No 1116 of Living Life Series 1
It was unthinkable then for a man to attain spiritual development if a man did not follow what holy men taught. But he did. He became the Buddha - no less the fully enlightened one.
Centuries have gone bye. Men have progressed. But just like their forefathers, many just accept wholesale the words of the holy men - namely the pastors, priests and monks. They also accept the holy texts as truth. The odd part is that there are many versions of the texts and there are gross and inevitable differences.
The men of today and even in the future are told and will be told to accept what are written in scriptures and what are said by religious leaders. No need to ask why. No need to have doubts. This is and will be the same old mistake.
Just we believe and all will be fine. Of course, this will be fertile ground to brew the unthinkable - to be misled or to put it bluntly to be led by the nose.
We can empathise with how Gautama in his ancient times had a tough time trying to tell others not to believe just because holy men said so or just because the beliefs were in the holy texts passed down.
When he became enlightened as Buddha, he wanted those who followed him to not even accept what he said or what others say he said.
They must use logic and question. Common sense must prevail. Only when they are convinced, should they believe and put to practice. (They must not believe just because so-and-so said so - not even if they heard directly from the Buddha or for that matter God or any saint.)
With such approach, how can there be a religion in his name? There shouldn't be? But there is Buddhism but how else can the West accept his teachings as an entity?
Even if we say it is not a religion as we should not religiously stick to what he said and taught but always to question and ask the reason "why", it is far more a spiritual way than those ways found in the religions of the day and age.
We don't have to be rigid and religious in abiding to what he taught. There is no blasphemy and bigotry. We are just being logical, being what we are and no less human beings.
We should not allow the animal nature in us get the better of us. We should not be cowed to follow a leader blindly but to be intelligent and even correct him if needed.
Others may think we are not respectful of the Buddha. In fact, those who follow blindly and wholesale without any thought and reflection though near are near though far from what the Buddha expected.
The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reinforced this when he said that in all religions, the near may be far and the seemingly far may be near. Those who question, challenge and have doubts with the teachings of God and saints are near to God and saints though seemingly far.
Well, well, please do not be taken aback and have fear and guilt when others say, "How can you be so disrespectful of a saint by not believing in him?" It is not a question of disrespect but a question of being logical and wanting to apply logic - common sense. The sages of old in China refer to this as Tao 道.
To be religious, we do not forgo common sense - Tao 道. Forgo not logic when we want to be religious. We cannot be religious and rigid in religion and that way we are better off in religion. We are better off in whatever religion we may be in or even if none.
But as the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says we must have doubts as doubts spur us to want to know better. But at no time he said should we have guilt and fear, for even if we do wrong, we certainly wrong ourselves and others - not God and saints!
So what is the big deal if we are wrong? We learn from our wrong and can be better off. Thank goodness that this is the case. The Vesak flag captures the free spirit that we should have - flying free in the wind with no guilt and no fear.
Try not to consciously and wilfully make mistakes. But fear not and have no guilt if we make mistakes. Mistakes taken positively maketh the saint out of the man. We must fly free in the wind with no guilt and fear. Just reflect on the Vesak flag.
Ji Gong 济公 the living saint embodies the free spirit of the Vesak flag. He does not put on acts or a front to impress. What matters he says is not what one does or what goes through the gut but what goes through the heart.
He is not religious and rigid with religion. He is not bothered and not bordered up by religion. He is better off and he is a free spirit at that. There is no denying that he is welcome by all - not just as saint but as a friend. He is good and worthy company.
It is good and wholesome to associate with the wise and not to associate with the unwise, to honor those who are worthy of honor and to live in a locality where we can find simultaneously all saints like Ji Gong, Buddha and Jesus. This is captured in the first stanza of the Discourse on Blessings by the Buddha.
We don't have to be rigid and religious in abiding to what he taught. There is no blasphemy and bigotry. We are just being logical, being what we are and no less human beings.
We should not allow the animal nature in us get the better of us. We should not be cowed to follow a leader blindly but to be intelligent and even correct him if needed.
Others may think we are not respectful of the Buddha. In fact, those who follow blindly and wholesale without any thought and reflection though near are near though far from what the Buddha expected.
The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 reinforced this when he said that in all religions, the near may be far and the seemingly far may be near. Those who question, challenge and have doubts with the teachings of God and saints are near to God and saints though seemingly far.
Well, well, please do not be taken aback and have fear and guilt when others say, "How can you be so disrespectful of a saint by not believing in him?" It is not a question of disrespect but a question of being logical and wanting to apply logic - common sense. The sages of old in China refer to this as Tao 道.
To be religious, we do not forgo common sense - Tao 道. Forgo not logic when we want to be religious. We cannot be religious and rigid in religion and that way we are better off in religion. We are better off in whatever religion we may be in or even if none.
But as the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says we must have doubts as doubts spur us to want to know better. But at no time he said should we have guilt and fear, for even if we do wrong, we certainly wrong ourselves and others - not God and saints!
So what is the big deal if we are wrong? We learn from our wrong and can be better off. Thank goodness that this is the case. The Vesak flag captures the free spirit that we should have - flying free in the wind with no guilt and no fear.
Try not to consciously and wilfully make mistakes. But fear not and have no guilt if we make mistakes. Mistakes taken positively maketh the saint out of the man. We must fly free in the wind with no guilt and fear. Just reflect on the Vesak flag.
Ji Gong 济公 the living saint embodies the free spirit of the Vesak flag. He does not put on acts or a front to impress. What matters he says is not what one does or what goes through the gut but what goes through the heart.
He is not religious and rigid with religion. He is not bothered and not bordered up by religion. He is better off and he is a free spirit at that. There is no denying that he is welcome by all - not just as saint but as a friend. He is good and worthy company.
It is good and wholesome to associate with the wise and not to associate with the unwise, to honor those who are worthy of honor and to live in a locality where we can find simultaneously all saints like Ji Gong, Buddha and Jesus. This is captured in the first stanza of the Discourse on Blessings by the Buddha.
