The worship of God and saints is good but must be substantiated by immense peace of spirit that is infectious and bring inner peace to men and life.
Spirituality must begin with God and saints before men can reach any substantial inner peace. But spirituality can stagnate and be stymied by blind love and idolising of God and saints. Men shall not idolise God and saints but live in the Word that God and saints stood for.
The Word is about how to have the peace within before there can be peace without and out there. There must be inner peace regardless of the lack of peace around the man of God and saints.
He who claims to be man of God and saints but has no peace is a problem to himself and to others. He may obviously and simply be that passionate about idolizing God and saints to extent that he thinks all who do not follow what he is doing is not of God and saints. Though he claims to be near to God and saints, he is far.
The seemingly far to God and saints may be near, and the near far if he has inner peace and love for all, even for those who are of different faiths and religious inclinations. This did the good lord Lord Bo Tien allude to when he said that far may be near and near far.
Thus in the same vein, if one worships literally every word in the written texts as the truth even though it is written by not one man but by many and there are contradictions, then one is idolising the written word. Though he is seemingly near to the Word, he is far from the truth if he thinks that the written words of men are of God and saints. This again illustrates that the near may be far and the far may be near.
A man who reads not the written words but lives with purity of heart and not outward display, he is loved by God, saints and men. He draws no distinction with regards to men based on spiritual or religious inclinations and such a man is near to God, saints and men even if he is far from any house of God.
In reality he is already in the universal house of God with heaven as the roof and religions the pillars. All under heaven are in this house of God. God is his faith and life is his gospel. The heart is the seat of his purity and he is at peace with life and with all.
He tries to be truly a man of love for all with peace not hampered by divides, borders and passion of idolatory. But is this pragmatic? Not all will think so and if this is the case, then it is better to be in one of the many religions and sects - better to belong and to start at some point then not to belong and be lost.
Well it is always a matter of opinion. For many of us, it may be better to begin somewhere though far than to be lost. Then in a way, the one who begins somewhere though far is near to inner peace than many would think.
Ji Gong was a man who does not believe blindly in the written texts or the dogmas or rules of religions. He said that what matters is what goes through the heart and not what goes through the gut or what one does. He was far from spiritual by the norms of religions and written texts but he was near to God and Heaven. He is now a heavenly saint.
But how many can be like him. For many, it is better to believe in a religion of men and regulated by men. Then they must know where they stand and be humble to know they may not be as near to God as they think.
The far and near may both be near and far depending on context. What matters is not to cling on to any spiritual experience for that alone if passionate enough be it for spiritual texts, for worship of God or saint or even for that special peace of spirit is a hindrance to more spirituality as it is a form of attachment which some refer to as clinging and idolatry.
We must be mindful of anything good but not idolize it. We too must not deny it for that will be regressive spiritually and not progressive in spiritual.
The Word is about how to have the peace within before there can be peace without and out there. There must be inner peace regardless of the lack of peace around the man of God and saints.
He who claims to be man of God and saints but has no peace is a problem to himself and to others. He may obviously and simply be that passionate about idolizing God and saints to extent that he thinks all who do not follow what he is doing is not of God and saints. Though he claims to be near to God and saints, he is far.
The seemingly far to God and saints may be near, and the near far if he has inner peace and love for all, even for those who are of different faiths and religious inclinations. This did the good lord Lord Bo Tien allude to when he said that far may be near and near far.
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| 武天菩萨 Lord Bo Tien |
Thus in the same vein, if one worships literally every word in the written texts as the truth even though it is written by not one man but by many and there are contradictions, then one is idolising the written word. Though he is seemingly near to the Word, he is far from the truth if he thinks that the written words of men are of God and saints. This again illustrates that the near may be far and the far may be near.
A man who reads not the written words but lives with purity of heart and not outward display, he is loved by God, saints and men. He draws no distinction with regards to men based on spiritual or religious inclinations and such a man is near to God, saints and men even if he is far from any house of God.
In reality he is already in the universal house of God with heaven as the roof and religions the pillars. All under heaven are in this house of God. God is his faith and life is his gospel. The heart is the seat of his purity and he is at peace with life and with all.
He tries to be truly a man of love for all with peace not hampered by divides, borders and passion of idolatory. But is this pragmatic? Not all will think so and if this is the case, then it is better to be in one of the many religions and sects - better to belong and to start at some point then not to belong and be lost.
Well it is always a matter of opinion. For many of us, it may be better to begin somewhere though far than to be lost. Then in a way, the one who begins somewhere though far is near to inner peace than many would think.
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| 济公 Ji Gong |
Ji Gong was a man who does not believe blindly in the written texts or the dogmas or rules of religions. He said that what matters is what goes through the heart and not what goes through the gut or what one does. He was far from spiritual by the norms of religions and written texts but he was near to God and Heaven. He is now a heavenly saint.
But how many can be like him. For many, it is better to believe in a religion of men and regulated by men. Then they must know where they stand and be humble to know they may not be as near to God as they think.
The far and near may both be near and far depending on context. What matters is not to cling on to any spiritual experience for that alone if passionate enough be it for spiritual texts, for worship of God or saint or even for that special peace of spirit is a hindrance to more spirituality as it is a form of attachment which some refer to as clinging and idolatry.
We must be mindful of anything good but not idolize it. We too must not deny it for that will be regressive spiritually and not progressive in spiritual.
