Have heart and embrace the world like Ji Gong

No 399 of Living Life Series 1

Ji Gong Posat sets his sight on the world

The ones who have more may end up having less. The ones who have less may end up having more. Let us see how this applied to Ji Gong as man 1000 plus years ago (w.e.f. 2013)

Ji Gong as a man became a monk at a monastery even though he was the only son of a wealthy military adviser in China. He was born Li Xiuyan, ordained as Daoji. 

The monk Daoji abided not by rules of the monastery for monks but by purity of the heart. He did not put on an external front and believed that "what matters is the heart and not what goes through the gut". 

Ji Gong walks the talk. He is all heart

Unlike other monks at the monastery, he had no status and given the lowest role. He had less but end up having more. He had lost his parents and was the only son. On top of that, he had less of status at the monastery but more of heart and cultivation of Tao, even from past lives. He had virtually nothing but as the saying goes "nothing is everything and everything can be nothing. 

This is not absurdity or irrationality but part of the philosophy of reality of duality in the world of duality of yin and yang, softness and hardness, passivity and activity, negativity and positivity. 

The more we have, the more we want and the more empty we feel. The less we have, we may feel deprived and yearn for what others have. This is because we are driven by the ways of society of man. 

A saint like no other

But if we go the way of saints like Ji Gong, what matters is what we have in the heart and not how little or how much we have in worldly terms. If we have little of the world but we have more of the heart, what more do we need to have. We are better off and have more than those who have more but crave for more and always feel empty at heart. 

This is the reality of duality. He who has more has less and he who has less has more. 

Ji Gong is all heart even till this day. As a man many centuries ago, he was rich though poor and beggarly to some. We should be like him. But do not be mistaken that Ji Gong felt poor. He could give off more in ways more than those who are rich in worldliness but poor at heart and spirituality. 

It is even said that though he lived beggarly existence and amongst the poor and downtrodden,  he had much to give even financially to others. Some said that his parents left him money but if this was so, how did he managed his wealth while roaming  at and around Hangchow.

He is with the world and even on the floor with men

We cannot say we literally give up on life and the world to be like Ji Gong. Ji Gong did not give up life and society. In fact, he embraced the world of men by leaving the monastery. He gave up the worldly ways of monks at the monastery. He was himself and was true at heart and true to himself and others. 

Ji Gong holds the world in his hand

There is need for us to embrace the world by being wholeheartedly true at heart and not resort to pretension by actions and outward show. Have heart and embrace the world, like Ji Gong. Be true to what you are and can be. Steer clear of running away from life and lapping up to worldly ways and expectations of men, either of which would be unfruitful. 

To reiterate, do not deny and run from the world. Also do not be carried away by the need to have ever more and to ever have what others have. What is needed is to have heart and be yourself and be true to values you eschew.  There is need to know yourself and be comfortable at that.

The whole wide world is his temple,
not the shrine or monastery

Have no heart and you will be empty and devoid of sense of fulfillment even if you have more of the worldly life and status, for then you will hanker for more and feel empty, unless you have the divine heart and rich in purity, love and compassion and free from clinging, ill will and delusion. 

What matters is the heart and not what goes through the gut. This did Ji Gong say. There is no need to project a holier than thou image. Is there the need to put up a pretentious front that is so different from what you are at heart? Is there the need to over sell yourself as holy and saintly? Even if you are, it is better to be modest and be like one of the many so that others could identify with you and that way mingle with you and learn from you the core values that emanates from the heart.

Ji Gong prefers the floor of the world of men
than a seat in Heaven with the other saints

Have heart and go out to embrace the world, like what Ji Gong did when he was a man 1000 plus years ago at Hangchow China. He is now a saint and his temple is the world of men and he prefers to be on the floor with men as depicted in the portraits above.

Even the main Ji Gong image at Tangkak Johore Malaysia is at the open court yard of the temple and not in the temple shrine proper.  This aptly depicts his leaving the monastery to embrace the world. He rides on a dragon which symbolizes the yin yang dualism of the world. We too must have heart and go out to embrace the world. Have heart and embrace the world like Ji Gong.

Awe inspiring image of Ji Gong
in the open garden at Taiwan temple

Another outdoor standing image of Ji Gong can be found in the garden courtyard of a famous temple at Taiwan. Ji Gong Posat should be venerated in the open as he is in the world we live in. He embraces openness, truthfulness and frankness with no overt ceremonial and outward air of divine prowess  He is of the world of men and appears like any common man. He is truly a free divine spirit in every sense. 

We too can set ourselves free like the dove and be at peace with life open and free under the wide open sky. Seek his help to set you free to embrace the world wholeheartedly, truly, unconditionally and unreservedly from the bottom of the heart so as to harness and grow the boundless divine peace of God within and without.