LIVING LIFE SERIES 1

A BO TIEN (武天) MISSION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED ON 28TH SEPT 2010 BY INNER TRUTH NETIZEN 2. THE MISSION IS TO SHOW THE WAY TO HOPE, INNER PEACE AND ULTIMATELY SALVATION FOR ALL BEINGS. THE PURPOSE IS TO SAVE SOULS. IT IS WAY BEYOND NORMAL GOOD WORK LIKE CHARITY AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES. NO ONE SHALL BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS ALONE BUT BY MORE THAN GOOD WORK. THERE IS NEED TO BE IMBUED WITH THE BASIC DOCTRINE COMMON TO AND BEHIND ALL RELIGIONS AND SECTS. LIVE IN DOCTRINE. DOCTRINE IN LIFE IS PARAMOUNT.

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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!.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Reminder on the core mission

No 135 of Living Life Series 1

What was the purpose of the descent of Lord Bo Tien forty two years ago as on 2010? What is the core mission?

We know the backgound or what are not the direct reasons. He is neither here to start a new sect of a religion nor to start a new religion. He is not here to set another temple or place of worship like those, which are already serving society.

He sets out to tell us to rekindle and make clear to all, the God’s knowledge found in all religions and sects, which many unfortunately fail to have understood or perceived.

‘…the idealistic spirit and motive which prevail during the founder’s life time disappear after his death’

The spiritual truth becomes distant to the beholder of a religion or sect when that religion or sect becomes more complex over the years due to incorporation, elaboration, evolution and institutionalising of basic original teachings to emplace them as institutions. Institutional approach makes it difficult for an individual to “incline (himself) towards God” as that individual will be lost or rather more attracted towards society of institution.

‘….an organisation (institution) cannot bring spiritual truth nearer (to an individual) and…religion is always a personal concern’

While religion as institution or societal organisation ensures the perpetuation or preservation of the religion over years by various added society tools, what is gain on one hand to ensure that religion as institution thrives is translated into loss of the personal sacred touch between individual and God. The individual is caught up with the nuances and ways of men and society and not God and saints. Instead of issue of personal concern, there is in place the over-riding dominance of societal coercion or pressures to conform to organisational needs and demands.

The religious thought and fervour of the founder no longer makes impact to many an individual and ‘religious organisations become archaeological departments’ for us to try ‘to discover the past’

Thus Lord Bo Tien says, ‘I shall not attempt to establish any new religion, cult or organisation. But I shall rejuvenate the religious thought of all peoples and install a higher understanding of life in them’

That we have a physical temple is just a physical meeting point. The real temple is the world of people who have grasp of the ‘religious thought’ with heaven as the roof and organised religions as the four pillars of the house of divinity.

He did say that amongst the religious institutions the least organised and the most buried in archaeological practices is the Chinese temple. That’s why He chose to start off with a Chinese temple to show that all religions can “incline us to God” (inner truth). Even the seemingly cultural temple practice can meet the same objective if we are not buried by the layers of accumulated culture.

Attributes such as loving kindness, compassion, divine equanimity etc are just features related to this ‘religious thought’ to incline us towards God and ‘to save our souls’. They are not the core mission but attributes of the mission.

To incline towards God, we give to God not what is due to men but what is due to God. Whilst culture has its purpose, what is important is to refocus on the core mission to ‘incline towards God’. We need to cultivate our souls to be worthy of God. We give ourselves to God and not worldly things like perfume or incense, and not statues of saints in various forms. We need to return to basic simplicity and fervour of the founder prophets. Only then can we do justice to the glory of God and Heaven.

The temple of the lord must be simple and provoke the simplicity and fervour of the ‘religious thought’ and ‘to incline us towards God’ and not to men or ways and follies of men.

We must see the tree trunk and the main branches (religious thought) before seeing the leaves (traditions, rituals). Leaves do drop and change with time but as long as the trunk and main root system are there, the tree can still carry on albeit with new crop of leaves. We must perceive the core and not the flesh or leaves of the mission.

The core of religions (the trunk) too is the same but not the presentation (leaves and twigs)

Lest you forget

Do not make the mistake of idolizing any man who tells you about the Word. He is in the same boat as you even if religion refers to him as a religious leader. Mere mention of a religious leader is as good as encouraging idolising of that man. Why must there be hierarchy in religion? Hierarchy is conventional but may end up as liability rather than a necessity or asset. There should be no caste or hierarchy system in religion. No one is to be considered above another in religion. A religious leader or follower is a servant to serve you and not a leader to be idolised. Do not put him on the pedestal and make a monster out of him.

MAY ALL BE WELL AND HAPPY

May all be well and happy. May they have peace. May our departed friends and kins be well, happy and have divine peace. The main writer wishes the best for all for those near and far. Our kins may be far when they had passed on to better lives but they are near though far. He remembers and wishes his parents Mr Siow Soo Koh and Mdm Tay Hung Siang, his uncles and aunties like Mr Tay Koon Huay, his cousins like Mr Tay Chong Sim and his friends like Mr Philip Png well and have abundance of life. May they be rich in spirit for without such ancestors, there will be no posterity - no us and no you and me. They have blessed us and we must blessed them in return forever and ever.