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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, March 7, 2015

Polytheism or monotheism? It depends on us.

No 829 of Living Life Series 1


It is very much the trend for some to go for monotheistic culture when they are brought up in polytheistic culture with gods galore. They want simplicity and something they could understand. They are simply tired out by complexity and rather than being lost, they go for simplicity of monotheism.

But the opposite may be true for those brought up in monotheistic culture and finds this simply too simplistic and difficult to accept. Well then, what next ? What then is the reality? 

The reality on Earth is that there are many nations and many rulers. Surely, what is in Heaven must be many shades more than on Earth. Thus Chinese culture is rich in portrayal of many gods and saints. There is what culture would want us to accept - the pantheon of the gods with hierarchy in place. 

It is of course more conceivable that what is in Heaven is more complex than on Earth. Even on Earth, how many of us are aware of the various rulers in the world, let alone know what is in Heaven? Can the world have one ruler and only one nation? If not, then how on Earth can men ever think that Heaven is so simplistically monotheistic and insist they are right and others not so? 

 Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) advises us to respect all gods and heavenly saints and their glory is in the thought of beings like men. So do not discount other gods and saints just because we believe in our own one or two. Polytheism is here to stay and is part of the culture of the old world and of our ancestors - of the great Romans during the heyday of the Roman Empire and of the Chinese ancestors during the glorious days of dynasties. 

The universal prayer taught by the good lord is a good reminder and perhaps even a wake-up call. "To all heavenly saints, we greatly adore. We believe in your existence and thy glory is in the thought of men. We seek for thy protection and guidance so as to live better for the time to come."

Like it or not, men are men. They will swing from polytheism to monotheism and from monotheism to polytheism. Polytheism or monotheism? It depends on the beholder.

 They may be talking of the same - either one God with host of officials or many many gods with one chief or main god. What is the difference, if any? There may be but it may be insubstantial. Men tend to go for confusion, don't they? 

What men need is to be more focused by seeking the divine shelter of gods and saints so as to live better for time to come and one day be able to have more of the peace in life and world that is ever changing, never peaceful in the long term and where peace is ever often allusive. 

 Seeking peace is against the downstream flow of life and society. It is an upstream effort but one fine day with more concerted and determined efforts and many more moments of peace, we will be near to the peace of gods and saints. Who knows, we too will be gods and saints. That will be the day but for now cherish the peace here and now. 

 But in conclusion, even if there are many gods, what matters is what we do after being motivated by a god or gods. To Elder Ling, the one anointed as the Head of Mission of the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨), he acknowledges that there are many gods but what he believes in is only the good lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨). 
What he focuses on is how to make the doctrine come to life through his life so that he can have the peace of the here and now and show others that they too can do likewise regardless of which god or gods they venerate. 

 To this end, Elder Ling is of the view that even the image of Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) in time is no longer necessary even in a temple of the lord. This is futuristic, lofty and ideal. 
Many would however prefer to have not only the image of the good lord but also the variety of images of other gods and saints. They too are not wrong but not exactly right. 

 What matters is whether they have more of the peace of the moment for many moments of peace do add up to the peace of the God or peace of gods whichever way we want to put it. That is the crux of the matter. 

 They must not just be engulfed by their passion with images but rather they must for every image see the doctrine in the image for the image is the doctrine and the doctrine is in the image. This is stressed by the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨). 
The divergence of approach even at the temple of the good lord reflects the same reality in the world. Polytheism or monotheism is here to stay. 

 In monotheistic style, there is usually no portrayal in the form of an image. In polytheism, there is the whole wide array of images. 

 But the problem is that even with discarding of images more likely with monotheism, men may see the god in man and idolize the man and a house of God may go the way of cult. 

 "See not the god in man and the man in god." This the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) did say. 
Polytheism or monotheism? Do God or the gods demand this or that? Certainly the answer is "No."  It depends on us. If so, then there will be cyclical rotation from one to the other and then back again. 
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