Anniversary Messages of Lord Bo Tien pre-1974 to 1984

1. Messages before 1974

2. Lord Bo Tien's 1974 Anniversary Message
 
3. Lord Bo Tien's 1975 Anniversary Message

4. Lord Bo Tien's 1976 Anniversary Message

5. Lord Bo Tien's 1977 Anniversary Message

6. Lord Bo Tien's 1978 Anniversary Message

7. Lord Bo Tien's 1980 Anniversary Message

8. Lord Bo Tien's 1981 Anniversary Message

9. Lord Bo Tien's 1983 Anniversary Message

10. Lord Bo Tien's 1984 Anniversary Message

2012 Mission Day Messages

  

 

The 13th day of the ninth lunar month is Mission Day. It is time for reckoning and reflection for those who are not aligned with the mission of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien and even for those who are aligned but yet not exemplary, that is, not effecting the doctrine of the lord saint in the way they speak, act or think. Time to not only believe, understand but to practise the doctrine in life. Time to make use of doctrine as raft to cross the river of life and not admire or carry the raft on shoulders and risked being drowned by the river of life. Day for reckoning


The anniversary day of the descent of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien falls on 13th day of the 9th lunar month which is the 27th day of October 2012.

Inner Truth Netizen has dedicated the following posts as the mission day messages.


 

Paradoxical behaviour of many in a temple or church...


Two wrongs a temple or church should not have

That a temple will not make it is to be expected

  

God and the genesis of life and religions 

 

Heaven here and now and not wait for the afterlife...

  

God's way of reaching out to the many

  

Day for reckoning

  

Relativity of Creation and the Created

  

Belief in a saint is in the Word

  

Completeness and emptiness are vexations in life

 

 

 

Relativity of Creation and the Created

No 369 of Living Life Series 1

God creates us and we come to this world. But we are not born equal and can never be so. This does not mean that God is not fair.

 

God is the Jade Emperor sent by the first of the Three Pure Ones to the apparent universe of Heaven and the realms under Heaven.

 

The Three Pure Ones reside in the universe beyond the apparent universe and arise spontaneously from the prime of primordial energy.

 

Primordial energy gives rise to the universes and the yin and yang energy that Chinese sages refer to.

 

This is the Tao concept of origin of the universes which differ from the Indian story of Lord Sakra which is the close equivalent of the Jade Emperor.

 

The Brahma world, the formless realms in Buddhism is the equivalent of universe beyond the apparent universe.

 

In the apparent universe, beings take on form and this can be astral from or physical form eg of the latter is the human body of flesh and blood.

 

Coming to God, he has form and was sent down by the first of the Three Pure Ones to oversee and further create the apparent universe.

 

Buddhas and Boddhisatvas (saints) are holy ones who are beings in all realms be it in the apparent universe or in the universe beyond the apparent universe. They are the holy ones or priests in the various realms who cultivate themselves and attain thea apex of spiritual purity and they are on their own but act as advisers to the governing lords of the various realms.

 

The lords of the various realms are the government of the realms and are themselves caused, created and originated.  But they too can cause, create and condition events and beings in their respective realms.

 

In the human realm, men are caused, created and conditioned but men can create cause and condition events, beings and entities as well.

 

In the heaven of the apparent universe, the lords can create their own sectors of heaven and can cause, create and condition beings and realms  to be under their purview or that are already under their purview.

 

Thus each religion too through their prophets or saints can create sectors of heaven for their followers to go to after death but being in heaven is not the end all but the beginning of spriritual development.

 

There is rebirth and one comes from previous life to be born in present life and at end of the present life will go on to next life be it in heaven or any other realm. The beings and lord in heavenly realms too are subject to rebirth but at less propensity or hardly if some consider that be so.

 

Only the poverty of human imagination would make men narrow down the concept of life as pivoting between one earth, one heaven and one hell but even this though simplistic is not wrong but may be worthy of belief so long as such belief helps in bringing more to take on and ascend the spiritual path to be with God, the Pure Ones and the Buddhas.

No one would say that there is only one country in the world but it is alright to say that there is one world body called the United Nations. Likewise there cannot be only three realms of earth, heaven and hell.

Concepts and reality may not match. Concepts are the creation of the human mind. There is the created and the creator. The creator is created and the created is also a creator.

There is relativity of creation and the created. The egg is the creator of the chicken and the chicken is the creator of the egg. Even a young child knows that but many are blissfully simple minded when they say the egg is from the chicken (hen) and not the chicken from the egg. The creator precedes creation and creation precedes the creator. There is completeness of the cycle of creation. This is just like saying calm follow storm and storm precedes calm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heaven here and now and not wait for the afterlife

No 368 of Living Life Series 1
Duplicated from series 2 post of same name: Heaven here and now and not wait for afterlife

When we go for the spiritual life, the same values for spiritual life if applied to our worldly life give adequate optimum comfort and success in worldly life as well.

  

The spiritual values include having inner peace come what may, neither denying or giving up life nor overindulging in life, neither living in the past(thinking and brooding over the past or living on past glory) nor living only for the future. These are aspects of balance of yin and yang, the polarities of life. Such balance can bring inner peace come what may.

There is also the need to be balanced with respect to God, neither denying His existence nor fearing his existence but ever loving and practising the doctrine God and His saints stand for.

God is like a father. What a father wants out of a child is not adulation and fear of the father but to be able to grow up, be an embodiment of the values the father stand for.

 

These spiritual values allow us to gain spiritually simultaneously while leading worldly life as the values bring peace and comfort to both worldly and spiritual life. This is possible because our moment to moment life, that is, our daily life is the very ground for our spiritual practice and cultivation. We can have heaven and inner peace here and now in this life and not wait for heaven beyond this life. We have both worldly and heavenly gains. Worldly comfort comes with avoidance of denial of worldly life at one extreme and overindulgence in worldly life at the other extreme. The latter will result in suffering as the person is effectively the slave of life and not the master of life.

Our worldly life is our gospel. We learn from the gospel of life as it unfurls. The whole wide world and web is our temple for spirituality - for spiritual understanding and cultivation. We learn to be one with God. God is everywhere in the nature or world we live in and even in us and in our life.

We certainly can have heaven by having more inner peace here and now in this life and not wait for heaven beyond this life.

We practise the doctrine behind the Bagua. The bagua embodies the flux of yin and yang, the polar or dual contingencies of life like gain & loss, love & hatred, joy & sorrow, praise & blame, success & failure, denial & indulgence etc --- the balance of which yields inner peace. Inner peace is the essence of Heavenly experience which would lead to enlightenment - oneness with Divinity

The Bagua

Elaboration of extract from The shrine hall at Bo Tien Temple was designed based on the doctrine of Heaven.

 

God's way of reaching out to the many

No 367 of Living Life Series1
Duplicated from series2: God's way of reaching out to the many

In 1981, the emissary of Lord Bo Tien said, "Heaven however will not forsake the well being of the significant numerical many... Divinity will always reach out somehow to their hearts and souls and endeavour to change their ways." Lord Bo Tien's 1981 Anniversary Message

Thus there are many religions, and many sects per religion, many schools per sect and many styles of leadership and premises per school. This is the will of God or Divinity that all souls must be saved by more than one way but the underlying inner truth is the same inner peace leading to harmony of souls with the holy spirit of God, Pure Ones, Buddhas and Saints.

Thus even in a temple of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien, the few who know the doctrine though near to him may not be the ones to run a temple. But the many who know not the doctrine but still find interest in the temple albeit for the less noble motives may well end up running a temple.

This is a lord saint's way of reaching out to the many and not just to the few who know the doctrine. They are given the chance to make good but whether they can make good or may well end up like insects coming to a flower is the issue. They are given places in the sun by the grace of the lord and not by their goodness and value. Lord Bo Tien's 1984 Anniversary Message

Many may be taken aback that in any church or temple (such as that of Lord Bo Tien), the leaders may be loud mouth or unbecoming in other ways such as loose morals and even socially tainted and corrupt. Ordinary folks will find them distasteful and lose faith. They would think that the saint or god of that temple doesn't exist and just the concoction or mere figment of imagination of men. But perhaps this too may be that temple saint's way of reaching out to the many, not just the goody-goody. Often the popular priest, pastor or monk is no goody-goody.

In the first place, perhaps goody-goody men are rare and even non-existent. Thus even any anchor pioneer may have his dark side. After all, who does not have dark side? Only "pharisees" think they are angels and above all others, as they deem themselves as having no dark side.

At best, men can only be an unpolished diamond and thus far only one man has been referred by Lord Bo Tien as an unpolished diamond. Who is he? He must be an elder in the mission of the lord saint.






 

God and the genesis of life and religions

No 366 of Living Life Series 1

THE 2012 MISSION DAY MESSAGE
God and the genesis of life and religions
Duplicated from series 2 post 177

 

God Alimighty -The Pure August Jade Emperor

 

In Chinese culture the Pure August Jade Emperor, Yü Huang Shang Ti heads the Heavenly Palace of gods. The Chinese refer to him as Tien Kung, the Heavenly Father. He is the supreme head of the manifest or apparent universe that comprises Heaven and realms of existence below including man and hell but he ranks below the Three Pure Ones in the supreme pure heavens beyond the manifest universe.

Originally, Yu-huang was the assistant of the Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun. Yuanshi Tianzun is said to be the supreme beginning --- the limitless and eternal creator of apparent universe with Heaven and Earth. After creating the apparent universe, he picked Yu-huang as the ruler of the universe of Heaven and Earth. Yu Huang became the Jade Emperor and he oversees and moderates the development and fate of beings through his subordinate deities. He is ultimately responsible for the deitification of other gods, or for their exit from the pantheon.

Theoretically there should be a series of Jade Emperors but the life span is so long that it is as good as eternal in human terms. Like all heavenly beings, he is capable of creation of heavenly abodes, beings and entities. He is spiritually developed and enlightened but may not be in the sense of buddhahood but the apex of the path of gods and buddhas overlap and the zenith is one

The Jade Emperor's Birthday is designated on the ninth day of the first lunar month.

The apparent manifest universe we are in started with 無極 (wuji: 'nothingness'). Do note that this does not mean non-existence but mere metaphor on energy state before evolutionary and creative chain of events.

Jade Emperor as the head of the pantheon is however not responsible for the original creation process itself but hand picked into the appointment by Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun, the first of the Three Pure Ones.

Jade Emperor is however of capable of further creation of abodes, beings and divine entities.

The Three Pure Ones were brought into existence through the interaction of pre-existing primordial forces including yin and yang. The first to emerge is The Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun, followed by the second and then the third Pure One.

You can say that Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun brought into existence the second and then the third Pure One came each with his own supreme pure heaven beyond the manifest universe with its levels of heaven, earth and hell.

Readers may wonder as to where the Buddhas come in. As the saying goes amongst the sages of old in China, "What's on Earth will be mirrored in Heaven" There are the clergy and there are the laity on earth.

Whilst all in heavens are spiritual, there are those who deal with the governance of the apparent or manifest universe with heaven and all the realms below including the human and hell realms, there will be those who are the clergy and they are the buddhas who are respected by the non-buddha laity in heaven.

The Jade Emperor and the deities in his pantheon are rulers of the apparent universe. They often consult the buddhas and carry out their advice and intervention but the latter do not overstep to take over the ruling and governance of the manifest or apparent universe

The buddhas and posats (bodhisatvas) are present in both the apparent or manifest universe and the supreme pure heavens above the manifest universe. Posats too can be present in Hell and they can traverse across realms.

The Jade Emperor or God Almighty as the overall ruler of the manifest universe resides in the heaven of the manifest universe and oversee all the realms below.

He reaches out to all beings through prophets and saints of the various religions and sects. These prophets create their own sections of heaven and in this way, beings saved by religions take on spiritual paths and in time are reborn in the specific respective dormains of heaven to continue further spiritual growth. 

Thus in God's plan, there must be not one religion or sect but many and they complement and not compete. But men being men and not God and saints tend to compete and even ridicule one another and this has caused rift and hatred amongst many in the name of God and saints. How ungodly can this be!

That is why God tasked Lord Bo Tien as one of the many more saints to come and he like the rest to come will re-explain the true essence behind the need for the many religions and sects and will not start his own. These messenger saints will however make use of the existing religions and sects to explain the grand purpose of the Jade Emperor.





For more academic information, do read wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Emperor

 

The lord saint no longer speaks to us through an intermediary but through our life

No 365 of Living Life Series 1

From Mission History and News No 7

The lord saint through his representatives in the early 1980s said that after the first 13 years from 1970, there would no longer be any need for the saint to communicate to us through a human intermediary for all the doctrine and directions for the mission to save souls would have been explained.

This caused some concern but the reassurance was given that after the first 13 years, the saint would speak to his followers through their lives and through their temple or mission activities. This will be as good as the lord saint speaking to us through our minds.

If there is foundation of being grounded in doctrine, consensus and cooperation, practice and if men are mission directed, the thoughts on the truth of life and actions that are carried out for life and for a temple would be smooth and fruitful.

Individuals and the groups they belong to will feel the presence of the lord saint and the blessing of God and saints if they are thus well grounded correctly.

If otherwise, they will experience obstacles and things will not be plain sailing and there will be storms instead of calm seas.

But won't that be subject to interpretation and whims and fancies of men? Yes, inner truth netizen agrees but then again, it is too early for us to know. Only time will reveal to us what the lord saint has prophesied.

What is important is for men not to take matters into their own hands and say that this or that is what the lord saint would want.

Just be humble, sincere, pure and simple. Do what is good not only for oneself, for one group but for all groups.

Men must not be lone candle flames but be a collection of variety of candle flames. There must be give and take, acceptance that there will be differences but these should not divide men but unite men as there can be unity in diversity.

Then we can have calm seas and not storms in life. There is calm when what we do are in keeping with the directions of the lord saint. The lord saint speaks to us through our mind and through life. Life after all is the gospel.

The gospel has been seeded in the first 13 years through human intermediary the late Senior P. Philip but subsequent and future generations will grow and expand the gospel (doctrine) for the mission of which the lord saint, Lord Bo Tien is the God-sent heavenly messenger. He is a divine spirit who has never been known to the world before.

The Bagua

Be reminded that we are in the yin and yang world. All need to reconcile with the yin and yang and be at peace and harmony with the diverse aspects of life and people, like the feet of the lord saint balancing and atop the elements.

Life of diversity and issues is fertile ground for the lord saint to speak to us so that we can learn and be wiser from the learning.

Insight into the simplicity that Ji Gong wants us to know

No 364 of Living Life Series 1

There is more to learn from Posat Ji Gong. Why did he not go along the norms?  Departing from the norms, he was able to succeed. He believes in simplicity and sincerity. What is important is what goes through the heart and not the gut. 

One of the 18 Lohans or Arahats in a previous life, he was reincarnated to become Ji Gong. He showed that traditions and practices of institutionalised and popular religions can stifle spiritual openness, simplicity and sincerity. He left the moastery to be with life and succeeded to be a posat or saint.

The means often end up as ends and adherents of the various sects and faiths often are lost amongst the leaves of the forest of spiritual knowledge and see not the trunks, let alone the forest as a whole.

What is the goal of life? Why need to have to be with God and the Pure Ones? Will mere belief and worship save us? Belief is good so also is worship. But more than that meet the eye. More is needed if we are to have to overcome and come to grips with the issues upon issues of life, of the unsatisfactoriness of life, of the daunting changes that we have to live with.

How can we have peace and serenity in just belief and allegiance to a sect or religion? Many churches and temples try to sell that. They peddle religion as though selling a commercial product. Just believe or pay for God's favour. That won't do and makes matters worse.

To Ji Gong Posat, we must be at peace right from the start. Let there be simplicity in the first place. Go for peace here and now. If we can have the here and now, then we can have tomorrow.

The past is history. The present is a present and the future (however well prepared we may be) will always be somewhat a mystery. Don't place too much hope on the future though we must prepare for the future especially for any eventualties. But losing your peace over the future is unwise for the possibilites are many.

What matters too is to live life and not run away from life. What matters is not to run after more in life but to be contented and yet to improve ourselves but remain ever peaceful and simple while doing so.

He stresses the yin and yang in life. There must be balance like exemplified by the "puae" or confirmation blocks, one up and one down and not both up or both down.

There is no need to be in a monastery or in the forest to have divine spiritual peace. Instead we must be with society and the world around us, like what Ji Gong did in his life as human when he left the monastery having been rejected for not toeing the norms of monastic life.

For those in family way, peace can come if husband and wife can complement each other and have good relationship. Then there will be peace and often it is the simplicity of life with give and take that matters.

Let there be no calculativeness or manipulation, be it housework or bringing in family income. The stronger spouse must shoulder more so that the weaker will not be stressed out and there will be peace in family. This will ensure a better marital or family environment.

Guatama Buddha stressed in the Sutra of Blessings that one of the 38 blessings is to live in a suitable environment. Only in such balanced yin and yang milieu will there be peace of mind and spirit that promotes wellness and the ultimate is enlightenment or union with God and the Pure Ones.

The family way is not at odds with spirituality as the same principle that work for spiritual also work for family life. Both spiritual and family life must be synchronised like yin and yang.

Lord Bo Tien reiterated that spiritual principles work for mundane life eg family life as well as the overall mundane life are fertile grounds for spiritual cultivation. We embrace life not renounce life. What we renounce is not life or family but unrest, disquiet and mental agony. We cultivate inner peace and mindfulness so as to rid ourselves off delusions, ill will and clinging (greed)

As regards to the mundane, often we forget that wealth or money is only a means to the end and not the end in itself. We cannot serve money and serve God but we cannot do without money. Money concerns especially too much of it eg spending on future earnings may complicate matters and give us no peace.  We need to be simple in approach and to have balance --- yin yang balance that Ji Gong and the ancient sages talked about.

The following quotes from the Bible will be eye opener.

  

Matthew 19:23-24 “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

We cannot worship money and at same time worship God. But we cannot also live without money in this world and be an ascetic. Such denial of money world will not do even for the devout and religiously inclined. But living the excessive princely life, going for money at all cost is an indulgence or excess that that will give us no peace and make us far from the kingdom of God and saints. We must be atop and balance the yin and yang of life, like the feet of the seated image of Lord Bo Tien or like symbolised by the Ba gua.

Lord Gautama Buddha had all the wealth he wanted as Prince Siddharta but had no peace of heart. He followed the tradition of the holy men by giving up not just wealth but even food. He went hungry and was too sick. He realised that worldly subsistence is necessary. If not excessive but optimum it would facilitate enlightenment.

If we go for wealth at all cost, we would be blind to God and if we have no wealth and are in depths of ultra poverty, we too would not see the need for God. Thus the judicious balance approach is best. We cannot serve wealth and God simultaneously but we cannot deny life and the need for the trappings of life so long as we are humans.

There is need to go for simplicity and to live a normal life.  To sum up, we need to be at peace and to be mindful of life, not be sucked by the issues of life. Money is only a means and only one of the means to the end but not the end in itself. The end is to save our souls to be enlightened and be with God and the pure ones.

But to do so, for now, we need to go for simple and normal life. We should not worship money or the norms and trappings of life and yet be with life. That will facilitate peace and ease in life , the very peace that God and Pure Ones want us to have and which they have. Ji Gong is one who aptly shows the way.

With regards to divine blessings and serious spirituality, lest we forget, God and saints do bless us but whether we benefit and how we benefit depends on us. We must make the effort to want to be better in being at peace. We must be spiritually in tune. We need to be at peace, to be simple and humble as well as upright and sincere.

Then we can be in synchrony and harmony with the blessings, peace and goodwill of God and saints.

You can say that disposition of men or the beings must merge with the peace and serenity of God and saints. The disposition must be placed on  axis of peace and mindfulness (moment-to-moment awareness or insight).

We must have that bit of God and saints in us to be able to merge with the peace and divinity of God and saints. Then there will be better harnessing of divine blessings.  You can say that this again is based on simplicity of yin and yang rapport of beings (men) and Divinity.

All saints like Ji Gong will say thus. Simplicity is the way to go. Go for peace and normalcy in life and be in tune with the peace and vibrations of God and saints. 

We can do so by cultivating mindfulness and peace, not at special times like in a church but all the time. It can be enriching and awe inspiring, surrounding ourselves in peace. We will be more energetic and life will be refreshing and serene.

One way is to calm the mind by chanting in sing song manner a spiritual incantation like Namo Amitabha (Omitofo) or Namo Ji Gong Posat or even Namo Bo Tien Posat. We need not even do this aloud. The experience can be alleviating, relaxing, calming and enhancing. We will be with God and saints here and now and not wait till the afterlife.

It is as simple as that but many expect complexity and are defeated by the perceived complexity. Go for simplicity and be peacful and mindful. Ji Gong hopes all will realise this. We do not need to achieve a masters degree or Phd before we can practice spirituality and be enlightened.

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We can be enlightened if we want to.

No 363 of Living Life Series 1

Enlightenment is beyond going to Heaven, beyond acting on the promise that if we believe we have arrived.  Many do believe and find solace in divine promise. But these are only the first steps. What is important is not mere believe and not mere faith but be able to live in the teachings of the heavenly saints sent to us by God and the Pure Ones.

Enlightenment too is not just being good and doing good but is more than that. Why do good? What is the basis, the reasons behind and what do we expect there after?

To be enlightened, we must not just scratch at the surface of truth. For then, we will be scratching not the substance but the coatings of truth together with dusts that are at the surface. We have to go deeper as there is more to it than meet the eye and the world of senses and material life.

This does not mean being academic, going to conferences and bible colleges. It means that what you need is to be told that much, well perhaps even a little but that little at the right time and context can open up your understanding of life, the nature of life as it has unfurled and will continue to unfurl.

Even a mere stanza will do to open up the inner eye of the mind to the true nature of life. What is the basic problem or issue.

It is mere ignorance. Why are we ignorant? We believe on mere hearsay and on what others and the scriptures say. Though these are from men and by men, we want to believe they are from God and saints. 

Wrong or even if not wrong beliefs and attitudes will lead us to go into endless superficial thinking, that is, rationalisation that leads us round and round on the globe of life but not to the core of life and its truth.

Belief that there is only this life to decide for eternity is simple but not realistic. For men are not born equal and cannot equalise in one life time to be in same eternity in the afterlife.

Even for this one human life, men differ from one another and cannot exactly walk the same life. So for levelling up, there must be many rebirths be it in the heavens above or elsewhere.

Belief that there is no afterlife is the other extreme. It is just like believing there is hopelessness and if that be so, why care at all to do this or that. Just get the utmost out of life and we only face consequences in this life. But how can this be? Men may then behave like wild animals and be no more humane.

All these views are due to ignorance. Being blinded by ignorance, beings are flustered by life and sucked in swirls of life, going round and round on the surface and not going to address the core of the problem which is ignorance.

From the gutters of ignorance arise delusion or false views and false views are fanned by self-centred and ill-conceived greed or attachment as well as ill will or dislike not only for others but for life, even the individual's own life. These do add layers upon layers of dirt and such layers must be removed by cultivating purity from the three roots of delusion, ill will and attachment -- delusion, hatred and greed as some prefer.

From these roots, a whole lot more of worldly contingencies or what Tao refer to as yin and yang are added to the life experiences of beings, making them blind to the basic issue of ignorance and the three offshoots of ignorance - the three roots of the unsatisfactoriness of life. We cannot run away from life experiences or yin and yang but we can see the true nature of life, to eradicate the roots of the problem by being atop and neither affected by life experiences nor denying them. We can be at peace with them and then we will not be at the surface of globe of life gathering dusts and being buried by dusts of life experiences 

You may find it painful to remove the roots but the layers added on by time of many rebirths can stick like glue. Steer clear of the two wrong views. Be alert, do be mindful and do what we can but do not postpone. Be mindful, persevere and avoid sloth and torpor. Every moment of effort counts. While life experiences can be daunting and exhilarating, bringing us helter skelter,  from highs to lows, and from peaks to troughs, we need to keep the calm and be as at peace  as we can.

Lord Bo Tien

Like depicted by the feet of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien balancing and atop the elements, we can do so by being atop and balancing life experiences of success  failures, gain loss, happiness sorrow etc while trying to peel off the whole gamut of endless life experiences arising from the roots of attachment due to ignorance --- false views, attachment or greed and ill will or hatred

The taste of success comes with each moment of improvement and we will be a bit that more peaceful and collated. In short, we will be on the way to enlightenment and so long as we keep up the effort and be ever more mindful to grasp the true nature of life, we can be enlightened if we want to.

Gautama Buddha did say this. Like in the great ocean, there is but one taste, the taste of salt, so also in enlightenment, there is but one taste the taste of deliverance from rebirths and unsatisfactoriness of life ---  in the yin yang world that we are in.

The great ocean

The lord saint Lord Bo Tien is not here to start a new sect or religion but like the great ocean, he is here to reach out to all land and all sects and religions to bring us to understand the true nature of life in whatever sect or religion we may be in, so that all could grasp the inner truth and be at peace --- all could reach the core of life and not go round and round on the surface of globe of life.

We can be enlightened if we want to. Effort and mindfulness are needed. Sloth and torpor are hindrances. Be steadfast as depicted by the left hand of the seated image of Lord Bo Tien.  As depicted by the scepter in the right hand of the image of the lord saint,  do hold on to the doctrine of truth -- the inner truth behind all religions and sects. Go to the core of the globe of life and not go round and round on the surface of the globe of life.

We may experience trials and tribulations along the way, hard landings, knocks and bumps as well. Do not be disheartened. Take faith in the heavenly saints or overseers of life like Ji Gong Posat. They will pick us up,  heal our life wounds and smoothen the way for us. Otherwise, we may often be lost and back track.  But for the long haul, we must tread the way and the path to save our own souls. Those who pray with heart in earnest to the saint, the saint doth know. He who seek in earnest the saints do come to his side.

Praise be to saints like Jesus and Ji Gong. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door will be opened. Whoever seeketh findet.... Do not lose heart. Have heart and take heart in the heavenly saints. Namo (honour) to all saints. They will be there for us. Praise be to God and all saints.

Our social circles are reflective of ourselves, our aspirations and our frustrations

No 362 of Living Life Series 1

The people we meet, work and live with are often a reflection of that many bits that are part of ourselves. But these people may not be those we like but those we can live and work with even if at times we find them wanting. They  are in a way mirror a wee bit of ourselves. Otherwise there will not be any affinity and we will keep our distance from them.

The Lord Buddha has more to say about friendship, kinship and relationships. "Associate with the wise. Do not associate with the fools. Honour those who are worthy of honour." In Pali this stanza reads thus, "Asevana cha balanang. Panditanang cha sevana. Puja cha ye balanang. Etang mangala mutamang." These are the first of 38 blessings he listed in the Mangala Sutra -- the Discourse on Blessings.  

Subconsciously or as though intuitively we can can only interact with others with some semblance of our individual self. It would be better if there is more common ground. Hopefully the common ground is wholesome somewhat. Otherwise, if they are not, then our social network will accentuate the unwholesomeness in us. Birds of the same feathers flock together.

Thus if we associate with fools and indulge in ungainly ways that harm not only others but in the end will harm ourselves, we will have more downfall and pitfalls in life.

Often we look up to a few and idolise them for their abilities, leadership and feel dejected if they are not happy with us. This is because such people represent the ideal that we want or are the epitome of that bits of us which we hope we could enhance manyfold.

But do remember that our associates in our social circles are like us made up of various aspects of personality --- the passive and active, what the sages of old refer to as the yin and yang. We cannot go for one or few aspects without being affected by the other aspects we find unpleasant or which we can do without. We have to accept our associates and friends for what they are but must not feel let down or allow them to mar our peace of life. To put it simply we need to have to balance the various aspects of life that our associates or social network present to us in life.

The Ba gua

Thus the Bagua symbol of the Tao Sages does stress on the roundness and perfect harmony of the yin and yang of life. Lord Bo Tien in his seated image personifies the need to do so with his feet atop and balancing the elements of life.

Lord Bo Tien

In social circles, we need to have friends and associates who mirror hopefully the better bits of us but we must accept our friends for what they are. There are other aspects of them which we have to reckon with. We cannot expect our friends to be our replicas.  We cannot run away from the various aspects in them but need to be atop and in harmony with all aspects of them -- what sages refer to as the harmony of yin and yang as depicted by the Bagua and the image of Lord Bo Tien.

Our social circles are reflections of ourselves, our aspirations and our frustrations. Others can have better idea of us through knowing the type of social circles we are in. 

Thus in one of the earlier anniversary mission day messages, the lord saint Lord Bo Tien reminded that we can learn from life our own and from the lives of others. We can know ourselves better by knowing others better. The converse too is true. We can know others better if we know ourselves better, both the strengths and weaknesses.

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