What if your brother spurns you

No 356 of Living Life Series 1

Everyone who is inspired by the saint in a temple must know thus. He must know what the saint represents, what is the mission of the saint. He too must know clearly how he is going to fit into the grand divine plan. He must be mindful that he comes to a temple for his own agenda and that it is not wrong to do so or to begin with as this is common and the very reason why most come to a temple.

To say that even a lay leader in a temple has no personal motivation to come to a temple is not being honest. What is wrong in having personal motive or to seek personal gratification?

Nothing wrong so long as there is awareness and so long as man does not subsume the broader mission of the saint under his personal mission or purpose in life due to his big-headed incliniation. A saint will not prevent men from coming to a temple whatever the motive they may have.

It is like the flower which cannot deny insects from coming to it for nectar. Hopefully after getting nectar of blessings, man will go along and walk the path of saints and not just live the life of mere men. It is not that men must leave the family life, the job he has and the society he is in.

But for goodness sake, do be good and live by the guidance of the saint, live by the Word of the saint and make the Word come to life in one's life. The principles and ethos of the Word of God and saints should echo too in one's life as man.

Lord Bo Tien

The spiritual values can work for both spiritual and mundane life. Lord Bo Tien say this time and time again. Let us thank Him for his guidance and blessings. But let not the weakness of man get the better of us and make us forsake the spiritual values for human aspirations and ambitions.

That may be disappointing but is a reality somehow for many temples and churches. Some may say that the situation is as good as the saying that men of temples may end up as wolves in sheep's clothing.

Now and then this not-too-often sad state of affairs translates into the unthinkable. For instance you may think that men of a temple driven by self interest  will be civil and not shoo away their brethren from a brother temple.

But in the grip of human weakness, they may may shoo them away when they come to visit, just because they chastise their brethren for leaning on the shoulders of other men they do not see eye to eye with. This is due to ignorance, self interest and even encroached on bigotry.

The saint of the temple will be disappointed but will understand that they are being human after all. We all know that to err is human. Just because they are not as good does not mean they should not be in the temple or they must be removed from lay leadership.

On the contrary, as long as they still want to be in the temple, as long as they have some flicker of the candle light of spirituality, the saint will let them stay, bless them somewhat as well in their lives as men. The saint will let them learn and develop but fate is in their own hands.

Their weakness will be glaring lessons for other men to learn and not make the same mistakes. Lord Bo Tien reminds us that life after all is the living gospel. We learn from our own lives and from the lives of fellow men. The somewhat bigoted men, (pardon the use of the strong term bigot) too will learn at their own pace but perhaps even if not in present life may be in future lives.

Judge them not but learn from them. Remember to learn not just from their weaknesses but also from their goodness for they are not all devil but they too have the saint in them.

Your brother may spurn you but let not this irks you. Learn even from the brother who spurns you not only from their wrong but from their right as well. The brother who spurns you may be of service to you if you know how. Learn from their goodness and bring out more goodness in them as well. Wake-up call may be needed but often not necessary. But if needed on rare occasions, it must be meted out judiciously and prudently without hurt and malice.

This lesson on the brother who spurns you applies to every aspect and situation in life, not just in a temple but in your life in the family, job, social circles and what have you. Give more thought to this and get the better out of life and not the worst of life. Cheers

Why yin yang balance is not as simple as it seems

No 355 of Living Life Series 1

It is easy to say that to have that inner peace all we need to do is to balance and be atop the yin and yang, the passive and active events and aspects of life, or some may put it as the ups and downs of life.

A few will be too sick of life and wants to run away. They just throw in the towel and say enough is enough. They give up and run away from life only to be caught in another ditch of yin and yang.

Then there are those who simply want to fight it out, want more of life but for everything they want, there will always be unable to get it in some way, or even if they do get it, what they get will fall short of what they expect and they even want more.

They suffer from the insubstantiality of life, all because they indulge more and more and want not less but ever more. To them more is not enough and half the time they cannot even get what they really want.

The logical approach is not to want nothing or to want more but to be at peace and do what we can without losing sleep over life. That is to be within yin and yang and harmonise with yin and yang without being tossed around. Then there will be peace.

This of course appears simple so long as we can see through life and be with life, not let go or cling on to more and more. The issue however is that the heart is willing but the flesh is weak.

On the one hand, there is the spiritual spark or light to be wise and to go for divine peace, but on the other hand, there is the unconscious die hard habit of holding on to the old ways and yet go for the new divine way.

In short, there is the clinging to the mundane or old way and also to cling on to the new realisation of the divine way. This too is overindulgence in disguise because such people want the best of both worlds.

As this world gets more materialistic, more consumed in the thrills and frills of modern life, men will ever more be consumed in the life that modern society can offer so much so the hype of wanting to be spiritual and wanting to have inner peace is just empty talk or at best remain an illusive rainbow for many.

This is simply because the heart is willing but the flesh is weak. This will ever more be and each successive generation of men and women will end up talking more and having less of the inner peace.

Many do find solace in spiritual but not beyond. Divine peace will be more elusive and ever remain more a pipe dream than a reality that men could have. This is all because, many men talk but do not walk the talk.

Their forefathers have less amenities and distractions than the modern men and the future men.  Yin yang balance is not as simple as it seems as society progresses into the future.

Many seek the truth of ancient wisdom.  The truth of how to have peace is simple that we may ask ourselves, how come we do not realise this earlier? How profound and simple it is?

But the crux of the issue is that it is difficult to have that peace because we want the trappings that modern society offer and have no energy or will left to go for the perception let alone the achievement of inner peace. So when will we have the resolve and wake up, stand up to walk the talk? 

There is the urgency and the mission to help all to walk the talk. Thus this is the very reason and the very purpose for the descent of Lord Bo Tien to wake us up to the inner truth of life and to have the inner peace irrespective of our religious affiliation

Lord Bo Tien with feet atop and balancing the yin and yang.
This is the inner truth behind life and religions
and is the way to inner peace

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Handling rotten apples in men

No 354 of Living Life Series 1
 PS Who is a rotten apple and who is not is often subjective and depends on the wisdom  eyes of the beholder

For a religious belief system to appeal to the masses, it cannot just appeal to the few wise enough to grasp but it must appeal to the large sections of the masses who may not grasp the core purpose or mission of the the system. That is the paradox but is not an issue for God and saints.

For one thing, the good need little help. The lost and wayward should be the focus but the only way to bring them in is to attract them at their terms.

To put it bluntly, it is pointless to dangle spiritual attainments like purification of the heart and achievement of the no-ego state. Such lofty ideals merely cheese off the worldly who see not the need for such ideals but want more of what they can get now in this world, such as status, marriage, power bases, good fortune through lottery and what have you.

Certainly everyone wants these but may not admit it. But there will be a few who know that there is more than these that men must go for.

Life is more than the at most hundred years we have as man. But many are blind to this and will say, "So what if this is so?"

Religions cannot make headway if they do not allow followers to tune to the mundane and it is the mundane that matters to them. So in any religious institutions, the pioneer years are simply wonderful but in time when there is established concrete foothold, many more will come to join the fold but these many others just want the milk the nectar and not the flower. Can the flower or the saint who initiate the setting up be blamed?

To put it in another way, a religious institution will attract rotten apples amongst men, but it is these rotten apples that it is set up for and they are the ones who need to be converted. But what if they are not and yet stay put to run the organisation? Worst still, what if they cause other apples to rot?

From the view of the common men, why not ban the rotten apples so that they will not cause good apples to rot or the good apples to stay away from the organisation. If this was the right way, then the rotten apples will go to hell even before they leave this world.

God and saints will not let them be left to rot away but will welcome them to a temple or church with open arms and even let them run the temple or church. This is the difference from men and that is why God and saints are what they are.

Rotten apples are more than welcome and they can even helm the management body of a temple or church. Even if they do not make amends and remain rotten, this is the prerogative of God and saints.

Divinity do not give up hope and allow leeway for wrong, so long as the rotten apples can be a bit less rotten, a wee bit good and that is good enough. They are like prodigal sons and others may scorn at them for they don't seem to change and make good.

Lord Bo Tien

Lord Bo Tien says that a saint may choose to train a criminal if the saint chooses. He may train that man and even thrust him into management and key positions. That man may remain a rotten apple till end of life but a good saint is more far sighted and a saint sees and goes beyond this life or even the next.

That man may fail again and again but the saint will never fail to persist and be benevolent to help him to amend not just in this life but in after life as well.

The options for rotten apples are always open as far as God and saints are concerned. But if you leave this to Man, there is only one option for rotten apples, which is to throw them away. This is not the way of God and saints.

In any mission or sub-mission of the lord saint (Lord Bo Tien), there too will be rotten apples and they are that blessed to play key roles but they may alter the course of the mission as they are after all rotten apples. That is of no concern, for the lord is benevolent to give near endless chances.

But there are consequences of actions and there will be those appointed or injected from the start to intervene now and then so that the rotten apples will be saved somewhat and the mission is ever on course.

That may be the very reason for the unique roles of his archangels like Mou Chi Sun and the human controllers, vis-a vis the die-hard fundamentalist elders. They need to ensure conformity of sorts to the core mission. They need  to exercise painful options like excising the rotten parts of the apples to save them and enable them to carry out their current spiritual roles and for better or repeat roles as such and if need be in the afterlife.

If they are not prompt in excising the rotten parts at the right time, the erring ways of the wayward men are akin to more sugar added to the rotten apples causing more rot and ending the life of the men. At the same time, they must adopt a more or less hands-off approach. They must allow freewill and initiative. The archangels work through the human controllers - the elders who ensure that fundamentals are adhered somehow in the long term.

Who is a rotten apple and who is not is often subjective and depends on the wisdom and insight of the beholder. Good apples may be regarded as bad and bad apples good. That is the problem.

Do be mindful that the perspective of men is not the same as God and saints. But in the eyes of divinity, it is the rotten apples in men that need more help and opportunities to make good. Men would just throw them away and go for the good apples.

Lord Bo Tien said with regards to followers and devotees. The far may be near and the near may be far but even the wayward will be welcome to come for the nectar and helm the mission at human level.

In a way, no one is regarded as a rotten apple by God and saints even if there are rotten apples. They who are far (rotten) may be near and deserving more help even if help will not make any headway in current life time.

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The problem of seeing dust in others' eyes

No 353 of Living Life Series 1

Many see the dust in others' eyes but not in their own. This did Lord Jesus say.

It is often true that many judge others as having erred when they themselves too have erred. But perhaps it is not a matter of error but matter of rightness and level and context of practice..

The presence of many sects in a religion is testimony of the different approaches and interpretations within the same one religion. Which one is more correct and are all correct in their respective ways? Perhaps the latter is the answer but man will not buy this as logical as they think they are right and others not so. They see not the dustin their own eyes.

What is right within a level of practice may differ greatly from those in other levels. It is not correct to expect those of a level of practice to change to those of higher levels. We too do not expect those of higher levels to come down to go for lower levels.

One should not scorn at the views of higher levels as far fetch simply because it is beyond his perception. Those at higher levels likewise should not expect those of beginners at lower levels to understand and go beyond their levels.

Thus in a religion there will be many levels of pratices and this will translate into many sects. Even for the same sect, there will be many temples and no two temples will be alike.

But the problem is that men like to see the dust in others' eyes and say that what others are doing must be wrong as long as these differ from  what they do and accept.

They fail to see that there will be different levels of practice even for the same sect. They take the differences as wrong or to put it metaphorically as dust in other's eyes.

By a similar stretch of rational thinking, it may be said that many see others sects or religions as wrong so long as these differ from their own.

But aren't the various religions and sects representing expressions of different levels or views of God and his saints. So why the insistence that one is right and others are wrong.

All are right in their respective ways as they are practising at different levels. There will be differences even for people of the same sect or temple. Somehow or other, everyone is at a different stance and sublevel. It is like looking at the kaleidoscope. It may be the same kaleidoscope but the views will be different each time even for the same person or same sect of a religion.

No two persons of the same sect will hold the same level and perspective of conviction and belief. This will be more obvious for those professing different sects, let alone different religions. Can we say that one is more correct and the other not so?

Lord Bo Tien

Lord Bo Tien reminds us to learn from the goodness of men as well as the differences amongst men. That way, we know better about the truth of life and know God better day by day.

Men are like candles of different sizes and shape. Instead of seeing the differences and the unpleasant aspects or "dust in others' eyes", it is better to see and value one anothers' strong points and values. It is better that men of religions come together, like the coming together of candles of varying sizes and shapes.

The coming together of such candles like the coming together of sects and religions make a better impact than the individual candles or sects / religions on their own. Cheers and these did Lord Bo Tien point out to all.

Know the man from saint and saint from man

No 352 of Living Life Series 1

 

Lord Bo Tien

Lord Bo Tien said that if a saint so chooses, someone who is woe be to man may be chosen to be the leader of a spiritual organisation. This is the prerogative of the saint if the saint chooses to train him over time of not only just one life time but beyond .

Others may be upset but it is good learning to learn from the mistakes of others as much as the good of these men. There are many aspects and perspectives to any man

Do not think that that saint is condoning the not right actions but do remember that man must know what is by man and what is by God and saints. God is God and man is man.

Do not be taken aback by the wrong of a religious leader and mistake that as the actions on behalf of God and saints. Know the difference between man and saint in a spiritual organisation.

Man is man and saint is saint. Do not see the saint in a man and the man in a saint. Lord Bo Tien said.

The man who knows the doctrine knows the saint and the man who does not know will not know the saint even if the saint or His image is right before that man.

Above all, know the saint from man and man from saint, otherwise you will end up looking up to man instead of saint. Worship God and saints but not men.

Men in leadership of a temple are servants of God, saints and men. Do not put them on high pedestals otherwise they will be woe to other men. 

Good men in a temple are servants leaders to bring other men to God and saints. That way there will be less chance for hero-worshipping of men,  that is,  other men will not worship the leaders as the defacto mouth piece of God and saints.

 

 

Let the more spiritual cultivated be models for other men by being candles to shine the way but the flip side of being adored by other men must not lead to human worshipping by other men.

 

 

The way is for the leaders to be humble by being servants to other men in the house of God and saints. Men must know who are God and saints and who are men

Like the lord saint, the mission too is like the great ocean that reaches out to many a land and to many a man

No 351 of Living Life  Series 1

Lord Bo Tien is a heavenly spirit that has no historical human origin in the sense that he attained sainthood in the heavenly realms as a heavenly spirit. His mission is to deliver the message of God that all beings due to their shortcomings have fallen short of the divine expectations of Heaven and the glory of God.

They have more often than not, and more than ever got themselves entangled in ignorance and mis-represented the prophets and saints of religions and sects. Instead of unifying men and bringing them together through the cosmopolitan diversity of religions and sects, they end up bringing about disharmony and disenchantment to men in the name of religions.

Many flocked to religious institutions and these like flowers would wither because of the "insects"  amongst men. But nevertheless, seeds will come forth and more religious institutions will germinate to give rise to new plants and bear new flowers.

Whilst men of religions may not live up to the expectations of God and saints, they are and will be given many chances. After all, the least expected amongst men are the ones who most need the grace of God to be saved.

God is benevolent and tolerant. Free will is the gift of God and men are given the benefit of the doubt not just once but once too often.

So blame not a saint like Lord Bo Tien if men in the name of a temple or religion tarnish the good name of the lord saint. Verily, verify do take heart that the saint knows  but please do not blame the saint if insects amongst men come to the temple and cause it to whither but at least there will be seeds and new plants to give rise to more flowers.

The great saint is like the vast ocean that reaches out to many a land and to many a man. No land or man can affect the great ocean. The great saint like the ocean will always be the ocean for the many both the good and the not-so-good. There is no chosen one.

In fact, those who are wayward and far from Heaven are welcome even if they go to his temple for the wrong inclination. They are after all the ones that need help most. The far therefore may be near after all.

Those who keep to the word and the spiritual path may not find it favorable to be in his temple and cannot be in the temple. This is no issue for if they know what they should know. They can be far from his temple but still make good and play their part in his mission. They are near to the saint.  But to be able to do more good and not to be affected by others who are not in the right path, they need to be afar. Though afar from the temple of the lord, they are near.

He who knows the truth and the doctrine know the saint. He who does not know but yet claim possession and control of his temple is dear to the saint for he needs to be given more ropes to make good. He is near but yet far from the saint.

Whatever it is, the issues of men are many and plentiful. This is to be expected and that is why beings and men need the shelter of God and saints. The misdeeds and problems of men are troublesome but do not in the least irk and incur the displeasure of God and saints.

On the contrary, there is more resolve, benevolence and compassion by God and saints like Lord Bo Tien to reach out to them like the ocean to many a land and to many a man. This is the essence of the Mission of Heaven, for which Lord Bo Tien is a divine messenger for God Almighty. This is so that men of diverse faiths and sects will see the truth and purpose of God to bring them to God through not one way but many.

These is need to see the complementary roles of religions and sects and not the divisiveness, and to see the need to save souls in more ways than one. All religions and sects are good and have their distinctive roles. They are complementary and there is synergy amongst religions and sects

There is but one God and one truth behind all the diversity of existence in the yin and yang world. The truth is the need to save souls. This requires that beings with problems of living need to be helped through welfare schemes and encouraged to help one another via 'mutual help and care', but this should not be the end but only means to the end. The end is to save souls, our own, your own and others as well in all levels of existence, not just in human realms.

Thus the mission is not at the human level but for all. The mission must be undertaken and spearheaded by Heaven. The mission is the Mission  of Heaven and a saint like Lord Bo Tien must be a great ocean to reach out to many a land, to many a man and to many a religion or sect so that they could see the inner truth that is the need to save souls and not just stop and be content with welfare and worldly matters.

The mission is way beyond mutual help and care, way beyond solace, alleviation of worldly suffering and way beyond correcting social standing and branding amongst men and beings. Like Lord Bo Tien, the mission too is like the great ocean to reach out to many a land and to many a man. The purpose is to save souls.

钱归银行, 人归天堂。 Money goes to the bank but man's goodness goes to Heaven.

No 350 of Living Life Series 1

Worldy wealth can go as far as the bank but the goodness of man go up to the Kingdom of Heaven. This captures the essence of the common Chinese saying, "钱归银行, 人归天堂。qian gui yin hang, ren gui tian tang."

We harvest what we sow and store the surplus. That is of this world will be deposited in the bank but the goodness of man is captured in the data bank of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Man's goodness last even beyond the life of flesh and blood. It goes beyond the confines of the world

The goodness puts him in good standing before other men, but most importantly, it puts him  in good standing even before kingdom comes. It is deposited and documented in the data bank in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The goodness of man is like the fragrant smoke of the incense sticks and it rises to Heaven.

The fiscal wealth is like the ash that falls to the ground when the incense sticks burns away.

Every man is like the incense josstick. Like the incense sticks, man's life will burn away and the good he does will be like the fragrant smoke that reaches out to the limits of the sky and the earthly wealth he has will return to dust once man, like the josstick is no more there.

The josstick epitomises the saying - "钱归银行, 人归天堂。- qian gui yin hang, ren gui tian tang."  Worldy wealth can go as far as the bank but the goodness of man goes up to the Kingdom of Heaven. Money goes to the bank but man's goodness goes to Heaven.

But some will say that if they have more money in the bank, they are in heaven,  (钱在银行，人在天堂。qian zai yin hang, ren zai tian tang) but this is being myopic. Alas, this is the way of many men but not the way of those who want to walk with God and saints. It is the goodness and purity of being that counts in the individual's account balance in databank of Heaven.

Of what use is money when the individual is in heaven. The currency there is the goodness of man and not the paper currency he has in the bank whilst still a man

Lord Bo Tien

No wonder many saints like Lord Bo Tien remind that the ways of men are not the ways of God and saints. The poor may be rich if goodness he has and the rich may be poor if he is not good in the eyes of Heaven. The far down in wordly wealth may be near to God and saints if he is rich in goodness. The far may be near and the near may be far. This did Lord Bo Tien say.

See through life and a saint you will be - 看得开，就是佛。-

No 349 of Living Life series 1

Once when it was shared that the human life is always full of problems and issues and that perhaps, it is best not to be human but to be saint, the visitor said that, "Well if one can see through and not be affected and yet live in this world, one is a saint or a buddha." Then the dialogue continues thus, " If one cannot, then one lives the hell life even whilst a human."

"看得开，就是佛。看不开，就是鬼命。kan de kai, jiu shi fo. kan bu kai, jiu shi gui ming." is the Chinese Mandarin version of the above.

We need to see through life and accept life to be a buddha of sorts and be at peace and bliss. Otherwise, we will be in living hell on earth.

The truth is so simple and profound. All we need to see is to see the true nature of life, not run away from life and yet not be run over by life. We need to do what we can and lament not over the outcome. We need to accept that what we want and what we get often do not tally. Though this may seem simple, yet many cannot stomach the reality. They find it difficult to perceive and get themselves tied up in knots.

Small wonder that the late Senior Bro Philip said, "Only the wise seek the fulfilment of ancient wisdom. Yet the profound truth is so simple but difficult to perceive."

Gautama Buddha said that contentment is the greatest wealth, health the highest gain, self confidence the greatest kin, and enlightened mind is the greatest bliss. What more need we have to have happiness.

Lord Bo Tien adds that every mundane happiness in yin and yang world is twined with unsatisfactoriness. Where there is yang there is yin. Where there is positivity or active nature, there is negativity or passiveness.

We must know our own individual resources and capabilities, why our resources are not the same as others, and  what are best for us given our finite resources and capabilities. How much we can have often depends on how much unpleasantness we can live with.  

Can you see the truth of life
in the seated pose of Lord Bo Tien?
If you can and see through the nature of life,
accept life, strive not, cling not
but handle life head-on and calmly,
of course not running away from life
you can stand tall and hold your head high
for you are already a saint, aren't you?
Simple this may seem, it is still profound
and obviously not that easy to
perceive, let alone achieve?

We must accept and balance our handling of worldly matters and accept both the good and the bad in the yin and yang world, as depicted by his feet atop the elemental beings. We must hold on to the understanding of the true nature of life as depicted by his right hand holding on to the scepter.

We must steer the thin line between rejection of and running away from life and over dependence on life, wanting more and more. We must be steadfast in treading the thin line as depicted by his left hand in salutation, bidding us to be steady. We must pick ourselves up again and try to have the peace and bliss of a saint ever so often even whilst living the human life.

We need to see through life and accept life holistically both the yin and yang to be a buddha of sorts and be at peace and bliss. Otherwise, we will be in living hell on earth. The choice is ours --- to have heavenly bliss or to be in hell now in this very life. Do see through life and be in bliss. You can be a buddha here and now, if you want to do so. Who says sainthood is a rainbow and not for us?

See through life and a saint you will be. "Cant the kai, chiu si pho." This brethren is the inner truth of life the realisation of which  God wants us to grasp through the many religions and sects He so provides.

If we can see through the nature of life, we accept the limitations, drawbacks as well as treasure the transient blessings as well. The negative concomitants of mundane blessings are not setbacks but are necessarily part of yin and yang. They be they the good and not so good aspects are as transient and transitory as our own being as a man or a woman.

We do not renounce them as then we will be escaping from and denying our life as human. We do not run away from life. We do not be run over by life. We need to live life, be alive to life and be on top of life. We need to value the mundane blessings and treasure them as means to the end but not the end. The end is the saving or purification of the spirit of our being.

Lord Bo Tien refer to this as the mission to save souls. Meeting the needs of the flesh and blood is necessary but only as means to the end. Thus even worldly welfare through schemes like mutual help and care should never be the end or priority but only means or steps to the end.

In 1981, the good lord Lord Bo Tien did foresee the weakness of men in mistaking welfare activities as the mission proper. He reminded Elder Ling Diung Kwong not to let the mission falter so that more will be able to see through life and be like the saints. They should not wait to do so in future lives but here and now. Everyone can be a buddha or saint if he or she can see through life. "看得开，就是佛。- kan de kai, jiu shi fo."

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The Three Baptism and Three Success Phases

No 348 of Living Life Series 1

Lord Bo Tien

Thus have been heard that emissaries of the lord saint had said that the mission of the lord saint to bring out the inner truth behind religious practices have to undergo phases. 

Firstly there are three baptism or developmental hurdles or phases before it can establish a foothold proper in this world. They are the fire phase, the flood or water phase and the human obstacle phase. 

It had also been said that there will be also be three success phases - the Bo Tien phase, the Kuanyin phase and the Buddha phase.

  

Brethren, the mission is to save souls and can be seen at two levels --- at societal level and at individual level. The three developmental phases refer to the development or growth phase when there is going through hurdles of fire, followed by that of water and lastly human complexities.

Fire may burn down a temple and when it is rebuilt, it may be inundated by storm or flood. Finally once it is built in concrete, steady and firm and able to withstand fire, flood or storms, the temple may be beset with problems of non-concrete dimension, that of trials and tribulations of society due to the complexities of human agenda superseding, side stepping spiritual drives.

The human obstacle is of greater magnitude than the fire and water obstacles of the first two phases. Why? The reason is obvious for in man lies all the five elements of fire, water, air, wood and metal. The third phase is not just fire and water obstacles but all five.

The human phase with onslaught of waves upon waves of human issues is a hurdle for a temple to overcome. "The problems and issues of men are many and plentiful."  Lord Bo Tien said.

The three phases of development namely fire, water and human are due to the yin and yang world men live in. Yin refers to passive forces and yang to active forces. Some say that in the fire phase, there is too much yang and in the yin phase, too much yin. But this is an oversimplification. In the human or near established phase, there is both yin and yang and interplay of the five elements. Lack of balance or harmony means there is no peace and tranquillity

Likewise, for the individual, growth in early years is beset by fire and water obstacle phases. The young or infant child is faced with problems of biological development --- of infection and growth, the ancient refer to these as fire and water obstacles. But when he grows to be adult and enters society, he faces all the problems of being man --- the problems of yin and yang. Thus Lord Bo Tien said that the issues and problems of man are many and plentiful.

If a temple or individual uses worldly or human ways and go for human agenda, they will be caught in the web of yin and yang. If the temple or individual uses spiritual focus and able to balance and be atop the yin and yang, they will be able to taste peace and fruits of the divine way. This will benefit in both aspects of life - mundane and spiritual. The values that bring spiritual blessings will if applied to worldly life bring worldly blessings but the reverse may not be the case.

Following the three baptism phases, then there will be three success phases - the discipline or Bo Tien phase, the devotional or Kuanyin phase and the wisdom or Buddha phase. We need all three to succeed. We need to be disciplined and steadfast. We need to be devotional.  We need to have wisdom and insight.

In any temple of Lord Bo Tien, there are three images at the main altar --- that of Lord Buddha, Goddess Kuanyin or Goddess of Mercy and that of Lord Bo Tien in Chinese general armour.

Main altar of temple of lord saint in Singapore

 To surmise, there are three baptism and three success phases in life of any temple, organisation or individual.

Cross reerence: The divine test a temple has to undergo

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