Truth is never popular and that is the truth. What is popular is far from the actual truth but the not so truthful way is still necessary to attract men who seek fulfillment which to them is still by the worldly way.
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| Truth is boring and often put us off |
Religions have to pander to this tendency of the masses though each religion may have the actual profound truth. To be accurate though the real or inner truth is profound, it is actually simple but not attractive to many. It is described by Gautama Buddha as against the flow or current.
Many want more worldly gains if they are to embrace a religious institution or faith. Many are willing to believe but are not prepared to cultivate and do much more spiritually. They are willing to commit and even pay tithes or donations to the temple but what they want is the goodwill of God and saints as well as the promise of Heaven in after life.
Seeing the weakness of such men, many temples have to be pragmatic. To be in business and to attract the crowd, they will bend to meet them so as to bring them in. But beyond that, not much can be done and the individual is left to explore on his own to probe further if they want actual solid spirituality. That is why there is the saying that religion is between God and man.
Priests at the pulpit had to be charismatic and crowd pullers. They must appeal to the sensual and worldly weaknesses of men. This of course is a good way to attract men and a necessity to be sure.
A temple after all is like the flower. The flower must offer nectar to attract insects. The flower must be attractive in appearance and smell good to attract insects. Likewise the same applies to a temple or house of God. The analogy to a flower and nectar is given by Lord Bo Tien.
If a temple is to go by the clinically hard inner truth, then the temple is more likely to be deserted. The inner truth is that going to Heaven is not good enough as one will still be in cycle of rebirths and that there is the need to be enlightened, to be a saint or buddha so as to cease the cycles of rebirths and to be beyond Heaven. Heaven after all is just another stop in the cycles of rebirths.
This is simply understandable but too onerous to achieve. One must be determined and the road is long and arduous though the concept is simple. It is simple but needs effort and persistence.
That is perhaps why truth is never popular but a temple or religion needs to be popular before it can bring in the crowd. A temple has to be like the flower but blame not the flower for insects coming to it for nectar.
Truth is never popular but temples and religions need to be popular. They need to bring in the crowd and leave the rest to God and saints to work the magic so that man can have salvation.
The truth is in the Word or Tao. Worshiping God is not enough. Living in the Word and making it come to life in a man is what needs to be.
Truth is boring to many and can put them off. But religion must never be boring if it is to stay in the limelight. It is a credit to men who can make religion not at all boring if the partying and the noises in the houses of God are anything to go by and to be reckoned with.
Temples must be attractive to the young, the party goers and the jet set if temples are to stay in the mainstream. Otherwise, they will fade into oblivion to await the second coming of a saint or saints before re-opening.
The appeal of the teachings of saints will wane over the centuries if stress is on the teachings. Indeed this had happened. But the emphasis on hope that salvation will come easy by mere belief and ability of saints to offer rebirth in heaven makes the difference.
The catch is that this is only to facilitate actual spiritual cultivation which was not emphasized while beings were living in the flesh as men. Some religious leaders even offered assurance of eternity in Heaven but whether this is realistic is another matter.
Certainly it is good to have and is popular than the hard truth that there is need for spiritual cultivation starting here and now and not wait till kingdom come. Truth is never popular and can put us off.
But even if the eternal heaven approach is true and there is no need for cultivation while in the flesh, it is better and wholesome that men want to be good while in the flesh - not for reward in afterlife but for the joy of wanting to be good and the peace from being good.
Men may agree to promises to be fulfilled after death in the afterlife. But they certainly will not agree to this in matters where religion is not involved. Men are like that and all of us are like that.
Otherwise, there will not be any religion and the only true followers of Buddha will be the serious minded monks and those who live and think like the serious minded monks. Truth is never popular and can put us off.
Buddhism will not have a huge following around the world if there is no faith in the Pure Land Heaven in the afterlife where Amitabha and the saints will help believers born there to cultivate Nirvana or enlightenment instead of cultivating this in the present life.
The approach is akin to the concept of simple theistic belief systems of God, and eternal Heaven and Hell. But in Buddhism Taoism and Hinduism, there are multiple levels of existence and many heavens and many hells. which would be easier to accept or to stomach. Of course, people will go for simplicity and the choice is obvious.
Truth is never popular and can put us off. If a saint can promise us paradise in the afterlife, let us accept it but then the taste of the pudding lies in the eating and in religion, this will have to wait till we are in the afterlife. This has become the norm, hasn't it?
But why not have dual approaches? Go for the promises men peddle in the name of religions and the saints but at the same time cultivate the goodness and purity of peace in this life so that we can reap the fruits of heavenly peace of spirit here and now as well.
Whether the promise of the good heavenly afterlife will be kept or realised is another matter. It is no longer as important if we can have the heavenly peace here and now and not wait till life in flesh is over.
This dual approach way can be facilitated through any religion and through any saint. The main difference lies in the name or label of religion. We can argue till kingdom come, it is still same though under different labels, sects or religions.
The way of heavenly peace here and now is by balancing life - not denying and not overindulging... We can do so through any religion or even if none. Why argue till kingdom come on labels when labels are man-made and not in keeping with God and saints.
Truth is boring to many and can put them off. But religion must never be boring if it is to stay in the limelight. It is a credit to men who can make religion not at all boring if the partying and the noises in the houses of God are anything to go by and to be reckoned with.
Temples must be attractive to the young, the party goers and the jet set if temples are to stay in the mainstream. Otherwise, they will fade into oblivion to await the second coming of a saint or saints before re-opening.
The appeal of the teachings of saints will wane over the centuries if stress is on the teachings. Indeed this had happened. But the emphasis on hope that salvation will come easy by mere belief and ability of saints to offer rebirth in heaven makes the difference.
The catch is that this is only to facilitate actual spiritual cultivation which was not emphasized while beings were living in the flesh as men. Some religious leaders even offered assurance of eternity in Heaven but whether this is realistic is another matter.
Certainly it is good to have and is popular than the hard truth that there is need for spiritual cultivation starting here and now and not wait till kingdom come. Truth is never popular and can put us off.
But even if the eternal heaven approach is true and there is no need for cultivation while in the flesh, it is better and wholesome that men want to be good while in the flesh - not for reward in afterlife but for the joy of wanting to be good and the peace from being good.
Men may agree to promises to be fulfilled after death in the afterlife. But they certainly will not agree to this in matters where religion is not involved. Men are like that and all of us are like that.
Otherwise, there will not be any religion and the only true followers of Buddha will be the serious minded monks and those who live and think like the serious minded monks. Truth is never popular and can put us off.
Buddhism will not have a huge following around the world if there is no faith in the Pure Land Heaven in the afterlife where Amitabha and the saints will help believers born there to cultivate Nirvana or enlightenment instead of cultivating this in the present life.
The approach is akin to the concept of simple theistic belief systems of God, and eternal Heaven and Hell. But in Buddhism Taoism and Hinduism, there are multiple levels of existence and many heavens and many hells. which would be easier to accept or to stomach. Of course, people will go for simplicity and the choice is obvious.
Truth is never popular and can put us off. If a saint can promise us paradise in the afterlife, let us accept it but then the taste of the pudding lies in the eating and in religion, this will have to wait till we are in the afterlife. This has become the norm, hasn't it?
But why not have dual approaches? Go for the promises men peddle in the name of religions and the saints but at the same time cultivate the goodness and purity of peace in this life so that we can reap the fruits of heavenly peace of spirit here and now as well.
Whether the promise of the good heavenly afterlife will be kept or realised is another matter. It is no longer as important if we can have the heavenly peace here and now and not wait till life in flesh is over.
This dual approach way can be facilitated through any religion and through any saint. The main difference lies in the name or label of religion. We can argue till kingdom come, it is still same though under different labels, sects or religions.
The way of heavenly peace here and now is by balancing life - not denying and not overindulging... We can do so through any religion or even if none. Why argue till kingdom come on labels when labels are man-made and not in keeping with God and saints.
