The problem with trancing in a temple is not the saint but the people and the medium who go into a trance. This is why in any temple of Lord Bo Tien, he had decided that it will only be for a short while of no more than ten years from 1970 or late 1969.
In general, trancing is part of oriental culture and most prominent in Chinese culture. It has contributed much benefit to men over the centuries and will continue to do so for a long time to come.
Without trancing, the messages and teachings of Lord Bo Tien will not be there for us today in 2014 and beyond.
Without trancing, the messages and teachings of Lord Bo Tien will not be there for us today in 2014 and beyond.
The medium is usually charismatic. He is usually an ordinary man and at times less than ordinary. His spirituality is often not up to the level for him to be pure enough and spiritually high enough to accept the frequency and pure vibrations of the deity or saint who makes use of his body to speak to men.
That will mean that the deity or saint will have to keep his distance and make use of lower proxies to speak to men. Then many questions and doubts will inadvertently arise with regards to how useful is the channel of trancing.
With time, the attention and limelight given to the medium often makes matters far from good and ideal. The medium is showered with attention and temptations are one too many.
His purity takes a beating and he degenerates even more, often becoming more manipulative, materialistic, lustful and won over by the ways of the sensual world. Money, sex and holy partners come into the picture.
Then he becomes less useful as channel for the heavenly saint or deity to communicate to the men at the temple. Worse still, he is more attuned to the lesser spirits in the other world and instead of the deity or saint making use of his body, it is this lesser spirits or even the devils or demons who speak through his body.
The demons or spirits may even be in cahoots with the medium and may even impersonate the heavenly saint or claiming to be the representatives of the heavenly saint. That is exactly what any temple is not meant to have and will defeat the very purpose of its setting.
That is one of the many reasons why Lord Bo Tien limited trancing at all his temples to no more than ten years. Isn't that revealing and yet reassuring?
In a modern church or temple, the priest or pastor may not be a trancer or medium but often he leads the congregation and is able to speak to God and God speaks to him and through him.
That is one of the many reasons why Lord Bo Tien limited trancing at all his temples to no more than ten years. Isn't that revealing and yet reassuring?
In a modern church or temple, the priest or pastor may not be a trancer or medium but often he leads the congregation and is able to speak to God and God speaks to him and through him.
The same problem that befalls a medium too can happen to him. He too becomes a center of attraction and when the congregation hero-worship or idolise him, unless he is steady and spiritually pure and cultivated, he can fall to temptations. The rest of the story many will know and need not be elaborated in detail.
His ego grew with fanning by the hysterical congregation and with this, he may throw caution to the wind. He thinks God is with him or worse still, he is God. The congregation is blinded and so too is the leader, be him a pastor, monk or priest.
There are no checks and balance. The temple or church seems to be beholden to no one except the leader. This is not meant to be the case. The leader is king and his word carries full weight.
His ego grew with fanning by the hysterical congregation and with this, he may throw caution to the wind. He thinks God is with him or worse still, he is God. The congregation is blinded and so too is the leader, be him a pastor, monk or priest.
There are no checks and balance. The temple or church seems to be beholden to no one except the leader. This is not meant to be the case. The leader is king and his word carries full weight.
Then the sad part follows. The laws of the land are encroached and infringed. The long hands of the law catches up and brings on rude awakening.
This latter scenario may not happen if there is more leeway for liberality in the land and then cult culture develops and becomes more pronounced. That is why we have the doomsday cults that are luckily not so common.
This latter scenario may not happen if there is more leeway for liberality in the land and then cult culture develops and becomes more pronounced. That is why we have the doomsday cults that are luckily not so common.
Lord Bo Tien teaches that we learn from the lessons of life, more so in a temple or church. The doctrine is in life as much as it is in his image at the shrine of his temples.
"The problems of men are many and plentiful," he said. He continued that men come in many colors and hues like the colors of the armor he dons for his image.
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| Lord Bo Tien |
But mind you, the important issue is to be aware and to learn to be wise by ever surely, carefully and conscientiously weighing and balancing the realities, the different views and approaches to stay atop the polar elements of yin and yang, as depicted by his feet on the elements.
Trancer or no trancer, priest or no priest is not the problem. The problem is in us. Are we good enough to know and to grasp the doctrine of life as it unfurls before us, either in a temple or a church or better still beyond the concrete confines of the temple or church?
Trancer or no trancer, priest or no priest is not the problem. The problem is in us. Are we good enough to know and to grasp the doctrine of life as it unfurls before us, either in a temple or a church or better still beyond the concrete confines of the temple or church?
Trancing can be problematic but the problem of trancing is present even in where there is no trancing. The question is whether we can see Man from Saint (God) and Saint (God) from Man. This too did Lord Bo Tien say.
We should not blame God for what the Man did and worship Man for what God did. Both would be undesirable and will attract woes for Man. That is for sure.
Trancing is only a means to the end and should not be the target of ridicule though it is far less a means than the Word or Doctrine, for the Word is God (Saint). But the Word may be just Greek to many.
Alas, many somehow cannot come to God without Man. They are able to do so through trancing or through the institution of a pastor or priest, though both trancing and the pastor often fall short of expectations due to men.
We should not fault God and Saint for the woes due to Man. We should not go for the Man but for the Word, for the Word is God and Saint. This did the lord saint Lord Bo Tien reiterate.
Didn't Lord Gautama Buddha say that we must take refuge in the Word, the Dharma and yet say that we must respect the Sangha, the monks for they bring us the Dnarma. We too must draw inspiration in the Buddha for explaining to us the Dharma. If there is problem with the monks, then in time people will know less of the Dharma and eventually the Buddha.
We need to know the Word and know Man. They are not one and same. It is because of Man that the Word is there and yet, it too is because of Man that many will end up seeing Man and not the Word. Such woes will be there because of Man regardless of whether there is trancing, pastor or priest.
God bless.
We should not blame God for what the Man did and worship Man for what God did. Both would be undesirable and will attract woes for Man. That is for sure.
Trancing is only a means to the end and should not be the target of ridicule though it is far less a means than the Word or Doctrine, for the Word is God (Saint). But the Word may be just Greek to many.
Alas, many somehow cannot come to God without Man. They are able to do so through trancing or through the institution of a pastor or priest, though both trancing and the pastor often fall short of expectations due to men.
We should not fault God and Saint for the woes due to Man. We should not go for the Man but for the Word, for the Word is God and Saint. This did the lord saint Lord Bo Tien reiterate.
Didn't Lord Gautama Buddha say that we must take refuge in the Word, the Dharma and yet say that we must respect the Sangha, the monks for they bring us the Dnarma. We too must draw inspiration in the Buddha for explaining to us the Dharma. If there is problem with the monks, then in time people will know less of the Dharma and eventually the Buddha.
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| Lord Gautama Buddha |
We need to know the Word and know Man. They are not one and same. It is because of Man that the Word is there and yet, it too is because of Man that many will end up seeing Man and not the Word. Such woes will be there because of Man regardless of whether there is trancing, pastor or priest.
God bless.
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| The problem is more with men and not the trancer, pastor or priest. Many trancers have done good though they are still men and not saints. This is the truth we need to know with regards to all these three - mediums, pastors and priests |
Footnote: Without trancing, the messages and teachings of Lord Bo Tien will not be there for us today in 2014 and beyond. Without pastors and priests, there will be no religions, churches and temples. We must still give respect to pastors, priests and mediums where respect is due. But do be ever mindful that man is not God or saint. Do not abolish the institution of pastor, priest or medium in reckless manner just because of the spur of the moment or because some hot headed men think this will be good. Any institution or post is neither good or bad. It is men who make it good or bad.
