Have we ever reflected on the religions we know today. Are they what the founders expect them to be? They arose in the context of the times often when there was dissatisfaction with the tight hand of the ancient emperors and the plight of the poor common folks were often relegated to the sidelines even by the clergy.
The ruling class then called the tune and next in line were the men in the temples or houses of Divinity. They held their noses high and looked up to the sky. The common folks were merely lucky if they could go near them and be in their shadows.
The common folks were often impoverished and were lucky if they could catch the attention of the ruling class and the clergy - the priests. Those were the times which fostered conditions that favored the rise of prophets like Jesus, Lao Tse and Gotama Buddha.
They were indeed men to begin with and they badly wanted to correct and improve on the prevailing far from desirable and wanting culture and practices of the times.
Buddha was upset with what the people then in the Indian continent were having - more so the pervasive suffering of those who were in the majority namely the common folks and he found no satisfaction with the religious ways of men then.
He broke from the norms and wanted to do so to correct and improve on the culture and practices of the times. So did Jesus who had to go against the current of the might of the emperor of Rome and the snobbish upper class who controlled the clergy at the temples or synagogues. He was all out to change this and that was why there arose the New Testament.
Did the prophets really intended to start new religions or were they trying to improve and correct on what they saw as wanting in the society they lived in? In a way they did succeed and had the impact to change the culture and thinking of the people they worked upon.
That they were perhaps not out to start new religions but only to change and improve the culture and practices of the people of their day is apparent to some. The religions that arose in their names and outside the land they worked in probably were not their main concerns.
In fact some may say that religions were not in their mind as then during their times, the word religion as we know it today never existed. That the Jews today are mainly not Christians and the Indians mainly not Buddhists bear this out to some extent.
They did succeed to correct the practices and thinking of the day but it was still the same religious culture. The need to promote the same culture outside to other countries or continent never cross their minds.
They did succeed to correct the practices and thinking of the day but it was still the same religious culture. The need to promote the same culture outside to other countries or continent never cross their minds.
Some however say they did want their thinking to go round the world but why only after they were no longer around in flesh and blood? Was it due to travel limitations?
What became religions that reached out to the world over the centuries were heartfelt attempts by later day men to make the philosophy and thinking of these great men relevant to the world. They had to apply the thinking of the great men not in the context of old India and the Middle East but to the whole world. This meant that there was and is change in context.
Essentially, it is men who created religions and not the prophets. But the problem is that to know the prophets, we need to go into the religions created by men in their names. Without the vehicles of religions we will not know them.
This is consistent with what Lord Bo Tien in 1969 said that to know the real truth, we have to uncover it by digging away the layers of added thinking, culture and evolved practices in world religions. This the good lord referred to as the Inner Truth. Few are they who can see the inner truth in religions for the majority are swayed and carried away by the ways of men.
Whether the prophets never wanted to start religions is not important but what is indeed important to know is that without religions, we will not know them today. Religions are created by men and the will of God. But as long as they are by men, they will not be perfect and that is why there will always be new sects and denominations.
Religions and sects will have their own ways of holding on to men even if the dogmas are only directed at their own preservation. This too was stated by Lord Bo Tien in his Inner Truth message in 1969 - the God Knowledge.
Whether the prophets never wanted to start religions is not important but what is indeed important to know is that without religions, we will not know them today. Religions are created by men and the will of God. But as long as they are by men, they will not be perfect and that is why there will always be new sects and denominations.
Religions and sects will have their own ways of holding on to men even if the dogmas are only directed at their own preservation. This too was stated by Lord Bo Tien in his Inner Truth message in 1969 - the God Knowledge.
 |
| Lord Bo Tien never wanted to start a new religion but he wanted to enable men to know the inner truth through existing religions He never wanted men to know who he is. But he said that his image is the doctrine and the doctrine is his image. He who sees and knows the inner truth indeed sees and knows him Men must seek peace by balancing the yin and yang as depicted by his feet on elements His right hand holds the scepter or mission Mission is to awaken men to truth Left hand in salutation bids us to persevere. The many colors and hues of his armor reflects the diverse races and differences which we need to know in this world. He is no general in armor but his image is to symbolize and embody the doctrine. |
