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!.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Knowing the 7th to 9th day of Lunar New Year

No 824 of Living Life Series 1

Chinese folklore has it that the goddess with snake body (2852-2738 B.C.) created chicken on the first day of the very first lunar month, dog on the 2nd day, sheep on the 3rd day, pig on the 4th day, cow on the 5th day, horse on the 6th and human being on the 7th day.

Therefore, the 7th lunar day of the year becomes the human's birthday. Chinese eat seven vegetables on the human day and this is believed to repel the evil spirits and sickness away.

While the lunar new year holiday for government and business company ends on the 5th lunar day, for some, it is the 8th lunar day. This is the Completion Day. People should return from the holiday vacation and go back to work. All the meat and cake prepared for Chinese New Year should be consumed by this 8th day. Life should back to normal.

The 8th lunar day of the first month is also the birthday of King Yama, who is 5th king of Legendary Hell in 5th palace of Hell. It contains 16 sub-divisions.

Folklore has it that he was demoted to be the King of the 5th palace of Hell from the first palace because he sent back to the living world of humans those who had died from injustice. Till now and even in future he feels for souls and will send them away for births in higher states by helping them to focus on their good in life as man even if they have been bad.

That is Yama, a saint in his own right. No wonder he is part of Completion Day - the 8th day as he makes life complete and he is a potential asset to many a living. Humans must remember to be good more than the bad so that there is no need for him to help them to complete life on good note. But if there is the need he is there for them on day of reckoning so long as there was some good potential in them.

The 9th day of the lunar new year is to commemorate the birthday anniversary of God the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor lives in the 33rd heaven and he is the king of the 33 heavens as well as all of the universe. He was sent down from the supra-universe of the First Pure One on the ninth day of the very first of the first lunar month.

Jade Emperor is a vegetarian. To celebrate his birthday, Chinese offer three bundles of long noodle, three tea cup with green tea, five different kinds of fruit and six different kinds of dry vegetables on the top two tier of a table to worship Jade Emperor. But people also prepare five animal sacrifices, different sweet cakes and red turtle cake (turtle is a symbol of longevity) on the lowest tier of the table for Jade Emperor's retinue.

This three tier table arrangement for Jade Emperor and retinue was a yearly tradition in the initial years of the temple of the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) on yearly mission day observance. Those were the days when the lord descended through the late P. Philip.

To respect God the Jade Emperor, many clean themselves by having a bath on the 8th lunar night, then wait for the first minute of 9th lunar day to pay respect to the Jade Emperor and celebrate his anniversary. There will be firing of firecrackers from midnight to sunrise.

The temple of Jade Emperor will be crowded on the night of 8th lunar day as those people unable to hold the worship event at home will throng the temple.

That there are step like progressions of new year from day 1 to day 15th in itself reminds us of the need to move on in life and that life too must go on with step-like progressions from buzz and fuss to end in simplicity, peace and fulfillment.

We must progress on in life. This is as what Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) advises us - to learn from each day and stage of life and make good spiritually and otherwise - 步步高升. Life is indeed simply the living gospel.

The fifteen days of Lunar New Year is in a way a concise and a compressed version of the various lessons in life and is a religion of sorts in itself. There is the trend from buzz to simplicity and peace of completion and fulfillment, just like the stack of bamboos where there are fewest bamboo sticks at the top level and impressive array of sticks at the lowest level.

步步高升

Religion is culture and culture is religion. Let us embrace our ancestral culture and be better at what we are rather than go for another culture and be neither here nor there. Only then can we appreciate and embrace other cultures.

Whatever religious institution we go for upfront is immaterial if we are deeply rooted in our cultural roots. Well, culture is always and ever will be the big picture of religion and can embrace all religious institutions. Culture is the basic broader religious background to color our approach to institutional religion and hopefully not the other way round.

We too can learn what the culture of 7th to 9th day of the lunar new year has in store for us. Then we will both be awed and humbled at the same time. We will be awed by what our ancestors did during the lunar new year and will be humbled when we know that without them, we will not have the richness of the lunar new year.

There certainly is beauty and richness in culture that the lunar new year has in store for us, regardless of our institutional religious front. All are one in culture and culture is one for all regardless of religions if all are of the same community and ethnicity. Cheers.

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.