No 1058 of Living Life Series 1
Men are strange. All they want when they go to a house of God is for God to make them more worldly than godly. They go to religion to be more non-religious but they will deny this outright and tell you in the face that you are insulting them.
In being in a religion, they want to be more with the world but claim to want to be with God. While in the world they are in, they have to work for it and maintain what they can have. In a religion instead of working towards God, they want God to bless them just like that.
They only think they need to believe and what they wish for will be delivered. It is simply like that. It will just drop from the sky. No need to work for it at all.
But what they want is not heaven here and now but the worldly blessings that religion is not originally designed for. They don't even want to work for these worldly blessings. God will grant them if only they will believe.
They want prosperity and priests are not slow in catching up with this in any religion. They capitalize on this human weakness and make social and financial capital out of this.
They promise worldly prosperity and status, not spiritual richness and attainment. Even then, to top it all, they promise that there is no need to work for it. Worldly prosperity will as it seems just drop from the sky out of the blue.
In being in a religion, they want to be more with the world but claim to want to be with God. While in the world they are in, they have to work for it and maintain what they can have. In a religion instead of working towards God, they want God to bless them just like that.
They only think they need to believe and what they wish for will be delivered. It is simply like that. It will just drop from the sky. No need to work for it at all.
But what they want is not heaven here and now but the worldly blessings that religion is not originally designed for. They don't even want to work for these worldly blessings. God will grant them if only they will believe.
They want prosperity and priests are not slow in catching up with this in any religion. They capitalize on this human weakness and make social and financial capital out of this.
They promise worldly prosperity and status, not spiritual richness and attainment. Even then, to top it all, they promise that there is no need to work for it. Worldly prosperity will as it seems just drop from the sky out of the blue.
This in short is the prosperity gospel. According to this, we must enrich ourselves by going to a temple. Before that we must enrich the temple and the saint of the temple. Isn't this not rational at all?
Will a saint need cash - human cash for the matter? God and saints provide. They do not need men to provide.
Religion teaches us to be less of this world and more of the world above - more like God and saints. But what happened is the opposite. We end up more worldly than religious by going to a religion.
Many may be in a religion but they are far from religious - more worldly in fact. The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that the problems of men are many and plentiful. Even by going to a religion, they create more worldly problems by more indulgence in this world - not less.
Will a saint need cash - human cash for the matter? God and saints provide. They do not need men to provide.
Religion teaches us to be less of this world and more of the world above - more like God and saints. But what happened is the opposite. We end up more worldly than religious by going to a religion.
Many may be in a religion but they are far from religious - more worldly in fact. The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that the problems of men are many and plentiful. Even by going to a religion, they create more worldly problems by more indulgence in this world - not less.
They are supposed to be near to God and saints but end up more far. Religion helps them to be more worldly and that they say is what they want in religion. On top of that they think that they are religious. This is ironical and bordering on absurdity.
Society does make mockery of religion. Popular religion runs such a risk.
Frankly, can we buy the blessings of God and saints in exchange for our belief in them? We cannot do so with men, let alone God and saints. No man will give us what we want just because we believe in him. There is no free lunch however free it may be. We have to rise above this human weakness. Religion is not to encourage this. But sad to say, religion may actually be doing this.
This is not religious at all - just hijacking religion for furthering the non-religious urge or want in man. In fact, this will be exactly the opposite of what religion is for.
Well, the reality is that men just want to be pampered and be special. They cannot accept the true nature of life. They go for religion to be more worldly. What they want more is to have more of this world and they think religion is the answer to how they cannot have more of this world. The ridiculous part is that they want this without lifting a finger. They will insist that God provides.
They will end up far from God and saints. Those who work at life to have what they can have and perhaps a bit more may have less wants and more at peace. They are near to God and saints though they stay clear of religion. Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 laments that the near may be far and the far near.
The good lord says men must cross mountains and seas, weather the hot sun and drought in life. He says that hard work and suffering make the men but if you tell men this, they will not accept this. They want to live a rosy life and think that this is so though this is not. They want to live in delusion.
By doing so, they are playing into the hands of the devil in the very name of God and saints. They are playing up the card of the anti-saint in the very name of the saint of God in their respective religion.
They make devil out of God and saints. This will spell trouble for the world and pave the way for the second coming of the saint in the respective religions but will men be ready for this? For all we know, many will welcome the devil as saint and regard the saint or even God as the devil. Even the Buddha will not be spared.
This is in the nature of society and should be accepted. In the world of science, the majority will follow existing beliefs and just leave things at that. But the top echelons will question more and they are the ones who make new discoveries. They will have hard time initially of winning over the majority.
In religion, the top echelons too do know more and challenge themselves to know more. They are often misunderstood if they try to explain to the majority. This has been going on since time immemorial.
Ultimately, religion is a personal concern and should not be a societal fad. Religion is between God and the man and God means and speaks different things to the same man at different times as he progresses in relationship with God. If we let society determine the say of how things goes, then this will be interfered with.
Society does make mockery of religion. Popular religion runs such a risk.
Frankly, can we buy the blessings of God and saints in exchange for our belief in them? We cannot do so with men, let alone God and saints. No man will give us what we want just because we believe in him. There is no free lunch however free it may be. We have to rise above this human weakness. Religion is not to encourage this. But sad to say, religion may actually be doing this.
This is not religious at all - just hijacking religion for furthering the non-religious urge or want in man. In fact, this will be exactly the opposite of what religion is for.
Well, the reality is that men just want to be pampered and be special. They cannot accept the true nature of life. They go for religion to be more worldly. What they want more is to have more of this world and they think religion is the answer to how they cannot have more of this world. The ridiculous part is that they want this without lifting a finger. They will insist that God provides.
They will end up far from God and saints. Those who work at life to have what they can have and perhaps a bit more may have less wants and more at peace. They are near to God and saints though they stay clear of religion. Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 laments that the near may be far and the far near.
The good lord says men must cross mountains and seas, weather the hot sun and drought in life. He says that hard work and suffering make the men but if you tell men this, they will not accept this. They want to live a rosy life and think that this is so though this is not. They want to live in delusion.
By doing so, they are playing into the hands of the devil in the very name of God and saints. They are playing up the card of the anti-saint in the very name of the saint of God in their respective religion.
They make devil out of God and saints. This will spell trouble for the world and pave the way for the second coming of the saint in the respective religions but will men be ready for this? For all we know, many will welcome the devil as saint and regard the saint or even God as the devil. Even the Buddha will not be spared.
This is in the nature of society and should be accepted. In the world of science, the majority will follow existing beliefs and just leave things at that. But the top echelons will question more and they are the ones who make new discoveries. They will have hard time initially of winning over the majority.
In religion, the top echelons too do know more and challenge themselves to know more. They are often misunderstood if they try to explain to the majority. This has been going on since time immemorial.
Ultimately, religion is a personal concern and should not be a societal fad. Religion is between God and the man and God means and speaks different things to the same man at different times as he progresses in relationship with God. If we let society determine the say of how things goes, then this will be interfered with.
