No 1410 of Living Life Series 1
When a race introduces a religion to another, initially the receiving race learns from the introducing race. There is an air of superiority in the introducing race.
But after less than a few decades, often the introducing race loses interest in the religion and there is a flip of sorts. This time it is the people in the recipient race which digest and introduce the same religion back to the giver race. This is an enigma. This is in the nature of religion.
The teaching of a prophet or saint depends on the way humans see it. Often, this is usually by and large not in the original form and context. After a few cycles of this, the grasp of the religion and its prophet or saint undergoes a drastic transformation that is beyond recognition and becomes as good as a different religion.
The teaching of a saint or prophet is serially and constantly filtered and altered by man. It becomes effectively the ever new teaching of the view of man for other men.
Thus it is just as what Bo Tien 武 天 says of religion. It is the case that when we flow along downstream in life, the water or teaching of life is diluted and corrupted by pollutants and at each point downstream what we have is a very different type of water or teaching.
Thus from time to time there is the coming of new prophets or the second coming of prophets to point out this and to urge humanity to go against the current and go upstream to the upper source of the stream for clear and pure natural water - the clear and pure original teachings.
This the good Bo Tien 武 天 refers to as the Inner Truth. But to many in the past, now and in the future, the inner truth sucks and they somehow prefer the downstream polluted and soiled water.
Even filtration of this water is not as good and as natural as the spring water at the upper source. The taste and quality is different.
Many still insist and prefer the polluted water as this is far more accessible and easily within reach.
There is the ever transformation of religion over time and that is why there will be new sects or denominations and even forms independent of all known denominations. How appealing these may be but how correct can they be? Do they lead or mislead?
That is why more than 2500 years ago from 2017, Sakyamuni Buddha descended as man and introduce not a new religion but the inner truth of what people then believed as the truth.
The truths or beliefs had undergone many downstream changes and pollution till they are different from the real true truth or beliefs. But humanity being too smart says that the Buddha introduces a new religion.
Did he do so? Is this the making of the masses to show upmanship and superiority? Won't these be subjected to downstream currents and alteration? Is the term or concept of religion necessary? Does it serve a purpose? It does and yet it does not.
There is even a flag for Wesak for us to celebrate the work of the Buddha. This was non-existent in his time in the flesh. It does serve its purpose somehow.
May all be well and happy. This is the hope of the Buddha. He will never ever reserve this for a selected group but extends this to all whatever their beliefs or even if none. He will even extend this to all beings up above, here and down below in hell, and even creatures big and small.
You can be of any creed or religious inclination and he will not exclude you. This is true divine love. Is there such a thing as untrue and non-divine love?
Man tends to see man in God and in so doing make God's love seem less divine. God's love then appears so limited and ungodly with the flip side of retribution and taking it out on those who do not ascribe to the views of the God in man - the man-made God.
This is not love but hatred. How can love result in hatred? God will not be like that but when man acts as God and for God, what do we expect.
The God in man or man-made God knows no love for those who are of different views. No wonder there will be transformation of religion over time to less and less of what the prophet of any religion wants man to know.
The teaching of the prophet or saint will no longer be recognisable over time and will end up no longer reflecting what the original teaching or message of the saint or prophet.
Bo Tien 武 天 says that man is man and God is God. Let not God end up in minds of men as man and let not man be the proxy God - the God in man.
That would be unwise but sadly is happening and transforming the landscape of religion. Wesak is a good time to reflect on this - why man can undo the good intention of God and saints.
By calling what the Buddha taught as Buddhism and not the universal truth of all and for all, that is the first step down the slippery road of distortion and corruption away from the universal truth. To say there is Buddhism is not ideal and can give wrong ideas or connotations.
But by saying that there is no Buddhism can be misleading as well. This may very well be the exact bad excuse by extremists and ignorant to insist that Buddha is no saint and no god but only a man. Why believe in him at all in the first place?
The Buddha is very clear of what people should do. They should go for the truth he wants us to know and not go for God or any saint.
While other saints do stress this, we are given the impression that they are not so open about this. This may be due to the way humanity transmit the teachings.
The monks of Sri Lanka pass down the teachings of Buddha through oral tradition and this was even at the time when books and publications were non-existent. There was no revision and re-edition with the passing of time.
Revision and re-edtion would be likely when teachings are put into print more so many centuries after the life of the saints or prophets. Thus it is like what Bo Tien 武 天 relates about the stream where it is far easier to go downstream.
Having the pristine teachings recited from monks to monks over generations preserves much of the essence of the teachings. It is onerous and is like going upstream against the current to the upper source for clear spring water.
Even then we are painfully aware that time will take its toll and transformation and defilements of the teachings will somehow come into the picture.
What more when classical Sanskrit and the commoner's Pali equivalent are no longer spoken or read and more like Latin a dead language.
In time, few will be able to translate into the spoken languages of the world. Then, the recited teachings will soon be mumbo jumbo. Well, nothing is permanent and static. Changes will set in.
The teaching of Buddha like that echoed by the good Bo Tien 武 天 is certainly not a religion. It is more than a religion. It is the truth in life. It is life. We should not claim life and the truth of life as the purview of any one group, least of all a religion.
Truth is in and beyond religion. Truth that opens the way to salvation through inner peace is not God or saint, least of all a man. Truth is what God or saint stands for.
Truth is not and never will be the man however great or good he may be. Go for truth and not God, saint or a man, otherwise what we have is distortion of truth in what man refer to as new sects or denominations - through changes in what man refers to as religion.
This is just like water changes drastically as it flows downstream in a stream. Do go upstream to the upper source for clear sparkling spring water which is more tasty than even distilled water. We should be thankful that Bo Tien 武 天 can put this simply using the analogy of a stream. What apt occasion to show our thanks than on Wesak Day - the day to remember all the Buddhas!
But after less than a few decades, often the introducing race loses interest in the religion and there is a flip of sorts. This time it is the people in the recipient race which digest and introduce the same religion back to the giver race. This is an enigma. This is in the nature of religion.
The teaching of a prophet or saint depends on the way humans see it. Often, this is usually by and large not in the original form and context. After a few cycles of this, the grasp of the religion and its prophet or saint undergoes a drastic transformation that is beyond recognition and becomes as good as a different religion.
The teaching of a saint or prophet is serially and constantly filtered and altered by man. It becomes effectively the ever new teaching of the view of man for other men.
Thus it is just as what Bo Tien 武 天 says of religion. It is the case that when we flow along downstream in life, the water or teaching of life is diluted and corrupted by pollutants and at each point downstream what we have is a very different type of water or teaching.
Thus from time to time there is the coming of new prophets or the second coming of prophets to point out this and to urge humanity to go against the current and go upstream to the upper source of the stream for clear and pure natural water - the clear and pure original teachings.
This the good Bo Tien 武 天 refers to as the Inner Truth. But to many in the past, now and in the future, the inner truth sucks and they somehow prefer the downstream polluted and soiled water.
Even filtration of this water is not as good and as natural as the spring water at the upper source. The taste and quality is different.
Many still insist and prefer the polluted water as this is far more accessible and easily within reach.
There is the ever transformation of religion over time and that is why there will be new sects or denominations and even forms independent of all known denominations. How appealing these may be but how correct can they be? Do they lead or mislead?
That is why more than 2500 years ago from 2017, Sakyamuni Buddha descended as man and introduce not a new religion but the inner truth of what people then believed as the truth.
The truths or beliefs had undergone many downstream changes and pollution till they are different from the real true truth or beliefs. But humanity being too smart says that the Buddha introduces a new religion.
Did he do so? Is this the making of the masses to show upmanship and superiority? Won't these be subjected to downstream currents and alteration? Is the term or concept of religion necessary? Does it serve a purpose? It does and yet it does not.
There is even a flag for Wesak for us to celebrate the work of the Buddha. This was non-existent in his time in the flesh. It does serve its purpose somehow.
You can be of any creed or religious inclination and he will not exclude you. This is true divine love. Is there such a thing as untrue and non-divine love?
Man tends to see man in God and in so doing make God's love seem less divine. God's love then appears so limited and ungodly with the flip side of retribution and taking it out on those who do not ascribe to the views of the God in man - the man-made God.
This is not love but hatred. How can love result in hatred? God will not be like that but when man acts as God and for God, what do we expect.
The God in man or man-made God knows no love for those who are of different views. No wonder there will be transformation of religion over time to less and less of what the prophet of any religion wants man to know.
The teaching of the prophet or saint will no longer be recognisable over time and will end up no longer reflecting what the original teaching or message of the saint or prophet.
Bo Tien 武 天 says that man is man and God is God. Let not God end up in minds of men as man and let not man be the proxy God - the God in man.
That would be unwise but sadly is happening and transforming the landscape of religion. Wesak is a good time to reflect on this - why man can undo the good intention of God and saints.
By calling what the Buddha taught as Buddhism and not the universal truth of all and for all, that is the first step down the slippery road of distortion and corruption away from the universal truth. To say there is Buddhism is not ideal and can give wrong ideas or connotations.
But by saying that there is no Buddhism can be misleading as well. This may very well be the exact bad excuse by extremists and ignorant to insist that Buddha is no saint and no god but only a man. Why believe in him at all in the first place?
The Buddha is very clear of what people should do. They should go for the truth he wants us to know and not go for God or any saint.
While other saints do stress this, we are given the impression that they are not so open about this. This may be due to the way humanity transmit the teachings.
The monks of Sri Lanka pass down the teachings of Buddha through oral tradition and this was even at the time when books and publications were non-existent. There was no revision and re-edition with the passing of time.
Revision and re-edtion would be likely when teachings are put into print more so many centuries after the life of the saints or prophets. Thus it is like what Bo Tien 武 天 relates about the stream where it is far easier to go downstream.
Having the pristine teachings recited from monks to monks over generations preserves much of the essence of the teachings. It is onerous and is like going upstream against the current to the upper source for clear spring water.
Even then we are painfully aware that time will take its toll and transformation and defilements of the teachings will somehow come into the picture.
What more when classical Sanskrit and the commoner's Pali equivalent are no longer spoken or read and more like Latin a dead language.
In time, few will be able to translate into the spoken languages of the world. Then, the recited teachings will soon be mumbo jumbo. Well, nothing is permanent and static. Changes will set in.
The teaching of Buddha like that echoed by the good Bo Tien 武 天 is certainly not a religion. It is more than a religion. It is the truth in life. It is life. We should not claim life and the truth of life as the purview of any one group, least of all a religion.
Truth is in and beyond religion. Truth that opens the way to salvation through inner peace is not God or saint, least of all a man. Truth is what God or saint stands for.
Truth is not and never will be the man however great or good he may be. Go for truth and not God, saint or a man, otherwise what we have is distortion of truth in what man refer to as new sects or denominations - through changes in what man refers to as religion.
This is just like water changes drastically as it flows downstream in a stream. Do go upstream to the upper source for clear sparkling spring water which is more tasty than even distilled water. We should be thankful that Bo Tien 武 天 can put this simply using the analogy of a stream. What apt occasion to show our thanks than on Wesak Day - the day to remember all the Buddhas!
