There are three phases of spirituality that Lord Bo Tien refers to with respect to his mission and any of his temples.
The first phase is the phase of giving of blessings by Heaven to establish affinity and commitment to Heaven and God. Many seem to be blessed so readily. This brings in the crowd and grows the organisation. It is the phase of miracles.
In the second phase, men learn to give blessings to others and not just receive. Men help fellow men who needs help. This yields merits or 'kongteik' in Chinese dialect. This can end up as the phase of charity or welfare activities.
But men may be shallow or lacking in doctrine and may still go for self gain such as getting into good books of leaders of the land rather than purifying and saving souls, theirs and others, beyond just bodily and mundane needs.
But men may be shallow or lacking in doctrine and may still go for self gain such as getting into good books of leaders of the land rather than purifying and saving souls, theirs and others, beyond just bodily and mundane needs.
In the 3rd phase, men learn and cultivate wisdom, the Tou-li, Logic or Way that yields purity which enables men to receive and to give more blessings. Men learn to be like saints. He must learn the Way before he can bless himself and others. Blessings seem to be far apart or less if they are not into the Way.
The above three phases apply even to mundane or family life of every man. There are the three phases.
In the first phase, the child grows up and receives nurturing and blessings from parents and elders. In the 2nd phase, having grown up the individual gives to others, the young and the children that come along in his life. He will derive satisfaction from status and wealth.
In the 3rd phase, having grown old, the individual enters the phase of appraisal and making sense of the purpose of life. There is more to life than just giving or be given in life. Wealth and status in society are not as attractive or no longer so. There is need to go beyond these. What have we learnt and how collected and poised are we for the higher calling?
Those in 3rd phase more so in spiritual life will critic those in 1st and 2nd phases, more so in a temple of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien. Is this wholesome? They will readily say that those in the first or second phases are not mission or doctrine orientated.
Men in 3rd phase may question why those new to temple or mission get blessings easily but are less deserving. This applies to new entrants to a religion or sect.
Such men in the 3rd phase forget they are in different phases of spiritual life. They try to run away from life, from the 3rd phase to the 1st but can they?
Be it in a temple or in individual's life, men in 3rd phase have to face reality and wake up, to be enlightened or be enlightened by harsh reality of life. There is no turning back.
Men in the early phases too cannot stay put in their phases of life and not move on. Life must move on and there is no comfort zone. No one can stay put in any station of life.
The third phase requires one to really engage life by disengaging from life. One has to rise to beyond the mundane while still in the thick and thin of the mundane. One cannot give up or run away from the mundane.
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