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!.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Neither 'die to self' nor 'die the others'. But 'live and let live' and 'love and be loved'

No 193 of Living Life Series 1

To die to self is a catch phrase or perhaps even the craze to show that the person concerned is doing the in-thing in life. They say we must die the old self with bad attributes in order to be reborn as a new self with good attributes. That however does not detract from the indisputable reality that there will be always be the self albeit in a different context or form.

The phrase 'die to self' unfortunately is a very strong and abrasive phrase and a very suicidal and negative one at that. It ignores the fact that in every man there is collection of good and not-so-good even if there be a renewed or reborn self. There are value systems, self-esteem, self-motivation and self accentuation which are good and necessary for progress, be it spiritual or other wise. Surely, there is no need to 'die' the self esteem, self motivation, the existing goodness and entrepreneurship or innovative streak in the old self but to grow such attributes of self.

A better phrase will be to 'better the self' and not 'die to self'.

Do not for any moment think that to be with God and Divinity of saints, we must 'die to self" and undergo suffering and penance so that we will be closer to Heaven. That will exactly drive us away from Heaven and in the opposite direction to Hell even on earth.

To die to self is sometimes a phrase coined by some men to bring more cohesion and adhesion of their following so that they will just have blind and undying allegiance like soldiers in the charge of the life brigade. Such a strategy if used as one of the many ways to hold a cohort as a whole is justifiable as one of the many temporary means to an end especially when the flock is in a society flout with disasters and predicaments of sorts. But beyond that temporary context, it will be self destructive and self derogatory.

Who ever says God wants us only if we do not want ourselves and if we inflict pain on ourselves. Who will ever say that the only way to Heaven is to put ourselves in pain and deny ourselves any goodness in life.

There are those who believe that in order to keep themselves on the spiritual path to be close to God, they must keep reminding themselves that God only loves them if they do not love themselves.

They think fatalistically that to be with God they must suffer as much as they can. So even though they scoff as ridiculous and absurd to undergo physical self torture e.g. self whipping, drinking poison, skewing themselves, they subconsciously do what they tell others not to do.

They invent new ways to distance themselves from earthly life so as to be near God. They feel that earthly life and blessings are impediments or barriers that distance them from God and saints. They refuse to harness and cultivate themselves in worldly sense as they wrongly believe that by so doing all these mean things to themselves, they are martyrs and they will win the favor of God. They literally undergo self-deprivation in the social, educational, occupational, and personal levels. How can they ever perceive that God will love them only if they do such mean things to themselves.

God loves us to want to see us love ourselves and surely we need to help and bless ourselves by not dying to self. It will certainly pain God to see us in pain. God is all loving and not sadist. Even the best of man cannot measure up to the goodness and love of God.

The other extreme opposite of dying to self is to die the others so that we can live more. That will be mean to others and we will need us to be as mean as or worse still to be meaner than the devil.

Even the real devils of hells have some godly goodness in them and that is why heavenly saints do try to reach out to the denizens of hell to appeal to the goodness in them so that they can have chance to be saints and leave hell.

There is need to balance as depicted by the seated image of Lord Bo Tien with feet balancing the two poles or elements. We should neither "die to self" nor " die the others" . Only then will we be right and divine and be with the peace and love of God and saints.

To put it simply. "Live and let live" and 'Love (ourselves) and be loved (by God and saints)'

Truth after all is that simple and yet difficult to perceive.

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.