Whether we believe in only one life for every being or many rebirths for everyone, the issue boils down to why are we here and why we differ in attributes and in endowments in life? Is it fair when some are born with handicaps? Is heaven making a mockery of life of beings?
This would be the case if each man has only one life and depending on this one very life, the decision is made for eternal heaven or eternal hell. This concept of life is way too simple and most men would be doomed if this is indeed the case. One throw of the dice and our fate is sealed.
Thus the religions of the East say that there are rebirths and rebirth, as reiterated by Lord Bo Tien is the will of God or Divinity. Men are given many chances to make it.
Buddha Gautama had many past lives before he reached perfect enlightenment. He was in the heavens numerous times but had in his final birth to be born as a man, for the life of man incorporates the complete repertoire of heaven and earth, the yin and the yang. He had complete mastery of both what Buddhists refer to as worldly contingencies and he became the fully enlightened one.
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| Gautama Buddha |
He is no less the Buddha revered by saints, deities, rulers and kings of earth heavens and hells. Of a truth, the creators of the various realms stood in awe of him. God Almighty and the Pure Ones above God have plenty to learn from him and often seek his intervention.
This boils down to the reality than no one except the Buddha or a Buddha is fully enlightened and knower of the worlds and of all lives. The life of every man and being is unique and no two lives are the same.
Each being or man is here to learn and pay debts for what they have not done or fail to do or learn in past lives. This explains why no two lives are the same. It is not that Heaven is unfair but men are different and always differ from one another.
The question is do we know and can we know why we are here and what we have to learn and what, why and how are we repaying or accounting for what we did in previous lives. True, we cannot remember past lives and good that we could not or else we will carry allot of garbage from the past lives which would of course bury us sky high the moment we are born.
But this is no excuse for not knowing or not having an inkling of what we are here to learn and what debts we have to pay or account for. How are we to know? We have to be reflective and more discerning.
But this is no excuse for not knowing or not having an inkling of what we are here to learn and what debts we have to pay or account for. How are we to know? We have to be reflective and more discerning.
The milestones and events of early childhood and adulthood will unveil patterns unique to every individual. The wise one will reflect and realize that the shortfalls and gains are reminiscent of past lives or rather are reflective sum of the ups and downs of past lives.
Life here and now in this present or current life provides the event language - the events that are meaningful pointers of what we have to learn and what we have failed to learn in past lives as well as what we have learnt wrongly in past lives and must now learn in present lives.
Life here and now in this present or current life provides the event language - the events that are meaningful pointers of what we have to learn and what we have failed to learn in past lives as well as what we have learnt wrongly in past lives and must now learn in present lives.
Why we have misfortunes and why we need to be intertwined with significant others have to do with past lives. We must solve and unravel relationships and fate that cuts across many lives and impact on our current lives.
The past do haunt us but this is because of our own doing. We were and are the victims of our past. We are shaped by our past lives to have the harmful egos of the present.
We cannot run away from the past or present but we can shape the future by not creating more problems - by neither running away from life nor going excessively for more life and its woes. We must stay atop and moderate both to be at peace.
We have to learn from past and present undoings and stay more at peace, by balancing the worldly contingencies like gain-loss, anger-joy and honor-dishonor. Sages of Tao refer to this as the balancing of the yin and yang. Failure of being atop yin and yang creates issues.
Lord Bo Tien opines that the issues and problems of men are many and plentiful. Men often create problems by solving problems. Men must learn and be wiser from the learning. The acid test is whether men are more at peace.
Running away from issues or from life create emptiness, void and more disquiet. Solving problems but ending up creating more problems downstream is equally worse.
Lord Bo Tien says that the gospel is in life and have we learnt from life. He adds that we may need to go to upper source for clear water. We must know how the water got polluted and gathered mud.
It is said that ignorance is the basic problem. This gives rise to greed ill will and the various false views downstream. So what is the basic ignorance to begin with? It is supposed to be simple, so simple that many would not want to believe and find it ridiculous.
It is the pride or ego. We must rid of pride and ego but mind you this does not mean we deny self. Instead, we open up our being to be one with nature and the universe.
We learn to be omnipresent in our own way though we are not yet God or saint, but we try to be like one. We no longer want to be the narrow finite self or ego but the open, expansive and borderless self.
We try to become one with God and saints. We learn to become God and saints in our own way and a step at a time. We have to pay debts we create in past lives and learn from the plus and minus of life so as to set ourselves free and be at peace.
The first step requires us to balance the polarities or worldly contingencies like gain-loss, happiness- sorrow and what have we. This is depicted by the feet of the seated image of Lord Bo Tien balancing the elements - the yin and yang. Later with imperial accent, this Tao of yin yang balance is upgraded to the Tao or Way of twin dragons supporting pearl of divine peace.
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| Lord Bo Tien |
Sometimes for yin yang balance it is necessary to associate with the wise and to live in a suitable locality as stated in the Mangala (Blessing) Sutra of Gautama Buddha.
Lao Tse did this by leaving the city gate of the palace to be with nature and the simple folks. He avoided the complicated and indulgent segments of society to be with the bulk of society out there in nature.
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| Lao Tse leaving the palace gate |
Some of us in the modern world of 2013 / 2014 has to learn in our own way how to be like Lao Tse but remember we should not run away from life. Running away is not the way of Lao Tse. We neither run from life nor overindulge in life. This special balance point is unique to the individual and is the epitome of yin yang balance sages of old talk about.
Ji Gong in his time as man learnt from life as man. He learnt that there was need to be true from the heart and not just put up a show to impress other men. It is not what one does or what goes through the gut but what comes from the heart of a man that matter.
He learnt the double sided nature of religion in a monastery and was disrobed for not toeing the rules of monastery. But he was and is sincere and true to the Way from the innermost recesses of his heart. He learnt not to impress men to get their approval. What mattered was that he could and did make it to Tao through sheer wholeheartedness.
He was able to put his heart in Tao and even crickets interacting in a bowl awakened his insight and grasp of yin and yang balance. He learnt from life and from nature. He did not go along with the outward showmanship of monks in a monastery so as to silence those who badmouthed him but accepted his fate of having to leave the monastery. He knew what he was doing was right. It was the heart that mattered.
His sincerity was brash and this earned him his expulsion from the monastery but he learnt and gained enlightenment and became a saint, no less the living buddha. He won the following of the masses as he could make the difference in their lives.
He is Ji Gong the Living Buddha. He shows us how to be with life and learn from life. We should not follow others blindly for that will mean we don't learn.
Ji Gong in his time as man learnt from life as man. He learnt that there was need to be true from the heart and not just put up a show to impress other men. It is not what one does or what goes through the gut but what comes from the heart of a man that matter.
He learnt the double sided nature of religion in a monastery and was disrobed for not toeing the rules of monastery. But he was and is sincere and true to the Way from the innermost recesses of his heart. He learnt not to impress men to get their approval. What mattered was that he could and did make it to Tao through sheer wholeheartedness.
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| Ji Gong the Living Buddha |
He was able to put his heart in Tao and even crickets interacting in a bowl awakened his insight and grasp of yin and yang balance. He learnt from life and from nature. He did not go along with the outward showmanship of monks in a monastery so as to silence those who badmouthed him but accepted his fate of having to leave the monastery. He knew what he was doing was right. It was the heart that mattered.
His sincerity was brash and this earned him his expulsion from the monastery but he learnt and gained enlightenment and became a saint, no less the living buddha. He won the following of the masses as he could make the difference in their lives.
He is Ji Gong the Living Buddha. He shows us how to be with life and learn from life. We should not follow others blindly for that will mean we don't learn.
We must be like Ji Gong. We are here to learn and we will have to pay more debts if we fail to learn in time and create more problems or "debts" along the way. But we cannot rush. We need to take one step at a time.
But a stitch in time saves nine. Well this is indeed the crux of the problem or issue if we have sloth and torpor and postpone or procrastinate in everything in life. This we call idling but overindulgence is equally bad.
The ball is in our court. Are we here to learn and pay debts? How do we learn and have less debts or better still have no debts? It is simply because we somehow fail to learn enough and create more debts in life after life that we are here again and again.
How can we learn or is this really so difficult. If still unsure or even if sure but bewildered, do pray, or like what many of us do, we call on the name of any saint or prophet.
Omitofo
But a stitch in time saves nine. Well this is indeed the crux of the problem or issue if we have sloth and torpor and postpone or procrastinate in everything in life. This we call idling but overindulgence is equally bad.
The ball is in our court. Are we here to learn and pay debts? How do we learn and have less debts or better still have no debts? It is simply because we somehow fail to learn enough and create more debts in life after life that we are here again and again.
How can we learn or is this really so difficult. If still unsure or even if sure but bewildered, do pray, or like what many of us do, we call on the name of any saint or prophet.
Omitofo
