.

.
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!.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Both doctrine and devotion for spiritual growth

No 656 of Living Life Series 1



Devotion to God and saints without doctrine is blind. Doctrine without devotion is lame and spiritual progress often takes a backseat with more talk than action.




Whether one ascribes to the path of devotion or to the path of doctrine, one aspect is obvious. Most of us are not advance into spiritual. We still need guidance and still have crutch mentality.




Whoever says that doctrine is paramount is right but for many of us, we still need devotion and faith in God and saints. We are still starters and early in the practice of Doctrine. 

 But too much of a good thing like devotion can be bad and that is why many just don't want to know more beyond devoutness to God and saints. 

 When we are rooted in devotion and not in doctrine or values of life, we may do bad to others in the name of devotion as much as we will do good. That is why men of religion may end up at odds with those not in their religion. 

 Thus we need both devotion and doctrine. Devotion is needed to counter balance our lack of doctrine. Doctrine is needed to ensure we are not carried away excessively by our devotion. 

 Devotion and doctrine are like the yin and the yang. Both must work as one in us for spirituality to take root and grow. The Word is God. God is the Word. Go for one and you need the other. Go for both the Word and God.



Posted by at