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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!.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Be open and embrace all religions and sects

No 1408 of Living Life Series 1

There are those who want others to take part in the activities of their religion hoping that these others will embrace their religion. But the same people will not go to take part in the activities of others' religions. 

 This can be very telling. They think that they will be frowned at and be criticised. They think that they will be discredited by God and the saint of their religion. 

 It is not that they will be more evil by immersing themselves in the cultures and religions of others. They feel uncomfortable in taking part in religious services of other religions but are keen that others join them in the religious services of their religion. 

 This reflects their insecurity and concerns that their faith in their religion is threatened. This is to be expected as they are not deep into the cultivation of spirituality and inner peace. 

 If they are, they will see that other religions can add to the understanding and grasp of the teachings of the saint of their religion. 

 They will realise there is the same basic teachings or inner truth behind and in all religions. This is what we should know but man is man after all. 

 They bring their human weakness into religion and this they believe is the wish of God. They see this not as weakness but as strength. 

 They fail to see the purity of God and saints that are way above the bigotry and partiality of men. Man is man and God. Man is not God and God is no man. 

 There is actually no need for Bo Tien 武 天 to point this out. But there is the natural tendency of human weakness becoming accepted and ingrained instead as the virtue of religiosity. 

Thus saints like Bo Tien 武 天 will from time to time come down to correct the tide. Humanity tends to flow downstream with the pollutants and how many will realise this, let alone have the resolve to correct this and go upstream against the current to the upper source for natural clear water - the pure teachings in all religions. This analogy to the stream is elucidated by Bo Tien 武 天 . 

If we are on the pure path, we will be comfortable with all religions and will always be able to wholeheartedly join and participate in the wholesome religious services of all religions and sects. 

 But sad to say there are those who not only insist to stay put in their religion and think that the only bonafide religion is the religion they are in. They feel sorry for others not in their religion. 

 To make matters worse, there are some who do not even accept the other sects or denominations of their own religion and this is the ultimate of bigotry. 

 Be open and embrace all religions and denominations. Forgive and embrace those who are narrow minded and bigots for they are blinded and know not what they do. 

 With love and tolerance, they too will one day be open and embrace all religions and denominations. 

 That is the day - the rainbow we go for even though the rainbow recedes as we go towards it. We cannot convince all but this does not mean we do nothing. We have to do what we can. 

 We should not do this to please God or any saint, least of all Bo Tien 武 天. But certainly God and saints will be pleased with us and so will fellow men. This is about love and love makes the world go round and ring the bells in Heaven above - just like the bells ringing during Christmas.

We have to be open and embrace all religions and sects. The benefits to us are many and plentiful. 

 For example, there are many aspects of the teachings of say Buddha. We can accept the teachings not to become Buddhists or followers of Buddha but to be better in the religion or culture we are in. Isn't that wholesome and wonderful? 

 Cherishing the Vesak flag does not make one less of a Taoist or Christian but makes one more Taoist and Christian. Cheers. May all beings without exceptions be well and happy. 


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