of having an image of a heavenly saint is to remind followers in every day of their life that their heavenly saint is there with them. They must through oneness of heart and actions do justice to heavenly presence. Followers should look closer at image of heavenly saint to understand heaven. In the image, they could see the Doctrine of Heaven come to life.
The divine doctrine Heaven wants all to understand and practice is in the image, and the image is the doctrine. He who understands the doctrine and mission understands the heavenly saint, and what the image stands for.
Mission for which a lord saint like lord Bo Tien is divine messenger is the will of Almighty God, “The Jade Emperor”. The mission is the mission of Heaven and not of man.
Men serves as the oil lamp to keep the mission going. If one generation of adherents cannot succeed, future generations would be recruited and tasked to help out in Mission till finality of effectiveness. A temple is the vehicle of the mission of Heaven.
If a tree represents a temple, the members are like branches of the tree. The branches must serve their purpose of bearing leaves, flowers and eventually fruits. Hence, if they are diseased and rotten, and do not respond to repeated care and treatment, they serve no purpose. If badly affected branches are not chopped off, they would affect the well being of the tree. As long as the tree is rooted well and stands on good soil and has supply of water, it would grow back new branches to replace the old diseased branches even after these branches were chopped off.
The mission of a lord saint like Lord Bo Tien is rooted and anchored in the will of God. As long as it is rooted as such and is imbued with unending water of Divine Essence ('leng' in Chinese Hokkien or 'holy spirit'), its success is just a matter of time. But this should be sooner if the branches (represented by adherents) are healthy and able to be effective in producing leaves (spread of doctrine and good works e.g. loving-kindness) and producing fruits (saving souls). If the branches remain diseased and rotten despite prolonged repeated care, they should be chopped off to allow the tree to grow to full glory. Adherents must be healthy ‘branches’ of a temple ‘tree’, but if they are rotten, could not respond to repeated offer of divine care and simply not wanting to do their part, they can be left on wayside till they are ready. This will ensure that the other branches do not become diseased as well and also facilitate a healthy environment for springing forth of new and robust branches. Just the removal of a few bad branches even if they are seemingly big and prominent ones would allow the other good branches to grow and new branches to spring forth.
A temple of any heavenly saint like Lord Bo Tien may see the removal of some major but diseased branches from time to time. Heaven will try to keep them and treat them but the branches might simply not respond. But the Mission of Heaven must go on as long as rooted in will of God, and nourished by water of the Divine Essence / Spirit. Hence some diseased branches which cannot be salvaged must be axed for the well being of the Mission.
There is no need for more words. The rest is clear, and every member or follower of a heavenly saint like Lord Saint should know best what to do for the good of the many and, of course not to mention that this will end up with the individual member’s own good as well. Remember that the Mission of Heaven is for the good of the many, and while Heaven is forgiving and patient, those who want to continue to err will end up on the sidelines (but will still be cared for) so that the Mission will go ahead.
A temple's members must keep faith with the temple, and keep the flame of the temple burning. They are the life of the temple. A temple is made of flesh and blood and not a concrete building.
In 1978, He commented on the oneness of heart and attire of those who were in his temple to listen to His message. He reminded that all have to be one in heart and actions for the mission for every day of their life. The purpose of having an image of a heavenly saint is to remind followers in every day of their life that their heavenly saint is there with them. They must through oneness of heart and actions do justice to heavenly presence. Followers should look closer at image of heavenly saint to understand heaven. In the image, they could see the Doctrine of Heaven come to life.
The divine doctrine Heaven wants all to understand and practice is in the image, and the image is the doctrine. He who understands the doctrine and mission understands the heavenly saint, and what the image stands for.
Mission for which a lord saint like lord Bo Tien is divine messenger is the will of Almighty God, “The Jade Emperor”. The mission is the mission of Heaven and not of man.
Men serves as the oil lamp to keep the mission going. If one generation of adherents cannot succeed, future generations would be recruited and tasked to help out in Mission till finality of effectiveness. A temple is the vehicle of the mission of Heaven.
If a tree represents a temple, the members are like branches of the tree. The branches must serve their purpose of bearing leaves, flowers and eventually fruits. Hence, if they are diseased and rotten, and do not respond to repeated care and treatment, they serve no purpose. If badly affected branches are not chopped off, they would affect the well being of the tree. As long as the tree is rooted well and stands on good soil and has supply of water, it would grow back new branches to replace the old diseased branches even after these branches were chopped off.
The mission of a lord saint like Lord Bo Tien is rooted and anchored in the will of God. As long as it is rooted as such and is imbued with unending water of Divine Essence ('leng' in Chinese Hokkien or 'holy spirit'), its success is just a matter of time. But this should be sooner if the branches (represented by adherents) are healthy and able to be effective in producing leaves (spread of doctrine and good works e.g. loving-kindness) and producing fruits (saving souls). If the branches remain diseased and rotten despite prolonged repeated care, they should be chopped off to allow the tree to grow to full glory. Adherents must be healthy ‘branches’ of a temple ‘tree’, but if they are rotten, could not respond to repeated offer of divine care and simply not wanting to do their part, they can be left on wayside till they are ready. This will ensure that the other branches do not become diseased as well and also facilitate a healthy environment for springing forth of new and robust branches. Just the removal of a few bad branches even if they are seemingly big and prominent ones would allow the other good branches to grow and new branches to spring forth.
A temple of any heavenly saint like Lord Bo Tien may see the removal of some major but diseased branches from time to time. Heaven will try to keep them and treat them but the branches might simply not respond. But the Mission of Heaven must go on as long as rooted in will of God, and nourished by water of the Divine Essence / Spirit. Hence some diseased branches which cannot be salvaged must be axed for the well being of the Mission.
There is no need for more words. The rest is clear, and every member or follower of a heavenly saint like Lord Saint should know best what to do for the good of the many and, of course not to mention that this will end up with the individual member’s own good as well. Remember that the Mission of Heaven is for the good of the many, and while Heaven is forgiving and patient, those who want to continue to err will end up on the sidelines (but will still be cared for) so that the Mission will go ahead.
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