The double standards of some men in a temple or church

Learning Point 282

In any temple or church, when the pioneers take the back seat due to age, new generation takes over. They are the younger lot and it is commendable they have interest to take on leadership roles in the management committee of the temple or church. 

The usual problem is that the some of the old will lament that they the some of the young lot are not spiritual enough and are more interested in pursuing their social status, wealth and personal gains. They want recognition and award even knighthood or it's equivalent. 

They will even go to the extent of short changing the spiritual interest of the temple for the interest of secular society. They seem to be worshiping and idolizing the secular leaders of society rather than the saints of their temple, trying to please the secular big guns and forgoing the mission of their temple saint or saints. 

They make use of the temple as platform to spring board their job and personal business. Some even go for new spouses and forgoing the old spouses by manipulating temple as a cover to achieve this.   

This will usually provoke the ire of some old timers who will say that these young lot are not making it spiritually. They are only making use of the temple for their non-spiritual pursuits and for obvious personal advantage. The oldies may be adamant that these young men should be exposed. 

But the oldies forget that they too once were young, once sought wealth, status and education progress to be somebodies, example to be medical doctor.  They made use of the temple and its saints to springboard their worldly gains. Their worldly wishes were granted and this spurred them on subsequently to be more religious. 

But now they are singing a different tune. They want the young lot to forgo worldly gains and attainments and go direct to spiritual. Isn't this double standards? They could do the seemingly unthinkable before and now they tell the young lot that this is wrong and a mistake. The younger lot should at all cost not do this. 

They the oldies may be well off and have many properties, made all efforts to enable success of their children to be professionals by sending them overseas if they cannot make it locally. But they tell others that all these are not good and better to forgo them and be spiritual. Children should not make good in life and just be monks or nuns. Spiritual is more important. 

True it is not ideal but everyone goes to a temple or church to seek divine blessings for personal gains.  Without this nectar, no one will come to the flower. but hopefully they will grow to go for more lofty spiritual ideals and not just for the nectar of worldly blessings. 

Who don't want to strike a lottery? Who don't want to attract the opposite sex even in a temple or church? Who don't want to get knighthood and justice of peace by leveraging on a temple or church as springboard to get recognition by secular society? Everyone does but will tell you they are genuinely religious. This is why we are men after all and not yet saints. 

Lord Bo Tien

To round up, Lord Bo Tien has one good advice for all. "The same values that ensure spiritual gains if applied to worldly life will ensure worldly gains." 

He further adds that there must be yin and yang balance and when young, the focus must be more on worldly than spiritual for we are men after all. 

The balance of yin and yang will tilt in favor of more spiritual and less worldly matters as we grow in life. 

We must accept that we must succeed as man, learn to be man even if we want to be saint. The same values that help us to be saint one day will work well for us to be man as well. That way we would find our niche in society as man.

We must never forget to be man. We must cheer the younger lot along if they can be more man than saint when young. We should not despise them for being worldly wise - going for status, titles and social acclaim. 

This is just being man but know the limits, know how to balance life out - the spiritual and the mundane and that the balance point shifts with the station in life and as we grow older in life. 

It is alright to be somebody in society but learn to be nobody as well by being a spiritual somebody. We have to learn to be humble and meek but not empty and worthless - not running from life but embracing life, both spiritual and mundane. 

The old timers in a church or temple should not have double standards. They did one thing when young and tell the next generation in the temple or church not to do that same thing just because they are no longer young and no longer need to do that thing.  The young are still young and not old. Be mindful of that...please do....

We will always be man in this body of flesh and blood. Let us be man enough to be man and not be insane to think we have arrived and are already saints though we may cultivate the spiritual in us. 

Ji Gong the saint prefers
to show he is like man,
like the pauper at the street corner.

Even Ji Gong has no qualms to behave like ordinary man, like the beggar at the street corner eating meat, drinking and frolicking around. This is in spite of the fact that he is already a saint and no longer man like you and me. 

Ji Gong

Ji Gong is more like man but he is a saint. But some of the oldies or old timers in a temple pretend to be a bit saint when they are not even decent men, perhaps less decent and forthright than the vagrant and pauper. 

They who are invariably old timers have double standards and want the next generation young not to do what they had done in their younger days as man. The double standards of some men in a temple or church are not uncommon and will be there to irk others. 

Ji Gong