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, September 15, 2012

God and the genesis of life and religions

No 366 of Living Life Series 1

THE 2012 MISSION DAY MESSAGE
God and the genesis of life and religions
Duplicated from series 2 post 177

God Alimighty -The Pure August Jade Emperor

In Chinese culture the Pure August Jade Emperor, Yü Huang Shang Ti heads the Heavenly Palace of gods. The Chinese refer to him as Tien Kung, the Heavenly Father. He is the supreme head of the manifest or apparent universe that comprises Heaven and realms of existence below including man and hell but he ranks below the Three Pure Ones in the supreme pure heavens beyond the manifest universe.

Originally, Yu-huang was the assistant of the Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun. Yuanshi Tianzun is said to be the supreme beginning --- the limitless and eternal creator of apparent universe with Heaven and Earth. After creating the apparent universe, he picked Yu-huang as the ruler of the universe of Heaven and Earth. Yu Huang became the Jade Emperor and he oversees and moderates the development and fate of beings through his subordinate deities. He is ultimately responsible for the deitification of other gods, or for their exit from the pantheon.

Theoretically there should be a series of Jade Emperors but the life span is so long that it is as good as eternal in human terms. Like all heavenly beings, he is capable of creation of heavenly abodes, beings and entities. He is spiritually developed and enlightened but may not be in the sense of buddhahood but the apex of the path of gods and buddhas overlap and the zenith is one

The Jade Emperor's Birthday is designated on the ninth day of the first lunar month.

The apparent manifest universe we are in started with 無極 (wuji: 'nothingness'). Do note that this does not mean non-existence but mere metaphor on energy state before evolutionary and creative chain of events.

Jade Emperor as the head of the pantheon is however not responsible for the original creation process itself but hand picked into the appointment by Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun, the first of the Three Pure Ones.

Jade Emperor is however of capable of further creation of abodes, beings and divine entities.

The Three Pure Ones were brought into existence through the interaction of pre-existing primordial forces including yin and yang. The first to emerge is The Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun, followed by the second and then the third Pure One.

You can say that Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun brought into existence the second and then the third Pure One came each with his own supreme pure heaven beyond the manifest universe with its levels of heaven, earth and hell.

Readers may wonder as to where the Buddhas come in. As the saying goes amongst the sages of old in China, "What's on Earth will be mirrored in Heaven" There are the clergy and there are the laity on earth.

Whilst all in heavens are spiritual, there are those who deal with the governance of the apparent or manifest universe with heaven and all the realms below including the human and hell realms, there will be those who are the clergy and they are the buddhas who are respected by the non-buddha laity in heaven.

The Jade Emperor and the deities in his pantheon are rulers of the apparent universe. They often consult the buddhas and carry out their advice and intervention but the latter do not overstep to take over the ruling and governance of the manifest or apparent universe

The buddhas and posats (bodhisatvas) are present in both the apparent or manifest universe and the supreme pure heavens above the manifest universe. Posats too can be present in Hell and they can traverse across realms.

The Jade Emperor or God Almighty as the overall ruler of the manifest universe resides in the heaven of the manifest universe and oversee all the realms below.

He reaches out to all beings through prophets and saints of the various religions and sects. These prophets create their own sections of heaven and in this way, beings saved by religions take on spiritual paths and in time are reborn in the specific respective dormains of heaven to continue further spiritual growth.

Thus in God's plan, there must be not one religion or sect but many and they complement and not compete. But men being men and not God and saints tend to compete and even ridicule one another and this has caused rift and hatred amongst many in the name of God and saints. How ungodly can this be!

That is why God tasked Lord Bo Tien as one of the many more saints to come and he like the rest to come will re-explain the true essence behind the need for the many religions and sects and will not start his own. These messenger saints will however make use of the existing religions and sects to explain the grand purpose of the Jade Emperor.

For more academic information, do read wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Emperor

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.