No 59 of Living Life Series 1
Why do we have images of other saints and Buddha in the shrine of Lord Bo Tien? Why not have only His image?
Well, the answer is obvious, and has to do with roots and culture.
The shrine hall displays three main images of Buddha, Goddess of Mercy, and Lord Bo Tien.
There are various reasons.
(1) For one, there is need to identify with culture and roots, not to start new religion or sect and to show that truth can be reached in existing culture.
(2) At a higher spiritual level, we can see the personification of perfect wisdom in Buddha, the universal magnanimity and love for all beings by Goddess of Mercy, and the resoluteness and discipline of the guidance by Lord Bo Tien in celestial armour of age-old Chinese tradition.
(3)The fact that there is this armour speaks volumes on need for maintaining lineage of roots and culture so as to bring those of that culture together and show that there is the same divinity and truth behind, even with differing culture, roots and religious orientation in societies of the world. Chinese culture and society is but one of the many.
(4) Then there is common tread of Divine Trinity with Buddha symbolising truth of Divine Perfection or God, the loving spirit of God in nature as depicted by the omnipresence of Goddess of Mercy, and Lord Bo Tien as the messenger of God. This too is a good evidence that there is the same divinity and truth behind all religions and sects.
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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!.
