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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!.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Welcome to the world of doubts

No 1119 of Living Life Series 1
It is amazing that religious person tends to think he knows better than another. He will want to share. But this may end up with him trying to impose his beliefs and values on another. 

Is this necessarily good? Yes, it is and yet not so. The sharer thinks he has arrived and can lead. That is all to it. 

But there is no black and white though he may say so. With matters of religion, like matters of the heart, there is more subjectivity than objectivity. 

What is good for one person may not be so for another. Even if both parties are of the same religion or temple, they may not see eye to eye. There is always the element of doubt and each is seeing from his own world and experiences. 

No two are alike even if they may be one in religion and even of the same temple. Doubt is good and allows person to inquire and want to know more or better God and heavenly saints. 

Saints like Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 accommodate doubts and find it healthy to have doubts but this view may not be held by all who are in flesh and blood. 
Is it wrong to doubt and not agree in matters of religion? Do one need to concur and not think further? If one does not concur, does it mean one is not good or worse off? Well, we should know the answer. 

 Anyway, welcome to the world of doubts. Doubts there always will be. It is odd and perhaps even highly inadequate not to have doubts. Even children have doubts and ask why is this and why is that so. That is how they learn. The more they trust the adults like the parents, the more they ask. They want to know more. 

Doubt is exactly why people of same religion change from one denomination to another and one temple or church to another. They want to go where their doubts can be accommodated. There will always be doubts of one kind or another unless we don't think and let others do the thinking for us.
If not convinced of doubt being a good thing and still in doubt, think of Monkey god in the story of the Journey to the West. He among the few disciples of the monk in the story always had doubts and wanted to challenge what the monk said. He might not always be right on the dot or dead wrong, but he learnt and progressed spiritually and more distinguished than his fellow disciples. He even became by default the lead disciple. 
He was chastised by the monk on a number of occasions but he harbored no guilt. Guilt hampers spirituality. He made the mark spiritually. There should be no sin or guilt complex. This the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 advocates.

 The story of Journey to The West tells us of the richness of Chinese culture. Chinese culture is a scripture in itself. In fact, any culture is the same - a scripture of sorts. 

 Religion just comes in handy to allow the expression of culture through it. Perhaps in a not so nice way, we may see this as the hijack of religion for cultural expression and dominance.

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