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!.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Cultivating The Three Jewels of Tao

No 305 of Living Life Series 1
--- The Three Virtues of Kindness, Simplicity and Humility

The Three Jewels of Tao (Chinese: 三寶; pinyin: sānbǎo) are compassion (kindness), simplicity (moderation) and modesty (humilty). We need to be kind, to be simple and to be humble. We need to love, to moderate and to be modest.

The first of the Three Jewels is ci (Chinese: 慈; pinyin: cí; literally "compassion, love, kindness"). This is parallel to brotherly love. It is like loving others as a person loves his own existence.

The second jewel is jian (Chinese: 儉; pinyin: jiǎn; literally "moderation, economy, restraint"). Jian is connected with the Taoist metaphor pu. (樸 "uncarved wood; simplicity"). It represents reaching out for ideal simplicity of desire, that is to have ample desire but not denying or indulging in desire.

The third treasure is the phrase bugan wei tianxia xian (不敢為天下先). It means that one does "not dare to be first in the world". It is connected to a fear of death and out of a love for life, one must not be the first to die. The one who remains behind and embrace humility has time to cultivate life and succeed in Tao or Way. Of course, one must not procrastinate and be the last to succeed.

The seated pose of lord saint Lord Bo Tien embodies the way to practice the three jewels via balance approach as represented by the feet atop the polarities or elements.

Lord Bo Tien

In cultivation of the first jewel ci 慈, one must not love oneself only but must not forget to love others as he loves himself. One must not be kind to oneself and forget to be kind to others. On the other extreme, one must not be kind to others at one's own expense, that is end up being unkind to self. There is need to be balanced in ci 慈.

In cultivation of the second jewel jian 儉, one must moderate wants or to put it plainly, one must be simple with desires. One must not go overboard or deny all desires but must go for the comfortable level of desires, neither zero nor excessive but ample level which will faciltate life both spiritual and mundane. The seated pose of Lord Bo Tien with feet atop the polarities reminds us to be balanced in respect of desires. We can neither totally forgo nor go under with desires. We need only to be just simple like the ''uncarved wood".

The third jewel "bugan wei tianxia xian" (不敢為天下先) in literal sense is "not be the first in the world". In cultivation if this third jewel, we must not rush in to cultivate the way and end up not succeeding, but take our time to learn and do it well. Thus again the pose of the lord saint depicts balance with feet balancing extremities. Whilst we should not be the first, we should not be tardy and be the last for being tardy may mean we never achieve at all.

This is the way to master the three jewels or treasures of Tao - the three virtues of compassion, simplicity and modesty (humility). This opens up our life to more of divine peace that all saints and religions want us to have.

We need to be kind, to be simple and to be humble. We need to love, to moderate and to be modest. Life would be more pleasant even if fate is not on our side at times. What matters most is that at all times we need to be peaceful to be able to harness more out of life.

We need to go for the three virtues and be able to do so in the most effective way as depicted by the image of Lord Bo Tien. The image tells us more of how to practice the doctrine and how to practise the doctrine is carved into the image.

Let us cultivate the three virtues of kindness, simplicity and humility and not only live the doctrine in our life but also let the doctrine be carved into our life so that we be beacons to light up the lives of others as well.

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.