To be a beast, man or saint

No 268 of Living Life Series 1

What makes us a man and not a beast is when we take care of the weak, be they sick or on wrong path.

We do not put people down or belittle them. We do not judge lest we be judged. We nurture and be supportive but do not impose.

What makes us a saint is when we are able to want to help even those others would want to leave one side to be in hell. Do be a saint and be loved by all - both gods and men.

Even ants and insects have access to the nectar of a flower.  The flower cannot choose who can come to it for nectar. This parable of the flower and the ants was elucidated to us by Lord Bo Tien.

A saintly man must accept all men even the insects and ants amongst men if they want to come to him. 

Likewise, God will not turn away the wrong or those who have erred. How then can there be eternal hell and damnation?  Alas, it is due to the poverty of human imagination that men conceive that there is eternal hell.

Only men in their ignorance and lack of wisdom will ever conceive that there is eternal hell. Even if a man is wrong, he can be rehabilitated and be right again. So hell is not the creation of God but the fanciful thinking of unwise men.

God would not put people down even if many wrong they do. We too must do likewise and grow the goodness in fellow men even those who may be devils amongst men.

Life always is a learning process. Learning never ceases and continues from cradle to grave and into the next life. We learn from life, our own life and the life of fellow men. This did Lord Bo Tien tell us time and time again. 

 The saint Lord Bo Tien

We have that much more to learn from the folly of men and less from the goodness of men. If that be the case, we somewhat owe to them for the lessons we learn from their lives. Thus, we should help out such men of folly so that they find their way back to goodness and to God.

To be a beast, man or saint, the choice is ours. Often we are at times beast, at times man and at times saint. This is not ideal and we need to improve our lot.

Meanwhile, we need to accept ourselves for what we are and not be filled with fear, guilt and self condemnation. We need to work on our life.

We need to find balance and peace like the feet of lord saint's image balancing the changing attributes or like the pakua where yin and yang ever interplay endlessly.

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Beyond God

No 267 of Living Life Series 1 

God Almighty The Jade Emperor

By convention, religion is about going towards God. But some may question why is there the need for God as the centre of focus? Why is there the need to fawn on God in order that we can have spiritual gains? Are such gains tentamount to favors from God in exchange for our adoration?

Why is there the need to please God when we want to please ourselves and to ensure our happiness beyond the flesh and blood?  Do we need to please God before we can please ourselves with the ultimate peace in life? That will be belittling God and saints.

Do we need in the first place to please God and saints in the same way we try to please men? Do we put God in the same category as man? Is spiritual pursuit nothing more than being with God and do God need to hunger for human attention and adoration?

If spiritual pursuit is so myopic, then there is no real gain in being spiritual and the very weaknesses we see in men who worship and fawn on fellow man would be seen in those who worship God. (However, do not blame God when there are men who fawn on God and saints for the flower should not be blamed when ants and insects come to it for nectar. This is as what lord saint Lord Bo Tien said)

Yes, the Shangrila of spiritual way is focus on divinity and God and saints but goes beyond God.

Even if God and saints cannot be proven to be there or to be not there is immaterial. What is important is that we are able to arrive at the ultimate meaning and purpose of life.

We need to go away from going for recognition be it by fellow men or by God and saints.

To say that we do not need recognition is to be untruthful but to say that recognition is the end all of the purpose of life too is untruthful.

Why do God and saints tell us little of themselves but instead tell us more on the social and religious mores which can be independent of and detached from the existential reality of presence of God and saints?

That is, even if God and saints are fictitious and not what we are told they are, the spiritual values still stand and inject meaning and purpose to life not just in afterlife but in the here and now.

In short, we must go beyond God and this does not mean we forsake God. The truth of God and divinity lies not in the description of God and divinity but in the values and ethos eschewed in the name of God and divinity.

It is the same way in relation to our parents. When we grow up, we must go beyond our parents but this does not mean we do not love them but that we become adults and parents ourselves by imbibing their value systems, evolve our own additions and find our place in society and in life.

In fact, those who know the universal spiritual values know God and saints but those who know God and saints may not know the spiritual values and the truth and purpose of life. This is alluded to by Lord Bo Tien.

What is the truth and purpose of life? The truth is not God and saints but how to be in Shangrila without going to Shangrila or leaving the present life and circumstances.

How do we reconcile with the ups and downs of life, the yin and yang and be at peace over them without leaving them and without being tossed around by them. The way to be at peace with life and to find purpose and meaning in life is not in worship of God but in imbibing the spiritual values God represents. We translate and evolve them into our very own value systems that work for us and thus there will not be one religion or sect but many. This then is the way, the truth and the light. That is perhaps why some do not believe in practice of having images or idols of God and saints.

It is for the same reason that Lord Bo Tien gives precious little information of who He is other than that He is a messenger of God for truth and its spiritual values. He says that those who see truth and spiritual principles see and know Him but those who do not do not see or know Him even if He is right before them. Lord Bo Tien even said with regards to His image. The doctrine of Truth is His image and the image is the doctrine.

Lord Bo Tien

There is no need for a heavenly saint like Lord Bo Tien to display His heavenly splendour and to coerce submission, fear and subservience of men. The saints are there to help us to understand life and how to find that purpose and peace in life. They teach us the values that we need to cultivate to reach peace in life here and now and not wait for the after life. We can even have the ultimate in peace in life that can even be beyond God. What is important is that we become the embodiment of the values God and saints represent. Then we would have gone beyond (God) to cherish the values God represents.

What are these values? We must be at peace with the polarities of life that is the worldly contingencies such as praise blame, gain loss, joy and sorrow, fame and ill fame. This is depicted in seated image of  Lord Bo Tien with feet atop and balancing the elements of yin and yang at His feet. His left hand in salutation bids us to stay the course and be steadfast. His right hand bids us to follow His lead to hold on to the sceptre of divinity and truth. He sits on the combined love and compassion of God and saints and this is depicted by the dragon chair He sits on. We too must sit and ride on the love of God and saints by cultivating love for life, our own life and the lives of others not just men but of all beings in all dimensions.

Buddhas are men and beings who attain the zenith of spiritual values and are beyond God. They epitomise the perfection or zenith of realisation of spiritual divine values in life. But they are not Godless. They are more than what God and saints want us to aspire to if we can  but not all can.

Most however can attain a wee  bit percentage of this ideal and that is enough for now. Shelter by God and saints will make up for the very finite capabilities of most beings. Do have a precious little and God through saints will multiply what little we could have to make it that more wholesome. Though we may not be Buddhas and the Three Pure Ones, we can then be immortals of sorts in heavens under Divinity though not in the  supreme heavens in the universe beyond the known universe of earth, heavens and hells

Those who do not adulate Divinity but yet are able to imbibe the spiritual values are not Godless and are near and dear to God and saints. Not many are able to do so and there will be many who somehow need to worship and adulate God and saints to have any headway.

The two approaches are but two of the three ways to divine bliss elucidated by Lord Guatama Buddha, namely the devotional and wisdom path with the third being the energetic or discipline path. 

The seemingly far therefore may appear to be near and the seemingly near may appear to be far. Such is the paradox that works both ways and in more ways than we think and if this be so, then there is in a way no paradox but in reality a synergy of sorts. This we can infer from what Lord Bo Tien reminded us.

We need to go beyond God (adulation) not because God (adulation) is not good. In fact, there is no doubt at all that God (adulation) is good for many but we need to go beyond God (adulation) and reach out to more good than can be achieved from mere belief in God (adulation). If we can, it is that more important that we cultivate divine virtues beyond mere adulation of God and saints. But the reality is that for many, adulation (devotion) to God is enough and perhaps the bottom line and even one of the common denominators of most spiritual paths.

Religions are in reality differing approaches providing a buffet of choices to divinity. This is the essence of the inner truth message of which Lord Bo Tien is  a messenger. The message envisages commonality and oneness of divinity as evident from religions having common denominators despite different dogmas and approaches

Buddhist sects of the southern or Hinayana tradition go beyond God to stress on possibility of man to have perfect divine virtues beyond devotion to God and saints. But the Bodhisattva schools of the northern or Mahayana tradition prefer the primary approach of devotion to a saint (Divine saviour) so as to be born in heavenly paradise created by the vast merits of the saint and from then on, the followers can further cultivate divine virtues beyond adulation of the saint. This does translate into a two step process to divine fulfilment.

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By His grace, life a sea to let mud settle. The wise do not stir up the mud

No 266 of Living Life Series 1 

God and lord saints can by their blessings transform our life from a muddy pool into a blessed sea to wash away the mud of our life.  In this way, the mud of ill fate will not surface as readily but be washed away to the depth of the sea of fate. If this is not the case, the mud of ill fate would invariably surface more often.

Effectively, an otherwise big issue in our life will then end up as small issue even if it cannot be no issue. Fate may be such that we cannot avoid having the mud of ill fate but at least divinity can make it a lesser issue. This will be the case when we call upon the grace of God and saints. This did Lord Bo Tien elucidate to us from time to time.

Many amongst men have by the grace of God, the gift of the divine guidance and shelter of heavenly saints like Lord Bo Tien. 

In this way, the candle flame of our life will be in less risk of being extinguished  but instead will glow and grow.





Painting by SBP



A heavenly saint is like the flower which attracts ants to its nectar.

Ants come to the tree for their own agenda but they can still serve some of the interests or agenda of the tree and its flowers.

God is represented by the tree and flowers represent the saints.  

You cannot blame a heavenly saint, the flower of divinity when ants amongst men come for divine nectar. It is God's wish that all be saved and saints are not there for the few goody two shoes but for all - even the insects and ants amongst men.

Some of these insects amongst men might even become leaders in institutions more so in spiritual institutions. The consequences are not all bad but both good and bad though alas there will somehow unfortunately be some illwill, mal-management and tarnishing of God's good name. Men must however learn and learn fast...

This is what men need to learn. As long as men are men and not saints, every man will have both good and not-so-good. To  be saved and enlightened, every man must cultivate spiritually so that he will be able to overcome the  conflicts of the two sides  the yin and yang and be able to rise above and balance the yin and yang.  This balance is depicted by the pakua.

Pakua

☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷

Trigrams

Each trigram is made up of three lines

of yin (broken line) and yang (unbroken line)

Some may argue that man must get rid of the bad and have the good but amongst the good attributes, there will be the more good and the less good. That is even if the attributes in him are so cultivated that there are only good or yang, then the lesser good or yang will be relative yin to the greater yang. Thus man will need to rise above the yin and yang by being atop and balance the various yin and yang contingencies of life. The best good is purity and is done not out of gain at others expense. Purity is not denial of self, not ugly indulgence in self and not prospering others at one's own expense but the balance approach.  Win-win situation is one of the outcomes of this approach. 

We must be above yin and yang that is above mere good and bad. We must balance the polarities as depicted by the feet atop the elements in the seated pose of Lord Bo Tien in His image

Lord Bo Tien

Meanwhile every man in life gathers mud of not-so-good fate that may cause him more problems than solve problems. Whatever good he could have will bear good fruits but these may often  be buried and swept away by the mud of ill fate.  Thus, in this way, man will have difficulty in saving himself in this life let alone in afterlife.

Many religions say that man cannot be saved by good deeds alone but by the grace of God and saints. The great oceans of merits of a heavenly saint, if bestowed to a man, can sweep away the mud of ill fate in the small sea of man's life. This will go a big way to sink the mud to the depths of the sea of fate with lesser chance to surface and to take effect in life of that man.

We must call upon the grace of God and saints to provide us blessings of merits to make our life to be like the sea and not a pond.  The water of merits stays above the mud which settles down at the bottom of the sea of life.

To be effective, man must  be calm and peaceful, practice mindfulness and virtues. If he fails to do so but instead is carried away by his grievances with life and with other people, he will be stirring up the mud and his sea of life will be sea no more but a pond as he depletes his merits. The pond or even if still a sea of sorts will be muddy  at the surface, especially when storms are created by the earthquake and landslides created by ill will.

On his own, man's life is not big enough to be a sea to let mud settle at the bottom and not pollute his life at the surface. Thus saints like Lord Bo Tien provide the water mass to enlarge the pond of his life into a sea of merits.  

But even with a sea of merits, man must not cause storms to churn up mud of past life to come to the surface. Then he will have ill fate and he will lament why God and saints have forsaken him when in fact he is the one who has forsaken God and saints.

Lord Bo Tien is one of the heavenly saints who can turn our life  from a mere pond to a sea but  man must learn to be peaceful and cultivated so that the mud settles and has no chance to surface to make the water of life muddy.

Also when our  fellow men decides to throw mud into our life, do take refuge in a heavenly saint and let him make our life to be like the sea so that any mud thrown to us will settle and be lost at the sea floor. But do not be disturbed when some one maligned you and worst still if you try to retaliate. For then by being ruffled, you would be stirring the mud that has settled in the sea of your life and the ill fate (mud) which otherwise has been buried at the sea bed will come to the surface with the force of a storm at times. Do not stir up the storm of ill fate. Also do constantly pray to a heavenly saint like Lord Bo Tien to turn your life from a pond to a sea of merits.



Saints in picture
Back row from left Yellow Jambhala, Lord Bo Tien, Ji Kong Posat
Front row: Kuan Kong Posat, Ji Kong and Tua Pek Kong

  



We need to be saved by the grace of God and saints and not depend only on our finite good deeds for every good deed we do, somehow we may have a not-so-good one in past and present to offset the good. That is indeed somewhat pathetic.

Man is saved by grace and not by deeds alone. With divine grace, our life will not be a pond but a sea of blessings.  But even then, we must not stir up the mud of ill fate which will pollute our life.  When others throw mud at our life, do not retaliate and stir the water of our life and churn up the mud from the seabed of our life.

By God's grace, our life can be a sea to let mud settle. Do be wise not to stir up the mud and create a storm of mud  as in a tsunami. That will be counter productive and will undermine the goodwill  and compassion of God and saints.

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Ill wind presents opportunities for spiritual cultivation

No 265 of Living Life Series 1

(Please read post 264 before this post 265. To read post 264, left click Blessings in every ill wind)




 

If at any time, you feel hurt by the very ones whom you respect as your mentors or brethren in faith or in secular life, this should not ruffle you.
                   

There will always be two sides of the coin and in the world of life be it on earth and elsewhere, this will be true.  We do need to accept reality of this and make the peace in life by making do with the two sides of a person. Even the wiser amongst men have two sides but for some, the two sides are good but still there will be the better side.



Each coin has both the near and far sides. There will always be attributes of a mentor or brother which are near and dear to you and there too will be some attributes in him from which you wish to distance yourself. This is the far side.  



Lord Bo Tien

"The far may be near
and the near may be far
to God and saints."



Even Lord Bo Tien reminds us that the far may be near and the near may be far to God and saints. All are valued by God, be they believers or non-believers. There is somehow, like it or not, the far side to those who uphold divinity and you can see this too in the mentors or seniors in your temple or church. For those who are distant from divinity, their exemplary ways can make them near to God and saints even though they may be far and never attend any church or temple. 

Our friends too can at times be unfriendly to us if they differ in ways of approach. At the other end,  there are also those who are strangers and are not our friends. Surprisingly, they too can be friendly to us.  The issue is not these people, be they friends or not but us. Are we able to make the peace out of life and make life work out for us?

If we do have to relate with those who appear hostile or aloof, do not be perturbed but keep the peace and we can still have blessings in every ill wind. Somehow, if we keep the peace in life by balancing the two sides of life and of the persons we relate with, as depicted in the image of Lord Bo Tien, we can bring out the near or good side in them and in life to balance out the not-so-good or far side.  

The pakua too reminds us of the need to balance the yin and yang of life. There are eight trigrams. Each has three lines broken (yin) and unbroken (yang). 

☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷

Trigrams

The balance in situations is not necessarily the mid point of yin and yang but the equilibrium point and this point varies in differing life situations as depicted by the eight trigrams. One trigram has only unbroken lines of unequal length where the shorter line is less yang and relative yin to the longer line. This gives more insight into the way to nurture blessings even in every ill wind.  (For more on the pakua go to Perspectives of the Pakua)

Cheers. Ill wind provides opportunities for spiritual cultivation. We become more resilient and resourceful in the process and these are the attributes necessary for success, peace and comfort in mundane and spiritual life




Pakua

 

☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷

Trigrams





The Pakua figures prominently at Bo Tien Temple shrine hall

at 6th, Fourth Chin Bee Road Singapore 619708 Tel: 65 62626021

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Blessings in every ill wind

No 264 of Living Life Series 1

(Do follow up the reading of this post by accessing the next post Ill wind presents opportunities for spiritual cultivation...)

Those who are sharp in tongue may be hurtful and be pain in the neck but the issue is not to try to correct them but how not to give back to them what they give to us. Give not to others what we do not like them to give to us. This is reiterated by God and saints like Lord Jesus.

How do we help ourselves  in such situations so that we are also helping them as well? One way is to not to engage in unpleasantries but be pleasant to them even if they are not to us.

They may talk down to us but should we talk down to them or talk up to them? Either way would be futile for the consequences will still be unpleasant even if we have our way.

Return unpleasantries with pleasantries. Appreciate their frustrations but this is different from agreeing or disagreeing with them.

Neither go for tic for tac nor offer the right cheek to be slapped when the left cheek was slapped. The latter would be unwise unless in exceptional circumstances.

Try to feel sorry for them for being disturbed in mind and consider if it is worthwhile to explain to them that they should not have done or spoken the way they do, especially when they are hurtful just to tell others they are right and others wrong.

Telling others that they have erred may not reflect well on us but instead say that they need help and assistance and we certainly will help them when the opportunities arise.

Thank those who bring their caustic remarks to your attention and that is all that we need to do at that point in time. Don't retaliate by trying to be defensive or offensive for in both ways we will not look good. Both ways do not promote goodwill, peace and also not wholesome.

Be wholesome in responding to ill will. Be right and wise and this can be achieved by being peaceful and helpful in whatever way we can both to the offensive ones and to those third parties who ferry the ill wind to us. All these are common sense if we have the little goodwill and wisdom in us.  The reality is that truth is as simple as that but appears complex and difficult to perceive when we are in throes and woes of life - when we are carried away by our emotions. (Do refer to the quote by P.Philip*)

The way others conduct themselves and affect us are good for us to understand and learn from. We learn from the good and not so good of our fellow men and both their good and misdemeanors in life are valuable lessons of truth in the  gospel of life. This did Lord Bo Tien remind us in one of his anniversary messages.

This is how we can turn setbacks and adverse encounters into advantage and blessings. The wise ones see blessings even in  every ill fate and ill wind.

Whilst we should try to avoid unpleasantness, sometimes they are unavoidable. Then, do value them as opportunities for us to  improve and make good both in secular and spiritual life. 

Cheers dear friends. Our so-called foes or to put in nicer way our unfriendly brothers can turn out to be a blessing to us if they give us opportunities to learn and be wiser. If we do it right, they will be unfriendly no more but our friends.

That is the way we should love life and have peace of spirit. That way we will be loved not only by men but by God and saints. The candle light of our life will glow with love and glow even more with shelter by God and saints. This too did Lord Bo Tien say.  Cheers once again.

Who is  Lord Bo Tien?  A picture is better than a thousand words. The doctrine is in the image and the image is the doctrine. How to balance our life and be peaceful is in the image. We would then be graceful to others even if they are spiteful at times.

The lord saints of God Almighty are like the big oceans of blessings for us and no amount of spite will stir up the mud in our life. Lord Bo Tien is one such saint. Big issues will be small issues even if they cannot be no issue. Thus did Lord Bo Tien remind us.

The doctrine is in the image and the image is the doctrine.

Go to next post for Ill wind presents opportunities for spiritual cultivation...






*Only the wise seek the fulfilment of ancient wisdom. Yet the profound truth is so simple but difficult to perceive.  P. Philip