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.

.

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!.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Not difficult yet not easy

No 773 of Living Life Series 1

It is neither difficult nor easy to be in paradise, otherwise religions will offer this even in this life and not tell us to wait till next life.

It is not easy to go to paradise. How can this be easy? But alas, yes indeed there are many who think that they can do so merely by being in a religion or by believing in a lord saint? That would be too good to be true and all will want this to be true.

It is also not difficult to reach paradise if we put into effect the teachings of a lord saint. Belief alone is not enough. Only young children will think that way. Effort is needed. But effort without belief will not last.

Beside problem of need for effort and time, another problem is the misconception of men that paradise is for the asking and they who sell this idea say that it is free but only need faith. Then indeed it is still not free and there is no really free lunch or meal.

Also, yet another problem is that men think that it is as easy as attending a course. They think that they just need to go through the motion and complete the course in a short time.

Men fail to realize that it takes many lifetimes to be enlightened and that each life time is just one step.

The odd and wonderful part is that men even think that one whole lifetime is just too long and that they can achieve spirituality just by believing alone in a sage or in God.

Spiritual success is not as easy as that. It is not child's play and fantasy.

But at the same time, it is not as difficult as it seems except that men must accept that the path is a long one over many lifetimes. This however just put many off.

For those who have grasped the understanding of the true nature of life, it is a certainty but must require right perseverance, effort and concentration. It requires time.

Though the road is long, there must be conviction and conviction comes from knowing that God and saint will be there if we need help. This is referred to as faith.

But some argue that God and saints are never ideal or perfect and if so, how can they help? But they are better off - umpteen times better than other beings. Definitely, it is ridiculous to say they cannot help. It is arrogant of beings or men who think they do not need the help of God and saints and prefer to go it alone by themselves.

But faith and belief in God and saints are just not enough. We need to live life on our own. We need to live life correctly, neither running away from worldly and unsatisfactory life nor indulging in the fantasy of life after death as though life here and now does not matter.

We need to be content with life for the moment for whatever we have or can have and be at peace with life of the moment. Then we can be at peace now and not crave for the paradise in afterlife and be far from peace but yearning for peace.

There must be the balance in life, living the worldly life on the one hand as long as we are men and mindful of the need to prepare for more than what we can have with the world of the senses on the other hand. This is called Tao 道 or Way.

Tao 道 is not easy and yet not difficult. There is need to invest our time and effort and be content for every moment of peace we can get in life of the moment.

We will be blessed if we can have heavenly saints to help us along the way. But they cannot carry us to the end point. We need to do so ourselves and we need to go for the peace and satisfaction of each moment and not live in agony for that promised peace in afterlife.

Many moments of peace do add up to give some semblance of paradise here and now - at least the taste of peace that the saints have. That is what we should go for and not dream of paradise in afterlife and be in constant wait for that.

Ji Gong (济公) is indeed one such living saint to help us along the way. He is with us like Jesus and all the rest. Seek and ye shall find them and knock and the door of our life will be opened for them to be with us - not for us to enter their life in heaven or Buddha land.

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.