No 697 of Living Life Series 1
There is the need for man to lead men and that will always be the case. But that man must appeal to the crowd and this is both a problem and yet not a problem. He will have to serve their needs but if he is wiser than the crowd, he must at times be able to be unpopular so as to bring more good to them.
There must be that balance between the two aspects so that a better outcome there will be for the crowd. Any imbalance can mean that the crowd will be misled by the man or the man be misled by the crowd for unwholesome ends.
Religion is an institution of men. People cannot be religious about how to manage a house of God. They must be ever flexible and pragmatic instead of being religiously sticky and rigid.
Where there is need to have balance of yin and yang, men cannot be rigid and stick to rules. Failure to do so will surely give rise to unrest and less of peace.
It is better to be not religious - not to insist and to impose, for doing so will undermine spiritual health rather than promote it. Being not religiously attached to principles is better for men of religion. Instead, do things with heart and peace of mind.
By being far from religious excess on practices may on the contrary allow men to better off and near to God and saints. After all, the means are not the ends and the ends are not the means. What good can we have if we are religiously inclined on the means and end up far from the ends?
Is this why the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) says that the near may be far and the far near. Men must do things from the heart and not religiously adhere to rituals, rules and traditions.
Ask Ji Gong (济公) and he has this to say, "What matters is what goes through the heart and not what one does or what goes through the gut." Of what use is being religiously rigid about not eating meat and drinking wine when one can even hurt and kill with a foul mouth and when one is drunk with ill-will and has a bad heart?
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| Ji Gong (济公) |
The man of spiritual can be more spiritual by being not religious and rigid. But this does not mean he must be worldly and attached to the sensual and materialistic needs...
The man of no spirituality is a victim of sensual and materialistic demands. He too is not religious but definitely not spiritual - not at peace but he may think at times he is in paradise.
Well think more and reflect more. That is the way to go and that is what we need to do more.
The man of no spirituality is a victim of sensual and materialistic demands. He too is not religious but definitely not spiritual - not at peace but he may think at times he is in paradise.
Well think more and reflect more. That is the way to go and that is what we need to do more.
