Why do men go to a temple or church? This is more so when God and saints are omnipresent - everywhere. They are not confined to a temple or church.
But like it or not, many somehow need to go to a temple or church for personal reasons, to be exact, for personal gains though they would put it otherwise.
Who wants to go to a temple or church if there is no worldly gain, either from the men and women there or from God and saint behind the temple or church? There are those who even go for both.
No one would go to a temple or church if there is no personal gain of worldly nature here and now in this life. This is unfortunately the reality.
Heaven or salvation to many is but a dream or at best a vision for the after life. So what matters is "What do I stand to gain for now?" Isn't this bargaining with God? Isn't this in a way somewhat atrocious?
It is not uncommon to even hear of a pastor or monk indulging in personal gains, enriching themselves siphoning off the divine kitty. They get caught by the law of the land even before the law of God and saints could reach them.
Often, the benevolent Heaven will let them off and give them rope but not the human 'gods' of the land.
Their misguided flock may even think that those who seem to be persecuting them are of the devil. But they may undoubtedly be the real devils to themselves.
But like it or not, many somehow need to go to a temple or church for personal reasons, to be exact, for personal gains though they would put it otherwise.
Who wants to go to a temple or church if there is no worldly gain, either from the men and women there or from God and saint behind the temple or church? There are those who even go for both.
No one would go to a temple or church if there is no personal gain of worldly nature here and now in this life. This is unfortunately the reality.
Heaven or salvation to many is but a dream or at best a vision for the after life. So what matters is "What do I stand to gain for now?" Isn't this bargaining with God? Isn't this in a way somewhat atrocious?
It is not uncommon to even hear of a pastor or monk indulging in personal gains, enriching themselves siphoning off the divine kitty. They get caught by the law of the land even before the law of God and saints could reach them.
Often, the benevolent Heaven will let them off and give them rope but not the human 'gods' of the land.
Their misguided flock may even think that those who seem to be persecuting them are of the devil. But they may undoubtedly be the real devils to themselves.
But mind you, lest you forget, the mission of every temple is to save souls though in the process those at the temple stand to gain in worldly sense.
No one will find fault with personal gain and after all, this they say is by the grace of God and saints at the temple. God is gracious to close an eye and is not petty.
This gain of worldly nature is however secondary to the primary gain of salvation of the souls. It comes as a sugar coating for men to pursue salvation but some don't get this and have worldly loss.
It would however seem absurd if there is the over-emphasis or overplay on worldly gain. At times, it makes mockery of matters. God would be projected as giving bribes to make men worship him.
God provides and all would want to believe in that. But God will not play the devil and be petty to bribe or to go an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth though man may be his own devil. The devil if any is in man.
Sadly however, the pursuit of the gain of flesh and blood, be it in name or form is a corruption and short circuiting of the mission of a temple. Some pastors even take on many holy wives, not just money and other worldly gains. Some monks buy horses. Some have gay relationships.
As stressed by Lord Bo Tien, the temple like a flower will attract insects and ants coming to it for nectar. No one will deny that. But once the nectar is spent, it will wilt.
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| Lord Bo Tien You may not know him even if he is beside you or you are in his temple. You may know him even if he is not with you and you are not in a temple with his holy name so long as you live in the Word for he is the Word. The good lord did say that the image and the Word are one "The image is the Word and the Word is the image." The balancing and staying atop the yin and yang is in his image with his feet on the elements. Know the Word and know God and saints like Lord Bo Tien |
But men should not be like insects fighting over the flower. This will put off others and make the temple not at all attractive and far from appealing.
Somehow, some men just prefer to have the temple to themselves. It is better that others stay away so that they can have the temple to themselves and have a free rein to do as they like with no checks and balance which they consider as opposition, not alternative and enriching views.
They have to search their conscience. Have they done justice to God and the lord saint of that temple by denying others (not singing same tune as them) easy and unobstructed access to the temple?
It is just as though they have closed and shut down the temple set up by the lord saint of the temple. They end up undoing the good work of the past - both by God and saints above and the venerable pioneers below at ground zero.
The temple is there to save souls - to lead men to salvation, not to shut men out or to lead men to more and even more of the same worldliness that they have outside and beyond the doors of the temple.
That would be more entrapment - not release to freedom from entrapment. That would be manifold the same problems they have in the world outside the temple.
It is this worldliness in excess that drowns a man and makes him be lost to peace and divinity.
A peaceful and divine person is still part of the world and is plugged into worldliness but being who he is and cultivated in spirituality, he is certainly and by no means, no victim of the world of worldliness. He is also definitely no deserter of the world. He is with the world but not at the receiving end of the world of worldliness.
He is able to balance and be atop the dualities or polar pluralities of life, like gain loss, honor dishonor, health and illness and what have we in this world. This the sages of old in ancient China refer to as Tao or Way.
He goes out to into the world for peace with nature and away from the restless and warring ways and antics of worldly men. He is like Lao Tse who rode from the frontier into the true world - the bigger world of nature away and free from the confined world of vanity and indulgence.
A temple may well be too suffocating to him and not congenial for Tao - the balance of two polarities - deserting life and over living life which sages refer to as the yin and yang.
Why go to a temple if one is more discerning? One can get more of spirituality by being with nature and the universe where men are just one minuscule part of the whole.
One can in fact be with nature and the universe even without physically leaving the frontier of society but by spiritually leaving the maddening ways of society. For this, is there the need to go to a temple? Why go to a temple?
Omitofo.
It is just as though they have closed and shut down the temple set up by the lord saint of the temple. They end up undoing the good work of the past - both by God and saints above and the venerable pioneers below at ground zero.
The temple is there to save souls - to lead men to salvation, not to shut men out or to lead men to more and even more of the same worldliness that they have outside and beyond the doors of the temple.
That would be more entrapment - not release to freedom from entrapment. That would be manifold the same problems they have in the world outside the temple.
It is this worldliness in excess that drowns a man and makes him be lost to peace and divinity.
A peaceful and divine person is still part of the world and is plugged into worldliness but being who he is and cultivated in spirituality, he is certainly and by no means, no victim of the world of worldliness. He is also definitely no deserter of the world. He is with the world but not at the receiving end of the world of worldliness.
He is able to balance and be atop the dualities or polar pluralities of life, like gain loss, honor dishonor, health and illness and what have we in this world. This the sages of old in ancient China refer to as Tao or Way.
He goes out to into the world for peace with nature and away from the restless and warring ways and antics of worldly men. He is like Lao Tse who rode from the frontier into the true world - the bigger world of nature away and free from the confined world of vanity and indulgence.
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| Lao Tse riding into the wider world beyond the frontier |
A temple may well be too suffocating to him and not congenial for Tao - the balance of two polarities - deserting life and over living life which sages refer to as the yin and yang.
Why go to a temple if one is more discerning? One can get more of spirituality by being with nature and the universe where men are just one minuscule part of the whole.
One can in fact be with nature and the universe even without physically leaving the frontier of society but by spiritually leaving the maddening ways of society. For this, is there the need to go to a temple? Why go to a temple?
Omitofo.
