No man is an island

Learning Point No 344

No man is able to say that only he is right and others are wrong. Even saints don't do that. 

All can be right in their own ways and must stand by one another. Together they can present and offer various aspects of the same issue. 

Though they differ and may even be at odds, they cannot be on their own but must stand together even in diversity and deference of views. 

This applies also to God and the running of a temple or church of God. 

It would be odd that if one man be him an elder or pastor dominates and insists that his way is the only way and that will surely be the day when men are blind and see only the man as God. 

But if man can accept that his way is just his way and it works for him but he is still prepared to learn and work along with others who know less or who care less, then that man is great. 

Though he is not an island and for that matter no man is an island, he is like a candle who emits light to shine on life not only his own life but also the lives of others. 

By going along with others, he is also able to let others light up his life and learn from their ways and views, how these can throw more light on his own. Then he will be better off and he will have learnt more and have more perspectives that otherwise he will never know. 

Even if others ways cannot add more to his, he can learn how his own way or view can be better positioned and help others, not to change their views but to better position their views to be more relevant. 

It is best that no man acts as though he is an island. He must have confidence in himself and in what he should know and do but he needs to be with other men who hold differing views. Even their wrongs can teach him to be more right and more confident in his understanding of life. 

This applies not only to man but to any temple or religion. 

Religion must be confident of its own mission and doctrine but other religions can add more insight and depth to its mission and doctrine. This is one aspect of the truth behind life and religion the lord saint Lord Bo Tien wants us to grasp. 

No man or religion is an island even if that man or religion may well be more right. By going along with other men and religions, that man or religion becomes more enlightened and more right. But of course, others can be right as well in their own aspects and they can teach a wise man or a good religion to be even better. 

No man or religion is an island and can stand alone. Even the uneducated man can teach the educated a thing or two. So no man should think he can be an island. 

No religion can claim it is the only religion for the world. Man or religion does not matter. There is need to know more of one's own view by knowing and understanding others' views. Respecting and learning from others' religions can add color and strength to one's own religion. 

No man or religion is an island however right and good that man or religion may be.

Even in the secular world, this is true. How great a nation is, it cannot be on its own. It must work with others and benefit others before it can benefit from them. 

It must not say they are wrong in their political policies and try to make them drop their political ways. The great nation must not impose its own political values on them. 

Great nation would never make this mistake. It is alright to share but not to impose. The so-called lesser political ways of the lesser nations may well be good for these nations and the great nation can learn from them not to change its seemingly more mature political ways but to enhance its own. 

Even a great nation like a great man is not an island unto itself. No one is an island.

Even an employer can learn and benefit from his employees before he can be of benefit to them. No man be that man the employer or employee is an island unto himself. No man is an island. Even an island cannot exist in seclusion, however self sufficient it may be

Lord Bo Tien adds that man can learn from one another's strength and weaknesses. This will in no way mean that one man must impose his way on others or let others impose theirs on him. 

Every man can improve and add value to his own way or view by interacting and learning from the views or ways of others. This applies to both secular and spiritual life. No man is an island. 

Nothing is cast in stone.

Learning Point No 343

The one who is closer to the lord saint needs not be one who is in a mission related temple of the lord. 

In fact, it is more likely that someone in a Bo Tien mission related temple may still be far from the lord saint compared to someone not in such a temple or who does not even know the lord saint. 

The far may be the near and the near may be far. The lord saint said

The adherent of a religion needs not be near to the prophet or saint of that religion but someone who is not may well be. 

The son of the father needs not be close to the father than a man who is not the son. This may appear odd but in many instances, it is the case though not invariably so. 

Oddities may well be the norm. Sometimes, it may be better to know the prophet or saint of a religion by knowing those who are not adherents but who still live by the Word of the prophet or saint. 

They know the Word but do not or may not know the saint. But by knowing the Word, they are closer to the saint. Thus even if they know not the saint, they do know the saint as they know the Word. 

Perhaps it is true that we can know more by not knowing. Those who know more may in fact know little but generally those who know more do know more but this needs not be the case. 

This applies not only to doctrine and saints, but also to all aspects of life. Does it mean that the right though right can be wrong at times and the wrong though wrong may still be right at times? 

Can we know more by not knowing? This should not be the case but if we look deeper, this can be the case and yet is not. 

Have a second thought or a rethink and go for the 360 degree appraisal. Only then can there be more insight and fresh perspectives. Thus the wise never say "no" and never say "yes" but he says "yes" at times and "no" at other times. 

Proponents of a religious belief may both be right and wrong. It all depends on the people, times and circumstances. Nothing is cast in stone. Don't be rigid and be a stick in the mud. Don't be a pain the the neck. 

This does not mean you cannot hold to a view but you must know when and how to apply the view, to hold on to it and when to let go, vary or differ. This is so that you will ever be a renewed blessing to yourself or other men and be ever more blessed by God and saints. 

This not mean you are fence sitter or have no backbone, but that you look at life in 360 degrees. You are no hypocrite but a realist with 360 degree insight. 

Sometimes to know your own religion or saint, others not in your religion and who do not pray to your saint may well know better than you and you can learn from them. You can get fresh angles or know more angles and views. 

Others may know you better than you know yourself. This is true and yet not so. Do think again. Nothing is cast in stone. That too is true and yet not so. 

Try telling a man of faith that nothing is cast in stone and you will be viewed as odd, a sinner who better repent, someone who challenges dogmas and who has befriended the devil, someone who should be feared and who need to be saved. 

Well there is more to all these than meet the eyes. The very reason why religion has succeeded may well be the same reason why it has failed. 

Remember that nothing is cast in stone and yet in the uncertainty, there surely will still be certainty. This is perhaps just the manifestation of duality the sages of old in the East refer to as yin and yang, the soft and hard attributes of life. 

Because nothing is cast in stone, in any religion, there will be many sects and in any sect, there will be many schools. There will be many independent denominations and stand alone temples or churches. 

This is why Lord Bo Tien said that religions and sects become sort of archaeological departments for seekers of truth to dig out the inner truth that the forefathers talk about - the basic truth that are buried by time and by layers of added on beliefs, thinking and traditions of men over the centuries. 

That is why a true seeker of God can only know God more by going away from religions and sects after going into religions and sects. 

Peace above all else

Learning Point No 342

It is not what we believe that is important and whether what we believe is true or not too is not critical to our salvation. 

It is not how much we know. In fact, knowing a little may not be a set back or disadvantage. 

Rather, what we believe must have positive impact on us, not only in next life but in the here and now. 

What we know however little this may be and even if it is not exactly true or correct may still be worthwhile so long as the little we know or that which we believe make the difference in our life. 

Are we better off? Are we at peace with life now? If we can be, then we may well stand the hope to be at peace in the life hereafter. 

There is no need to daydream or to dangle carrots of paradise in the life beyond. What is at issue is how we are now. Do we have the peace that the sages of old talked about? 

It is not who we worship and how many gods or saints we idolise. Rather, it is what we learn from them and the doctrine we gain from them. 

Do we live in the doctrine and are we at peace? So long as we can be at peace, even if we kowtow or prostate to no saint, we are alright. 

But no man can go it alone. Man needs shelter and help every now and then. Do be wary that man must not have crutch mentality and be disabled. 

Also, of what benefit is wealth, psychic abilities and power of any kind, if we are not at peace. 

If we have arrived in life or think we are about to arrive, be it spiritual or otherwise, we must have that peace and on the path to more of the peace. 

Life, spiritual or otherwise, has to do with more peace - peace above all else. 

How we are in the mundane world has to do with whether we are at peace. 

At the spiritual level, how we save our souls or others souls has to do with peace in ourselves and in others. 

Peace must be above all else.

Men of religion must be more at peace

Learning Point No 341

What is the use of religion if an adherent is not at peace with those who do not agree with his belief? 

What is the use of being a fellow adherent of  a religion if fellow adherents are saying that they are of different sects and that their sect is more correct and the others are not, even though they are of same religion? 

What is the value of one's religious inclination if it spurs him to talk bad, wage harm and cause death to others? 

How can there be justification in the name of God and saints to condemn others, to harm others, to hurt others and to wage wars? God and saints will not want them to do that! 

There must be peace in men and the more men with peace the better. We would expect men of religion to take the lead in being peaceful and loving. Indeed men of religion are trying their best to do that. 

The world will be a far better place to live in, if those of different religious affiliations are more at peace and more in harmony with one another. There is indeed more room for improvement.

But the irony is that even in a Bo Tien mission related temple, there is no peace of level that will do the lord saint proud. 

On the contrary, such a temple may deem fit to ostracise those who hold different perspectives and even feel it is right to ex-communicate and make persona-non-grata any pioneer elder who is loud forceful and persistent in feedback and criticism. 

What has happened to the peace which all parties in any temple or church are supposed to have, not to say in a temple of the lord saint? 

Learn from the failings of men of God

Learning Point No 340

What would you think and how would you react if men in charge of a temple or a church got carried away by their good faith and erred? You may say that this won't happen if men are grounded in faith in God and saints above. 

But it is because they have faith that they think that as long as what they did were in good faith and done in the name of God and saints, nothing would happen to them and all would be well if they did not do their administrative house keeping correctly. 

They might think that what mattered was that they are brethren and family of God and saints. They might hold the view that God and saints would be with them. 

They might become bold, careless and indiscreet by not keeping to the laws and regulations of the land. They might think that as long as the congregation and cadres condone and didn't mind, what could the government of the day do to them? They had good faith in God and saints and were prepared to do the unthinkable out of good faith.

This possibility cannot be ruled out in any temple church or mission. It can even happen to any Bo Tien mission related center or temple. 

It is with hindsight and trepidation that the core pioneers of the mission realized why the lord saint Lord Bo Tien said that men must abide by the laws of the land as much as they want to abide by the laws of Heaven. 

Inner truth netizen 2 the writer cannot help recalling the biblical teaching when he was in a mission school that the bible says that men must give to Caesar what is due to Caesar and to God what is due to God. 

Thus in the running of a temple, church or center, men need to draw the line and be right or else they may actually bring problems to themselves. They  would then be no longer role models for other men who look up to them out of good faith in God and saints. 

This is sadly because of their good faith but lacking in wisdom and lacking in grounding in the Word of God. God forgives them for their wrongs.

Blame not the flower for insects coming to it for nectar. This the lord saint Lord Bo Tien said with regards to his mission. The flower may wilt but the fruits and seeds that result will ensure new flowers. 

People will learn from the mistakes of others and be wiser not to repeat them. This will be the fruitful outcome.

But then there will always be the same problem because men are still men and not God and saints. Men often claim they know allot but actually they either do not know enough or do not practise what they know. This, like it or not, applies to ourselves as well for we are yet to be saints.

The weaknesses of men of good faith are but lessons and chapters in the gospel of life. Hopefully there will be men who wake up and make good. 

But in the process they may hurt their brothers in faith but it is better that their brothers be hurt and be wiser and better off in the end. 

Praise the lord. Praise God.

For God so loved the world...

Learning Point No 339

For God so loved the world that he sent not only one saint but many so that they may be saved not by mere good works but by more than good works. He gave the Word through his saints and the Word is God. 

Men must not live by good works alone but by the Word - the doctrine that was there even before time, before the advent of creation and the created, before the world came to know of saints and religions. 

This in  nutshell refers to the inner truth that Lord Bo Tien said since 1969. He only descended for 13 years and that was enough as he has left word that we should re-invigorate the spirit and fervor of the pioneers of religions in the Word. 

The Word is what matters. The Word is God. Know the Word and live in the Word and you will know God. No need to know who is the lord saint Lord Bo Tien. Know the Word and know all, not only the lord saint but God and all saints. This is the truth we need to know. This is also the way and the light. 

All should have their lives lighted up like candle flames. The amassing or collection of candle lights would be far better than the lone flame in lighting up the way for others to know the truth, the way and the light. 

Men and religions must work as one like the collection of candle flames. This the lord saint Lord Bo Tien did say in 1975. 

This is the focus of The Four Pillar Doctrine with the four pillars depicting the religions of the world in all cardinal directions. This came to be known later as the Inner Truth. 

There is no new religion or sect through Lord Bo Tien but merely the better grasp of the inner truth common to and behind all religions or sects. 

That the model of a Chinese style temple was elected or chosen as the center to springboard his mission is just to show that even in such cultural setting, there is God and the Word of God. 

The Word is God. The Mission is for the Word. It has to do with the love of God and why God sent his beloved saints to save the world of men and all beings through the Word.

Know the basics and that will suffice

Learning Point No 338

There is more to life than what we know. There is more to religions than what they are. There is more to God and saints than what are made known to us. 

What we know are like the leaves in the hand and what we don't know are like the leaves in the forest. But it is better to know what are in our hand than to know all the rest. We need only to know the basics that will suffice. 

This the lord saint Lord Bo Tien refer to as the inner truth behind religions and sects. 

The truth is there is God or Divinity and that God is compassionate enough to be open minded and to have more than one way or religion to reach out to all beings, not just men. 

There are no chosen ones and there will be more than one prophet or heavenly saint. This is the will of Divinity.

All the ways of sects and religions, of all saints and prophets revolve around the same understanding of the true nature of life - not to deny being human and not to go overboard but to find the balance. 

The values of spiritual if applied to mundane life will ensure basic adequacy and comfort enough to promote spiritual rapture with Divinity. 

No need to deny or indulge in the mundane. Just have enough of the mundane to make it in life and at same time be springboard to pursue the lofty divine aspirations

Know the basics and that will suffice. Isn't that simple but for many, they expect more and instead in converging on the basics, they diverge, are lost and do not know how to get back to basics. 

They literally think they need to be a doctorate of philosophy before they can serve God and be with God. 

The reality is that we do not need to go beyond the basics to serve God and be with God. We don't need even to have a religion but religions do serve their purpose. 

We don't even need to worship and adore any saint but we should respect all heavenly saints under God. Adoring more than one prophet or saint is alright but insisting that all go to God through one and only one saint is unbelievable. 

No saint or prophet would ever say so. Only men may say so and that is because men are men after all. Men can be jealous and overzealous but not God and saints. 

Well, to be simply more convergent and to surmise,  the wake-up call is for all to know the basics and that will suffice. Be simple and be pure. What else can be better and more effective?  

On life and death and what have you?

Learning Point No 337

Many would not even think of death even if they may be near death. This is simply because it is not a pleasant thought. This does not mean it is wrong not to be bothered by death. Most would not want to even think of death

But it is sometimes a good thing to have death as our backdrop in life, even if not in the fore. The more we are aware of death, the more we value life and we will obviously not deny life, wasting it, and we will not live up to the nines and act as though there is no tomorrow. 

Death as backdrop is a moderator of awareness of our approach to our day to day life - a wake-up call of the reality of life both at the individual and group level. 

If we are aware that death is inevitable, we would value life and not go for personal or group gratification or glory but for satisfaction that last beyond gratification. We go for peace and invest in life so that we reap the peace of life here and now and beyond life - never mind if what we get will be what we will have to give up in time.

Whilst the true nature of life, that is, the raft or doctrine  of life is important, it as doctrine should not be merely admired and adored as academic but we must and should live in grasp of doctrine and internalize it in our life as integral to our soul or spirit. It would be futile to admire the doctrine like a raft and not use it to cross the river of life. 

The doctrine or raft too is useful for us to fish in the river of life, the worldly life that is. This is not withstanding that we think we are far removed from and have yet to reach the end shore of life which is death or end of life. The end of life is ironically the beginning of another life, hopefully a better life. 

Even if we view the end as bleak and as the snubbing out of life, we should not run away from this future event. But the reverse too is no better. We should not look back in life, relishing in past glory, gone and no more or suffering in past pain when that suffering is no more there. 

We must not let our spirit or drive for and in life disintegrate but pull the spirit together to be whole so as to live snugly in the now and look forward ever positively to the future. This strong forward looking stance is necessary in the journey of life as emphasized by all saints. Ji Gong kept reminding all on this axiom. 

Ji Gong wanted us to have zest for life. Let peace prevail at every nook and corner of life. Look forward and move on and do not look back.

Even unto the end or when death looms and is inevitable, there must be this indomitable spirit. Never must there be gloom even in the face of death. 

Death is just part of journey in life. Death is no joy but it will not doom us. So let there be no gloom. Let the zest for peace and life prevail. 

The portrait of Ji Gong below aptly portrays this drive or spirit in life - the drive for that indomitable inner peace coming from the core, emanating and effusing from the heart and unruffled and unaffected by everything else around, not even gain or pain, not even death or end. 

We should not fear the end but be calm and collected and let the inner wish for peace be the primary driver for life, come what may. Never let peace elude us and peace must always prevail. 

We should be mindful that the future is beyond the here and now and certainly beyond death as well. Death is no issue or impediment for us if we have that indomitable peace emanating from the heart.

Lest we forget, we should not be blind to the future and see only the glory of the now. The glory of the now would wow us and unsettle the peace that we so painstakingly tried to cultivate. 

This would undoubtedly be perhaps wasteful of all past efforts and would be making mockery of and undermining the inner divine calling of our soul for more peace. 

That would effectively be cheating life - our own very life. Those who go for glory of wealth and status forget that they are in the journey of life and that death or the end shore awaits them. 

The other shore is not the end but opens up a vast land - the many other options. Death is not the end but the beginning of other options

At the mission or group level, myopic men would mistake the mission as to help others so as to glorify themselves. They forget that there is need to move on and not be drowned in the river of life - the woes of self glory for name and form. 

That would be submerging in the water of vanity of worldly greatness and burying themselves in more of woes and throes of life, even if they are wooed by the wows of human vanity. 

They forget that they have to cross the river and save themselves. They forget to be on the raft and use it to cross the water of life. The raft or religion or temple become a source of pride to boast about, to boost their image in eyes of fellow men and to bring them closer to the body politic  

They not only forget to save themselves but they also forget that they must save those who are stranded in the water and place them on the raft of life. Thereafter they have to help them use the raft to cross to the other shore.  

The doctrine, temple or religion like the raft is only useful if used but once we cross the river of life, it is no longer useful and on land, we need other more elaborate doctrines or vehicles to move. 

The apparent teachings and institutions of religions provide the different types of rafts and all types can help. It matters not if one looks better than the other. A raft is a raft. Whatever raft we use, all we need to do is to cross the river and reach the other shore without fear or trepidation, never mind if it is make shift and not at all elaborate. What matters is the functionality 

The other shore looks daunting remote, unreal and far. But if we harbor fear and distaste and we don't dare set our eyes on it, we will just move around in circles in the river of human life, blind our eyes to it and never want to reach it - which of course is wishful thinking. 

We may be drowned and not make it at all in life. For some they may be lucky to start all over again. For the many others, mind you,  they  may well become creatures of the water in sub terrain caves of hell before they can be in the river of human life. 

Lord Bo Tien in God's grand plan

Learning Point No 336

It is very clear that the lord saint Lord Bo Tien did not want to start a new religion or sect. He didn't even want to have shrine dedicated to him. 

That his organisation to spearhead the mission to save souls through existing religions and sects is named after him is just incidental. If he had his way there is no need to use his honorific name for any temple. He wants us to know that there is the same God and same way to Heaven and sainthood in all religions and sects. 

Small wonder that his name is just an honorific that of martial from heaven. His image in general's attire reflect the sense of purpose as in military mission. 

The many colors reflect the diverse races and cultures that God must reach out to not via one religion or sect but through many. His scepter in right hand depicts the divine instrument of mission entrusted by God the Jade Emperor. His left hand in salutation bids all to be steady and to move ahead in unwavering way. 

That he said he would not come down to speak to those at any mission related temple at Singapore after the first 13 years demonstrated his resolve not to be the purpose of the mission but to be the initiator and facilitator of mission. He did promise that he may come down once more but if all are in harmony and the mission is entrenched. 

Adoring him will be to no avail for he is not meant to be a saint of a temple or to be a saint of an existing or new sect or religion. He just wants to be in background and perhaps to fade into history. 

What he wants is for the reawakening of the inner truth of God and the Tao or Tou-li, the logic of reasoning for all to be saints in Heaven. This reawakening must take place not through a new saint or sect, not through a new religion or temple but through the existing churches, temples and religions. 

This invokes sense of both joy and sadness in the writer - inner truth netizen 2. But the lord saint will never waver and betray the mission to save souls through the reawakening of the same inner truth behind religions. 

He would rather that people like the writer forget him and he is kind to the writer by blessing him with the support and guidance of saints of existing religions. Ji Gong the living Buddha is God sent or rather sent by Lord Bo Tien but the writer will still miss the lord saint. 

This is despite his saying that those who know the doctrine knows him. Those who know him not but practise the same one basic doctrine in any religion or sect are near to him though they know him not, for he Lord Bo Tien is the embodiment of the inner truth behind all religions and sects. 

Lord Bo Tien, we miss you but the in your absence, the doctrine is what we have to treasure and our religion can be any or none. This is as per your wish and the mission is above all else. 

Why bother?

Learning Point No 335

Why bother to go to a temple or church if one has nothing to gain by going? Why bother to go there, if one is not out for worldly gains but just wants some peace in life? 

Why must we go there to get some peace from the hustle and bustle of life and to remind ourself that there is more in life than the mundane world we are in?  We can better do so in quietude away from the hustle and bustle. 

Why bother to have temples or churches in the first place when all we need is to communicate with God and saints direct? 

Why the need to communicate as such with God and saints when the doctrine is more important and living in the doctrine will bring us the peace of God and saints in us? 

Why go through men to reach God and doctrine when we know men tend to add flavor of their own and cause more confusion, complexity than clarity and simplicity? Why bother to know more when we end up having less by knowing more and be perplexed? 

Why not go for the basic and be one with God and saints? Why bother to be tied down with fear and guilt by the dogmas and rules in religions that are more the making of men than of God and saints? 

Why bother when what matters is the heart and not what goes through the gut? Why act to pretend and to please men when even pleasing God is not the way? 

What matters is how good you are at doctrine and at having peace and ease in life come what may be it of body or of soul. So why bother if you can be at peace even if religions, men and others talk ill of you? This is the way. 

The way is not to bother but to be at peace and right in the heart and not what you do, believe or how you please others be it God, saints or men? What men say of God and saints may be hearsay and even heresy. These are the mere impressions of men. 

Portrait of happy go lucky Ji Gong
who is good at heart and not bothered
by the ways, opinions and rules of men

It is the spirit of "why bother" than enabled Ji Gong to be who he is. He is not bothered if others chide him for eating meat and drinking wine, for he knows he is better off than those who don't but are not pure at heart. 

What matters is the heart and not what goes through the gut or for that matter what one does but has no heart in them. This is the lesson of life we must learn from Ji Gong. 

Be yourself and be good at heart and not be silly in trying to toe the ways and thinking of other men even if these have to do with temples and churches, for these are created more by men in the name of God and saints? 

So dear friends why bother the next time you are not sure and are more riled by the ways and beliefs of men in a church or temple. 

Be yourself and know the Tao or tou-li, the logic of life. Why bother to dwell with and follow these other men who make the tou-li so far removed and complex when the logic of life is simple and plain - just be good, be true and be pure at heart. 

Do not pretend or be what others think you must be. Why bother? If we can do this, there will be many more of men who are saints of sorts like Ji Gong. 

It is bothersome to be bothered. Just be simple and have the peace in life. Don't let others bother you or you be bothered with them and their views. Why bother? Just be what you can be so long as you have peace.  

But do something with you life if peace is not with you. Perhaps then you have to be bothered why and how to have peace. 

Go for the simple life and the basic truth of oneness with God. It is between you and God. Let none or others bother you or they will come between you and God. 

It is because men like droves flock to religions, churches and temples, and come between a man and God and his saints, then that poor man see not God and peace of God but the complexity of men and the schemes and devious ways of men in name of God and saints. 

Why bother with other men? Keep your distance and your peace. If need be, do be alone to be one with God and saints. Let no other men stand in the way. 

But should you have more of the peace, do share your peace and way of peace with other men caught up by the whirlpool of wow and woes of life, the sages of old refer to as yin and yang, the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations. 

But if you cannot have this luxury, then why bother? Otherwise, you may not have your peace in life for long. Peace and love start with self before it can go beyond the self. 

Saints like Ji Gong are rich and abundant with peace and love and could share with many who have affinity to come their way. 

But are you a saint as yet. Do you have the makings to be one in the foreseeable future? So you may want to think thus. Why bother? But at times, you may have to bother. 

The question is when and how not to step over the limit or threshold of usefulness and worthiness for your fellow men. If you have little peace yourself or want more of peace yourself, how can you preach to others and give them peace. 

If you hope to have more peace by bringing more into your flock, you may be insincere and deluded that having more in the flock will bring you peace and peace to them as well. Peace must come from within and not fall from the sky. 

Those who are lacking or empty of peace are like empty vessels that make the most noise. They create more empty vessels that together make more clatter and din that will drown the meager peace that may be there. 

There will be no peace for sure but hue and cry over the fear of death and hell. How can there be peace with the endless din and more so with threat of hell - the threat that comes from men and not God and saints. 

The young Ji Gong was threatened with expulsion from monastery for not toeing the norms of society but he did not bother with the gossip. He left the monastery to pursue the true calling of the heart and he succeeded and was and is ever a blessing to other men, regardless of calling or faith. 

He is a torch eternal of peace and joy for all men and through his life and example, he dispels the threat of hell for breaking the traditions and norms of men in the name of God and saints. 

He liberates men to be free from the shackles of fear. He frees men from the woeful chaining by rules and regulations and dogmas that ever stifle the growth of the heart for truth and Godliness so that men may be one with God and saints. He is Ji Gong.

So let us be like Ji Gong and not be bothered by the dogmas and rules of men in the name of religions, not that these are not good but they are only means to the end but not the end in themselves. 

If we are bothered, these rules and dogmas will be ever so bothersome and will detract us from the end of having peace with God and saints. So let us think every now and then if we need to be bothered. Why bother? This may be put in another way. When do we need to bother? 

Make or break more a choice than a destiny

Learning Point No 334 

In life be it mundane or spiritual, there is always the choice. How do you want life to be? 

If you do little or nothing and don't work for it, little or nothing will materialize  If you work for it you will get it. 

But if you set your eyes on more than what you can handle, you may fail but even if you succeed, you will be struggling with life. Then life is no longer a joy but a pain at every turn and corner. 

If you think that mundane life is waste of time and go for spiritual at expense of all else, you will create problems for yourself. You will end up no where near spiritual bliss but far from it because you are at odds with life by denying the life of flesh and blood, the life of the mundane. 

You will be better off by taking care in moderation  the mundane life, the needs of flesh and blood so that you will have health before you can go for even the basic be it spiritual or mundane. 

But if you choose to do more than you could handle be it mundane or spiritual, you will send your life into a tumble and be worse off. 

So do know how to moderate. Go for all and you will end up with little or none. Be modest and do what you can and even before you get what the modest goals you set out for, be it spiritual or mundane, you are already at peace. 

The process is as rewarding if not more so than the end result. This is the way of the wise. Remember that make or break depend on yourself. Make or break is more a choice than a destiny. 

It has to do with being contented and at peace even before you get what you want. It has to do with not wanting more or doing more than you are capable of and comfortable with. You may be capable of more but the cost to your peace in life may not be worthwhile. 

It has to do with not running away and doing nothing and expecting blessings, be it mundane or spiritual to drop down from the sky. 

It has to do with the balancing of duality of yin and yang as depicted by the feet of Lord Bo Tien atop and balancing the elements at his feet - representing worldly contingencies such as gain loss, denial and indulgence, envy / jealousy at one hand and the open-hearted rejoicing with others blessings at the other. 

It has to do with no denial, no struggling and no clinging but just being at peace and doing what you can, at peace you are at peace and comfortable with.

Make or break is more a choice than a destiny. You are a master of your own life. Joy or sorrow is often more our making than of fate. 

Even fate is not really predestined but the result of our past handling of life be it present or past life. 

But you could make the change, to want to be at peace and be contented with life come what may. Do not run from life nor race forward in life chasing after more than you could handle. 

Make or break in life is more a choice than a destiny. So choose wisely and be at peace even before you choose and act on your choice. 

That is the way which sages of old set out to do in life. This is for both spiritual and mundane. 

What applies to spiritual if applied to mundane will enable you to make it in life - both spiritual and mundane. This is the teaching of all saints. Lord Bo Tien reiterated on this principle in life. 

Others' beliefs promote insight on your own

Learning Point No 333

Know the views of others that differ from yours and you will know your own views better. Whether you change your views or not is another issue. 

Even if you don't and you hold to the belief that your views are right, by knowing the views of others and why they are different from yours and what makes them have such views will enable you know your views even better. 

In short, you will gain insight of sorts. But this is not a once-off process but a continual learning process. 

In time, you will wonder how you come to know more and that what you believed years ago is the same and yet different from what you know now. 

This whole preceding discussion applies to any belief, be it related to the mundane or spiritual. Let us dwell on spiritual applications 

To know your own religion or saint better, you must know other religions and saints better. 

Initially, you may start with perspective that your religion or saint is miles apart from other religions or saints. 

But with knowing better the other religions and saints, you will in time understand your own saint and religion better. 

You will realize that what are different are in fact the same. It is as though they belong to different points of a circle. It is the same circle after all. 

All hail from the same Divinity or God. 

God and the Saints of religions

Even in a temple or church, members may hold different views on how to run it and what should be the mission or emphasis. 

Do not run down the views of others and say yours are correct but try to understand and know their views and why they stick to them. 

Learn how to accept their views and yet not agree if you cannot agree. 

That way you may learn to understand your own views better and how to marry your views with that of others. That is the challenge. 

The way of course is to know others views better and in process gain more insight on your own. 

Others' beliefs can promote insight on your own and enable you to make your beliefs more whole, more complete and more inclusive. This will take time and requires magnanimity, patience and tolerance. 

Any Bo Tien mission-related temple is a role model that this is the way to go and knowing others views promote insight on your own. That way there will be harmony and oneness even in diversity of views - oneness of yin and yang as in Bagua.

The Bagua shrine floor at Bo Tien
mission-related temple at Singapore
echoes the harmony of yin and yang,
the very diversity of views
that seem conflicting and yet is one.
Knowing more of the other views
will promote insight on your own.

Clueless and lost in the house of God

Learning Point No 332

Many are those who go to the house of God all because they want fellowship and a sense that all will be well if they are sheltered by God and the saints. 

For religions to catch the attention of the lot, they have to be innovative and re-invent and to be able to capture attention. How else can they do so except to use the same very ways of the world that make them feel that sense of void amid abundance? Yes, these are the ways that attract them to God through the house of God.  

God is in everyone or as the Buddhists would say there is the Buddha nature in everyone. But men overwhelmed by the material world, cannot see and let alone feel the immaterial divine God and his saints. 

Men cannot see the only one tree of Divinity in the vast pasture of life but men can see the forest of trees if the forest is big and attractive enough. But once men go to the forest, they get tangled with the many trees and wonders of the forest and will still miss the tree of Divinity. 

This simple parable or analogy explains why men in the house of God may still feel the absence of the substantiality of God though they may be awed and carried away by the forest of trees. 

They may feel secure in the forest but are still clueless where God or the tree of Divinity is. They mistake the forest of trees that is the beliefs, practices, the dogmas and the ways of charismatic men as God and as evidence of God. 

Religions and sects do their worthy roles to catch the eyes of men to the vast forest comprising the paraphernalia, the very eye catching activities and antics of men of religions and sects. But then men must know how to separate and decipher these from God. 

The danger nowadays is that men may be clueless and may even feel lost in the house of God. They think they know God and saints when all they know are the forest of activities and men of religions and sects but they have yet to know God. 

The trees of the forest catch their attention but having reached the forest, they need to know where is God and not just be awed by activities and men in the houses men created in the name of God. 

Thus many may be clueless and lost in the house of God. In reality, God is in them and in their hearts. The house of God created by men should instead of sidetracking them from God and saints, awaken the  presence of God and saints in their hearts. 

Otherwise, they would be clueless and lost in the house of God. That would indeed be ironical. The institutional buzz and hive of human activities are meant to attract them to God and not make them be clueless and lost in the forest of activities. 

Let not men or activities stand between God and the heart of every man, more so in the house of God, or rather the house of man for God. It would be pathetic if a man ended up clueless and lost in the house of God.

Lord Bo Tien said that the whole world is a temple or house of God, and the various religions are the pillars. All men are in the universal temple or house of God. 

Yet, because of being caught up by fellow men and the myriad activities, they don't even know they are in the house of God. They ask where is God? They are clueless and lost in the house of God. 

Worse still, they end up adoring and idolizing men rather than God and saints, just because these men can speak well and rouse their emotion. They are even ready to part with money and life when so aroused. Men may then end up terrorizing fellow men in the name of God.

That will be cult-like and unbecoming. But what to expect when men can be carried away and be lost and clueless of who is God and who is man. This can and has happened in the house of God. 

Thus in any mission-related temple of Bo Tien Mission, all must know who is man and who is saint. No one should mistake the medium or Elder Ling, the anointed leader as the lord saint. Man is man and saint is saint.

But till this very day and year 2013 and for many generations to come, there will always be those who will end up seeing a man as saint or idolizing another man instead of the lord saint. 

Some even act as though they are better than the lord saint and the saint better take a back seat and they be the saint's mouth piece. Perhaps it is obvious that they and the many others are clueless and lost in the house of God. 

Do not by any stretch of imagination belittle them though, for however good we may be, we did or do commit the same folly at some time in our life. They are just like us and we like them though we may insist we are different at this point of time. 

Point one finger at others and three fingers point back at us. Those who crucify others will end up crucifying themselves. So do not be too happy to say others are clueless and lost in the house of God. 

We all are or were or will be. All have to learn and be wiser from the learning. Lord Bo Tien did say that we need to learn from our own weaknesses and from that of our fellow men. Any saint or prophet would say the same. 

So what if we or others are clueless and lost in the house of God? Isn't this part and parcel of the learning process. 

To be lost and clueless in the house of God can be both good and not good. Isn't this the case? Well you the readers have to decide. 

Ask Elder Ling Diung Kwong and he will give you a earful and you may wish you never ask him in the first place. But never say he is wrong for he may well be as right as you though you hold different perspectives from him.

Cheers and Omitofo.

Living up to the image of the lord saint.

Learning Point No 331

Many have eyes but do not see. Many have ears but do not hear. Many have access to doctrine but have no heart in doctrine. 

Many have the image of a lord saint in front of them but they have no regard for the image but only for their own image and needs. 

They worship their own image and not that of the lord saint. This is their choice and they have to live up to that. They live up to their own image and not that of the lord. That is pathetic. 

If they know the doctrine, they will live by the doctrine. They will then live up to the image of their lord saint and not live up to their own. 

The doctrine is in the image of the lord saint. The doctrine is the image and the image is the doctrine.  This Lord Bo Tien did say with regards to his image. It is as simple as that. That is so and so be it. 

He is Lord Bo Tien. He is no general
Like a general, he has a mission
The many colors of armour reflect
the diverse races, religions and culture
His right hand holds on the scepter -
the doctrine of God and inner truth
common to and behind all faiths and sects
His left hand bids all to be steadfast
on mission of inner truth way
which is in his posture.
His feet atop the duality of elements,
the yin and yang, not to suppress but to balance 
the duality of worldly contingencies
like praise blame, gain loss, joy and sorrow
This is the way to harmony and divine peace

If they live up to the doctrine, they live up to the image of the lord saint and they project the image of the lord saint. They project good image of themselves and the lord saint. 

Do live up to the good image of the lord saint and not undermine his good name in the very house of the lord. 

This post applies to followers of any saint or prophet. 

Much ado over the fools and the wise

Learning Point No 330

---- a tongue in cheek post, meant to inject tinge of humor and realization or awakening through humor but others may find the humor distasteful and bordering on arrogance. This is not the intention. Do pardon the use of words 'fools' and 'wise'

Bird of the same feather stick together. Fools think alike and are never alone but the wise are those who never fear of being misunderstood. They find themselves alone. 

Fools have no problem with company but the wise stands alone and do not need company. Fools need acceptance and concurrence by others but not the wise. 

Fools are not sure of themselves and want others to agree with them. Only then will they feel they are right even if in fact they are wrong. 

Those who think they know the doctrine of God must have confidence in themselves. If they need others to say they are right, then they do not really know. 

If they need to win new converts to their views, they are fools and are insecure and want company - the more the better. They badly need reassurance in numbers. 

The wise knows they are right even if others could not see their point of view. The wise thus can stand alone but fools need company. Fools think alike and are never alone but the wise  rather be alone.

Those who know the doctrine stay away from the temple but those who know less or know not the doctrine talk as though they know allot and are at the temple to show they know more. 

But if men know allot in the wrong knowledge but get lost in what they know, they actually know not and are lost. They seek company of others to get reassurance that they know when they do not know. They talk allot because they want reassurance that they do know. 

But empty vessels make the most noise. They attract people of like minds and together they create the most noise but with little or no substance. 

Fools think alike and cannot be alone. The wise thinks differently and prefers to be alone than to be ruffled by the many fools who try to prove them wrong. 

The fools need company and find the wise a pain in the neck. Fools think alike, talk allot and relish company but not the wise.  

So if you do not go to a temple, this does not mean you are not good or wise. Perhaps you either know nothing and are couldn't be bothered type or you are wiser than the many in the temple. 

Lord Bo Tien did say that the near may be far and the far near. Those who are at a temple may know less than those not at the temple. 

But to the lord saint, it is alright to know less so long as you have doubts and want to question, to disagree and to know more. Why? If such men are able to clear their doubts and end up knowing more, they will no longer be far but near. 

But then perhaps they may then find themselves alone and may need to stay away from the fools - those who know not and ask not but think they know allot. 

(The scenarios described would not happen in a Bo Tien related temple for those at such temples would know better. Omitofo)