LIVING LIFE SERIES 1

A BO TIEN (武天) MISSION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED ON 28TH SEPT 2010 BY INNER TRUTH NETIZEN 2. THE MISSION IS TO SHOW THE WAY TO HOPE, INNER PEACE AND ULTIMATELY SALVATION FOR ALL BEINGS. THE PURPOSE IS TO SAVE SOULS. IT IS WAY BEYOND NORMAL GOOD WORK LIKE CHARITY AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES. NO ONE SHALL BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS ALONE BUT BY MORE THAN GOOD WORK. THERE IS NEED TO BE IMBUED WITH THE BASIC DOCTRINE COMMON TO AND BEHIND ALL RELIGIONS AND SECTS. LIVE IN DOCTRINE. DOCTRINE IN LIFE IS PARAMOUNT.

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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!.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The three fold way - virtuous, peaceful and wise

No 101 of Living Life Series

The disciple of Truth, be he the disciple of Lord Bo Tien or not, must practise the threefold way.

He must be pure. He must be simple in needs, in wants and in life. He must neither give up the worldly life nor be indulgent or overcome by worldly life. He must not run away from the world. He must never let worldly gains be the primacy in life. He must not have greed, ill will or wrong views such as self denial and self -indulgence. Only then can he be able to see the big picture of life and see things as they are.

He must be calm and have inner peace so as to be serene. He must be able to handle and take on the life issue at hand without being distracted and perturbed by host of other issues. Above all he must have that sense of inner peace and rapture in everything he is in or in everything he experiences in life, be it the yin or the yang. Some call this the one-pointedness of the mind. They try to cultivate this consciously through lotus position concentration meditation. But even if they achieve some success, they must have this quality of inner peace and tranquillity in every experience or moment of their life, not just when they sit in lotus position.

Having both purity and the ability to have inner peace and calm in every moment of life is not enough. Purity begets merits through good wholesome deeds and thoughts, more so when they are devoid of greed, illwill and denial or over indulgence of life. Ability to concentrate and have inner peace in the every moment of life is good and may open a host of mystic and psychic experiences because of the one-pointedness of the mind. But more is needed if the disciple of truth needs to enlighten himself to be with God and saints, if he needs to have that perfection which releases him from the cycle of rebirths.

He must be wise. He needs wisdom not just on certain occasions in life but for every moment in life. He needs to cultivate his mind, that is, to do reflection in every moment of his life. Some call this meditation. But this is not concentration meditation or one pointedness meditation. This is the moment to moment meditation of being mindful of life in every moment, not just when cross legged in lotus or semi-lotus pose. This is to be wise in every moment. In short, this is to be above the moment and yet be with the moment i.e. be aware of the moment in life, so as not to be affected by the moment and yet live through the moment. Awareness or mindfulness is important if he wants to have wisdom in every moment of his life.

Be pure and virtuous like Goddess Kuanyin. Be calm and serene in life events and moments like Lord Bo Tien. Be wise with mindfulness moment to moment in life like any Buddha. Brethren, in the temple of Heaven, in the shrine of Trinity of Buddha, Goddess Kuanyin and Lord Bo Tien are enshrined the three-fold way.

BE VIRTUOUS

BE AT PEACE

BE WISE

Even in the seated image of Lord Bo Tien is enshrined the threefold way. Peace is by way of balancing and being on top of rather than being tossed around by the opposing contingencies of life like praise blame, gain loss, self denial and over indulgence. The septre in right hand bids us to hold on to wisdom or God's knowledge of the truth in life, just like the buddhas. This should be our predominant or primary concern. The left hand in salutation bids us to be virtuous and pure as modelled by Goddess Kuanyin.

Lest you forget

Do not make the mistake of idolizing any man who tells you about the Word. He is in the same boat as you even if religion refers to him as a religious leader. Mere mention of a religious leader is as good as encouraging idolising of that man. Why must there be hierarchy in religion? Hierarchy is conventional but may end up as liability rather than a necessity or asset. There should be no caste or hierarchy system in religion. No one is to be considered above another in religion. A religious leader or follower is a servant to serve you and not a leader to be idolised. Do not put him on the pedestal and make a monster out of him.

MAY ALL BE WELL AND HAPPY

May all be well and happy. May they have peace. May our departed friends and kins be well, happy and have divine peace. The main writer wishes the best for all for those near and far. Our kins may be far when they had passed on to better lives but they are near though far. He remembers and wishes his parents Mr Siow Soo Koh and Mdm Tay Hung Siang, his uncles and aunties like Mr Tay Koon Huay, his cousins like Mr Tay Chong Sim and his friends like Mr Philip Png well and have abundance of life. May they be rich in spirit for without such ancestors, there will be no posterity - no us and no you and me. They have blessed us and we must blessed them in return forever and ever.