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!.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Mission, Life and Gospel

No 302 of Living Life Series 1

Synopsis

What are meant by 'mission', by 'life' and by 'gospel'? Why are there three images at the temple of the lord saint at Singapore namely that of Lord Bo Tien, Lord Amitabha Buddha and Goddess Kuanyin?

Mission is to save souls - to help to overcome issues and to have eventual enlightenment of beings.

Life is to enable us to grow, to live and to be wise.

To grow is to train, to develop and to be disciplined as reflected in the image of Lord Bo Tien.

To live, we have to enable and to love life - that is to have compassion for self and for others as reflected by Goddess Kuanyin image.

To be wise is to learn from living. Truth comes from the lessons of life. This is the maturity or wisdom aspect of life - the Buddha aspect.

The gospel is thus found in life. Lord Bo Tien wants us to learn from our life and others. Learn to handle issues, help oneself, help one another and learn to seek the shelter of heaven - the candle parable. Doctrine too is in pakua at the temple and image of Lord Bo Tien. Do read the text below.

What is the Mission ?

The mission of Heaven is to save souls. This is facilitated by helping beings to overcome difficulties in life which will pave the way to save souls. Beings tend to be lost and overwhelmed by issues in life.

"The problems of men and beings are many and plentiful." Lord Bo Tien said.

At one end of the spectrum, many don't even have 3 square meals and lodging. Then there are those wanting in health.

At the helicopter end, there is issue of wandering from birth to birth and that is an issue. There is need to save souls, even those in hell. That is why we have the 7th month activities.

There is the need to let beings understand why they have difficulties one after another. There is need to have peace amidst the ups and downs of existence.

The mission to overcome difficulties ultimately it is to save souls from wandering from birth to birth. Beings ordinarily cannot on their own make it out of the cycle of rebirths. Heaven must act. The saving of souls is the Mission of Heaven and not the mission of men.

Men need the blessings of Heaven to be saved. The candle flame of life of a being like man flickers even in the breeze of existence and must be sheltered for life to be the steady flame, so that men can better cultivate their spirituality and be elevated.

What are the 3 phases of life ?

Life of an individual or organisation is like the temple of the lord saint. There are phases of growing up, living life and maturing in wisdom.

Firstly there is the growing phase or setting up phase, often referred to as discipline or getting organised phase. This is depicted by the image of Lord Bo Tien.

Secondly, there is the working phase or living phase where we live life and overcome difficulties. This is the compassion or Goddess Kuanyin phase and is depicted aptly by the image of the Goddess of Mercy at the shrine hall of Bo Tien Temple. We must have love and concern for life, both for our own and others' lives. This is compassion and is the way to live.

Thirdly we have the wisdom or maturity phase when we are able to have the third eye or the know-how of how to live better. It need not precede the second phase and the second phase will enable the understanding of how to better overcome problems of life and to have peace. We learn from life and are wiser from learning and from the pitfalls in life.

How can we live life better ? -- The Gospel

For there to be wisdom call it maturity if you like or even to have enlightened outlook, we need the Gospel of life. Do we have a gospel? There are many but what is important is to learn from the lessons and issues in life. We learn from life, our mistakes, our weaknesses and from those of others’ lives. We learn from life as it unfurls. There are many processes of learning to overcome life issues and difficulties.

We help ourselves where we can.

We seek the help of fellow men and beings. A group of candles is better than a single candle, the lord saint did say. We can also seek the shelter and blessings of the saints.

A sheltered flame glows and grows and will not flicker in the wind. Big issue become small issues even if they cannot be no issue. Smaller issues will be no issue.

Values that help spiritual do ensure better worldly life of peace amidst yin and yang but the reverse may not work.

We must be balanced and not run away from life just because there are problems and difficulties. We should not live as though there is no tomorrow and no life after death. We must not be affected by the ups and downs of life, by worldly contingencies of birth and death, joy and sorrow, fortunes and misfortunes, loss and gain, honour and dishonour.

We must be at peace and 'stand still' like in the centre of the pakua despite the swirls of the yin and yang. We must contemplate and be mindful of the eight trigrams or combinations of yin and yang in life and existence that our forefathers of tou-li have embodied in the pakua symbol.

This balance can only be when we are at peace and the balance itself yields more peace. This doctrine or message of need to be at peace is in the image of Lord Bo Tien with feet balancing and atop the elements of life. The left hand in salutation bids us to be at peace and the right hand with scepter reminds us to hold on to the blessings and loving kindness of Divinity so that our lives do not flicker but grow and glow with inner peace. We learn from the gospel of life and grow the peace and love of life and tap onto the leng or love of Heaven which some refer to as the Holy Spirit. Then we can be seated on the dragon chair of the Holy Spirit like depicted in the image of Lord Bo Tien.

The pakua takes centre stage at Bo Tien Temple
Likewise it should take centre stage of our life

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.