We do make mistakes in life and we do need to bear the cross of our mistakes, as many would believe. As we sow so must we reap. Every action will have a reaction - the consequences.
Well rationally speaking, in a way, we do not need for religion to tell us that. But the problem is that men of religion tend to judge though advised that they should not judge lest they be judged.
They wanted to attract attention and even had no qualms to make other men feel guilty, shame ladened and downcast for the many wrong they did. They said that men could not make good the mistakes they had made by themselves but could only do so if they let a saint take over the weighty consequences of their mistakes.
But in the first place who suffer from the mistakes. Those who were affected were the aggrieved parties. Who were the actual aggrieved parties? They are of course and often men. But men of religion went even further than saying that. They wanted to do more and be more effective.
They said that men had aggrieved God and this would be real bad and the consequences could not be rectified by men themselves but only by the grace of God through a saint or prophet. The men of religion became the prophets of doom and gloom and created so much guilt and fear.
They said that awareness of mistakes and making good were not good enough. Men had not just wronged men but had wronged God. This would be worse than wronging only men. But they offered the olive branch that they need not bear the cross of their mistakes themselves. Religion could do so for them.
This simple approach was good when men started off on the cultivation of spiritual but how far could they go if they lived in fear and guilt? How far could they go spiritually if they had the crutch mentality and depended on a saint or God to bear the cross of their mistakes?
Yes we need to have conscience but not to extent of being cowed and threatened into fear and be guilt ladened. It is just like in the days of cave dwellers when men shuddered in fear that Heaven was angry with them and out to punish them whenever there was lightning and thunder, more so when men then were struck by lightning and ravaged by storms.
Who bear the cross of mistakes? It is still the men themselves because of mental attitudes to life but do they need to? Men do have mental roots of ill-will, greed and false views. Believing that men can do what they like and not face consequences is one false view. But believing that God can take over the consequences is not a false view but is apparently still good view to many.
This view is good because it enables many not to have guilt but if overindulged can ironically somehow also cause more guilt and fear as well as dependency syndrome on God and saints. It is good for a start so long as men are not mired down by guilt and can move on to more spirituality.
Gautama did that. He was initially not able to move on to more spirituality despite learning from the renown teachers in his life time. He had to break away and foray into less charted territory. He broke with the norms and did not let fear and guilt had the better of him.
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| stoop and hanging head low all because of guilt and fear |
He decided that men must not renounce basic worldly needs. At that time, to go away and deny the worldly needs and be ascetic was the way to be in paradise in Heaven. Men of spiritual then had so much fear and guilt if they did not do so.
Gautama broke with norms and the society instilled fear and guilt when he decided to eat and not fast. Even his five close subordinates then left him. But he was steadfast and had no fear and guilt that he had done the unthinkable for a spiritual holy man which he was way before his attainment of Buddhahood.
He was able to have better health and without guilt and fear and without thinking that he had to bear the cross of perceived mistakes as judged or rather prejudged by men, he sat under the Bodhi Tree and meditated. He was in good health to do so and it was just plain logical and sane to eat for health and not fast to the bone.
He won release from the ills of the mind, from fear and guilt. Guilt is ill-will directed at oneself and at same time a false view at that. He became enlightened, no less the Buddha.
He won release from the ills of the mind, from fear and guilt. Guilt is ill-will directed at oneself and at same time a false view at that. He became enlightened, no less the Buddha.
The moral of the story is that guilt and fear as part of conscience may be good as starters of sorts for spirituality. But to go the mile in spirituality, there is no need to bear the cross of our mistakes either ourselves or depend on others to do so.
Doing so is in a way false view and also an ill-will or dislike for ourselves. We must love life and have correct outlook for life. No guilt please for guilt is ill-will for self. No fear please as we will end up cowed and paralyzed.
As men progressed. religions of today have moved from guilt, fear and crutch mentality. This was what Gautama did many centuries ago on full moon day of Vaisaka or Vesak Day under the great Bodhi Tree.
By this realization and affirmation that this be so, may joy be to the world. We too can be like the Buddha one day and that is for real. This is the Vesak joy and to the wise, every day is Vesak. The wise always have a Bodhi Tree with him though he may be far physically from the Bodhi tree.
By this realization and affirmation that this be so, may joy be to the world. We too can be like the Buddha one day and that is for real. This is the Vesak joy and to the wise, every day is Vesak. The wise always have a Bodhi Tree with him though he may be far physically from the Bodhi tree.
He has a liberated spirit and does not bear the cross or ask others to bear the cross of his mistakes. He learns from life and the mistakes in life to be better person spiritually and in worldly sense - two in one that is...
He does not run away from mistakes and problems but he learns well and is better off from learning. He is liberated and not weighed down by shouldering his own cross. He has no need to fear or to have guilt whatsoever.
At the same time, he never for a moment deceives himself by thinking others could shoulder the cross or suffering for him. This is simply because he is developing the Buddha light in him to brighten and lighten his life.
The Buddha and saints rejoice in him and bless him ever more but he needs no crutch to lean on. He is not weighed down by life, by mistakes, guilt and fear as result of mistakes. Instead, he is liberated by learning from life. Life is his gospel.
To conclude, let us remind ourselves that many still need to let others carry their cross in life. It makes them feel good. Whether this should be the approach for the long term is another matter.
Whether he could carry his own cross and whether in time, he could carry no cross when he has a more enlightened way of learning from life and the mistakes of life due to the three mental roots of false views, ill-will and greed or clinging remains to be a possibility in the horizon of time.
But only some can reach this stage. For the majority, it may be best to leave matters as be and believe that religion can carry their cross if they find it hard to carry their own.
This is offered by many sects of religions and the majority need that as they are starters on the spiritual path. But to go the mile, they need to go beyond the beliefs of letting others carry their cross or carrying the cross themselves. They need to go beyond these two.
But if religion is to be popular and to win the hearts of the many, religion must make it attractive and easy for men to take up religion and religion must take up the cross of mistakes made by men and provide immediate relief. Men wants instant peace and heaven.
This is the very nature of men. It will have to be and almost all will think so when overwhelmed by mistakes made by the self. This is no contradiction but reality of life.
Sadly however, if over-emphasized, having religion to bear the cross of our mistakes may go beyond relieving guilt and creating more guilt in the long run.
Men must be able to rise above mistakes, otherwise there will be no saints and buddhas. Buddhas and saints were mere men before, weren't they? But few are those who can be buddhas and saints.
Luckily, many could be in Heaven just by leaving it to religion to carry their cross. This is the mission of posats or bodhisattvas, isn't it?
But is heaven the end all or just the beginning of the long road ahead. It is and yet is not may be the answer. Perhaps it is neither and this depends on the context of the situation. Just be simple and that way be peaceful.
No need to know more. Knowing less may be more. A fairy tale like view may be awe-inspiring though simplistic but what matters is that it can work and bring peace. Religion as institution may have to be like that. Omitofo.
To conclude, let us remind ourselves that many still need to let others carry their cross in life. It makes them feel good. Whether this should be the approach for the long term is another matter.
Whether he could carry his own cross and whether in time, he could carry no cross when he has a more enlightened way of learning from life and the mistakes of life due to the three mental roots of false views, ill-will and greed or clinging remains to be a possibility in the horizon of time.
But only some can reach this stage. For the majority, it may be best to leave matters as be and believe that religion can carry their cross if they find it hard to carry their own.
This is offered by many sects of religions and the majority need that as they are starters on the spiritual path. But to go the mile, they need to go beyond the beliefs of letting others carry their cross or carrying the cross themselves. They need to go beyond these two.
But if religion is to be popular and to win the hearts of the many, religion must make it attractive and easy for men to take up religion and religion must take up the cross of mistakes made by men and provide immediate relief. Men wants instant peace and heaven.
This is the very nature of men. It will have to be and almost all will think so when overwhelmed by mistakes made by the self. This is no contradiction but reality of life.
Sadly however, if over-emphasized, having religion to bear the cross of our mistakes may go beyond relieving guilt and creating more guilt in the long run.
Men must be able to rise above mistakes, otherwise there will be no saints and buddhas. Buddhas and saints were mere men before, weren't they? But few are those who can be buddhas and saints.
Luckily, many could be in Heaven just by leaving it to religion to carry their cross. This is the mission of posats or bodhisattvas, isn't it?
But is heaven the end all or just the beginning of the long road ahead. It is and yet is not may be the answer. Perhaps it is neither and this depends on the context of the situation. Just be simple and that way be peaceful.
No need to know more. Knowing less may be more. A fairy tale like view may be awe-inspiring though simplistic but what matters is that it can work and bring peace. Religion as institution may have to be like that. Omitofo.
Let us refresh ourselves with what Lord Bo Tien said with respect to wrong, fear and guilt in 1975. We would then be more astute on issue of who should be bearing the cross of mistakes and our approach to mistakes, guilt, fear and crutch mentality.
"Bear in mind that humanity is not pegged or equated with sinfulness. Man has not wronged Heaven. Man is not sinful by nature. It is by action and deed that sin arises. Have no unnecessary guilt conscience therefore but strive to analyse oneself (and issues) calmly instead. It is important that every brethren or being reflects calmly and looks inwardly at his actions and thoughts to correct any of the not-so-right (wrong) instead of being mentally upset, ruffled, tormented and disturbed by guilt or fear of the not -so-right (wrong) he has done." (Worst scenario is when he thinks he has done wrong to God and saints and has hurt them. Blog writer reminds that we do not view saints as man for man can be hurt by other man but not God and saints)
"The word SIN or WRONG may appear simple and widely used (and is more derogatory than empathic and motivating). Yet few really understand the depth of its meaning and ramifications. Bear in mind that there is no rigidity but in reality, there is great degree of flexibility with regards to SIN or WRONG. This may not be apparent to the brethren on earth. Everyone will come to know more and will not want to refer to word SIN or WRONG. Rather as they progressed, and emancipate themselves from fear (due to lack of grasp of inner truth), they will then progressively not view life superficially but more correctly in depth and width to understand that all need to learn and progress. Thus it is important to know that brethren are not WRONG but less right. This disposition removes fear and guilt and motivates brethren to improve and learn." (If all understand this, they will harbour no fear and guilt. They will not in their passion instill fear and emotional unrest to bring others to their fold or viewpoint.)
"Brethren, is it not true that sunshine is essential to life, so also is water? They may be different but together they are essential components of nature on which life depends. The same may be said of religions which may seem different and at times even at odds. Bear in mind that differences are not detrimental but as in the case of nature, differences are beneficial for they serve life in their own respective ways and complement one another. As with nature, elements like sunshine and rainfall (fire and water) are indispensable though apparent opposites or seemingly at times to be at odds. All have important roles. "
"Brethren, in the practice of religious life, do not be perturbed when a not -so-right is committed. There are those who having done the not-so-right (which they perceive as WRONG or SIN) are fearful of coming to a temple to face the altar. Brethren, this should not be the case. So long as a brethren realise this, he should take positive steps to learn and improve himself. He will then realise he is worthy of entering a place of worship. Then the brethren have thoughts that are ever free from fear and guilt, thoughts that are ever so pure and divinely heavenly in their spiritual moments or absorptions in front of the altar."
