LIVING LIFE SERIES 1

A BO TIEN (武天) MISSION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED ON 28TH SEPT 2010 BY INNER TRUTH NETIZEN 2. THE MISSION IS TO SHOW THE WAY TO HOPE, INNER PEACE AND ULTIMATELY SALVATION FOR ALL BEINGS. THE PURPOSE IS TO SAVE SOULS. IT IS WAY BEYOND NORMAL GOOD WORK LIKE CHARITY AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES. NO ONE SHALL BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS ALONE BUT BY MORE THAN GOOD WORK. THERE IS NEED TO BE IMBUED WITH THE BASIC DOCTRINE COMMON TO AND BEHIND ALL RELIGIONS AND SECTS. LIVE IN DOCTRINE. DOCTRINE IN LIFE IS PARAMOUNT.

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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!.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

God promotes not gambler or salesman mentality

No 1383 of Living Life Series 1
This article is meant to set readers thinking. What is right and what is wrong depends on context, situations and what is needed. Right can be wrong and wrong can be right. Plurality embraces this duality but this is no paradox at all. Sages of old in China refer to this as aspect of yin and yang.

When a salesman wants to sell a product, he will tell you that it is good for many uses even when it is not designed for other than the set purpose.

When someone wants you to gamble, he will tell you and convince you that all will be winners. There are no losers. The losers are those who do not want to gamble.

When the one who wants you to believe in God or saint badly wants you to agree with him and he will tell you God or saint will give you what you want. Otherwise how can he bring in the crowd.

He must be a crowd puller and be convincing. He will orchestrate some testimonies that will win hearts. Those who know that what he said is not true and do not have their prayers answered will be edged out or be silenced.

Should religion be like that? It never was meant to be like that. But who started religion? It was man and not God and saints. What men of religion wants out of the religion is portrayed as though these wants are those of God and saints. The impression given is that God and saints want it that way when we know very well it is men who put words in in God's mouth, when we know men speaks for God.

God is silent and do not need to be vocal. God does things in ways best for men in the long run even if this meant hurting them and disappointing them for the here and now.

God is no salesman. Sales personnel need to be noising, to talk a lot and to paint a good picture and win hearts for the product to sell.

God too will not want us to be like gamblers telling the world of sure win and no problem just by betting on him. No need to be good and can afford to transgress. we will be saved by grace and not by how good we are

Thus Bo Tien 武天 too is no salesman and does not want us to cling on to him. He has no intention for making us depend on him and all will be well. No need to bet on him.

He is not selling himself. He says that he descended not to sell himself. There is no need to show his divine prowess and majesty.

What is needed is for us to see the good in every religion - the common good that is the the basic or inner truth. There is the need to enlarge the common space of religions.

Bo Tien 武天 like God and saints is no salesman. There is no intention to make us dependent on him - no such thing as what we do is useless and we need to depend on them, to be saved by grace alone.

Let us be mindful and be insightful. We must not be carried away by sales talk of some passionate believers. They want to think for us and not allow us to think on our own. They even think for God.

But there are two sides to the coin. Without sales talk, how can many be drawn to God and saints. Isn't this a catch twenty two situation?

There is also the human tendency to be lazy and to depend on good luck - to get the goodies without work. This is the gambler's mentality. But too much of this will ruin us.

But then again perhaps a little and more may be welcome. Who don't want freebies and fortune to drop from the sky? Sometimes we need that to liven us up. Be mindful though not to be addicted to this - just like gamblers addicted to gambling. From sure win we will end up with reality of sure loss.

God promotes not gambler or salesman mentality but men may end up doing so and justify this as divine grace. They say we will not be saved by good works but only by divine grace.

The truth however is to have more good works, how to be more good and while doing this to depend on a fair bit of divine grace. This reminds us again on need for yin yang balance which Bo Tien 武天 says is useful and applicable not just for the sages of old but for all mankind.

Thus to say that divine grace has no place is wrong as well. How much and how far can we go on our own? But certainly, God and saints promote not gambler or salesman mentality. Do you get it?

This post again demonstrates that what is right to some may be meaningless to many. What is wrong can indeed be right to many. Wrong can be right in certain context and depending on what many need out of religion.

The far may be near and the near far. This has been said by Bo Tien 武天. No wonder saints say that we not be judgemental. Judge not lest we be judged.

Plurality embraces this duality but this is no paradox at all. Sages of old in China refer to this as aspect of yin and yang.

Do accept beliefs and practices of others especially in religion. They probably need what they believe and do. Best not to rock the boat and disrupt the peace. Humanity embraces plurality and plurality is here to stay. Yin and yang must embrace each other like in the Bagua.

That is why in Taoism like in any religion, there appears to be contradictions happening side by side and there is peaceful co-existence. No need to say one is right and the other wrong. Right is wrong and wrong is right. Far is near and near is far.

Don't be too soon to pass judgement. Best is not to judge at all but to learn and be wiser. Do not sell your beliefs thinking you are doing good service to others and worse still thinking that this is what God and saints want you to do.

You can share but respect what others believe and learn why they believe what they believe and yet you don't. What matters is to learn even from those whom you may think are not right.

Then you will learn they too are right and that you also are right - each in their own way. We must embrace this understanding like in the Bagua. Life has to be like the Bagua. Then there will be more peace and divine insight.

Lest you forget

Do not make the mistake of idolizing any man who tells you about the Word. He is in the same boat as you even if religion refers to him as a religious leader. Mere mention of a religious leader is as good as encouraging idolising of that man. Why must there be hierarchy in religion? Hierarchy is conventional but may end up as liability rather than a necessity or asset. There should be no caste or hierarchy system in religion. No one is to be considered above another in religion. A religious leader or follower is a servant to serve you and not a leader to be idolised. Do not put him on the pedestal and make a monster out of him.

MAY ALL BE WELL AND HAPPY

May all be well and happy. May they have peace. May our departed friends and kins be well, happy and have divine peace. The main writer wishes the best for all for those near and far. Our kins may be far when they had passed on to better lives but they are near though far. He remembers and wishes his parents Mr Siow Soo Koh and Mdm Tay Hung Siang, his uncles and aunties like Mr Tay Koon Huay, his cousins like Mr Tay Chong Sim and his friends like Mr Philip Png well and have abundance of life. May they be rich in spirit for without such ancestors, there will be no posterity - no us and no you and me. They have blessed us and we must blessed them in return forever and ever.