No 59 of Living Life Series 1
Why do we have images of other saints and Buddha in the shrine of Lord Bo Tien? Why not have only His image?
Well, the answer is obvious, and has to do with roots and culture.
The shrine hall displays three main images of Buddha, Goddess of Mercy, and Lord Bo Tien.
There are various reasons.
(1) For one, there is need to identify with culture and roots, not to start new religion or sect and to show that truth can be reached in existing culture.
(2) At a higher spiritual level, we can see the personification of perfect wisdom in Buddha, the universal magnanimity and love for all beings by Goddess of Mercy, and the resoluteness and discipline of the guidance by Lord Bo Tien in celestial armour of age-old Chinese tradition.
(3)The fact that there is this armour speaks volumes on need for maintaining lineage of roots and culture so as to bring those of that culture together and show that there is the same divinity and truth behind, even with differing culture, roots and religious orientation in societies of the world. Chinese culture and society is but one of the many.
(4) Then there is common tread of Divine Trinity with Buddha symbolising truth of Divine Perfection or God, the loving spirit of God in nature as depicted by the omnipresence of Goddess of Mercy, and Lord Bo Tien as the messenger of God. This too is a good evidence that there is the same divinity and truth behind all religions and sects.
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