No 863 of Living Life Series 1
Often another religion may appear attractive because of its teachings but somehow however hard we try, we may not find it suitable because there is something missing in that religion. We just don't feel comfortable and find no social warmth or attraction.
There is no fellowship and camaraderie - no joy of coming together and no care or cell group bonding There is lack of oneness offered by culture of extended family or of cell group that often make up for absence of extended family.
There is no fellowship and camaraderie - no joy of coming together and no care or cell group bonding There is lack of oneness offered by culture of extended family or of cell group that often make up for absence of extended family.
Then not taking up the new religion but staying put in existing religion is far better than being a bad adherent of the new religion. We will simply not do justice to the new religion. After all, we can always incorporate the new principles we learnt from the new religion into our practice of the existing old religion we are in.
This is exactly what the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 wants it to be. It is better to be good in existing religion and be better at it than to be lousy in the new religion. People must end up better at their respective religions and this is exactly the goal of the mission of Heaven through the messenger Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
The good lord wants us to be better at what we are by knowing what the good lord stands for. He is the Word and the Word is him.
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There is the same inner truth behind all religions. Knowing this and grasping this should make us appreciate our respective religions better and not want to jump the band wagon to another religion.
Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 champions no religion or sect or favors any. He is not here to start any new religion or sect but merely to show that even in a Chinese traditional temple like Bo Tien Temple 武天宫, there is the same profound teachings found in all religions and sects.
We must learn to love all beings regardless of species, creed, race or religion. This is loving kindness that is of God and saints. We must love all and not practice discrimination of any form. We must allow others to be different and yet feel they are our brothers and same as us.
We must believe in all heavenly saints, all religions and their teachings and see them in context. There are no contradictions but if there seems to be, it is because we do not view the teachings in context. This is the message of Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
He urges us to know the respective heavenly saints of our religions and cultures and to see in them the teachings they stand for. The Doctrine is in the saint and the saint is the Doctrine.
We must believe in all heavenly saints, all religions and their teachings and see them in context. There are no contradictions but if there seems to be, it is because we do not view the teachings in context. This is the message of Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
He urges us to know the respective heavenly saints of our religions and cultures and to see in them the teachings they stand for. The Doctrine is in the saint and the saint is the Doctrine.
This post is about how we can be better at what we are - better in religion. It may be better not to switch religion but to learn from all religions and be better in the religion we are in.
If there is no culture of cell or care group, then introduce this in the religion we are in. Togetherness or fellowship is a great blessing. Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that a bunch of candles is better at lighting up life than a lone candle.
In addition to heavenly blessings, people can bless one another. The plethora of abilities and capabilities in a group will count as assets to members of the group. If there is no big extended family culture, go for cell or care group as substitute.
This is better than being in a new set-up and very much rootless. Even having substantive grasp of good doctrine is no replacement for fellowship of our existing culture and background. In any new set-up, we are just starting off and have long way to grow our spirituality.
To come to the point once again, we must end up better at what we are when we learn good spiritual values of religion. We need not jump the band wagon and end up uprooted from our cultural background and be worse off.
We only go for the good values. Do we have to give up our culture and background and adopt the new culture? We will most likely be misfits of sorts if we adopt the new culture and somewhat alienated from our familiar culture and background we grow up in and are very much accustomed to.
This applies to all people from all background and culture. Give this some thought not only today but tomorrow and the tomorrow of tomorrow.
When a religion spreads its wings to a country, it should be integrated into the culture of that country and not replace the culture with a foreign culture. That will ensure the people stay as one people and essentially one culture be it national or ethnic. That will unite and not divide.
There are however people who like to behave as though they belong to a new culture. That is their choice. God bless us and everyone with many choices, be it in religion or secular matters. But we will have to live with our choices. Of course, we can have change of heart anytime.
Do let the teachings of a religion be integrated with culture and let not religion introduce a new culture to replace the culture of the people it hopes to win over. Of course then, the teachings of all religions will be integrated into the culture of the country. That had been the case for centuries past.
For the present and the future, why for goodness sake or what have you, should it be any different from the past? Religion should be assimilated into the culture and not assimilate or worse still displace the culture of the people.
It was never at all intended by the sage or pioneers to be a social proxy for a country to subtly win over another people or nation. It is also never meant to cause divide and dissension of any sorts.
But like a flower, some people will be attracted to religion like insects will be attracted for nectar. They may even effect such intentions even unintentionally due to their zest and lack of core spirituality. Well, even if this is so, there is still allot of good that can come about. There is no doubt about that.
This is exactly mentioned to us by the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨. But as the good lord mentions we must go for better than good. Good alone is not good enough if the intentions leave much to be desired.
Religion is never like politics. To be popular, there is need to be attractive and religion like politics must flow downstream with the people. But Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that those who want to be more right and go for the absolute must go upstream for clear water.
Which is easier and which is necessary? Going downstream is easier but it is necessary to attract the masses to be in the stream even if to go downstream. But let us admit that only when they are in the stream can there be the chance for some to go upstream against the current. This however is not popular. This is however how we can be better than what we are.
The popular way is to go along downstream with popular religion and culture and with that one religion. Perhaps, they may even uproot themselves and jump the band wagon to another religion and culture. It is like uprooting to go to another stream or river where they will have to start all over again.
But for those who want to be better than what they are, they stay put with their original culture and integrate what they learn from other religion and culture to their own culture. This is how they can reap benefits of better group or cultural support of the community they grow up in.
Then they learn more from other cultures but stay with the culture of their community for support. In time with spiritual progress, they summon their resources and go upstream for clear water with their base culture as springboard.
Base culture provides fellowship and group cohesion. It is far from spirituality in ultimate sense. Though far, it is near.
Ultimate spirituality if introduced right from the beginning may not make any headway. It is near to God and saints. It is the stand-in for God and saints. But to the masses what count is fellowship and cultural support. Ultimate spirituality is near but yet far in this context.
What matters to the masses is cultural support - group care and support. This is manifestation of loving kindness and matters more than the doctrine even if the doctrine is God and saint and is what God and saint stands for.
Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reminds us to reflect that the far may be near and the near far.
The Word or Doctrine may be better expounded in another religion. It is not necessarily good to jump the band wagon to that religion if this means to uproot ourselves from our group support that we have in the religion and culture we are in.
It is better to remain what we are and be better off in our existing religion and culture from both the new understanding of doctrine learnt from another religion and the existing strong group and cultural support of our cultural background. Let us be better at what we are and not jump the bandwagon.
It is immaterial what religion or sect we are in. What matters is that we know the universal truths common to all religions, practice it and be good. Religions are only the means to the end and not the end in themselves. It may even be better to be good in your existing religion than to try to be in a member of another religion.
For example, you may learn allot from Buddhist philosophy but it is better to be good in what you already are, good in your existing religion than to be a 'bad' Buddhist. This Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reminds us time and again.
You can always practice what the Buddha taught in your existing religion and culture. One day, you too can be enlightened like the Buddha even if you are not a labelled Buddhist.
Labelled Buddhist is a creation of men and not the Buddha. The universal truths were there before the Buddha and will be there in infinity. It is in all religions and compatible with all.
Somehow, we tend not to see the universal truths even if these are before us. We see only the public image of any religion and not the Word when the Word is the image and the image is the Word. Well this was alluded to by the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨. Praise the lord...
What the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 is trying to drive at is that we know the universal truths behind religions and not dwell on which religion is better. All religions are good. This too is a message of the good lord.
We should be better at what we already are and there is no need to jump the bandwagon. There is no need to start anew. But alas men tend to be frivolous with actions and do not keep to the age old philosophy in Tao Te Ching 道德经 - Action through no (or less) action 为无为 wei wu wei.
Men do not exercise careful and mindful choice of actions. Men, the sages of Tao 道 say, are not frugal with actions and tend to forget about parsimony of actions.
If there is no culture of cell or care group, then introduce this in the religion we are in. Togetherness or fellowship is a great blessing. Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that a bunch of candles is better at lighting up life than a lone candle.
In addition to heavenly blessings, people can bless one another. The plethora of abilities and capabilities in a group will count as assets to members of the group. If there is no big extended family culture, go for cell or care group as substitute.
This is better than being in a new set-up and very much rootless. Even having substantive grasp of good doctrine is no replacement for fellowship of our existing culture and background. In any new set-up, we are just starting off and have long way to grow our spirituality.
To come to the point once again, we must end up better at what we are when we learn good spiritual values of religion. We need not jump the band wagon and end up uprooted from our cultural background and be worse off.
We only go for the good values. Do we have to give up our culture and background and adopt the new culture? We will most likely be misfits of sorts if we adopt the new culture and somewhat alienated from our familiar culture and background we grow up in and are very much accustomed to.
This applies to all people from all background and culture. Give this some thought not only today but tomorrow and the tomorrow of tomorrow.
When a religion spreads its wings to a country, it should be integrated into the culture of that country and not replace the culture with a foreign culture. That will ensure the people stay as one people and essentially one culture be it national or ethnic. That will unite and not divide.
There are however people who like to behave as though they belong to a new culture. That is their choice. God bless us and everyone with many choices, be it in religion or secular matters. But we will have to live with our choices. Of course, we can have change of heart anytime.
Do let the teachings of a religion be integrated with culture and let not religion introduce a new culture to replace the culture of the people it hopes to win over. Of course then, the teachings of all religions will be integrated into the culture of the country. That had been the case for centuries past.
For the present and the future, why for goodness sake or what have you, should it be any different from the past? Religion should be assimilated into the culture and not assimilate or worse still displace the culture of the people.
It was never at all intended by the sage or pioneers to be a social proxy for a country to subtly win over another people or nation. It is also never meant to cause divide and dissension of any sorts.
But like a flower, some people will be attracted to religion like insects will be attracted for nectar. They may even effect such intentions even unintentionally due to their zest and lack of core spirituality. Well, even if this is so, there is still allot of good that can come about. There is no doubt about that.
This is exactly mentioned to us by the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨. But as the good lord mentions we must go for better than good. Good alone is not good enough if the intentions leave much to be desired.
Religion is never like politics. To be popular, there is need to be attractive and religion like politics must flow downstream with the people. But Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that those who want to be more right and go for the absolute must go upstream for clear water.
The popular way is to go along downstream with popular religion and culture and with that one religion. Perhaps, they may even uproot themselves and jump the band wagon to another religion and culture. It is like uprooting to go to another stream or river where they will have to start all over again.
But for those who want to be better than what they are, they stay put with their original culture and integrate what they learn from other religion and culture to their own culture. This is how they can reap benefits of better group or cultural support of the community they grow up in.
Then they learn more from other cultures but stay with the culture of their community for support. In time with spiritual progress, they summon their resources and go upstream for clear water with their base culture as springboard.
Base culture provides fellowship and group cohesion. It is far from spirituality in ultimate sense. Though far, it is near.
Ultimate spirituality if introduced right from the beginning may not make any headway. It is near to God and saints. It is the stand-in for God and saints. But to the masses what count is fellowship and cultural support. Ultimate spirituality is near but yet far in this context.
What matters to the masses is cultural support - group care and support. This is manifestation of loving kindness and matters more than the doctrine even if the doctrine is God and saint and is what God and saint stands for.
Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reminds us to reflect that the far may be near and the near far.
The Word or Doctrine may be better expounded in another religion. It is not necessarily good to jump the band wagon to that religion if this means to uproot ourselves from our group support that we have in the religion and culture we are in.
It is better to remain what we are and be better off in our existing religion and culture from both the new understanding of doctrine learnt from another religion and the existing strong group and cultural support of our cultural background. Let us be better at what we are and not jump the bandwagon.
It is immaterial what religion or sect we are in. What matters is that we know the universal truths common to all religions, practice it and be good. Religions are only the means to the end and not the end in themselves. It may even be better to be good in your existing religion than to try to be in a member of another religion.
For example, you may learn allot from Buddhist philosophy but it is better to be good in what you already are, good in your existing religion than to be a 'bad' Buddhist. This Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reminds us time and again.
You can always practice what the Buddha taught in your existing religion and culture. One day, you too can be enlightened like the Buddha even if you are not a labelled Buddhist.
Labelled Buddhist is a creation of men and not the Buddha. The universal truths were there before the Buddha and will be there in infinity. It is in all religions and compatible with all.
Somehow, we tend not to see the universal truths even if these are before us. We see only the public image of any religion and not the Word when the Word is the image and the image is the Word. Well this was alluded to by the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨. Praise the lord...
What the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 is trying to drive at is that we know the universal truths behind religions and not dwell on which religion is better. All religions are good. This too is a message of the good lord.
We should be better at what we already are and there is no need to jump the bandwagon. There is no need to start anew. But alas men tend to be frivolous with actions and do not keep to the age old philosophy in Tao Te Ching 道德经 - Action through no (or less) action 为无为 wei wu wei.
Men do not exercise careful and mindful choice of actions. Men, the sages of Tao 道 say, are not frugal with actions and tend to forget about parsimony of actions.
