LIVING LIFE SERIES 1

A BO TIEN (武天) MISSION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED ON 28TH SEPT 2010 BY INNER TRUTH NETIZEN 2. THE MISSION IS TO SHOW THE WAY TO HOPE, INNER PEACE AND ULTIMATELY SALVATION FOR ALL BEINGS. THE PURPOSE IS TO SAVE SOULS. IT IS WAY BEYOND NORMAL GOOD WORK LIKE CHARITY AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES. NO ONE SHALL BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS ALONE BUT BY MORE THAN GOOD WORK. THERE IS NEED TO BE IMBUED WITH THE BASIC DOCTRINE COMMON TO AND BEHIND ALL RELIGIONS AND SECTS. LIVE IN DOCTRINE. DOCTRINE IN LIFE IS PARAMOUNT.

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The Living Life Series is dedicated to Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨). The doctrine is in His image. The image is the doctrine. He who sees, understands and effects the doctrine sees and knows Him. He who does not see, know and effect the doctrine sees not and knows not the saint even if the saint or His image is beside him. The far may be near and the near may be far. Let the doctrine and the saint be part of our life. The lord saint in your life can be any heavenly saint of any religion, sect or school. The doctrine of truth is behind all and this is the Inner Truth that leads all (regardless of their religious affiliation or even if none) to inner peace and heaven on earth here and now and not just in the after life. The ideal worship and devotion is to know and effect the doctrine of God and the saints. The best gospel is the gospel of life. We learn from our life and the lives of others. The true temple is the world we live in. The sky is the roof of the temple and religions and sects are the pillars of the temple. All under Heaven are in the temple. Needless to say that all the saints we know are in this temple. Ji Gong Posat too is no exception. The whole wide world and web is the temple and must be regarded as a sacred place --- a temple for living and learning. It is more important that everyone that counts plays a role in this universal temple if due focus is to be given to the Mission of Heaven. Men must not be distracted by the agenda of men and end up serving the mission of man. That would be a far cry from the Mission of Heaven. We worship God and saints, not man however good that man may be. There should be no hero worshiping or idolizing of man whether he is a charismatic pastor, priest, monk, medium or lay leader. We don't even idol worship the image of any saint but reflect on what the image stands for. - the doctrine in the image. Omitofo 阿弥陀佛!.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

May we be Buddhas

No 587 of Living Life Series 1

"Peace comes from within. Do not find it without." Buddha

Enlightenment is to be found within and not without in God or in Heaven.

God and Heaven can help but not even God can give inner peace safe for solace as it is in the self and not anywhere outside self.

The emphasis in spiritual is on peace and no clinging to and running away from life but just having inner peace. Of the two, clinging is more a problem and one way to minimise this is for men to cultivate mindfulness of death in daily life.

Some even say this must be as frequent as every moment. This sounds odd but Buddha did say that the path to enlightenment is against the flow or current. It will definitely look odd to the many in flow of worldly life - Samsara in Pali language.

Thus while religions promise paradise by facilitating sheer clinging weakness of men albeit clinging to a saint, the Buddha did not. If we understand why this is the case, we are on the path. If we do not understand, we need to know better. But fret not and take one step at a time.

The more odd part though is that the so-called paradise that is promised is not even experienced in this life but only after death. What matters is life here and now and peace in life matters.

Coming back to the cultivation of peace, the cultivation of inner peace is good but still good enough. Eventually, men must not even be in want of peace as it is still a clinging of sorts if there is obsession and if it becomes the object of mental desire of the mind.

When men can even have peace without clinging or desire, that will be ideal. That is when men become Buddhas.

Many equate the high immortals as buddhas and indeed they are close to being Buddhas. These high immortals are adept in peace and they are very good at that. They no longer has clinging to form and senses save for mental desire for peace. Thus they are formless entities. Buddhahood is beyond any semblance of entity, be it formless or otherwise.

Who count among the formless (the Brahmas)? God the Pure August Jade Emperor is close to but yet not one. The formless are the pure ones and their retinue.

Let us focus back on spiritual cultivation. Practice of cultivation must be on inner peace but eventually must go beyond the desire for peace. Preoccupation for mental or inner peace results in jhanas or ecstasies but this too is clinging albeit only at mental level - that is with the mind sense.

The mind sense clings on to the rapture of ecstasies - the fruit of extreme clinging to inner peace. This too is clinging and as long as there is clinging, the person is not pure enough. Men and beings must bypass jhanas and be even purer like the Buddha.

May we be Buddhas. To do so, we must start now in this very moment and not wait for afterlife - specifically any promise of paradise in afterlife. We must cultivate to free ourselves from clinging and dependence on the senses and be with life but not at the mercy and crutches of life.

The most difficult is the mind sense and routine daily reflection on death is necessary but an oddity to many. The path to enlightenment is indeed against the flow of life of the masses. It always will be against the flow.

Lord Bo Tien told the pioneers of his mission not to be concerned if there are many who come to his temple and do not agree with the doctrine. There will always be many more with doubts. Doubts arise because they do not understand. Do embrace them as family for one day when they do understand, they will be more like family and be good for the welfare of the temple and for society at large.

Lest you forget

Do not make the mistake of idolizing any man who tells you about the Word. He is in the same boat as you even if religion refers to him as a religious leader. Mere mention of a religious leader is as good as encouraging idolising of that man. Why must there be hierarchy in religion? Hierarchy is conventional but may end up as liability rather than a necessity or asset. There should be no caste or hierarchy system in religion. No one is to be considered above another in religion. A religious leader or follower is a servant to serve you and not a leader to be idolised. Do not put him on the pedestal and make a monster out of him.

MAY ALL BE WELL AND HAPPY

May all be well and happy. May they have peace. May our departed friends and kins be well, happy and have divine peace. The main writer wishes the best for all for those near and far. Our kins may be far when they had passed on to better lives but they are near though far. He remembers and wishes his parents Mr Siow Soo Koh and Mdm Tay Hung Siang, his uncles and aunties like Mr Tay Koon Huay, his cousins like Mr Tay Chong Sim and his friends like Mr Philip Png well and have abundance of life. May they be rich in spirit for without such ancestors, there will be no posterity - no us and no you and me. They have blessed us and we must blessed them in return forever and ever.