No 1292 of Living Life Series 1
Who comes first Man or God? In eyes of men, upfront they say God comes first but what they do betray their real intention. Man comes first. Men are like that.
But to God, all in Heaven and under Heaven comes first - even those in Hell. God loves even those in Hell and even have saints there to help those in the pangs of hell.
Obviously men comes first and God being humble and pure will not put himself first. Only men will.
Why? Men have egos but not God or heavenly saints. Those men who think they come first more so if they think their religion is the only true religion are ever the more ego-driven. They think they come first and worst still is that others do not have second or third place. They are the only choice.
To make matters worse, though they hold God as first and above them, their actions betray their need to be first instead of God. They are near but yet so far from what God stands for. They are not humble, not pure and ever ego-driven - far from peace and purity that God and saints stand for. This did the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 did say. This holds true for all religions, doesn't it?
If we follow what God stands for, we should approach life by thinking that others come first but this does not mean we deny ourselves and we come last.
That would mean we do not understand God. God is first and yet to God, every being comes first even those in Hell. We must be like God - be capable and cultivated in purity and peace. We should place others first but to do that obviously we must be better than others in purity and peace to be able to help others to be so as well - to be able to place others as first before us.
When Chinese worship and offer offerings to the poor wandering souls during the Seventh Month Festival, they place these poor souls first. This is taught to them by the ancestors.
But who is in better position, men or the deprived wandering souls? It is men. Tradition upholds the poor souls to come first and a whole month is dedicated to them.
To worship poor souls is to place them first. To do so, men must be better than these souls. So in Chinese culture, men worship these souls and place them first though they are better off than these souls.
Thus this article or post is titled - Who comes first, we or others, Man or God?
In any temple and any Bo Tien Temple is no exception, members must be good enough and better than others to know others who know less must come first.
To think that they come first and others come second or last is indication they are not good enough and no better, perhaps knowing little or nothing. Then indeed, they may be near and yet far. The near and far and the far and near has been mentioned by the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
But to God, all in Heaven and under Heaven comes first - even those in Hell. God loves even those in Hell and even have saints there to help those in the pangs of hell.
Obviously men comes first and God being humble and pure will not put himself first. Only men will.
Why? Men have egos but not God or heavenly saints. Those men who think they come first more so if they think their religion is the only true religion are ever the more ego-driven. They think they come first and worst still is that others do not have second or third place. They are the only choice.
To make matters worse, though they hold God as first and above them, their actions betray their need to be first instead of God. They are near but yet so far from what God stands for. They are not humble, not pure and ever ego-driven - far from peace and purity that God and saints stand for. This did the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 did say. This holds true for all religions, doesn't it?
If we follow what God stands for, we should approach life by thinking that others come first but this does not mean we deny ourselves and we come last.
That would mean we do not understand God. God is first and yet to God, every being comes first even those in Hell. We must be like God - be capable and cultivated in purity and peace. We should place others first but to do that obviously we must be better than others in purity and peace to be able to help others to be so as well - to be able to place others as first before us.
When Chinese worship and offer offerings to the poor wandering souls during the Seventh Month Festival, they place these poor souls first. This is taught to them by the ancestors.
But who is in better position, men or the deprived wandering souls? It is men. Tradition upholds the poor souls to come first and a whole month is dedicated to them.
To worship poor souls is to place them first. To do so, men must be better than these souls. So in Chinese culture, men worship these souls and place them first though they are better off than these souls.
Thus this article or post is titled - Who comes first, we or others, Man or God?
In any temple and any Bo Tien Temple is no exception, members must be good enough and better than others to know others who know less must come first.
To think that they come first and others come second or last is indication they are not good enough and no better, perhaps knowing little or nothing. Then indeed, they may be near and yet far. The near and far and the far and near has been mentioned by the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
