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| JI GONG THE LIVING BUDDHA |
There is in everyone of us the true nature of life. We are what we are and many want to be what they are not. We need to accept what we are before we can be what we are not.
If we detest or are not comfortable with what we are, it would be a denial of life and self. If we go for what we are not and find we are way off the mark for now, we will have poor esteem of ourselves and have no comfort in life we are having now.
Many seek the truth of ancient wisdom, yet the profound truth is simple but difficult to perceive. The reality is to accept what we are and to know ourselves. If we can do that and be at peace with our life, be it our job, our family, our resources, our attributes, our strengths and limitations, we have seen through life and will be at peace. Only then could we have the joy to move on and to cultivate more in life that will yield more satisfaction in life.
Do not try to be what we are not, more so in spiritual life and do not try to ape the saints and the holy ones. Ji Gong in his life time as man did not do so many centuries ago. He was desolate after the family tragedy and entered the monastery but the trappings and rules of monastic life.
Many put on a show and conform but ended up bound by ropes and chains of conformity. Their mind or spirit is chained and bound. They end up far from the end which is divine peace and mistake the means as the ends. The rules and dogmas of institutional religiosity laid down be men end up tying them down with the laid down norms of society. Men end up pandering to the expectations of men and not God and Heaven, effectively worshiping men instead of God and Heaven.
Ji Gong certainly did not and was excommunicated from the monastery for his care free ways, for his drinking and meat eating, for his frolicking with ordinary men, beggars and monkeys. He was what a monk in his days should not be but whilst his actions were at odds with expectations of the religious clergy then, he was not lost to Divinity and enlightenment.
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| JI GONG |
He believed in being what he was and cultivated purity and peace of the spirit. What is important is what goes through the heart and not what goes through the gut. He succeeded in divine peace and sainthood and now is seated with God and saints but there again, he prefers to be with men.
We should be like him and cultivate our heart and not our body. We should not cultivate the expectations of men and end up tied and bound by societal norms.
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| Ji Gong |
There is the Ji Gong in us. We should never mind if we cannot be monk, pastor or priest. We should never mind if we cannot chant the holy scriptures and never mind if we cannot lead the flock in a church or temple and pander to the expectations and fancies of men. We should be what we are and not have guilt, but cultivate the heart to be pure and at peace. It is not what we do, what we act or what we say and can show outwardly that count. It is how we can truly be and it is the heart that matters.
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| JI GONG THE LIVING BUDDHA |
Cultivate the Ji Gong in us by taking a leaf or two from the life and ways of Ji Gong. Be what you are and not be what others are or what others expect of you. Cultivate the heart and not what you want others to think of you. Be yourself and be pure. Don't end up trying to be what others expect of you and be in chains and far from being at peace and far from being pure and Godly.
Jesus of Nazareth too did not behave as though he is God but he is amongst men and every bit like any other men though extra-ordinary. He displayed his Godliness not by being a king or nobility of men such as the nobility of the Roman empire. He is rich in God but not rich in the ways of men during his time. He was humble and pure at heart, easily acceptable to the masses and ordinary folks of his time. He even allowed himself to be crucified. He never asked to be portrayed as all powerful, awesome and to be feared. He would never ask or boast to be enthroned beside God.
Modern men remembers him as the Godly one who was wronged by being crucified like a murderer. Jesus like Ji Gong are alike in being pure at heart and not keeping to the norms expected of priests, saints and sons of Heaven. Men may cast them in the image of nobles and kings even to this day but this is not what they expect and what they would want us to remember them by. They are saviors of men by being with men and very much like men which makes affinity with them not an issue.
Lord Bo Tien too did say in 1975 that he descend not to display his saintly prowess or to exhibit his divine might. In one of the last messages in the early 80s, he said that he is no general or martial of Heaven but the image of him as a general is meant to convey his teachings. Truth or teaching is in his image and his image is his teaching.
Men who are the priests of saints like Jesus, Ji Gong or any deity like Lord Bo Tien however likes to paint them as all powerful awesome and to be feared. In turn their priests like to command awe in their congregation and deck themselves in robes of nobility like those nobles of the Roman Empire or the Emperor's Court in ancient China. This is not desirable but merely reflects the echoes of men and a disastrous misrepresentation of the humble and pure Godliness of saints like Jesus, Bo Tien and Ji Gong.
We must all cultivate the saint or Ji Gong in ourselves and yet be ordinary like other men and at same time extraordinary in being pure at heart and not try to live up to the unwholesome worldly expectations and fancies of the men of society.
Renunciation is that of the mind and must come from the heart and not just a show of the body and outward actions. It is renunciation of mental roots of ill-will, greed and false views. It is not and never will be a renunciation of who we are or how we have been living out life - our daily life. It is the embracing of life and not rejection of self but the purification of being that must be sincere, complete and whole. For this it is the heart that matters.
Even Gautama Buddha in his lifetime on earth lived by the heart. It is the heart that matters and not what is eaten. People gave him alms and this included meat. He ate what was offered and this did not meant that he wanted animals to be slaughtered to provide meat for food. Of what use is vegetarianism if there is malice and no love for human life, let alone love for animals. It is the heart that matters.
Ji Gong had led the way and showed us how to be pure at heart and not just stick to norms and expectations. We need to cultivate the Ji Gong in our heart.Then issues big and small will be no issue. For the wise one will neither run from life nor be slave or victim to the incessant wants in life. He will know his limits and set his markers in life so as to do well in life and yet be able to reach and go for the divine peace others find so elusive. Then there is heaven and peace even here and now and no need to wait for afterlife or yearn for yesteryear.
Omitofo.
Jesus of Nazareth too did not behave as though he is God but he is amongst men and every bit like any other men though extra-ordinary. He displayed his Godliness not by being a king or nobility of men such as the nobility of the Roman empire. He is rich in God but not rich in the ways of men during his time. He was humble and pure at heart, easily acceptable to the masses and ordinary folks of his time. He even allowed himself to be crucified. He never asked to be portrayed as all powerful, awesome and to be feared. He would never ask or boast to be enthroned beside God.
Modern men remembers him as the Godly one who was wronged by being crucified like a murderer. Jesus like Ji Gong are alike in being pure at heart and not keeping to the norms expected of priests, saints and sons of Heaven. Men may cast them in the image of nobles and kings even to this day but this is not what they expect and what they would want us to remember them by. They are saviors of men by being with men and very much like men which makes affinity with them not an issue.
Lord Bo Tien too did say in 1975 that he descend not to display his saintly prowess or to exhibit his divine might. In one of the last messages in the early 80s, he said that he is no general or martial of Heaven but the image of him as a general is meant to convey his teachings. Truth or teaching is in his image and his image is his teaching.
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| LORD BO TIEN |
Men who are the priests of saints like Jesus, Ji Gong or any deity like Lord Bo Tien however likes to paint them as all powerful awesome and to be feared. In turn their priests like to command awe in their congregation and deck themselves in robes of nobility like those nobles of the Roman Empire or the Emperor's Court in ancient China. This is not desirable but merely reflects the echoes of men and a disastrous misrepresentation of the humble and pure Godliness of saints like Jesus, Bo Tien and Ji Gong.
We must all cultivate the saint or Ji Gong in ourselves and yet be ordinary like other men and at same time extraordinary in being pure at heart and not try to live up to the unwholesome worldly expectations and fancies of the men of society.
Renunciation is that of the mind and must come from the heart and not just a show of the body and outward actions. It is renunciation of mental roots of ill-will, greed and false views. It is not and never will be a renunciation of who we are or how we have been living out life - our daily life. It is the embracing of life and not rejection of self but the purification of being that must be sincere, complete and whole. For this it is the heart that matters.
Even Gautama Buddha in his lifetime on earth lived by the heart. It is the heart that matters and not what is eaten. People gave him alms and this included meat. He ate what was offered and this did not meant that he wanted animals to be slaughtered to provide meat for food. Of what use is vegetarianism if there is malice and no love for human life, let alone love for animals. It is the heart that matters.
Ji Gong had led the way and showed us how to be pure at heart and not just stick to norms and expectations. We need to cultivate the Ji Gong in our heart.Then issues big and small will be no issue. For the wise one will neither run from life nor be slave or victim to the incessant wants in life. He will know his limits and set his markers in life so as to do well in life and yet be able to reach and go for the divine peace others find so elusive. Then there is heaven and peace even here and now and no need to wait for afterlife or yearn for yesteryear.
Omitofo.
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| JI GONG |
