No 1382 of Living Life Series 1
It is good for a religion to be able to reach out to many through stress on common space. Religion must be innovative and find new and appealing ways to attract more to the common space of the basic values common to and behind all religions.
Other religions have the same common space and may adopt the same innovative ways. If possible they should come out even with better ways.
Other religions have the same common space and may adopt the same innovative ways. If possible they should come out even with better ways.
Religions will then be complementary through the common space of goodness. That is the way to go. That should ever be so.
Religions must dwell on common space. Religions just cannot end up just being good to some and not good to others. Religions must not neglect being good to those not in their religions.
Men may do so but not God and saints. We must not see God and saints as men. Bo Tien 武 天 like all saints reiterate this point.
Of course, men may be partial but not God and saints who are more wholesome and impartial.
Only men will say that goodness and blessings will be reserved for those they like, those in their group, camp or religion - but not God and saints who love as much or even more those who have erred and far from God and saints.
But those who think they are God - chosen and near to God may in fact be arrogant and far from God. They insist that there is Heaven and Hell. But they do not realise that Heaven and Hell is in us. There is no clear line between right and wrong - between Heaven and Hell.
There is rightness even in wrong and there is wrong even in right. There is heaven even in hell and hell even in heaven.
Aren't there demons in Heaven? Lucifer or Mara the Evil one is one of them. If he is a fallen angel (deva), he cannot be all wrong, otherwise how could he be an angel to begin with. Why refer to him as demon?
A monk may spin wonders and move mountains of souls. But he is still human and has weakness of any man. If left unchecked, he can still err. There is no doubt about that.
But just because he is monk, his weakness will be very obvious and will loom large and overshadow the many good he has. Ironically just because he is monk, people who adore him are often blind to his transgression.
This is the truth in life - the yin and the yang. There is always polarities and opposites in any one person and the people who resolve around him. But we do not see this as ironical. Why?
We often either see the world of good in a man or the world of bad in him and fail to see him as a whole with both good and bad.
Isn't this what Bo Tien 武 天 refers to when he wants us to have insight of yin and yang that the ancestors of old China talked about and which many pay no heed to?
That someone is a criminal and need to be in prison does not mean he is a devil. In fact, there may be more good in him than many who had not been in prison or charged by the court of the land. It might often be difficult to find a better person than him.
Jesus well respected even by those of all religions received the death penalty for treason (crucified for treason charge for being like a king to the Jews) but nobody will doubt that he is saint and like God.
All will say he is good. His only issue or fault if it is one is that he allowed his adherents to voice that he is king. Even if he wanted to tell them not to refer to him as king, he could not. He had won the hearts of many and how could he tell them off for admiring him as a king of sorts.
The world would like to have again and again a person like him or to have him returned in the flesh. But will the world even without emperors and autocratic rulers accept him? There will ever be dissenters who are loud and imposing.
Alas, the world today and in the future to come will have dissenters who will ever still judge him negatively. But he is likely to be kind and understanding. He will again say "forgive them for they know what they do."
All saints and prophets are like him but they will be prepared to be misunderstood and may even be faulted. They fear not of being misunderstood.
What they want is to do good and be good to all. There will always be the sceptics and dissenters. Men often fail to see the many good just because of one or two perceived bad.
To make matters not so conducive, some of their followers will simply think that they are only for them and not for all. This may alienate them from some others when they are too loud about this.
This will add up and they will face no less of adversities. History will repeat itself.
When we adore someone and see God in him rather than the man he still is, we see only the good in him and the bad if any cannot be bad at all.
The good we see in him will light up even the large shadow of the bad, however large this may be. We will be oblivious of the bad in him. We simply don't see it.
Men may do so but not God and saints. We must not see God and saints as men. Bo Tien 武 天 like all saints reiterate this point.
Of course, men may be partial but not God and saints who are more wholesome and impartial.
Only men will say that goodness and blessings will be reserved for those they like, those in their group, camp or religion - but not God and saints who love as much or even more those who have erred and far from God and saints.
But those who think they are God - chosen and near to God may in fact be arrogant and far from God. They insist that there is Heaven and Hell. But they do not realise that Heaven and Hell is in us. There is no clear line between right and wrong - between Heaven and Hell.
There is rightness even in wrong and there is wrong even in right. There is heaven even in hell and hell even in heaven.
Aren't there demons in Heaven? Lucifer or Mara the Evil one is one of them. If he is a fallen angel (deva), he cannot be all wrong, otherwise how could he be an angel to begin with. Why refer to him as demon?
A monk may spin wonders and move mountains of souls. But he is still human and has weakness of any man. If left unchecked, he can still err. There is no doubt about that.
But just because he is monk, his weakness will be very obvious and will loom large and overshadow the many good he has. Ironically just because he is monk, people who adore him are often blind to his transgression.
This is the truth in life - the yin and the yang. There is always polarities and opposites in any one person and the people who resolve around him. But we do not see this as ironical. Why?
We often either see the world of good in a man or the world of bad in him and fail to see him as a whole with both good and bad.
Isn't this what Bo Tien 武 天 refers to when he wants us to have insight of yin and yang that the ancestors of old China talked about and which many pay no heed to?
That someone is a criminal and need to be in prison does not mean he is a devil. In fact, there may be more good in him than many who had not been in prison or charged by the court of the land. It might often be difficult to find a better person than him.
Jesus well respected even by those of all religions received the death penalty for treason (crucified for treason charge for being like a king to the Jews) but nobody will doubt that he is saint and like God.
All will say he is good. His only issue or fault if it is one is that he allowed his adherents to voice that he is king. Even if he wanted to tell them not to refer to him as king, he could not. He had won the hearts of many and how could he tell them off for admiring him as a king of sorts.
The world would like to have again and again a person like him or to have him returned in the flesh. But will the world even without emperors and autocratic rulers accept him? There will ever be dissenters who are loud and imposing.
Alas, the world today and in the future to come will have dissenters who will ever still judge him negatively. But he is likely to be kind and understanding. He will again say "forgive them for they know what they do."
All saints and prophets are like him but they will be prepared to be misunderstood and may even be faulted. They fear not of being misunderstood.
What they want is to do good and be good to all. There will always be the sceptics and dissenters. Men often fail to see the many good just because of one or two perceived bad.
To make matters not so conducive, some of their followers will simply think that they are only for them and not for all. This may alienate them from some others when they are too loud about this.
This will add up and they will face no less of adversities. History will repeat itself.
When we adore someone and see God in him rather than the man he still is, we see only the good in him and the bad if any cannot be bad at all.
The good we see in him will light up even the large shadow of the bad, however large this may be. We will be oblivious of the bad in him. We simply don't see it.
