No 344 of Living Life Series 1
Lord Bo Tien and his divine representatives had stressed not once but on many occasions the need for men to be mission ready for Heaven. His messages came down in two ways --- through the mission day messages on 13th day of nine lunar months and through the substantiation by his representatives in between messages in the first cycle of thirteen years.
The anniversary or mission day messages were at least recorded and published in a book Lord Bo Tien's Teachings but the substantive part of doctrine given by representatives' sessions in between were not. The substantive doctrine aspects were transmitted by word of mouth through early members.
We must realise that time and again the lord saint said that he was not here to start a new religion or sect. He was not here to do what existing religions, temples or places of worship do.
His representatives exhorted that a spiritual group must go to the roots of truth and lead by example by instituting changes towards simple and pure religiosity and not toe or be beholden to bewildering ancient cultural practices. A spiritual group should be one above the many others by being exemplary and not be one of the many.
The reason is that as religions evolved over the centuries, the initial pristine principles change and take on more added worldly or conventional thinking, as a result of the thinking and perceptions of subsequent leaders or "new-contractors" as succinctly put in one of the lord saint's later mission day messages. Thus we see new books, songs, chanting and various practices not present during the days of the pioneers and founders. This is neither necessarily exactly bad nor exactly good .
To do what everyone else are doing will defeat the purpose of the descent of Lord Bo Tien but to start something new may give the mistaken notion that other religions and sects are not right. In fact, the lord saint stressed that the existing institutions are right but many may not be able to perceive the essence of the inner truth of God behind the proliferation of sects and religions and the layers of traditions and beliefs added over the centuries in any one of the many religions or sects.
The descent of the lord saint to make himself an unknown saint known to the world of men is not to model what have been done in all the temples and churches of the world. That would not make it necessary for his coming or to put it bluntly defeat the purpose of his descent. The lord saint wants his followers not to do what others are already doing but to lead by examples so that others may follow, emulate and re-orientate themselves closer to the way of God rather than to man.
He has even stressed that this would not be easy for it is in the nature of the world that insects amongst men will be attracted to the flower of his initiative. On the other hand, it too must be realised that the surviving early pioneers may too be like insects trying to go to the flower for nectar
But the lord saint like the flower cannot be blamed if insects want to come to it for the nectar. Blame not the saint if people come not for the mission to orientate men towards God but instead prefer to go for the pursuits and conflicts of men in the name of God.
The sad part is that men who come to a temple or church are often not God ready or rather mission receptive, let alone ready. But at least they may still do some good even if they run a religious institution, albeit for their own ends at times. They use the name of God not at the mission or divine level but at the human level.
It is thus often said by the lord saint and his representatives of a divine mission that heavenly representatives are often ready but not men. Thus Heaven will go on with the mission to bring the inner truth of God to all beings even if men are not. Lord Bo Tien even said that on his part, he would do so even if only a handful of men in his following are ready. Nevertheless, men should be reminded time and again to be mission receptive and ready. However, men can wait and procrastinate but not God and saints.
A prominent late member of the Bo Tien Mission is the Kedah State civil engineer and Colombo Scholar Mr Tay C. S. In the last few weeks of his life with terminal lung cancer, he requested Elder Ling and another pioneer to his hospital bedside. He shared that he should have done more for the mission as well as write more on the mission and principles of Lord Bo Tien.
He managed to write out a book and a samaritan helped him to print and distribute it, albeit with limited circulation. He would have wanted to do that much more. He do not want others in the mission to face the same setback.
He shared that though he was in pain, when he wrote his thoughts on the mission in the closing days of his life, he was able to do so with less pain. Before he had the illness, he did not see the urgency. He shared with them so that they should not waste time and can be better poised to be mission ready and orientated as time might not be on their side.
Are we mission ready? Hopefully, if we are, then we can set up Bo Tien Mission in the city --- even in the cities of the world? This may be a dream but all great things start as dreams............. Having a temple in the city had been foretold by the lord saint's representatives.
His mission is not about having a concrete building or many such buildings but having concrete steps to bring out the inner truth of God in any existing religion or sect. It is definitely not to start a new one and not to do what others had and have been doing but to do better to bring men closer to God essence through their existing religious affiliations. There is need to revive man's grasp of inner truth behind religion.
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