No 694 of Living Life Series 1
Nothing is ever the same as before. What is same is only that what it is now actually belongs to the same flow as what was before.
Well, religion too is really no exception at all. This is more so with globalization.
Well, religion too is really no exception at all. This is more so with globalization.
Members of different religions not only live as neighbors but they even live together at times in the same house and family. So what were not issues before will be issues now.
For instance, Buddha nowadays is also honored by not only Buddhists but by Hindus as well. He is one of the pantheon of gods and saints not only of Hinduism but also Taoism.
Jesus too is to be found as one of the many saints of Tibetan Buddhists. Nobody will take offence on that, though some harbor quiet reservations of sorts.
Chinese festivals associated with popular religious practices of the many Chinese Buddhists and Taoists have become festivals with Christian orientation among Chinese Christians. Well this is not only accepted but considered marvelous.
Traditional Malay village earth gods or deities are part of Chinese temples alongside Buddhist and Taoist saints and deities. Just keep your eyes open and you will not be surprised that this is true. Even a Chinese Muslim general is revered by Chinese Taoists and Buddhists in a Chinese temple in Malacca - The Cheng Ho Temple.
So how can religion of 2014 and beyond will ever be the same as centuries ago. It is more likely that with social pressures and interaction, there will be less demarcation between religions as with racial cultures.
A century or perhaps less from now, nobody will say that he or she is of this or that religion but will only say he or she holds certain religious beliefs and take guidance from such and such saints.
People will still be religious but no defined entities of religions that we still know of today in 2014. This may sound odd but it is a matter of getting used to the idea.
Even today, a Buddhist today is unlike the Buddhist 2500 years ago. The same applies to those of other faiths.
It is only natural that in years to come, it will be out of the fashion or norm to identify with a particular religion. People will just say that these are their beliefs and those are the saints they revere.
Even the word "worship" will be out of fashion as God and saints do not dictate and no one will like to be dictated to in time to come. We cannot even have the second last word. Only time have the second last word but may not have the actual last word.
No wonder the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) descended in 1969 to prepare the ground for all to believe in God and saints of all religions and to go for the beliefs common to all religions.
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| Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) speaking through the late P. Philip |
Men may want to believe in more than what are common to all religions. It is their choice. God and saints do not dictate to men but neither should men dictate to other men, let alone God and saints.
Religion is never ever the same as before and in the future. In time, there will still be religiosity but less or little to do with specific religion. How's that as food for thought? - awesome or awful? It must be both and that would be distasteful as there will be decline of all religions....
With near absence of specific religions as pillars, religiosity cannot last for long. Do remember what the good lord say that heaven or sky is the roof of the universal temple. The whole world is that temple. Religions are the pillars in the four cardinal directions and all are in this temple and its compound. (The Four Pillar Message)
Without institutional religions as we know them today (2014), there will be no hold on to the masses to go along certain directions because then there will be no dogmas. Though dogmas are rigid, they serve some purpose for most people.
That is why religions and their dogmas (the need to hold on to people) are parts of the key points in the Four Pillar Message of the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨).
Dogmas can differ from religion to religion and is the prerogative of a religion. That is how religions appeal to different sectors and peoples of the world to reach out to as many so as to save as many... or ever the more many.
Religions alone are not enough and we need in every religion to have many many denominations, sects and schools to cast a much wider net and reach-out, though there may be as many downsides to this as there are upsides and gains.
Religion is never ever the same as before and in the future. In time, there will still be religiosity but less or little to do with specific religion. How's that as food for thought? - awesome or awful? It must be both and that would be distasteful as there will be decline of all religions....
With near absence of specific religions as pillars, religiosity cannot last for long. Do remember what the good lord say that heaven or sky is the roof of the universal temple. The whole world is that temple. Religions are the pillars in the four cardinal directions and all are in this temple and its compound. (The Four Pillar Message)
Without institutional religions as we know them today (2014), there will be no hold on to the masses to go along certain directions because then there will be no dogmas. Though dogmas are rigid, they serve some purpose for most people.
That is why religions and their dogmas (the need to hold on to people) are parts of the key points in the Four Pillar Message of the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨).
Dogmas can differ from religion to religion and is the prerogative of a religion. That is how religions appeal to different sectors and peoples of the world to reach out to as many so as to save as many... or ever the more many.
Religions alone are not enough and we need in every religion to have many many denominations, sects and schools to cast a much wider net and reach-out, though there may be as many downsides to this as there are upsides and gains.
