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!.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Cyberspace and entertainment for spirituality

No 797 of Living Life Series 1

Religion in the ancient past was about relationship of individuals with God and heavenly saints. Family togetherness in prayer was the cornerstone of religious togetherness - what is termed as fellowship.

With the family unit devolving from extended to nuclear and being a loose one at that, there is need for congregational fellowship instead to bring to life the reality of God and saints to humanity. Humanity just need to feel God is real and alive to them even if God is silent and speaks only through scriptures.

The holier than thou approach is dry and will put people off and to obviate that, there is need for group sharing and togetherness. But mere religiosity even as a group will be not at all appealing.

Thus, congregational gathering is now more a social assembly for fun, merry making, joyous music and song. Pastors and priests are well aware of the social distraction and agenda and to ensure their sermons have more impact, the members of the congregation bring their sermons in printed form or in videos home beyond the congregational or church services.

The pastors and priests even put them on websites or blog sites so that the sermons are available at the click of the computer mouse anytime and anywhere.

Thus there is proliferation of worthwhile and wholesome spiritual materials - the Word of God and saints in the cyberspace.

But just having the sermon can still be dry and videos with the replay of the whole church service is there in cyberspace. We can relive the vibrancy of the service in privacy of home and at any time.

Religion has to go into the cyberspace if it is to reach out and hold on to whatever remnant of religiosity that is there in humanity in modern world of numerous social distractions.

The worrisome thing is that many may go for the entertainment value of the more loud and attractive non religious calling by non-religious society than that provided for religious calling by religion.

Alas, like it or not, entertainment and togetherness admittedly will never stay the forte of religion but is however still the way to reach out to and uplift the spirit of the people. Who is better at this? Is it the religions of the day or the non religious society at large?

This is a place where
what matters is you and God
regardless of religion
This is as what the good lord
Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) said,
No focus on entertainment
just simple spirituality
between you and God.
For that, one has to be
alone with God
though fellowship is needed
To share and to learn
and at times, fun too
but not too much
or risk going overboard

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.