No 12 of Living Life Series 1
In moments when we are down, we look up to divine heaven for assistance. In earnestness, we invoke the compassion of Heaven through a Heavenly Saint like Lord Bo Tien or the Saint in our respective sect or faith.
Brethren, do remember that there are ups and downs in life. This is the very nature of life itself.
A heavenly saint helps one and all. There are no chosen few. Even the condemned deserves a Heavenly Saint's help. This is the way of Heaven. Do not forget that a Saint helps us in our worldly downs so that we can better weather the sea of life.
Sometimes, we approach our respective heavenly saint with selfish needs. More often than not the empathic saint meets our selfish needs though in the short term this may mean we may become more selfish.
A saint helps us without asking for a price, virtually without any strings attached. His only wish is that by experiencing His blessings, our inner life will be enriched with the Light of Love and Truth.
We will then move from darkness to light, from excessive self-centeredness to selflessness, from self-denial to self-recognition and acceptance, from mere incessant wanting to giving, and from emotional turbulence to calmness, peace and serenity of mental equanimity, unfazed by the ups and downs, by the opposites of worldly contingencies of praise/blame, honour/dishonour, gain/loss and transient joys/sorrows. This, brethren, in one long breath and sentence is inner peace and contentment.
Do not forget to pray. Prayers can work wonders. Do remember that whatever material or worldly blessings we seek are but mere means to an end.
That end is the salvation of the individual in everyone of us. It is the purification of the soul nature in us from the fires of greed and attachment.
Prayers are an integral part of our life. It represents hope. Without hope, without dreams, there is no direction in life. But without equanimity, there is no inner peace and contentment.
Let us be humble enough to want to pray. The more mindful we are of our shortcomings and imperfections, the more we realise the need to pray so that we can be better in the days to come.
Let us live life in prayer to God and any heavenly saint like Lord Bo Tien.
"To all Heavenly Saints we / I greatly adore. We / I believe in your existence and thy glory is in the thought of men. We / I seek for thy protection and guidance so as to live better for the time to come."
Let this be the template for a universal prayer.
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The Living Life Series is dedicated to Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨). The doctrine is in His image. The image is the doctrine. He who sees, understands and effects the doctrine sees and knows Him. He who does not see, know and effect the doctrine sees not and knows not the saint even if the saint or His image is beside him. The far may be near and the near may be far. Let the doctrine and the saint be part of our life. The lord saint in your life can be any heavenly saint of any religion, sect or school. The doctrine of truth is behind all and this is the Inner Truth that leads all (regardless of their religious affiliation or even if none) to inner peace and heaven on earth here and now and not just in the after life. The ideal worship and devotion is to know and effect the doctrine of God and the saints. The best gospel is the gospel of life. We learn from our life and the lives of others. The true temple is the world we live in. The sky is the roof of the temple and religions and sects are the pillars of the temple. All under Heaven are in the temple. Needless to say that all the saints we know are in this temple. Ji Gong Posat too is no exception. The whole wide world and web is the temple and must be regarded as a sacred place --- a temple for living and learning. It is more important that everyone that counts plays a role in this universal temple if due focus is to be given to the Mission of Heaven. Men must not be distracted by the agenda of men and end up serving the mission of man. That would be a far cry from the Mission of Heaven. We worship God and saints, not man however good that man may be. There should be no hero worshiping or idolizing of man whether he is a charismatic pastor, priest, monk, medium or lay leader. We don't even idol worship the image of any saint but reflect on what the image stands for. - the doctrine in the image. Omitofo 阿弥陀佛!.
