No 1111 of Living Life Series 1
What matters to a temple or any house of God is whether people come to it for blessings and not what religion these people belong to.
A temple may be a Buddhist or Taoist temple in eyes of many who believe in religious labels.
But a temple welcomes all to visit it and to benefit from the temple. A temple extends goodwill to all. In a way, it is never a temple of any religion just a temple for all men and for all beings.
It is not far fetch that many temples have devotees who come not to worship but to help in the good works of the temple. Many may not even be Buddhists or Taoists but may be Hindus or Christians. A church may have devotees who are non-Christians coming to it as well.
Chinese (often labelled Buddhist) temples may even have altar for Muslim personalities like Admiral Cheng Ho. They may also have shrine rooms for earth gods of Muslim community who were previously village heads.
Thus there is in a way no such entity as Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian temples. All are temples built by men and frequented by men regardless of religion.
They are regarded out of convenience by the West as Buddhist temples or Taoist temples but they do not function exactly as such. They are more like cultural temples and they may even celebrate Christmas and share in the joy of festivities of all religions.
They are near but yet far from any religion. But if we examine the teachings of the saints of all religions, you will realize that they fulfill the objectives of all saints of all religions - to believe in God and all saints.
Thus the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 hit the nail when he says the far may be near and the near far. Far and near is yet one. There are in reality only temples but Westerners may view them as temples of specific religion and discourage those in their religion from going to such temples.
Temples are just temples for all to come to help others or to receive blessings. There is no prerequisite that you must be of any religion to be in a temple.
Temples are for all regardless of religion - never for any target group. Saints like Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 and Ji Gong 济公 even made it clear that they are not of any specific religion but they welcome people of any religion or even if none. Temples and saints are for all regardless of religion.
A temple may be a Buddhist or Taoist temple in eyes of many who believe in religious labels.
But a temple welcomes all to visit it and to benefit from the temple. A temple extends goodwill to all. In a way, it is never a temple of any religion just a temple for all men and for all beings.
It is not far fetch that many temples have devotees who come not to worship but to help in the good works of the temple. Many may not even be Buddhists or Taoists but may be Hindus or Christians. A church may have devotees who are non-Christians coming to it as well.
Chinese (often labelled Buddhist) temples may even have altar for Muslim personalities like Admiral Cheng Ho. They may also have shrine rooms for earth gods of Muslim community who were previously village heads.
Thus there is in a way no such entity as Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian temples. All are temples built by men and frequented by men regardless of religion.
They are regarded out of convenience by the West as Buddhist temples or Taoist temples but they do not function exactly as such. They are more like cultural temples and they may even celebrate Christmas and share in the joy of festivities of all religions.
They are near but yet far from any religion. But if we examine the teachings of the saints of all religions, you will realize that they fulfill the objectives of all saints of all religions - to believe in God and all saints.
Thus the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 hit the nail when he says the far may be near and the near far. Far and near is yet one. There are in reality only temples but Westerners may view them as temples of specific religion and discourage those in their religion from going to such temples.
Temples are just temples for all to come to help others or to receive blessings. There is no prerequisite that you must be of any religion to be in a temple.
Temples are for all regardless of religion - never for any target group. Saints like Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 and Ji Gong 济公 even made it clear that they are not of any specific religion but they welcome people of any religion or even if none. Temples and saints are for all regardless of religion.
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| Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 |
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| Ji Gong 济公 |
