Go for spirituality and not for religion

No 538 of Living Life Series 1

Gautama Buddha

Every year as Vesak draws near, those of us who are and were immersed in Buddhist way either wholly or in part cannot help thinking if what we learn and try to practise is effective enough to bring us to what we are subconsciously or consciously looking for. This is whether it has made life meaningful. 

Let us reflect on what Gautama and another saint Ji Gong then Li Xiu Yin felt about life and meaning of life in their lifetimes as man. This will also make us understand why despite the well meaning intentions of religions many somehow cannot feel complete and whole. Many felt that while religions have so much to tell us and have done that much for us, we are still somehow still searching for why we don't seem to feel good though the great men like Gautama and Ji Gong could do so. 

In the case of great Gautama, he was a prince and have all he wanted but something substantial was still missing in his life. To ensure that what the wise men predicted will not come true that he would leave the palace for good, his father the king married him off to Yasodhara. 

But he still left and what the woes he saw in the streets made him even sorry for the plight of men. He knew he would suffer the same. He went all out to learn from the religious men of his time, that is from the religions or what may be close to religions we know today in 2014. 

But he found no substantiality in religious ways prevalent then, otherwise he would not have been the Buddha we know today. Conventional religions or religious ways popular to the masses did not give him substantiality and he needed to go for meaning of life and how to meet this need. He got this only on Vesak day and what he found was very different from what religions or religious people propagated. 

Then we have the young man Li in China many centuries later. He was desolate after family tragedy and was driven into the streets. He sought spiritual fulfillment by entering a Chan Buddhist monastery. But what he learnt and what he saw didn't please him. There were contradictions. and human hypocrisy was rife.

Ji Gong 

He felt empty but persisted. He refused to do what others do, more so the ways of the revered monks of the temple. What they projected outwardly were so different from what they were inwardly. How could he be like them? 

So, he gave up with religion or rather the religious ways of the time and like Gautama went out of religion rather than go into more of religion to seek the answer - to seek truth though truth was supposed to be present in the religions or religious ways of the day. 

He did away with false front and believed in "what is in the heart and not what goes through the gut or what one does." He ended up being initially more despised by the clergy but the masses loved him for he was able to help them but not the monks at the temple. 

Both Gautama and the young Li succeeded not by going more into religions but by going away from religions of the day. If this be so, then we in the modern day of 2014 and beyond should not be faulted if we feel lost and in-satiated by the religions of the day. 

This is not that the teachings of the prophets of religions are not there in religions today (2014) but that the way they are disseminated and delivered somehow leaves much to be desired. There is no doubt that the propensity of religions to awe those who come to them is there. But then, many of us still feel not satisfied and no where near fulfillment other than having more friends, more socialisation and more worldly blessings. 

But life is more than these. What is missing in religion? Religiosity is there but many feel the absence of true spirituality which is missing or sidelined when we are in the crowd of religion - when we are in a temple or church. 

We need to leave 'religion' and go for spirituality not demarcated and defined by religions of the day, just like what Gautama and the young Li did. Then we can be like them and find the light of spirituality more easily by being away from religion rather than being with the crowd. 

This is not that the doctrine of the prophets are not there in religions but that over centuries, men elaborated added and are still adding layers upon layers to the truth taught and the essence of the truth is either decimated, marginalised, lost or worst still buried. That is why men today may be no where near deliverance or enlightenment and there is need to rediscover the meaning and fulfillment in life. 

Religions end up as archaeological sites for the few wise enough to want to discover real truth. There is need to be different from the crowd by not dabbling with the prevalent practices but by going away from them and digging for the basic truth. This is what Lord Bo Tien refers to as the inner truth. This is the crux of the mission of the good lord on behalf of God and Heaven. 

Lord Bo Tien

Even Lao Tse had to leave society and the palace as archive librarian of the emperor in ancient China because he needed to go away from the prevailing practices, rigid dogmas and religious ways to be able to find true and basic spirituality. 

Lao Tse

We too may need to find spirituality and if being in religions of the day or rather being with the religious ways of the day make it more remote for us to find spirituality, then we need to go away from conventional or institutional religion to find spirituality. 

Go for spirituality and not for religion. This is not that religion is not good, but that religion has become complicated and often removed from simplicity of the basic truth that the prophets of religions wanted us to know. 

But men being too clever, more so men who are no where near the wisdom of the prophets try to be like the prophets. They may often be akin to the blind men trying to tell us what the elephant is like. They truly want to help but they themselves need help. They may be as lost or as blind as us to spirituality. 

Indeed if the religious leader or pastor is more insightful than the congregation, it may be likely that the majority who know less will be at odds with him. He will have to make way for someone who is like the majority. 

That may be the fate of many temples and churches because people go for religion and religion is the way men wants. Religion is by men and of men. Spirituality is not and is of God and saint.

Do go for spirituality and not for religion. Religion is more man made. Spirituality is not. It may not be at all easy to find spirituality in religion because of the odds posed by men too keen to make us be with them in ways more than one. 

We become oddly religious like them but perhaps lost to spirituality unless we can get away from religiosity as defined by popular ways of the masses. That is so and so be it. We can always get around the problems of religion and be spiritual and oddly enough without being religious in the eyes of the many. 

We may be far from men of religion but we may be that bit more spiritual. The far may be near and the near far. This the good lord Lord Bo Tien did say, didn't he? Wasn't Ji Gong far from temple ways of monastery? But he was much more near to spirituality than all of them or rather most of those at the temple. 

Gotama did bravely part ways with the men of religion in his days as ascetic Siddhartha, stopped being ascetic, ate food and sat under the Bodhi Tree. He was far from religion as it was in those days but he became the nucleus of the faith we refer to as Buddhism or rather spirituality of Buddhist culture. He became the Buddha. 

Though far from religion then, he was not only near but is the spirituality we all want to have. May we have the blessings of Buddha everyday and not just on Vesak. May every day be Vesak. If we go for spirituality and not religion, everyday is Vesak. Sadhu indeed.

Go for 7th Heaven and beyond

No 537 of Living Life Series 1

Many have been told that they only need to worship a saint and heaven is assured. This may be so but what if a person is still far from good and pay lip service to what he believes. Would he be in Heaven? "Yes by the grace of God and saint" is the answer. 

But the sages of old in China had said that they will taste Heaven so long as they believe though they will only be there for a while to learn and be motivated, and then be down again (reborn) as men to practise what they learn. 

Many take this route to Heaven by believing in a saint, by calling out to his name. That is all they need to do.  They need only to believe and be saved. 

It is similar to sales gimmick. Just invest in a stock and there will be sure profit. No need to have a job and work at the job. If this is true, then all need not work but just sit at home and see money grow. Leave it to the broker. 

Religions too peddle this same sales gimmick. "Believe and be saved. You only need to do that." That is great but is it true? At best, it is a half truth. 

Then there are those men who are more perceptive. Believe in a saint is not good enough. We must not just believe but be good and do good deeds. 

Then we will go to Heaven and to those who know rebirth is real, there will at least be better rebirth even if not in Heaven. Even if they go to Heaven, they will not be there for long. 

They reap what they sow but this will be finite and be limited though they will be in Heaven longer than those who just believe and call out to the name of a saint of God. 

They will have in time to leave Heaven and be down hopefully as men again and not lesser beings due to their past wrong as men before they go to their long sojourn in Heaven. 

But isn't all these realization disappointing? So what must we do? The sages of old in China said that we need to go the mile and more if we want to be in Heaven longer and be in 7th Heaven or even higher. 

We cannot just believe in a saint. We cannot do good deeds in addition to believe. We need to cultivate and purify the mind and free it from the three mental roots of ignorance (false views), ill-will and greed (attachment or clinging). This Gautama Buddha and all Buddhas say. 

Believe in just believing in a saint to be saved is at best a half truth but not the eternal truth. It gives rise to disappointment of being reborn as man after a very short sojourn in Heaven. Might as well don't go to Heaven, just to be given the rude shock of need to be men all over again. 

To those who believe additionally that they can reap personal goodness by doing good deeds, they too will be in for rude shock of having to be down as men though after relatively much longer sojourn in Heaven. 

The other false view is to think there is no need for spiritual as there is no life after death. This will warp their view of life even as man in the present life time. They will either be opportunistic, getting what they want as much as they can or defeatist, giving up and saying of what use if they have no more life after death. 

So, the great Buddha says that men must steer clear of two extremes, annihilation or no life after death on one extreme and eternalism by just believing in a saint or just doing good deeds at the other extreme. 

We need to be correct and cultivate correctness over the long haul. It is easy to go to Heaven but let not this be a short visit or a longer one for these outcomes would be no much better than not going to Heaven in the afterlife. It would be letdown if we have to leave heaven after a short or finite stint there. 

We need to be right in our thinking and not only that, we do need to free the mind from ill-will and greed to be more correct. We need to have peace. Both ill-will and greed will not bring peace. How to have peace when enough is never enough and when we want what others have or when we want more than what others have? 

Wanting too much is wrong. Wanting nothing and running away is wrong as well. Going for more and more and giving up life and running away from life are both extremes that will not bring peace. 

Go for the balance approach by being atop the extremes or what sages in old China refer to as yin and yang. Then there will be true peace and purity. But this requires a long haul approach. 

Meanwhile we do experience a moment by moment peace. Many moments of peace do add up and one day we will arrive at eternal or perfect peace and be fully enlightened. We will be beyond the 7th Heaven. 

Do not be disheartened if enlightenment is over the long haul but what matters more than anything else is the taste of peace from moment to moment cultivation of Tao in this very life itself. The taste of peace is unmistakable and it spurs the wayfarer on. 

One advice from the lord saint is appropriate. Do not yearn to be in highest heaven or to be enlightened. Just enjoy the process itself. The cultivation of Tao is as enjoyable and worthwhile in itself, not just the end point which seems for now and for most to be at the horizon. The moment to moment peace spurs us on to cultivate Tao ever the more. 

Though far from the end, we are near to it as we taste moment to moment peace. The good lord says that the far may be near and the near far. Those who think they will be in Heaven in next life may be in for shock that they will not be there for long if they just believe in a saint and/or just do good. Mere belief and good deeds are not enough.

Well, to conclude and to summarize, the image of Lord Bo Tien depicts the way to go even to beyond the 7th Heaven. His image with feet atop and balancing the elements of yin and yang embodies the Way or Tao. 

His scepter in right hand is the Word or Doctrine. The Word is the Mission and is in all religions. 

His left hand in salutation bids us to be steadfast and steady to go for the long haul. Heaven will help and shelter us along the way of Tao.

The moment to moment peace we get from Tao cultivation alone is satisfying and spurs us on, never mind when we reach the end point and be a saint like the good lord or like the great Buddha. Then we are in Heaven here and now and is there the need to wait with bated breath for afterlife? 

Is there also the need for religion when we can have peace of Tao outside religion? In fact many in religion may be near to Tao but yet far from it. Ironically, we cannot do without platform of religion for the good of the many and out of compassion for all. 

Some even ask if there is need to aim for Heaven when we can be omnipresent like God and saints to be everywhere and not just in Heaven if and only if we can have more of Tao. Give this some thought if not now then in time to come. No need to know more if the little we know we can practise well. Cheers.

Will they learn?

No 536 of Living Life Series 1

When a strong ill wind blows, even the best of men holding on to a tree cannot hold for long and will be blown away. This did the good lord Lord Bo Tien said.

How come and why is this ill-wind so strong that good men need to take cover and the best of men cannot handle? This can of course befuddle many an on-looker.

In any temple of some standing, more so if it succeeds to win acclaim of society, there will be some men not at all religious or far from religious who want to come to take the credit and the limelight. They are the opportunists and are like insects that come to a flower for nectar. Blame not the flower for insects coming to it. 

But strange enough, the strongest and biggest of men in that temple often cannot handle the insects of men who can buzz and create mayhem just by hovering around him and worst still enter his ear. Joke aside, this is not to demean neither the elephant of men nor the insects of men. 

What the insects of men desire to do is not to harm others but they are set to take control and do their liking. They will not have any qualms and scruples even to get others out of their way if these others get into their way. All they want is nectar and for how long is the issue and when will they tire out and the ill wind abates so that others could return? 

Such men are the ones whom any lord saint would be pleased to have in the wings of the temple of the saint, not that they are that good and knowledgeable but that they often know precious little and that is exactly why they are wanted in a temple of a lord saint and by none other than the lord saint. 

They are in a way prized catches to be trained if the saint wants to train them. It is a challenge to change them and save their souls. They stand out as what leaders of men should not be and many should learn from the weak points of such men. The good lord said. 

The good lord Lord Bo Tien did stress that if a lord saint wants to, who can stop the saint from even making a leader out of the worse of men or rather the lesser good of men? Who can in their right mind stop a saint from training even a criminal? 

Indeed few of the worse are criminals. But more often than not, they are usually not criminals and that is the problem. How can good men say there is no place for such men when the good lord of the temple believe in the contrary. 

Good men are themselves never that good enough, otherwise they would no longer be men but saints. They would not be long in this world or will be out of this world. 

They are in the temple because they too need to learn and be trained by the saint. Isn't this clear to all? But sometimes it is better to save our breath and let them learn a thing or two from the goodwill and grace of the saint of that temple. 

But will they learn? When will they learn when like others, men have long way to go and are groping around like the blind men with the elephant. Even a dog can learn, so why can't men, more so good men.

Will they learn? Leave this to the lord. The lord willing, they will. In fact, some of the best of pastors are erring men and the good among men will never learn or find this hard to stomach, let alone learn that.

It is often more difficult for the goody two shoes to learn and accept that those they regard as insects of men are often better able to make it up the ladder than them. Will they never learn? Ask the lord....

Remember the adage, never say never and that the exalted will be humbled. Didn't the Lord Jesus said so in the Bible? How come or rather how is it that many cannot accept this reality of why others not as good can run the show in life more so at the temple of a saint? 

The problem may well lie with the attitude and stance men adopt because of their ego - their know better complex. Well men are men after all. The lord saint Lord Bo Tien said that the problems and issues of men are many and plentiful. 

Men in any temple too are not spared of problems. Problems are universal to life so long as a man is not at peace with himself and with life through Way or Tao found in all religions. 

Men of a temple often practise much less of the little they know of the Way. They more often than not know little, hardly practise what the little they know and shoot off their mouths too readily and too soon. Will they learn to be wiser and be at peace? Will they learn to hold their tongues and wag their tails instead - for more peace?

Well most men like problems and are bored if they have less.... They should focus on self-cultivation and the road of self cultivation is never a short one. Men yearn to arrive even before they arrive. That itself does make peace that more unsustainable or even elusive. Many are not steadfast and persistent enough to stay on the road of Tao. 

Do not yearn to arrive but just relish in the moment. A moment of peace is good enough. More moments will add up and that alone is progress. Do keep it up. This is what men have to learn. 

Will they learn? Human life is already a short one compared to life in heaven and yet men want to arrive fast in Tao. Men may have to learn not just in life as man but continue to learn and cultivate in the after life, be it in Heaven or elsewhere. 

Those elders in a temple who have done enough and did their part well should in their old age concentrate on practice of Tao to enhance and to augment it and take themselves to the next higher stage. This did representatives of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien remind the two main elders in his temple, even before one of them passed away. 

Omitofo

What a temple of a lord saint should be?

No 535 of Living Life Series 1

Better to have a simple temple
if men can be one in diversity
than to have concrete magnificence
when there is none of the oneness,
only one or two to irk the many
and be the ill-wind to blow men away.
This Lord Bo Tien did say
of any temple of men.

A temple is the richness of people,

the diversity of men that counts
not the grandness of building.
Didn't the good lord say?
High time we should know.,,

But alas men do think otherwise.

They prefer empty building on most days

other than the few great days
when men packed the temple ground
and ruffled the uneasy quiet around.

 Temple of the saint is no different after all

from many others that were and still are,

but is this really the case or is it not?

more so when men there have done well

and continue to do so in their own special way.

They emulate others rather than lead.
This too can be good to show 
more clearly what could be better
as the best is often yet to be, 
and may yet await for them to do
but when and how this will be?

This is the yin and yang issues
of any temple of a saint
when it ends up as temple of men, 
and when mission is more of men 
than of saint and heaven above, 
as always will be with temples of men. 

But alas, they have done some good
perhaps in their own small ways. 
No doubt about that for sure.
They be blessed by God and men.
One day they will do better than now
better than good that is and shall be.

Such men the good lord said
they do come to a temple
Like insects to a flower for nectar
obviously for nectar and for gain
Only to put off others there
like ill wind that blows no good.

They do blow good men away
But learn they will and should
To always share and to care 
even for men who see life differently
and make life worthwhile for all
and not for them and them alone.

This indeed is the will of Heaven
And the good fate of such men
to be in the temple of a saint.
Who can say Heaven is dumb
and the puppet of such men.


Omitofo 

Temple of the lord saint is no different or is it?

No 534 of Living Life Series 1

When those who congregate at a temple are of different hues and color but still on the anniversary of a saint like that Lord Bo Tien can be of one voice and one color, that is already marvelous. But why only on the anniversary day? Lord Bo Tien did ask. Why not on other days?

Of what use to men if only one or two can have their say and others who disagree not even be allowed to stand on the ground they are on? But this can happen in a temple or any house of God and we wondered why this is the case. We ask if this is what it should be? 

If a man allows only his voice to be heard and runs the place as he likes with others coming only on the great days to make the crowd but not call the tune, is this what should be of a temple of a saint? 

The lord saint of a temple wants to see more and bless more in a temple of his name. This too can be said of the good lord Lord Bo Tien. 

But a man or two may think otherwise and make sure many cannot have a say but can only be strangers in the temple of the saint. They are no strangers of the saint but treated by man as strangers only to be seen on occasions that need the crowd. 

If the lord saint handles some men the way men handles men, then the saint is no saint at all. But if some men see fit to do what they like so that only they are privy to the place, then what have they done to the place and to the mission of the lord saint? 

Any saint would like to see more to come to a temple even if the more are not of one creed, color or voice on most days other than on anniversary day. If these men can just be together even though not of one mind, that alone is enough to say they are in a way still one in the lord. 

If these men can operate what they believe and want to do in the temple without hindering what others want to believe and do, that would be even better. But then they may not see eye to eye and look at one another in disdain. 

But if they can let live and from the bottom of their hearts live and let live, then all can share and bask in the blessings of the lord, then that would be even better and great. 

But if all can believe and act as one, that would be out of this world. Even in Heaven, there is diversity. Don't expect uniformity of men at a temple but only oneness in diversity in a temple of a lord saint. A temple of Lord Bo Tien is no different or is it? 

Talk of cooperation and we will be taken aback and shake our heads in disbelief. All it takes is for every man to be able to do what he wants to do. Every man can operate in the place. If all can do so , that is co-operate at the place, then there is oneness but such oneness is in diversity and not oneness in uniformity. 

We see this at the world stage. There is oneness in diversity. There are many religions but oneness in Heaven or God. How then can there be no oneness in diversity, oneness in differences in thinking in the temple of a saint, more so in the temple of the good lord Lord Bo Tien? 

A temple of the lord saint is meant to be different so as to be a temple for others to emulate. But worry not for a temple of the lord saint being no different from others will serve as a temple for others to learn and be better off and be wary not to have the same woes. 

But then some queer events and ways of men do come to past. When they start out, trancing was all the craze. But with time they end up saying trancing is the bane of society and not be a practice. 

If so, they may need to think hard. How did they come to know of the good lord had it not been for trancing? Men are strange and queer and they will always be so. 

With regards to trancing, the good lord said,
"Know who is man and who is saint.
Man is man and saint is saint"
Pastor / trancer is man and not God

Lord Bo Tien says that the problems of men are many and plentiful. Really and truly speaking, men dislike trancing for it can be abused. But like many things in life, trancing is amoral but men may far from moralise it. 

Men can be the bane of society and not trancing. So why ban trancing and not men? Well a man or two may actually decide to ban men and that may be exactly the problem. Cooperation cannot be operative in such event, can it? 

Now then perhaps we can better empathise with the good lord when he said that the problems and issues of men are many and plentiful. Now we can empathise why the good lord said that why men cannot be of one voice, one color and one mind 365 days a year other than on his anniversary day. 

But at least men can be like religions of the world. They are different and not of one voice but there is oneness in God and humanity in the diversity of religious ways.

All must come together and move as one though as different as yin and yang may be, like the Taiji of the Ba Gua below. This did saints and sages taught. This did Lord Bo Tien remind with regards to oneness or cooperation. 

There can still be oneness even with differences among men, just like the yin and yang. Men can move as one though different and maintaining differences but they must somehow respect differences and revolve as one.

Taiji of yin and yang revolving
as one though different
Synergy in differences

Ego, self pride and more

No 533 of Living Life Series 1

Self pride is often equated as ego. But to some self pride is good but not ego. 

Ego drives one to get what one wants, never mind if in the process it hurts others or causes disservice to others. 

Self pride is often the feel good factor for oneself. To feel good, one must do something that promotes one's self worth or esteem. One would have to be sensitive to what others feel of oneself, for that will somehow still contribute to the feel-good factor. 

There is the drive for self needs, more for improvement not just in worldly terms but in spirit as well. There is need to know that one has arrived or able to arrive. 

How and what one does or can achieve must be such that will have good impact on others or at least have no negative impact. Any negative impact especially of the adverse kind on others will not promote self pride or esteem. 

Ego on the other hand is more of the raw animal nature of man. It is sometimes seen as the need to be superior, to compete and to get what one wants, never mind the consequences on others. 

It would inflate the ego if others fawn on the man with ego. He is like the alpha dog in a pack of dogs. He is king and the others must serve him at all costs. This sadly is and ever will be the fate of many a pastor or priest, for they are not without ego.

So ego promotes ill-will and not love. At best, ego promotes self love but has the adverse side of less or no love for others except for self. That is not good. 

Self pride is satisfaction in oneself for ability to do good for oneself but there must always be that ability to win recognition from others, otherwise self esteem or self pride will take a hit and be driven down by many notches. 

It has to do with the more worthy love that is not based on self-interest but more on consideration for others as well though not self sacrifice for interests of others. 

It is and must be a balanced approach based on how one's self interests be balanced with others opinions and interests. It is the state of the art that promotes self cultivation and it depends on balance approach very much akin to the yin yang approach of the sages of old in China. 

How one fares in this world and how one is at heart matters. What one achieves must not do disservice to others but able to win their heart felt recognition. If possible, others must see him as a benefit to society. 

But as stressed, it is not sacrifice at expense of self. It is not service before self. Often, self pride is better promoted if there is love for self and society in a balanced way - akin to concept of yin yang balance. 

Love for self and love for others must go hand in hand in sort of equilibrium. This too is yin yang balance but the balance point is dynamic. We cannot have hard and fast rule of never this way or that way but must weigh the consequences and assess the situation.

But in all and in whatever situations or scenarios in life, we must be atop the polarities or contingencies of the situation while balancing them. This is so that we are still atop of it though still with the situation. 

We will then be able to have higher and more inclusive helicopter view - to have macro-approach not micro approach. This is referred to (by sages) as awareness or mindfulness which promotes insight. 

By thus seeing the whole view by being atop, we are not part of the madness or restless conflicts of polarities. We stay still with life but are ever at peace. We are not swept around and kicked around by conflicting interests and events - the polarities or contingencies. 

This is depicted in the image of Lord Bo Tien with feet atop and balancing the elements - the events and contingencies of life. 

As like in the image, we will be at rest and seated. We will then be at peace and able to gaze beyond the situation at hand. We will have foresight of life beyond the event and not just insight of the event at hand. 

With the often common good values and doctrine of the sages of religions in one hand as depicted by the scepter in the right hand of the good lord, we will be equipped to handle life and be on way to be saint like the good lord. This is regardless of the religion we are in. 

We will be steady and calm like depicted by the left hand of the lord in salutation. If we are at peace, we can better handle any situation. The life conflict if any fizzles out and the conflict or battle is won before it can start.

No wonder the good lord says that his image is the doctrine and the doctrine is his image. In his image lies the universal doctrine behind all religions for the good of all men and beings. This will help to save souls through existing religions. 

The good lord is not here to start any religion or sect though he did make use of a Chinese style temple to show that even in such a temple, there is the universal doctrine. Though his temple is meant to be exemplary, it does not need to be so but may well be a receptacle of human issues. 

But this only means that we can learn from them. The issues of men are many and plentiful. This the good lord did say. The issues are often due to ego and absence of self pride, grasp of doctrine, insight and foresight. There is no balance of give and take and only "I know better and you don't."

The issues of men are to be found anywhere be it in a church or temple or beyond the houses of God. That is why God sent the good lord as the messenger for the mission to right the wrong and to put things right in all houses of God. This is the Mission of Heaven. 

The mission is not to champion any religion or favor any and definitely not to make men idolise the good lord. Those who idolise the lord may think they are near but in fact they may be far if they do not live by doctrine or Tao. 

The near may be far and the far near. This applies to men of all faiths in relation to their prophets or saints. Didn't Lord Bo Tien said so? 

If men do idolize a saint or any man, be it himself or others, he is in a way idolizing ego, ultimately his own ego projected in what he is idolizing. Well some may not see this point. This is alright. Peace be with all.

Go for peace with less and not be lost with more

No 532 of Living Life Series 1

Peace is for victory and victory brings peace.  

Are we at peace with life? That matters more than what religion we are in. Whether a religion is informative and inclusive is not the issue. The issue is whether it enables peace in life. What matters is peace and not if the religion is substantial. Religion can be like fairy tale and not in tune with science but if it enables peace of spirit, that matters more. 

Thus the great Gautama as the Buddha in his lifetime as man went round on foot to convince as many on what he knew in various places in northern India. He taught only what was best for the man he met and not more. There is precious limited time he had for every man or woman he met. He could only say a thing or two but often that was enough to enlighten the individual whom he might not meet again. There was no time for indulgence for more.

THE BUDDHA

But in the modern days of 2014, we find tons of doctrine ascribed to him. If man is to comb through these, it may take a lifetime or more before he could digest and practise. 

Luckily most of them are based on the same basic truth which in a nutshell is about life and how to find peace with life - the four noble truths. But men add on and with time, there is a complex maze of doctrine. There will then be more complexity than clarity. 

This led some to simplify matters but in their attempts to do so, they widened the scope and started new trends in history. They then started new schools of thoughts. 

With these, they added other buddhas and added complexity. Men would have difficulty to decide what to read and what information to stomach when there is information glut. How then to have peace? 

It is that much better to know a little and even if that little is far from expectations and truth, that would be enough if that little be it truthful or well be even like fairy-tale instead. What matters is that it has impact on the man and makes him a better person and a more peaceful one at that. 

Even with what the Buddha taught which is still allot, he said that what he taught was like the leaves in his hand and what he had not taught are like the leaves in the forest. 

So do not ridicule religion or sect if it is simplistic in approach to extent that what it tells you to believe is like fairy tale. Even if it is indeed fairy tale but it livens the man and lights up his spirit for life and more importantly peace in life here and now, this will be it. That religion or sect has helped that man to somewhat arrive. At least he is not lost in information glut. 

The Buddha did caution that men do not use the Dharma, the doctrine, to admire and to show off what they knew. This will only put others off and not help them. He said that a raft is meant to be used to cross to the other shore and be discarded once the shore is reached. 

Some would like to read too much into what he said but let us be more convergent and not be too keen to be divergent though at times we need to. We need to converge and diverge as we move on in life and as we handle life, be it spiritual or otherwise. 

We must go for peace above all else. If what we believe or are told to believe may not be factual or applicable for others but livens up our very own life so that we can be at peace, that is good. After-all, we are just using it to cross to the other shore and then we can move on without the raft but choose another means to move on. 

Go for peace and often knowing a little even if not factual or complete may be better than knowing more and ending up lost, restless and empty. More is less and less is more. Being supposedly near to Heaven by knowing more may be far from Heaven because the man is dead lost with information glut.

Lord Bo Tien

Lord Bo Tien says that the near may be far and the far near. He who knows little and even if that little is at best fairy tale, may be better off if he has the peace and able to move on to the other shore of life to go for more. He is not drowned even before he could get started.

The more appealing of religions are those which appeal to the sheer fancy of man and those which stress on the simplicity of life. After all, what men need is to use it as a raft to cross to shore of hope and peace so as to move on.

Religion as institution must be simple and fairy-tale like to appeal to many who want simplicity and peace. Don't ask a man to be a philosopher and to get his theology doctor of philosophy PhD before he can get peace and ultimately salvation - the saving of his soul.

Whatever religion we look at and whatever belief system we ascribe to, what brings about peace is balance in life and in particular in the approach to life, be it spiritual or otherwise.

Work life balance is what we know of non-spiritual or mundane life. Yin yang balance is the focus of Tao or Way made the craze that transcends time by sages of old in ancient China. In the process, it becomes out of this world and seems unreachable and not feasible in modern life.

Really, this is not just the way of sages of China but also those of any religion in the world beyond China if we care to understand religions better. It is actually the same as work-life balance modern society talk about but becomes that more special, unique, complex and fairy-tale like when we use the catch phrase - yin yang balance.

Synergy of yin and yang
makes life move with ease.
Then there be peace

There is nothing mystical or complicated in yin yang balance but men somehow make it so mystical and out of this world when they try to rationalise life but end up making it seem to be way beyond rationality.

How then to have peace when we are carried away and go for the sky without going for the ground we stand on? Be simple and go for the peace with less and not be lost with more.

Lao Tse as man centuries ago in China did just that when he left the palace as emperor's librarian to go for simple life - to go for less. But to the many in this world, they fantasize that he went for that much more - for immortality beyond the frontier...

Thus they get awed struck by him and just give up and be content with being devotees of the great immortal sage. They end up having less with the more expectations and complexities they create and conjure in their minds of the man they idolise.

Lao Tse riding away from the frontier on a buffalo

They get awed and many just become devotees or admirers. Way of immortality for divine peace is not for them - the common folks or mortals.

Plainly put, they get taken aback that peace is only for immortals and not for the commoners and the mortals. How then to have peace?

They go for more but end up with less and not able to have any touch of the peace that Lao Tse attained. Go for peace with less and not be lost with more.

Think again and meditate on this to get the grasp if not the feel of the issue. More is less and less is more. Well, this has to do not only with spiritual (peace) but also mundane (peace) as well.

The moral of the story behind this write-up is to go for simple beliefs and make life simple. Go for the action and put into practice what we know however little this may be. There is no need to know more and end up awed and not practising at all. Nothing wrong with mere fairy tale for the start if this livens up life and push start us to peace of spirit.

Go for less and not be lost with more. Then we can in a way have the same peace of sages like Lao Tse and count ourselves as among the new sage-lings of the modern times of 2014 and beyond. This would be what Lao Tse would want us to have and not to be awed by him and the over elaborate Tao philosophy.

If Ji Gong as man many centuries ago can be a sage and saint though found unfit to be monk at monastery, we too can. He went for the simple almost fairy tale like belief that all that matters is what is in the heart and not what one does, not what one knows or what goes through the gut.

He went for less and ended up with more peace of sainthood. He is The Living Buddha, isn't he? In his days, nobody would expect that of him but he did. Indeed he did.

He is Ji Gong the Living Buddha
Lord Ji is he.

Do have more peace with less and not end up lost with more. This applies too to non spiritual or mundane life. Whatever principle or value that works well for spiritual too will work well for the mundane or non-spiritual life. This Lord Tien did say.

Peace is for victory and victory brings peace. Go for peace with less and not be lost with more.

Man sees in the dove the peace of life. Dove is just a bird not even a man but is seen as symbol of peace. This is yet another fairy tale like approach that invokes the air of peace. Keep to the simple value of belief in peace come what may. Surely, there is no need to dwell in complex philosophy and dabble with the academics of religion or be lost with more. Go for less and be simple. Hold on to fascination with life like evoked by any fairy tale. Let wonders abound in life like in a fairy tale. Keep cultivating and flapping the peace like the dove in flight. This is all we need to do to have peace in life, spiritual or mundane. Then we can reach to the other shore and move on further.