Closer to the World than to God in the temple

No 1313 of Living Life Series 1

Religion depends on people who come to it for less than religious blessings. To be exact what people want is what they want from the world and not what God wants them to have that is beyond the world. 

They want bigger house, more money and more of the world of lust and passion. Without worldly carrots, there will be no crowd in the temple. 

They come to the flower like insects coming for nectar. This did the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 say. He adds that blame not the flower for insects coming to it. 

It is better that people come to a temple for the world than they stay in the world and be lost to God and saints. Such people feel the presence of God when they are blessed with worldly blessings. 

While many end up going for more of the world in of all places the temple, and will still be lost to God, there will be some who having felt the presence of God grow closer to God than to the world. 

It is important to be closer to God than the world and not closer to the world in the temple. That is so and so it must be. But truth is far from truth, isn't it? 

Religions may be committed to saving by grace

No 1312 of Living Life Series 1

Many cannot save themselves if they are left on their own. They are mired down by their habitual erring ways. 

Even retribution and punishment and hell in whatever forms will not work. They simply sink deeper into the woes created by their erring ways. 

The more they err, the more they sink and get tangled up by the ropes of their follies. They are victims of their own creation. 

How can God and saints have the heart to punish them and add on to their misery? The only way is for God and saints to bless them even if others think they are not worthy at all for blessings. 

When the love of God is extended to them, they feel the love through the blessings. Of course many may end up in the short term to be worse at what they are. But in the long run, divine love may work on them and they will be more loving persons and want to love others - not only themselves. 

Then they are truly saved by love - by the grace of God and saints. But once they are awaken to divine love, they have to progress from saving by grace to saving by the word or doctrine. 

The doctrine is God and God is the doctrine. The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 stresses that in his image or in his lordship is the Word and the Word is indeed his lordship and his image. 

The Word is how to be pure and not wanting and not denying life. It is about balancing the ups and downs - the yang and the yin. 

Saved by grace precedes saving by the Word for many. How else could those in hell be it on Earth or in Hell below get out from the pits of hell? Some religious sects are wholly directed to those in hell on Earth - to saving by grace. 

But men who are saved by grace and not by the good they have in fact have little good of their own. They have more of the not good than good. 

Strangely though, they act as though they are all good and have no qualms in pronouncing eternal hell and damnation on others who do not see eye to eye with them. 

They are saved by grace but act high and mighty. They have no grace for others and will even damn them.  

A leader with lots more to learn, yet he must lead

No 1311 of Living Life Series 1


There is the danger that the man of religion may lose touch with society and family and be a loner of sorts. 

If he is a pastor or clergy, he will give way to younger ones who are more dynamic to replace him. 

If he hangs on with his role and gets entwined with society, he may end up a pain in the neck for others. 

He may end up not practising what he preaches. He will be the very one who breaches all the points he tells others not to do or do. This is the predicament of the man of religion. 

No wonder, the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that to know more of God, we need to know more of ourselves - more of life, what life can tell us. 

The gospel is in life and in what we think, speak and do. 

Doing nothing and idling is silly and gives no peace. 

Doing too much and getting more involved will also be our own undoing. There will be more strife and no peace. We create more problems than solve more. 

Isn't this applicable to all - even the pastors and priests, not just the laymen. Well, well, it is best to be reminded to "know thyself" even if we are meant to be the leader of the flock. 

How to be leader when one has still to know himself even more? Thus there are pitfalls which face the man of religion who thinks he knows better and can lead others. 

A leader has lots more to learn even of himself, yet he must lead. A leader is better one if serves and learn with those he serves. A leader is a humble servant. 

All saints and prophets serves those they lead. But men who lead in their names often wants others to serve their needs. This is ironical indeed

Will we ever go upstream for clear water?

No 1310 of Living Life Series 1

What is popular is like going downstream of a river. What is not popular is like going upstream to the source. 

Which is better for you depends on what you want and need at your stage of life. If you want more of the world, then go downstream - go for the popular. 

But if you are not happy with this and can see through the nature and reality of the world, then you should go upstream but not get out of the river of life. Getting out is to deny life. You will not be in life and live life. 

Going downstream will get you more of the world more so in religion. Religion can offer you more of the world but it is of the same kind as the world outside religion. You will be happy as your worldly needs are met. 

For most, this is the religion they need till the end of life. But for those who want more clarity and want to go beyond the folly of wanting that is of the world, then they must stop or at least minimise wanting or craving. 

This is not giving up of the world but be on top of the world - not to let the world be on top of them. The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says we must be more discerning and go upstream to the upper source for clear water. 

But to those who are not ready, going downstream may be the answer. All they need is to pray and God and saints will answer their prayers such as having good jobs, education, good life partners. This is what most want out of religion. 

The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that the flower attracts insects coming to it for nectar. What's wrong with this? Everyone does so when he or she goes to a place of worship. They want nectar. 

Few are those who prefer the upper stream of apostleship - or to walk in the way of saints. Many who do so fall into temptation and end up wanting more and be gobblers of nectar. 

How many priests, pastors, ministers, monks and nuns have ended up like that. What they offer to their congregation, they grab more for themselves. 

But alas going for more of the world is here to stay. They end up with divine discontent, never seem to be content with what they get and have. They simply want more. 

Is this wrong? No, if you see from the worldly perspectives. We need to stay ahead. We need to innovate. This is the way of the world. We need to have enough before we can go for lofty things. 

This will invariably mean we will put away the notion of going upstream. Will we ever go upstream for clear water? We must at least be mindful and meditate on the need of going upstream. 

The all embracing Chinese culture

No 1309 of Living Life Series 1

The Chinese calendar is  very revealing of the religious principles behind Chinese society.  

The first lunar month is the celebration of the return of the deities after their reunion with God. It is also the celebration of the anniversary of the coming of God into the world. 

Soon comes the celebration of the anniversary of Buddha Gautama in the fifth or fourth lunar month, closely followed by that of Ji Gong the Living Buddha as well as the Grave Cleaning month. 

Later in the 7th month, there is the month for wandering souls when these poor souls are respected, even worshipped to wish them well and have fulfilment. 

There is during this month the celebration of the hell guard deities duo - the Dua Di Ya Pek who grant wishes and bless both men and hell beings. They fulfil roles to add to what God and deities can do for beings. 

In the eight and ninth lunar months come the celebration of the deities anniversaries and that of Goddess of Mercy. 

Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 anniversary falls on the 13th day of the ninth lunar month. 

In the last two months of the lunar year, Chinese culture has integrated Christmas - the celebration of Christ. 

The end of the year before the new year is also the celebration of man when Chinese indulge in glutinous rice balls which symbolise the need for wholeness and sweetness in life. 

Know the Chinese calendar and you will know the all embracing culture of the Chinese with respect to religions and spirituality. 

Even the Islamic new year celebration is around the beginning of the lunar new year. Chinese will rejoice with the Muslim brethren and visit them to join in their joyous occasion. 

In addition to Chinese New Year celebration, churches too will have moon cake festivals in the eight month so long as there are Chinese. 

Isn't this testimony to the all embracing nature of Chinese culture. It surely is, isn't it? 

The aim is to integrate all religious traditions as part of culture and not to segregate and be divisive. All religions are after all one though different. This is the message of the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨. 

Inner Peace brings about three in one

No 1308 of Living Life Series 1 

The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 pointed out that there is much to learn from life - our own life and also the lives of others. This is applicable to people of all religions. 

There must be respect of one another and acceptance of the differing ways of one another, otherwise there will be no peace. This is true of the individuals and of the religions of men

But peace is more than that. There must be inner peace in everyone regardless of what happens around the person and even if there is no respect and acceptance of one another - be it of individuals or religions. 

This inner peace is the higher or divine inner peace. 

Our inner peace must not depend on what others do or not do to us and it also does not depend on what we do at all cost just to please others. 

It depends on whether we as individuals or religions are humble, honest and pure. This must be at the start, the middle and the end of what we think, speak and do - be it at individual level or at religion level. 

This many call mindfulness or awareness. Some refer to this as having the Holy Spirit - the work and manifestation of God through the Holy Spirit. 

There is then the three in one in us - God, His divine essence and His son. 

We are three on one. God is in us. His divine essence or Holy Spirit lives in us and we are the sons of God to learn more from God and his heavenly saints. 

As children, we have to learn to be more like God. Everyone is God the man though not God the God, yet with God in him.

There is God the God, God the Spirit and God the man. Inner Peace brings about three in one. This holds true regardless of culture or religion. 

Ego-centrism can wreck oneness of religions

No 1307 of Living Life Series 1

It is good that we know one another's religion. We must respect other religions as much as we respect our own. 

All religions are for the love of men. The problem with some is that they do not love their own religion enough, let alone to be able to love other religions. This is in the nature of human beings. 

They have ego boundaries and their love is limited by ego borders. They guard their ego space and if this entails not loving other religions, they will have no qualms in doing so. 

This happens even in the religion they are in. We may say that this happens even within the temple they are in. 

They have their cliques. They feel threatened by those of other cliques even in a temple. They would run down others not in their clique so that  they can entrench their ego spaces. 

All religions teach us to welcome others and not to let our ego space have the better of us. 

There is oneness of religions, oneness of those in a religion and oneness of people in the same temple. 

But if the devil of the ego comes into the picture and there is guarding of ego space, then there is no longer the oneness of religions, the oneness of people in the same religion and the oneness of members of the same temple they cherish. 

What could have happen to shatter the oneness of men? Love is selfish and limited when ego is given the full run and liberty. 

Because such problem arises, the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 has been given the mission to enlightened all on the oneness of religions. 

Is commercialisation the way of religion?

No 1306 of Living Life Series 1

Do we regard religion as religion or do we run it as a commercial enterprise?  

In a commercial enterprise, freebies and attractions like road shows are provided to bring in the crowd and then comes the selling and profiteering. 

Religion is a charity. But charity cannot seem to go far without commercialisation. Will religion stay on track as a religion if it is run with view to profiteering? Who gains from profiteering? 

It is the owners or shareholders. In religion, who are the owners? Who are the stakeholders? 

They should be the congregation. If profiteering benefits and put cash into the pockets of the congregation, then it is not what we expect of a commercial enterprise. 

Would God sanction the commercialisation of his love and outreach to men? 

In the old days, the answer is obvious but not so in the modern era of 2016 and beyond. 

Even a website would offer religious blogs to advertise to attract readers - to pay to reach out for more. 

But one guiding principle that even the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 echoes is that the ways of man are not the ways of God and heavenly saints. This applies to any religion. 

Religion must have funds. Funds must come from voluntary donations - from the heart without expecting anything in return. 

If a man expects profits from his giving, then he too has gone the way of commercialisation. This has indeed been going on since time immemorable. 

It would be sad if religion must be run like a commercial enterprise to bring in funds. That would be more like profiteering and for whose pockets? It should be the pockets of the people religion serve and not the echelon of a few men who run the religion. 

God do not need to profit from men. But men may use God's good name in vain - just for profits. 

Good is still good even if not good

No 1305 of Living Life Series 1

The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 commented once that there are some in any temple and even in his temple who do good for their own good. 

They want to get the credit for doing good and ride on this to gain favor of the powerful connections of the land. 

They may run destitute homes and day care centres in the name of the good lord but end up doing so for their personal credit to project their good standing not in the name of the good lord but to gain favor of the power that be in the land. 

This is not good but the good lord says that as good is still done, they will still be rewarded somehow. Good is still good even if not good. 

Thus in the same light, if many go to a temple for their own good and entertainment, for worldly agenda, this is still good if not not good. They may misrepresent God but at least there is some good coming out of the not good they do. 

There are some in any religion who are like that. They are seen by others as not good but are still good. 

Man is not God - not even the chosen one of God.

No 1304 of Living Life Series 1

The advent of pandemic influenza every century or two, the fate befalling mankind as a result of mosquito borne diseases like Malaria, chikungunya, and Zika, and the outbreak of SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome are reminders that mankind must be able to be in harmony with nature. 

The tendency of mankind is to try to overpower nature and to outnumber other beings in nature. Man must not live as though he is the only specie that deserves the world. Man must share the world with other species. 

When man becomes reckless and tries to play God over other species, somehow nature will bring man to his knees. It takes only insects to do so. 

When man encroaches and takes over too much of nature and threatens the natural habitats of other species, nature through various ways can bring man to his knees. The exalted will be humbled and the humble will be exalted. Jesus said so, didn't he?

We must know who is man? Man is no God and when man forgets this, man will be humbled. Man must live and let live not only in respect of other men but also in respect of other species and beings. 

Man must not encroach and threaten the peace of others - be these be other beings or species. Man must not love himself at the expense of others. This is selfish and unkind - far from true love. 

Man must love other beings as well. When men get out of hand, nature will somehow humble men. Earthquakes, tornados and tsunamis can be wake up call. 

The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 says that man is no God and God is no man. Man is not the chosen being of God. Other beings are not there to be lorded over by men. Man is no God over nature and other beings. Man is not God - not even the chosen one of God. 

That is why in Chinese culture, there is the Seventh Month Festival for men to love and be kind to departed and wandering souls. They need the love and kindness of men, hopefully not only during the seventh lunar month but for all months. 

The festival serves as reminder that we must take care of those who are less fortunate than us - for those who for some reason or other end up in Hell. 

Do not damn those in hell to eternal damnation. They are worthy of our love and that is why there is even the worship of wandering souls. 

Somehow there are those who even assert that God has damned them to eternal Hell. God and saints, on the contrary will try to help them where this is still possible. It will always be possible. 

We must join God to help them - to love them and in same way love other beings. We must not just love those better than us like God and saints but also those who are not as blessed as us, be they humans or the various seen and unseen.