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.

.

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!.

Friday, November 18, 2011

The true meaning and practice of loving kindness

No 327 of Living Life Series 1.

God and saints

The true meaning and practice of loving kindness is best exemplified by Gautama Buddha. His cousin Devadata was envious of him, tried to be his rival by cultivating psychic, having up his own following and even set out to harm him by rolling a boulder to harm the Buddha. But of course this did not work and in Mahayana text, the Yellow Jambhala averted the potential harm. But what is most noteworthy is that the Buddha never harbour negative thoughts and even think lovingly of his cousin Devadata predicting that in lifetimes to come, his cousin will be a buddha as well. This is loving kindness or Metta which we must all aspire to.

Members of a spiritual organisation must always take cognisance of why they are in the organisation. The purpose is to be spiritual and to be closer to God and saints. There is need to love and to be loved by God and men.

The greatness of the members lies not only in what they can do for wider society but also in what they can do for fellow men in their immediate family and institution like in a temple or church. That is probably more important.

The charity and good works for the wider society should be just one manifestation of true love for life what we may refer to as loving kindness for life. There should be that same sense of love not just for the needy and destitute in wider society but more substantially love to be shown for life more closer to them example love of the fellow brethren and followers of the one same saint in that temple or organisation.

There should not be any self-righteousness that only they are right and others who differ are wrong. Instead, there should be more of that divine-like unconditional love for men in their institution who may have erred or those who may hold distinct differing views. For such people too have done good in their own ways and are capable of more good. In the first place perhaps, these men may not have been wrong.What if they are also right in another perspective which the self righteous fail to grasp.

There must also not be guilt or hatred even for oneself even if one has done wrong such as thinking others are wrong. For guilt effectively means little or even no iota of love for oneself. Hatred or dislike has no place in a spiritual organisation. Hatred even if a little for brethren in mission is sad and unbecoming. How can we have loving kindness when we cannot show the same to our own brethren in the mission to save the needy and the lost souls?

Loving kindness means we accept others for what they are and not expect others to be what we want them to be. We too must accept ourselves for what we are and we must not chastise ourselves for our own shortcomings for that will mean lack of love for ourselves and for certainly be sure meanness to ourselves. We will end up having low self esteem. (Do refer to the 1975 message of Lord Bo Tien. Revisit of 1975 message of Lord Bo Tien )

The same applies to spouses. If we love our spouses, we should set them free to even do us wrong at times. Do not be possessive and worse still let our anger have free rein to ruin our marriages. We should not want our spouses to be under our clutches and to see eye to eye with us in every issue. That will spell the end of individuality and spontaneity as well as a lively relationship built on love.

The same goes with the spiritual organisation we belong to. We should never expect others to hold the same views as us and 'kow tow' (worship) us. We should show love to them as brethren in mission even if they do not see eye to eye with us. We want them to be frank and open --- never mind even if they may appear hurtful.

We should likewise accept that all religions and sects however different are doing their part for God to save souls and those in difficulties. Each has its own way to hold on to their followers as what Lord Bo Tien said to us in the Inner Truth message.

This is alternatively referred to as the Four Pillar Doctrine of the oneness of God and the separateness or distinctiveness of religions and faiths to appeal to diverse sectors of society to save souls and bring them to God. We should love others religions as much as we love our own, just like we must love and believe in what we hold true and at same time respect that others need not agree with us.

We should not let our tongues loose and belittle or pour scorn on others or on other religions and sects. That will not at all be loving kindness and make mockery of all the great works of compassion. That will not do justice to the good names of our divine father the Lord God and His saints.

Lord Bo Tien in 1984 reminded us that we must not expect one shade and color amongst men in society but go for plurality of shades and explosion of colors. We must accept the yin and the yang even in His temple and that differences are good and are learning points in the gospel of life. They allow us to better practise loving kindness. Revisit of 1984 message of Lord Bo Tien

Loving kindness will fly out of the window the moment we have dagger eyes for those who see not eye to eye with us in the work of God - the Mission of Heaven of which saints like Lord Bo Tien are divine messengers

We must first learn to love our fellow men and our kins before we can love the world --- however wanting and less deserving they may be. Charity or love begins at home ground more so for the followers of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien. Loving kindness means we show love and concern for our fellow men even if they see not eye to eye with us. A temple that promotes love and compassion for wider society must live by example by promoting love amongst members of the temple

To be able to do so and have love for others, you must not even hate yourself by having guilt if you have done wrong. You must love yourself even if you have done wrong by moving on and doing better. Only by loving yourself can you love others as yourself. If you have little or no love for yourself and blame yourself, then you will do the same to others as well. How much we love others depends on how much we can love ourselves. This is what Lord Bo Tien said in his 1975 message on the danger of guilt. Likewise, you must not dislike let alone hate and excommunicate others who scold us, did us wrong or do not see eye to eye with you. That will not be loving kindness and it would make mockery of whatever great works of charity you can help do in the name of your temple or church.

Loving kindness is more than great charity works but means we accept and love our fellow men even if they see not eye to eye with us. We should let them free to even disagree with us. Mind you they are not even our enemies. God even wants us to love our enemies. Let us harmonise with others who hold differing views and be wholesome like the yin and yang fish-like symbols of the pakua.

Temples and churches like any religious body are generally able to practise as close as possible to the true meaning of loving kindness and have close fellowship and bonding of love amongst members and followers. Only then can they be true in practice of loving kindness in depth and not just pander to superficial societal ways, inclinations and weaknesses. We need more of such wholesome loving kindness that will bring men and religions together as a whole despite the yin and yang differences and distinctiveness

.
.

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.