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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!.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Wesak and the other Four Truths of Life

No 874 of Living Life Series 1




The Buddha we knew when we were children is no different from the Buddha we know now for he is one and the same. He is the Buddha. But then in the old days, he was just what we expected him to be and we need only to keep to the five precepts of not harming and killing, no lying, no taking or stealing, no sexual misconduct and no intoxicants. 

In short, indeed we need only be good. It was that simple and uncomplicated then when we were innocent children. It  was nice to be simple and to be children. 
But with passing of decades, there is the need to know better the Four Noble Truths - the truth of imperfection or transient nature of worldly blessings in life causing us to suffer, the truth that there is the cause to this, the truth of what is the cause - ignorance and the three mental roots arising from it and finally, the solution or way out through eradication of ignorance. 
From there, with time the wonders of breaking this further into the Eight Fold Path will set the stage for more serious involvement in enlightened living even before enlightenment is any where near. 

The Buddha we knew is not the same as and yet is the same as the Buddha we know now. The Buddha will also be not the same and yet is the same as we move on in time.  

No wonder in connection with life and the hallmarks of life - impermanence, unsatisfactory insubstantial nature of life, the Buddha taught that an entity or thing is, it is not, it both is and is not and it neither is nor is not. 

The Buddha is the same, he is not the same, he both is and is not the same and he neither is nor is not the same. All four angles or perspectives are different and yet the same. This is to us the other Four Truths of Life that we need to know on life more so on Wesak Day.  

This four alternative truths of life apply to all aspects of life and we need to be mindful. It is perhaps why some Buddhists refer to the understanding that everything is nothing and nothing is everything. 

As extension, we can say with tongue in cheek that Jesus or Lao Tse is Buddha and Buddha is Jesus or Lao Tse. Yet we do know Jesus is Jesus, Lao Tse is Lao Tse and Buddha is Buddha. But they are one in saving souls. They are one in goodness for beings.

Buddha on his own is one though he means different things in different stages of our lives. Buddha and sages are one and yet different. They are one in basic teaching of oneness in goodness but yet different in effecting such goodness. 
Well, this calls to mind the reference by Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 that there is the near and there is the far. We can be far. We can be near say to Divinity. We are both near and far. In a way we are neither near and far. So much can be said for the near and the far that we need to know. 
Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨

If after reading this post and finding the following meaningful, then you are enlightened enough to be on the way to enlightenment though not immediately and some way off.  It is a matter of time though...that gives peace of mind. 

We are

We are not

We both are and are not

We neither are nor are not.

These are the other Four Truths of Life we should reflect on Wesak Day. So what is the message? There is no permanence not even with ourselves as individuals.  

Where is there an unchanging self ? We are forever changing, aren't we? Not only is the body changing but the soul or the spirit of life too is changing. There is no unchanging self or entity in us. 

The lousy part is that we are actually changing faster for the worse though we are changing for the better. Perhaps, well just perhaps, we think we are changing for the better at least in the worldly but not the spiritual sense. This is the conventional way of thinking but not the ultimate reality. How many can go beyond conventional.

But to come to the point, there is need to be pure and stay off the impure aspects of self that are rooted in bad vibes of ignorance, ill-will and greed. We need to grow the purity of good mental roots of goodwill (that nurtures love for life), non-clinging and correct views. 

We need to love. Love must be unconditional. If love means hatred or bias towards some, then what love is that? There is more bad will than good will - more of dislike than of like for people in us. 

Well, this is not surprising as we somehow by force of wrong and lousy habits tend to grow more of the impure nature in us. It is high time we make the stand to be pure and good. 

There is no time to lose as time lost means flowing with polluted river of life and adding to the pollution. We need to stop pollution of life. We need to go upstream to the upper source for clear water. This unfortunately means we have to resolve to go against the downstream current - to go upstream. This the Buddha did by eating and not being ascetic as the norm then. He succeeded indeed and is the Buddha we know.

Going upstream against the conventional worldly ways the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reminds us is the basic or inner teaching of all sages, more so the teaching of the Buddha. This is referred to as the inner truth common to all religious institutions and cultures by the good lord. This is the Inner Truth Message of the good lord.

Let all regardless of creed or culture rejoice in the various beautiful renditions of the same inner truth by none other than the great Buddha Gautama in addition to the renditions by other sages and saints. That way more will be saved - more souls if you like to use the word soul. 

By the way, the Buddha would never say he is the only Buddha or saint. He would never say we believe in him alone. He advised that we not believe in mere hearsay. In fact, he exhorted us to test what was supposed to be said by him like gold was tested by fire in the old days. That sums up the approach of the Buddha.