.

.
The Living Life Series is dedicated to Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨). The doctrine is in His image. The image is the doctrine. He who sees, understands and effects the doctrine sees and knows Him. He who does not see, know and effect the doctrine sees not and knows not the saint even if the saint or His image is beside him. The far may be near and the near may be far. Let the doctrine and the saint be part of our life. The lord saint in your life can be any heavenly saint of any religion, sect or school. The doctrine of truth is behind all and this is the Inner Truth that leads all (regardless of their religious affiliation or even if none) to inner peace and heaven on earth here and now and not just in the after life. The ideal worship and devotion is to know and effect the doctrine of God and the saints. The best gospel is the gospel of life. We learn from our life and the lives of others. The true temple is the world we live in. The sky is the roof of the temple and religions and sects are the pillars of the temple. All under Heaven are in the temple. Needless to say that all the saints we know are in this temple. Ji Gong Posat too is no exception. The whole wide world and web is the temple and must be regarded as a sacred place --- a temple for living and learning. It is more important that everyone that counts plays a role in this universal temple if due focus is to be given to the Mission of Heaven. Men must not be distracted by the agenda of men and end up serving the mission of man. That would be a far cry from the Mission of Heaven. We worship God and saints, not man however good that man may be. There should be no hero worshiping or idolizing of man whether he is a charismatic pastor, priest, monk, medium or lay leader. We don't even idol worship the image of any saint but reflect on what the image stands for. - the doctrine in the image. Omitofo 阿弥陀佛!.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Vesak and the Gift of Truth

No 1366 of Living Life Series 1 


Vesak reminds us of the Buddha and the best way to honor the Buddha is to grasp what he taught and understand that what he taught will make everyone a better and a more sound person in whatever religion or culture he or she is in even if a buddha he or she is yet to be or buddhahood never cross his or her mind. 

The Buddha did say that Sri Lanka has the credit of preserving for many centuries the early original teachings of the Buddha and without the holy lineage of monks there like Ven Bellanwila Dhammaratana, the world will not be able to have such blessings. 

No wonder the Buddha says that his best gift to the world is the gift of Truth. This gift is for all. There is no string or condition attached. We can continue to be who we are and to be in our respective society, community and culture. 

We do not sell our self to him to accept the gift of truth. In the first place and in reality, self is an illusion and brings about delusion - makes us lose touch with the ultimate reality. 

We are not nothing and at same time we are not unchanging. How can we conceive of an eternal unchanging entity - the self. We certainly are what we are and will be. But there is no unchanging self. 

When we can grasp this, we are on the way to enlightenment - never mind when this will be. But when we know this, we can taste inner peace and will be on the road to even more. We will at least be saintly in a way even if we are no saints as yet - just like the late elder George Koh Beng Chiang

The teachings and values highlighted by the Buddha were and are not new. They were there even before the historical Buddha. There were many enlightened ones and saints before him. 

They were and are present in all cultures and religions. But it was the Buddha who was able to package them excellently as the Dhamma. This is his gift of Truth to all. Many must hold on to this gift dearly not only on Vesak Day but all the time. 

Bo Tien 武天 wants us to know that the same truth is to be found in all religions. This he refers to as the inner truth which unfortunately many could not see clearly. 
Even many Buddhists fail to grasp because they were just flowing along downstream with the additions and what have we. They obviously fail to discern the basic or essential teachings. 

They too must go to the upper source for clear water - for the early and original renditions of the Dhamma. They must go to Sri Lanka and the venerable ones from Sri Lanka.