No 1368 of Living Life Series 1
How do we bring religion closer to the people who need religion most - people who would never be more involved however much we try to do?
Well, we can avoid telling them the serious religious principles which would otherwise bore them and put them off. We concentrate on how to please them more so their senses. We bring them from the world of society out there to the house of God and saints to experience more of the world out there and to show them that this will be even better in the house of God and saints.
They will get more of the world in a religious context. But isn't that defeating the core purpose of religion - to awaken them to think more of what is the ultimate purpose in life?
The ultimate purpose is to know that there is more to life than we know. But why flood people with more of the world in religious context? Isn't this ironical?
But seriously, is there the need to give up with the world - to renounce the world? The answer is that we can be with the world but be able to see through life.
Take a leaf from Ji Gong 济公. He gave up the family life and wealth to become a monk in a monastery, only to return to the world of society to drink, eat meat and be merry. He renounced the monastery and the conventional life of a monk. That is why he is never depicted in yellow or saffron robes but in green or grey rags of a street wanderer.
But mind you, he preferred the life life that is carefree without family and kin. His family was the people. He did not follow rules and convention, and what people expected of a religious person.
Instead, he cultivated the purity of the heart or spirit. What matters is not what we do or what we eat or drink, how we dress and so on, but what matters is how to learn from life, be in control and be pure?
We have to learn and learn. The purpose of life is to learn and be pure. We have to spin our life and not let life spins us around. Be on top of life and not let life be on top of us. Be master of life and not let life and the pleasures of life be our master.
Thus Ji Gong 济公does not go round controlling people and dictating how and what they should do. He sees the goodness in everyone and find ways and means to bring out more good in such people - for everyone must be better at what they are regardless of religion, culture, race and what have they.
This is exactly what Bo Tien 武天 wants all to do. This is the mission he set out to do in 1969.
We must see this need to bring out the best in all and not end up bringing out the ugly side of humanity in the name of religion. Popular religion tends to end up bringing out more of the ugly side of man.
Pastors and monks end up doing the unthinkable (e.g. deepening their pockets, have harem of wives) in the name of God, saints and religions. Let there be Ji Gong 济公 in everyone of us.
Dua Di Ya Pek 大二爷伯 the duo who had to go to hell but ended up as gods of hell (to be exact guards of hell) are revered by many because they had pure hearts while they were alive as men in China. They would rather help people and save them from being forced into opium addiction while alive as man. They were persecuted for the good they do.
After death, they continue to help people though they are in hell. Aren't they saintly even though they are depicted in ghastly fashion as hell guards because of the way they died ?
Let there be like Ji Gong 济公 and Dua Di Ya Pek 大二爷伯 in everyone of us. Let us have a good heart and not be concerned with what we have, we look and what others expect of us and how we want to impress others.
We do not flow downstream with others but pick up the courage to go upstream for clear water. Bo Tien 武天 says that men of religions can only be really good if they are prepared to go upstream and not just follow the crowd.
Flowing downstream with the crowd and with convection is never good enough. Few are able to be better by going upstream to the upper source for clear water. This will be not the norm and the roots of religion began with prophets who disregard the norms anyway.
Most who go out of the norms end up doing the wrong things and that is the problem. Thus how many could be like Ji Gong 济公 and Dua Di Ya Pek 大二爷伯? If we can be just a wee bit like them, that is already good enough, wouldn't it?
Well, we can avoid telling them the serious religious principles which would otherwise bore them and put them off. We concentrate on how to please them more so their senses. We bring them from the world of society out there to the house of God and saints to experience more of the world out there and to show them that this will be even better in the house of God and saints.
They will get more of the world in a religious context. But isn't that defeating the core purpose of religion - to awaken them to think more of what is the ultimate purpose in life?
The ultimate purpose is to know that there is more to life than we know. But why flood people with more of the world in religious context? Isn't this ironical?
But seriously, is there the need to give up with the world - to renounce the world? The answer is that we can be with the world but be able to see through life.
Take a leaf from Ji Gong 济公. He gave up the family life and wealth to become a monk in a monastery, only to return to the world of society to drink, eat meat and be merry. He renounced the monastery and the conventional life of a monk. That is why he is never depicted in yellow or saffron robes but in green or grey rags of a street wanderer.
 |
| Ji Gong 济公 |
But mind you, he preferred the life life that is carefree without family and kin. His family was the people. He did not follow rules and convention, and what people expected of a religious person.
 |
| Ji Gong 济公 |
We have to learn and learn. The purpose of life is to learn and be pure. We have to spin our life and not let life spins us around. Be on top of life and not let life be on top of us. Be master of life and not let life and the pleasures of life be our master.
Thus Ji Gong 济公does not go round controlling people and dictating how and what they should do. He sees the goodness in everyone and find ways and means to bring out more good in such people - for everyone must be better at what they are regardless of religion, culture, race and what have they.
This is exactly what Bo Tien 武天 wants all to do. This is the mission he set out to do in 1969.
We must see this need to bring out the best in all and not end up bringing out the ugly side of humanity in the name of religion. Popular religion tends to end up bringing out more of the ugly side of man.
Pastors and monks end up doing the unthinkable (e.g. deepening their pockets, have harem of wives) in the name of God, saints and religions. Let there be Ji Gong 济公 in everyone of us.
Dua Di Ya Pek 大二爷伯 the duo who had to go to hell but ended up as gods of hell (to be exact guards of hell) are revered by many because they had pure hearts while they were alive as men in China. They would rather help people and save them from being forced into opium addiction while alive as man. They were persecuted for the good they do.
 |
| Dua Di Ya Pek 大二爷伯 |
Let there be like Ji Gong 济公 and Dua Di Ya Pek 大二爷伯 in everyone of us. Let us have a good heart and not be concerned with what we have, we look and what others expect of us and how we want to impress others.
We do not flow downstream with others but pick up the courage to go upstream for clear water. Bo Tien 武天 says that men of religions can only be really good if they are prepared to go upstream and not just follow the crowd.
 |
| Bo Tien 武天 |
