No 732 of Living Life Series 1
All of us know the virtue of living within means so that we have no debts and can even save for rainy days. But when come to spiritual matters, we are told to give our all and more. We are told the need to sacrifice for the masses and be the sacrificial lambs.
We are told that the more we give the more we receive. Perhaps we may gather more debts. We will still be told to continue to bankroll for the masses and this is a tall task.
Whatever has become of the adage that we need to live within means? Well there is that double standards - one for worldly life and the other for spiritual life.
But certainly, won't there be conflict of interests? Spiritual pursuit will then be counter to secular pursuit.
The good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) did say that the very principle that is good for spiritual if indeed wholesome would be good too if applied to the non-spiritual life.
Giving all or worse still more than all to spiritual has no merit as we will end up far from being able to give our all and more to the family if we are to live by this idealistic tenet. Perhaps we will be in dire straits.
We must instead live within our means both for spiritual and for worldly life. That is why to prevent excesses and unscrupulous manipulation of the faithful, there is such thing as tithes. But how much to be pegged to tithes is then another bone of contention.
It may thus be emphasized that living within means is a spiritual principle to be applied to various aspects of spirituality.
One important aspect is on personal cultivation of spirituality for divine inner peace. This is universal to all religions and sects of religions.
If we try to live spiritually like a saint or apostle, when we are still low down in the spiritual ladder, we will surely fall and fail. Thus we should take stock of the scarce resources of our spirit and live within the means of the scarce or limited resources.
That way by practicing or living within our spiritual means, we do not go overboard and end up worse off than what we start off with. This is the one and only way for all.
If we cannot do what others do spiritually, that should not be of immediate concern. Do live and cultivate life within means. That is better.
Be slow and steady and go one step at a time. Have a balanced approach. This the sages of old refer to as being atop and balancing the yin and yang like the feet of Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) on top of the elements in his seated image.
 |
| Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) |
