The single most important thing that we must come to terms with is that the notion of the greatness of a sage like Gotama or Jesus is not the person their followers would want us to believe in but the teachings that arose from them and associated with their names.
Even if Gotama is not the Buddha in the way portrayed by adherents and even if Jesus is neither the son of God nor resurrected after being crucified, they and their great teachings will in no way lose its stature and impact on men.
The teachings of the sages are pivoted on how men in exceptional troubled times can still be peaceful and be cultivated to be peaceful like them. It is something so reachable by the many each in his or her own small way.
They are what a renown swami refer to as men of God. The peace exuded by such men is fuller than full and what matters is their teachings on how to be at peace
They are what a renown swami refer to as men of God. The peace exuded by such men is fuller than full and what matters is their teachings on how to be at peace
But the adoration of men is such that men will blow things out of proportion and the sages are portrayed as that much more greater and more important than their teachings.
But the reality is that what counts is the Word for as the Bible says the Word is God.
As the good lord Lord Bo Tien says that the Doctrine is him and he who knows the Doctrine knows and sees him.
Gotama too left us his Dharma or Doctrine and the Doctrine is him. In the language of the Bible of Christians, the Word is God and the Word is Jesus. The stature and glory of Jesus is not at all diminished even if there was no resurrection, for it is the teachings centered on the love of men that counts. Need more be said.
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| 武天菩萨 Lord Bo Tien |
Lord Bo Tien further reminds us that men do tend to add on to the teachings and elaborate them so as to expand the teachings to be more palatable, attractive and acceptable. But men need to go to the inner truth, the basic truth of God and how to be at peace with life.
To do so, they have to do away with the layers of history and the opinions of men over the centuries - more so the thinking of men who mostly do not grasp the basic or inner truth and therefore have propensity to distort and confuse.
To do so, they have to do away with the layers of history and the opinions of men over the centuries - more so the thinking of men who mostly do not grasp the basic or inner truth and therefore have propensity to distort and confuse.
The greatness of a sage lies in the teachings and not the imaginative portrayal of the sage, least of all the events in life of the sage which may be blown out of proportion or mere distortion of history. Go for the teachings and even more so, do go for the basic inner truth common to the teachings of all sages and religions. This pointer was elucidated at length by the good lord Lord Bo Tien.
When the monks asked the Buddha who would be the teacher in the hour before his final passing on, the Buddha left no doubt that the teachings will be the teacher and his monks as the keeper of the teachings would see to this. The Bible too is silent on several decades in the life of Jesus but has plenty on the teachings. The teachings matter more than the sages and the events in the lives of the sages.
