LIVING LIFE SERIES 1

A BO TIEN (武天) MISSION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED ON 28TH SEPT 2010 BY INNER TRUTH NETIZEN 2. THE MISSION IS TO SHOW THE WAY TO HOPE, INNER PEACE AND ULTIMATELY SALVATION FOR ALL BEINGS. THE PURPOSE IS TO SAVE SOULS. IT IS WAY BEYOND NORMAL GOOD WORK LIKE CHARITY AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES. NO ONE SHALL BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS ALONE BUT BY MORE THAN GOOD WORK. THERE IS NEED TO BE IMBUED WITH THE BASIC DOCTRINE COMMON TO AND BEHIND ALL RELIGIONS AND SECTS. LIVE IN DOCTRINE. DOCTRINE IN LIFE IS PARAMOUNT.

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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!.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Saved by doctrine and not by grace alone

No 751 of Living Life Series 1

There is but one truth in spirituality and that is that a man must be pure in spirit at heart. What matters is what is in the heart and not what one does or what goes through the gut. This is the guiding principle in life that Ji Gong (济公) wants to share with us.

But there are many who think that what matters is our show of commitment to God and sage. Only when God and sage are pleased with us will we be saved. This they say is the saving by grace. This is good but isn't this lacking in depth? Well it is still good and necessary but is not enough.

Then there are those who hold the view that good works and the outward show of religiosity and piousness are important. Indeed they are but what matters is the driving force behind. If it is to impress and win hearts, then even those who have no regard for God and saints can put up pretense. But then some will say that at least they are doing good though really up to no good.

Thus we need to be pure at heart and what we do must come from the heart. The goodness will not be good enough if we do not have the heart for goodness. If we do not have the heart for goodness and put up a farce of being good to impress others, then we are cheating or rather deceiving and shortchanging ourselves and others.

To be pure at heart, we must grasp the doctrine of life and live by doctrine. Of course we need devotion in God and saint. There must be enough devotion to spur us on to wanting to know doctrine and live by doctrine but not too much blind devotion that hinders insight for more spirituality.

We must realize that we can only be saved by doctrine and not by grace alone. Good works, religiosity and piousness are only good-to-have but not must-have. Living by doctrine is a must-have.

As no man is an island unto himself, we need shelter and guidance of God and saints. We should not misconceive that we can be saved by grace at one hand or by outward show of goodness at the other hand, but we must be truly good from the heart by living in doctrine.

We must live the life of pureness and spirituality free from ignorance, ill-will and greed. Ill-will and greed breeds clinging and destroys peace in life. This too applies to ignorance.

With regards to ignorance, there are three angles.

We must avoid denial of life at one extreme and indulgence of life at the other extreme.

We must neither think that there is no life after death nor think that there is eternity of heaven or hell in afterlife which is contradiction of the reality of life here and now. Eternal judgement based on the singular good or bad in one life is out of proportion and not in keeping with rationality.

We too must neither colonize politics with religion nor politicize religion. Politics and religion must remain separate.

We must be atop and balance the yin and yang as practiced by the sages of old and as depicted by the image of Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) with feet atop and balancing the elements of life in dynamic fashion.

Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨)

There is the same old good basic doctrine in every religion but it is people who make the choice of whether to go by doctrine or go by grace. The fallacy is to think that going by grace is all that is needed. Going by doctrine is not just knowing doctrine but living in it - make doctrine come to life in individual.

With regards to doctrine, go for the essential basics but allow the elaborations of the basic or inner truth to lead us to more of insight of the basics. Have good sight of the basics at all times.

Do not be mistaken that there is no need for grace as some grace is needed to spur people to want to know doctrine and live in doctrine. It is still very much a dynamic balance of yin and yang with emphasis on doctrine - living in doctrine.

Living in doctrine means not to just talk on doctrine and not to display outwardly that we are practicing but to do so from the core or heart. As what Ji Gong (济公) says, "What matters is what goes through the heart and not what one does or what goes through the gut."

Ji Gong (济公) is ever so right to the point. His advice is that simple and yet profound. His advice is for everyone, regardless of religious affiliation or even if none. Omitofo 阿弥陀佛!

Ji Gong (济公)

Lest you forget

Do not make the mistake of idolizing any man who tells you about the Word. He is in the same boat as you even if religion refers to him as a religious leader. Mere mention of a religious leader is as good as encouraging idolising of that man. Why must there be hierarchy in religion? Hierarchy is conventional but may end up as liability rather than a necessity or asset. There should be no caste or hierarchy system in religion. No one is to be considered above another in religion. A religious leader or follower is a servant to serve you and not a leader to be idolised. Do not put him on the pedestal and make a monster out of him.

MAY ALL BE WELL AND HAPPY

May all be well and happy. May they have peace. May our departed friends and kins be well, happy and have divine peace. The main writer wishes the best for all for those near and far. Our kins may be far when they had passed on to better lives but they are near though far. He remembers and wishes his parents Mr Siow Soo Koh and Mdm Tay Hung Siang, his uncles and aunties like Mr Tay Koon Huay, his cousins like Mr Tay Chong Sim and his friends like Mr Philip Png well and have abundance of life. May they be rich in spirit for without such ancestors, there will be no posterity - no us and no you and me. They have blessed us and we must blessed them in return forever and ever.