Fun in life and in the house of God

No 825 of Living Life Series 1

All good things that captivate us in this worldly life have to do with fun. They have to come to an end, like everything in this world. Even lunar new year ends after 15 days but let the fun go beyond for the rest of the year if we can.

Fun is good as long as it lasts but fun is due to man's longing to satisfy himself. Fun is addictive. 

We go on and on finding more of fun. This can be funny as man goes on to go for more fun just to want it again, lose it and go on for other fun in life. The need for fun drives us on but isn't it no fun to lose the fun we have in life time and time again? 

But without fun, there is no drive in life. Is it simply just hanging on to happiness that do not last - only to give rise to bleakness that makes man want to have more of the fun in life in new forms. 

Is life the chase for fun - one after another? Fun is rooted in the physical or biological needs of the body and the senses. Christmas and the lunar new year are fine examples of fun and joy.

When the body wanes and decline after the age of 30, how good can a person sustain the fun and for how long can he sustain the fun in life? When he reaches old age, what was fun in past is no longer fun and the drive for fun only yields increasingly more stress and boredom instead. 

Then he undergoes withdrawal from lack of fun in life. Fun is addictive. Fun has to do with the lower calling in life which comes naturally for men. 

For man, there is the higher calling which is spiritual but many go to  a house of God purportedly for spiritual but unconsciously go for the worldly fun or kicks at the very house of God. But that is better than having fun outside the house of God and saints. 

Like what the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) says, they are like insects and ants who go to the flower for nectar and when one flower no longer provides the nectar, they go for the next flower. This goes on and on. 

It is fun to be in the limelight and fussed over by fellow men and what better places than at the houses of God. If one house of God no longer provides the nectar of fun, then switch to another. 

But as the good lord says, "Blame not the flower for insects coming to it." Point not your fingers at a house of God for at least many will be near to God though not so near to true spirituality. The near may be far but better to be that way than far and not near. 

Didn't the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) talk at length on the near and far? The near can be far and the far near. Give this some thought. After all, no one will gravitate towards spiritual life if not for fun and awe to begin with. 

But in time, fun must give way to the serious business of higher spirituality. We must climb up the ladder of life as we progress - 步步高升. Isn't this one of the many greetings during every lunar new year?  

步步高升 

We can still see life as fun but be mindful to go beyond fun and climb up the ladder of success. Let us keep alive the spirit of the lunar new year for every day of the year and year in and year out.

步步高升
That is the way to go

Knowing the 7th to 9th day of Lunar New Year

No 824 of Living Life Series 1

Chinese folklore has it that the goddess with snake body (2852-2738 B.C.) created chicken on the first day of the very first lunar month, dog on the 2nd day, sheep on the 3rd day, pig on the 4th day, cow on the 5th day, horse on the 6th and human being on the 7th day. 

Therefore, the 7th lunar day of the year becomes the human's birthday. Chinese eat seven vegetables on the human day and this is believed to repel the evil spirits and sickness away. 

While the lunar new year holiday for government and business company ends on the 5th lunar day, for some, it is the 8th lunar day. This is the Completion Day. People should return from the holiday vacation and go back to work. All the meat and cake prepared for Chinese New Year should be consumed by this 8th day. Life should back to normal. 

The 8th lunar day of the first month is also the birthday of King Yama, who is 5th king of Legendary Hell in 5th palace of Hell. It contains 16 sub-divisions. 

Folklore has it that he was demoted to be the King of the 5th palace of Hell from the first palace because he sent back to the living world of humans those who had died from injustice. Till now and even in future he feels for souls and will send them away for births in higher states by helping them to focus on their good in life as man even if they have been bad.

That is Yama, a saint in his own right. No wonder he is part of Completion Day - the 8th day as he makes life complete and he is a potential asset to many a living. Humans must remember to be good more than the bad so that there is no need for him to help them to complete life on good note. But if there is the need he is there for them on day of reckoning so long as there was some good potential in them. 

The 9th day of the lunar new year is to commemorate the birthday anniversary of God the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor lives in the 33rd heaven and he is the king of the 33 heavens as well as all of the universe. He was sent down from the supra-universe of the First Pure One on the ninth day of the very first of the first lunar month. 

Jade Emperor is a vegetarian. To celebrate his birthday, Chinese offer three bundles of long noodle, three tea cup with green tea, five different kinds of fruit and six different kinds of dry vegetables on the top two tier of a table to worship Jade Emperor. But people also prepare five animal sacrifices, different sweet cakes and red turtle cake (turtle is a symbol of longevity) on the lowest tier of the table for Jade Emperor's retinue. 

This three tier table arrangement for Jade Emperor and retinue was a yearly tradition in the initial years of the temple of the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) on yearly mission day observance. Those were the days when the lord descended through the late P. Philip.

To respect God the Jade Emperor, many clean themselves by having a bath on the 8th lunar night, then wait for the first minute of 9th lunar day to pay respect to the Jade Emperor and celebrate his anniversary. There will be firing of firecrackers from midnight to sunrise. 

The temple of Jade Emperor will be crowded on the night of 8th lunar day as those people unable to hold the worship event at home will throng the temple. 

That there are step like progressions of new year from day 1 to day 15th in itself reminds us of the need to move on in life and that life too must go on with step-like progressions from buzz and fuss to end in simplicity, peace and fulfillment. 

We must progress on in life. This is as what Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) advises us - to learn from each day and stage of life and make good spiritually and otherwise - 步步高升. Life is indeed simply the living gospel. 

The fifteen days of Lunar New Year is in a way a concise and a compressed version of the various lessons in life and is a religion of sorts in itself. There is the trend from buzz to simplicity and peace of completion and fulfillment, just like the stack of bamboos where there are fewest bamboo sticks at the top level and impressive array of sticks at the lowest level.

步步高升 

步步高升 

Religion is culture and culture is religion. Let us embrace our ancestral culture and be better at what we are rather than go for another culture and be neither here nor there. Only then can we appreciate and embrace other cultures.

Whatever religious institution we go for upfront is immaterial if we are deeply rooted in our cultural roots. Well, culture is always and ever will be the big picture of religion and can embrace all religious institutions. Culture is the basic broader religious background to color our approach to institutional religion and hopefully not the other way round.

We too can learn what the culture of 7th to 9th day of the lunar new year has in store for us. Then we will both be awed and humbled at the same time. We will be awed by what our ancestors did during the lunar new year and will be humbled when we know that without them, we will not have the richness of the lunar new year. 

There certainly is beauty and richness in culture that the lunar new year has in store for us, regardless of our institutional religious front. All are one in culture and culture is one for all regardless of religions if all are of the same community and ethnicity. Cheers. 

The fifteen days of Chinese New Year

No 823 of Living Life Series 1

If you are Chinese, it is best to know the roots of Chinese culture by knowing what the Chinese of yesteryear do during the fifteen days of the new year. Then ruminate on how these can be relevant in the society of 2015 and beyond. 

If you appreciate being Chinese, you have to know what it was being Chinese in yesteryear, otherwise you might not "recognize your home when in front of it." 

This was a phrase often used by those who are ingrained in Chinese ethnic culture and by the pioneers and ground representatives of the mission started by the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨).

Even the good lord descended in a Chinese culture milieu to set up a Chinese style temple in 1969 to show the richness of the same basic truth of all religions and saints behind Chinese culture.

In fact, we can find in Chinese culture a better understanding not only of world religions but of the creation of the universe and insight of the various heavenly hierarchy and trappings.

Whatever our race or ethnicity, let us all be wise and be in tune with the wisdom of our ancestors. That way we will be better positioned to appreciate the culture and wisdom of those of other races and ethnicity. 

We will learn to adopt culture beyond that of our own race and integrate it into our ethnic culture. That has happened time and time again, hasn't it? Christmas is a good example with the joy of giving and receiving but usually in kind rather than in cash.

Incidentally the founders of any religion never impose their ethnic or racial culture on believers. Thus a Chinese Buddhist observes Chinese culture and an Indian Buddhist observes Indian culture. But the culture observed often imbibes many aspects of other cultures though still staying predominantly the same old culture.

Let us now have a bird's eye view of the fifteen days of Chinese New Year and learn about the folklore associated with each day. We will understand why the third day is a rest day with no visiting in the old days and why on the seventh day, Chinese celebrate it by eating a soup with seven types of vegetables - why seven types and on the seventh day?

Below is from

http://www.chinesenewyearday.com/ChineseNewYear

Do click to read more of how people celebrated the fifteen days of Chinese New Year in yesteryear. 

Chinese New Year Day 1: New Year Celebration

Chinese New Year Day 2: Son-in-Law Day

Chinese New Year Day 3: Mice Wedding Day and Red-Dog Day

Chinese New Year Day 4: Welcome the God of Stove Day

Chinese New Year Day 5: God of Wealth Day, Open Business Day

Chinese New Year Day 6: Clear-Water Master Day (God of Pig Day)

Chinese New Year Day 7: The Human Day - everybody's birthday

Chinese New Year Day 8: The Completion Day

Chinese New Year Day 9: The Birthday of Jade Emperor, King of Heaven

Chinese New Year Day 10: The Eating Day

Chinese New Year Day 11: The Break Day

Chinese New Year Day 12: The Diarrhea Day

Chinese New Year Day 13: The Death Anniversary of General Kuan Yu

Chinese New Year Day 14: The Lantern Decoration Day

Chinese New Year Day 15: The Lantern Festival 

Another source on lunar new year. Left click computer mouse and click relevant to go to site
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/chinese-new-year-festivities.htm

Lunar New Year and the gospel of life

No 822 of Living Life Series 1

There is the tendency of mankind to strike it out on their own different from the elders once they have come of age. This is not unlike a pack of wild animals which increases in pack size due to reproduction. 

Once the young ones grow up, they either displace the old or leave the pack to have their own pack. Is this something mankind should be proud of? Confucius (above) might not agree in certain scenarios.

But this is how every species survive and thrive. Man is no different but man wants to rise above just being animal and religion is supposed to enable that. 

Should mankind be proud of the 'want to be different' streak and tendency of many young to strike out on their own? Well, the outcome in society speaks for itself. 

That is how there are marriages and new families. That is how a house of God end up reinventing itself and the young will always leave or have their own way. The young will do things differently and think differently even turning logic on its head. Many houses of God just simply let the young have their way.

Well then obviously, what was disgusting and really unthinkable to the elders become the in-thing and the thinkable. The house of God becomes the arena or playground sadly for mankind to play out the pack culture of the animal in men. 

Then, of course, there is great dishevel to the culture that the ancestors want us to preserve. There is the overthrow of the old and the quick and hasty institutionalization of the new that the young prefer. 

They want to be different. They want to be heard. They want to be in control. They want elders to be out of their way though they may still respect the elders so long as they stay in the background. 

They badly want to show they are in control and not the elders. Often what they prefer is to do things differently and not to go along with the elders. 

This scenario has been replayed time and time again even within a religion or sect, not to mention across sects and religions. 

That is why for Chinese New Year, there is the reminder that life is about following the oldies or elders and respecting them so as to have blessings and progress in life. We must have the blessings from the elders that is exemplified by the red packets.

If this spirit is eroded significantly, then Chinese New Year will fade into oblivion and might as well there be no Chinese or Lunar New Year and all go for the January 1st new year day instead. If the young have their way and want to strike it out in their own way and style, then soon this will be.

Hanging on to age-old ways of Chinese New Year is not going to be easy if the young do not want to go along with the thinking of the old and pay lip service for respect to elders. 

The fault if any lies with the elders for having small families and not setting the family rules of conduct and allowing the young to set the rules instead. When this is transposed to wider society, well there will be ever the more great societal change at both religious and secular organisations. 

The lack of hanging on to the ways of the elders has plagued not only the Chinese but all societies. The world is experiencing the resurgence of the need of mankind to be different from their predecessors. 

Is this necessarily bad or is this good? Well there is no definite answer. After all, whatever happens, this is how society has to learn and move on in life. There will be gains and losses along the way.

We have to learn from life. We have to learn from the good and bad of life and fellow men. These are the lessons of life. These are chapters of the gospel of life that the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) wants us to grasp and learn. We will be wiser from the learning. 

The young which are in the Spring of life will have to learn. Chinese New Year is more for the young and in the Spring of life. They have to respect elders, learn from them and from life. 

They may not see eye to eye with the ways of the elders for now but they should just go along, out of respect for elders. One day they will know better the wisdom of the ancestors and appreciate the Lunar New Year even more.

The Lunar New Year captures the values that those celebrating it should eschew. It is beyond just culture. It is truly a religion in itself. 

Lunar New Year is indeed central to the religion of the Chinese and those celebrating it. It is centered on elders - elder centered but please do not mistake this as ancestor worship. 

They are very much alive though way past the Spring of life but they capture all the essence of Spring which they can pass on to the young. This will enable the young to move on more and more successfully and productively in life 步步高升.

步步高升

Lunar New Year with many a new beginning

No 821 of Living Life Series 1

A new beginning is what Lunar New Year is all about. The new must arise from the old. Creation is just like that. The first beginning there may not be for the created is the creator and the creator is the created. We welcome the new but we must value the old. Isn't that the spirit of Lunar New Year where we value the old and the elders among us and welcome the new additions to the family and to society. That is Lunar New Year. 

It is the time of the year to let our fantasy flow to the highest heaven and to the universe beyond the visible universe we know. The sky they say is the limit but to the sages of Taoism, even the universe we know is not the limit. They shared with us that there are three supra-universes beyond the visible universe we are in. 

Are these the black holes that scientists talk about that are far more massive than the universe we know? Well, we will never know, or perhaps they may be. 

Each of the three supra universes far out-sized the visible universe which is already of mind boggling dimensions. Well, the sages of Taoism want us to know that each of the three is controlled by the Three Pure Ones. 

In time immemorial, there was just primordial energy and no masses. Then arose from the purest essence of this primordial energy, the First Pure One. The First take on the Second and the Second the Third. Each created from the primordial energy his own supra-universe. Each has his own host of super divine beings. 

The Jade Emperor is one of such beings sent by the First Pure One out of the supra-universe to create from the less pure remnants of the primordial energy the visible universe we are in with its yin and yang polarities which are in constant dynamic flux.

In every universe, there are the astral and physical. Supra-universes are inhabited by the astral and visible universe by both the astral and physical beings.

Those beings that are high up spiritually have vastly more energy than lower beings. The lower the energy levels, the less stable, and decay and impermanence are more obvious. Only the Three Pure Ones and their retinues which includes God the Jade Emperor are from the supra universes. 

They are relatively stable and lasting. They are like Buddhas stable and omnipresent and one can never pinpoint them at any place. They are pervasive and can be anywhere and at several places at the same time. 

Human beings and other life forms have lesser energy and not stable. Life span compared to the likes of the higher beings is short and fleeting. Life is as short as a dream compared to the near eternity of the high beings. Because life is short, the flip side is that there are many new beginnings and opportunities. Changes occur quick and fast. These changes afford many new beginnings within life. That is good.

A new beginning is what Lunar New Year is all about. The new must arise from the old. Creation is just like that. There is always a new beginning. Life is just like that for most beings but not so for a few like God the Jade Emperor, the Three Pure Ones and their retinues of the supra universes as well as the enlightened ones the Buddhas. We are given new and added opportunities by ever more of many a new beginning. Lunar New Year celebrates that many more of a new beginning we will always have to give new hopes and opportunities.

The many episodes of big bang of fire crackers set off during Lunar New Year are reminiscent of the big bang of creation of the universe when energy coalesced, imploded and exploded. The paper litter on the floor after the firing of firecrackers is not unlike the formation of planets, meteors and interplanetary dust. 

The late P. Philip too has been given many a new beginning and will come banging back into the mission of the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) not only once but time and time again. He is near and yet far and though far he is near. The good lord says that the far is near and the near far. 

That certainly is the way men move up the ladder of success - 步步高升. 

Time and time again, we are near and yet far from success and yet near though far from success. Success come like the banging of fire crackers. Every step we take contributes to success and with every step, we learn more on how to go about life. 

We may get a banging or two here and there to cheer us up and at times to wake us up. That is fine. After all that is life and this is evident of the dual nature of life in the visible universe - the yin and the yang. We must harness both to move up in life step by step - move by move - 步步高升. 

步步高升

At each step though the learning is not easy, God and saints through our elders will give us the push through blessings - through red packets.

For other perspectives of Taoist creation go to
http://taocurrents.org/2011/10/28/taoist-creation-theory/
For some computers, need to highlight the above and left click it, then a drop box will appear. Left click the relevant in the drop box

On the central theme of Lunar New Year

No 820 of Living Life Series 1

Let us get it right with regards to Respect for Elders and there is no better occasion to do so than the Lunar New Year. The celebration of the Lunar New Year is centered on respect for elders. Elders are givers and we are the receivers of blessings on this festive day.

There is a saying of common Chinese men in the street that puts the problem of lack of respect for elders squarely and bluntly. "Those who do not view elders as elders are those who don't even recognize their own home."

They often do not know how to give way to elders but compete with and challenge them instead. They do not even have the grace to let elders have some leeway. 

They are not uncommon even in a religious organization. In fact, like what the good lord Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) says that ants and insects are attracted to the flower and we should not blame the flower for ants and insects coming to it. Sadly, religion will always attract more of the undesirable than the desirable but perhaps this is the reason why religion is for in the first place. 

If such characters have some sense of religiosity or morality, they will likely be graceful towards elders, and will humor the elders even if they do not see eye to eye with them and even if they find a elder an eye sore and a pain in the neck. 

Respect for elders means to be at peace with them even if they have erred and no longer assets to society. Respect for elders would include society at large trying to please the elders without going along with or perpetuating the perceived wrong of the elders. 

No matter what, men should always give way to elders and let them to have the seat and have their say. But this may not be the case.

If some men cannot accommodate them, and are adverse to them and find them too opinionated, they must realize that they have a problem. The problem may well lie more with them than the elders.

That is the very reason why the sages of old advise us to always be kind to elders by at least just having a listening ear for elders but where possible, we must accommodate them and their views. This, all right minded will do unless somehow they lack grey matter, common sense and do not know how to go for the middle ground by having give and take mentality.

We must get it correct with regards to Respect for Elders. Lunar New Year would be meaningless if there is no respect for elders and we must be reminded on this. 

Lunar New Year and Respect for Elders

No 819 of Living Life Series 1

We respect our parents and elders on Chinese New Year by honoring them at reunion dinners and on new year day. The spirit of the Lunar New Year lies in this respect for elders and a loving relationship between people related or otherwise. The Lunar New Year is a celebration of the respect for elders be it in family, society or in any house of God.

Whether we like elders or not, elders have taken care of us and we too must reciprocate by taking care of them in return. This respect for elders makes us not only more human but divine. Respect for elders is one of the precepts of all religions and one key precept of the seven universal precepts mentioned by Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨).

Respect doesn't mean hero-worshiping elders or idolizing them. It means seeking their views and guidance. We need to confer with them. We must respect them even if we differ from them in views. We can even factor their views into our lives or the running of family matters, mission or organisation - spiritual or otherwise. 

Respect must still be due regardless of whether we are in concord with their views. This respect must be borne out by concrete actions to endear them with us. Only then can we say that there is wisdom and maturity in that family or organisation. 

For instance, we may love and respect our parents but we may not agree with all their views. We do not part ways or clash with them because we differ in views but we are still one with them

God and saints are at the top echelon of the hierarchy of elders. But even with God and saints, we don't even hero worship or idolize God and saints but as wise and matured people, we grasp the Doctrine and see the Doctrine in God and saints. As what Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨) says that the image is the Doctrine and the image is the Doctrine.

Many houses of God waver and fall when men idolize the man at the pulpit and see in man God. They just blindly follow the man at the pulpit - the elder when what is important is to see the Word or Doctrine in the saint or elder and to live in the Word because of the saint or elder. 

Many houses of God too waver and decline when they fail to respect elders just because they do not go along with some of their views. 

Despite the aforementioned caution, songs of praise and adoration for elders are many and below are a few:-

There must be wise respect for elders be they God, saints, parents or elders in society. This respect for elders is the backbone of the fabric of society and central to what Lunar New Year is all about. Only then will there be progress and success upon success 步步高升 .

步步高升 

A Lunar New Year Special

No 818 of Living Life Series 1

Jesus loves us. This we must know and this red packet of God we want all to have.

All saints are like that not just on lunar new year but on any day of the year to bring us the Spring of life. Let there be the Spring of life

when flowers bloom and cranes come out to play.  

Cranes are in season

and flowers too

and a welcome sight to bring out the cheers in men. Let there be the cheer that transcends the religions of men.

The lunar new year reunion dinner captures this spirit of cheer

from http://cliparts.co/clipart

that we all should have not just on lunar new year. Let the spirit of reunion spread beyond lunar new year so harmony and peace we have despite the diversity and colors of men...

...to bring to life

the treasure pot of life - richness in diversity through melting pot of harmony and sharing. 

This is exactly why we need to celebrate the good life that is the Lunar New Year.

Cheers always and ever more

And fire crackers to boot...

to mark the joy of Spring.  

Have a Happy New Year and a fruitful life to come with success upon success 步步高升 

步步高升 

The Lunar New Year is a religious occasion but it is a celebration by people of all religions. Each religion gives the occasion its own special flavor. 

That makes it stand out somewhat, isn't it? That makes the Lunar New Year even more special and deserve exceptional mention. The writer has even decided to write and named this post "A Lunar New Year Special." 

Wishing all a Happy and 
Prosperous New Year