Temples of today cannot be like temples of the past, be it in any culture, and more so in Chinese culture. Bo Tien Temple set up in 1969 is different in that right from the start there was no need for sacrifices of animals and offerings of joss papers, not that these are wrong but they are not as right.
Bo Tien Mission Temple is a Chinese temple poised to be different and to be pivoted on doctrine to show the world that all religions are one in basic truth and that we must see beyond the culture and somewhat archaic external facade of rituals and age-old traditions.
To this end, the lord saint has directed that we live by doctrine which has to do with love for self and others.
One significant off-shoot of this is the setting of a small token aged home of less than thirty due to legal constraints as well as the setting up of the collection and free distribution of provisions for the needy through Mutual Help and Care, both to be under the umbrella of the temple and not heartlessly divorced as separate entities or society from the temple.
It has been way more than 45 years and the mission seems to be mired down and not going beyond these and almost every other temple in town is doing the same perhaps much to its credit but others may say they started these before Bo Tien Mission and can better do so. Whatever the reality is not important.
The stark fact remains that the mission should not and never be just merely a very small token aged home, a small day care center and distribution of rations to but limited hundreds of needy. The mission is more than that.
It should be more and should go beyond physical welfare. There is the greater need for doctrine and its cultivation. The end is to save souls. There is obvious confusion of what constitutes the mission.
The stark fact remains that the mission should not and never be just merely a very small token aged home, a small day care center and distribution of rations to but limited hundreds of needy. The mission is more than that.
It should be more and should go beyond physical welfare. There is the greater need for doctrine and its cultivation. The end is to save souls. There is obvious confusion of what constitutes the mission.
Any confusion is because of men and the seeming failure to go beyond in the push of the mission with respect to doctrine.
To do these, changes in culture must be made with the parallel push of doctrine.
The temple of the mission must be simple, with no urn, less or even no images, safe for the serenity and pure aura of God and saints.
Is there the need for images when the lord saint says that those who know and see the doctrine knows and sees the lord saint? Those who do not, see not and know not the lord saint.
For centuries, most Chinese and Asains pay homage to God Almighty the Jade Emperor without having any image of him except for the main urn at the entrance or front courtyard of the temple.
It is high time for the Mission of Heaven led by Lord Bo Tien to lead by example and be more openly and daringly progressive by giving up of images, urns and jos sticks and in place create ambience of Heaven and Earth interface at the very temple of the lord.
Let there be meeting of Heaven (sky) and Earth (men) in the temple. Let the shrine hall be air-conditioned. Let there be the hustle of leaves, the chirping of lovely birds and the music of breeze and of the cascading of water at the four waterfall pillars of the shrine.
Let men not sit jammed and cross legged but on cushion chairs with backrests to meditate and to rejoice in the heavenly words shared by pastors at the pulpit.
Pastors should not be entertainers but healers of the souls. They should be soothing in words, thoughts and deeds.
Pastors should not be entertainers but healers of the souls. They should be soothing in words, thoughts and deeds.
Let organ music or orchestral music resound softly in the air to soothe the body and enrich the spirits of men to focus and be in tune with serenity divine.
Let there be holograms of saints descending and passing bye and blessing men in their paths.
Let there be that definite tinge of aroma incense waffling in the air and dry ice billowing towards the epicenter of the shrine with colored lights alternating in synchrony. The occasional timely chime of bells in the distance will be simply divine.
Perhaps the occasional clang of cymbals and rolling of drums building up to a motivating crescendo as though descending from heaven will blend well and serve as the awakening of sorts to show oneness in diversity. This will provide the blending of old to the new and modern as a spectrum of sounds to assuage and titillate the senses.
A mission-related temple and for that matter all temples and places of worship should modernise and better address the spiritual needs of men of today (2013) and the future and they should not be stuck in the mud of rituals and old traditions not in tune with modern society.
Let there be that definite tinge of aroma incense waffling in the air and dry ice billowing towards the epicenter of the shrine with colored lights alternating in synchrony. The occasional timely chime of bells in the distance will be simply divine.
Perhaps the occasional clang of cymbals and rolling of drums building up to a motivating crescendo as though descending from heaven will blend well and serve as the awakening of sorts to show oneness in diversity. This will provide the blending of old to the new and modern as a spectrum of sounds to assuage and titillate the senses.
A mission-related temple and for that matter all temples and places of worship should modernise and better address the spiritual needs of men of today (2013) and the future and they should not be stuck in the mud of rituals and old traditions not in tune with modern society.
If they do not change, the young will shun them and the temples will simply fade into oblivion. Temples will then become relics of the past.
Do not let temples be relics and museum of the past. Temples should be progressive and not regressive.
Temples should not be archaeological burial sites of the doctrine of God and saints but should be attractive to the young and modern and expose into the open the rich wisdom and simplicity of the doctrine of God and saints.
They are where men meet doctrine and the doctrine is God. They are where men meet God and saints. Let no archaic rituals and paraphernalia separate men from God and saints.
Men should not need to dig into the layers of rituals and paraphernalia before they can quench their spiritual thirst to be with doctrine and God.
Lest we forget, the doctrine is God. God is the doctrine. God and saints are one in doctrine. The Word is God and God is the Word.
Men in a temple need not belong to any religion but they must believe in God and his doctrine. Elder Ling is such a man.
He was appointed as Temple Head by the lord saint Lord Bo Tien when the temple was set up in 1970 after the descent of the lord saint in 1969 in body of P. Philip. (This was borne out by the minutes of the general meeting in 1971 and in the annual mission day messages of the lord saint)
He has the progressive outlook and vision but finds it onerous to explain and share with others because they find that he is a pain in the neck. Looking back, this may be the very reason why the lord saint appointed and anointed him as Temple Head - Ah Tau (Hokkien term).
Temples should be progressive and not regressive. The lord saint wants his temple to be different and be model for others to follow.
He identified the progressive Elder Ling to ensure mission stays on course, does not falter and stays progressive. Only then can temple or rather temples stay relevant, meaningful and connect with modern society.
Temples must ever be progressive or may well end up as archaeological relics of the past and be relegated to oblivion with passing of time.
The many countless centuries of good works of the heavenly saints like Ji Gong, Kuanyin, Amitabha, Kuan Kong, Necha and The Great Sage Tai Seng would then be lost to men if temples are archaic and not progressive.
Whose fault would that be? Of course the fault lies with men who hold on to temples and refuse to let temples be progressive. They need to learn from men like Elder Ling. But can they and should they when they think they know better.
Well there will always be different viewpoints which may be right in their own ways and at the same time. Otherwise, there will be only one religion and not many religions and for any one religion, many sects and schools.
Perhaps it is better not to identify specifically with any but instead to believe and respect all. That may be considered a commitment, yet not. In a way this position or stance is progressive. Temples should respect all religions and have place for all religions in both their hearts and premises.
There will however be those temples who prefer to preserve the old ways and practices. That is their choice and some say this is good as well. They want to protect and further the age old culture and traditions of the past forefathers. They will then say,"What's wrong with that?"
But they should ask themselves whether the young in their families will feel the inclination to be in the organisations of their parents. If so, then their insistence on old ways and traditions are alright. If not, they are selfish in orientation and the temples they are in will fade away with them into the sunset.
Temples should follow in the footsteps of the temples of Lord Bo Tien but like it or not, enough is never enough in as far as progressiveness of temples is concerned, more so in a mission temple of the lord saint.
But if elders and wise ones like Elder Ling are too pushy and brash, they will be shunned by those who would certainly feel threatened and pressurized by their relentless and somewhat stubborn pursuit for progressiveness.
Sad to say that they will look set to fail in their pursuit if they cannot carry the equally or more stubborn men in the temples with them. They may even be ostracized and be caught in quad-mire of their making.
But this will be a small problem compared to the bigger problem of regressiveness and refusal to embark on road of progressiveness advocated by men the likes of Elder Ling.
So obviously there are problems in temples and the problems lie with men. The issues and problems of men are many and plentiful. This did Lord Bo Tien opined.
In summary, progressiveness applies to all places of worship and religious institutions. There must be the proper showcasing of doctrine and emphasis on simplicity and purity of God, not hanging on to age old traditions and rituals which run counter to simplicity and add to complexity, often causing issues of misconceptions.
Doctrine and practice also must take precedence over hero worshiping and idolising, be it of men or of God and his saints.
It must be stressed that there must however be no room for both overt or covert manipulation and twisting of doctrine by men for devious human gains.
Doctrine emphasis must be on the premise that God is the Word and the Word is God. This must be.
Doctrine coverage must be holistic and global, so that it will not by any chance or other be slanted, wrongly conveyed and misconstrued.
Men in a temple need not belong to any religion but they must believe in God and his doctrine. Elder Ling is such a man.
He was appointed as Temple Head by the lord saint Lord Bo Tien when the temple was set up in 1970 after the descent of the lord saint in 1969 in body of P. Philip. (This was borne out by the minutes of the general meeting in 1971 and in the annual mission day messages of the lord saint)
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| Elder Ling Diung Kwong |
He has the progressive outlook and vision but finds it onerous to explain and share with others because they find that he is a pain in the neck. Looking back, this may be the very reason why the lord saint appointed and anointed him as Temple Head - Ah Tau (Hokkien term).
Temples should be progressive and not regressive. The lord saint wants his temple to be different and be model for others to follow.
He identified the progressive Elder Ling to ensure mission stays on course, does not falter and stays progressive. Only then can temple or rather temples stay relevant, meaningful and connect with modern society.
Temples must ever be progressive or may well end up as archaeological relics of the past and be relegated to oblivion with passing of time.
The many countless centuries of good works of the heavenly saints like Ji Gong, Kuanyin, Amitabha, Kuan Kong, Necha and The Great Sage Tai Seng would then be lost to men if temples are archaic and not progressive.
Whose fault would that be? Of course the fault lies with men who hold on to temples and refuse to let temples be progressive. They need to learn from men like Elder Ling. But can they and should they when they think they know better.
Well there will always be different viewpoints which may be right in their own ways and at the same time. Otherwise, there will be only one religion and not many religions and for any one religion, many sects and schools.
Perhaps it is better not to identify specifically with any but instead to believe and respect all. That may be considered a commitment, yet not. In a way this position or stance is progressive. Temples should respect all religions and have place for all religions in both their hearts and premises.
There will however be those temples who prefer to preserve the old ways and practices. That is their choice and some say this is good as well. They want to protect and further the age old culture and traditions of the past forefathers. They will then say,"What's wrong with that?"
But they should ask themselves whether the young in their families will feel the inclination to be in the organisations of their parents. If so, then their insistence on old ways and traditions are alright. If not, they are selfish in orientation and the temples they are in will fade away with them into the sunset.
Temples should follow in the footsteps of the temples of Lord Bo Tien but like it or not, enough is never enough in as far as progressiveness of temples is concerned, more so in a mission temple of the lord saint.
But if elders and wise ones like Elder Ling are too pushy and brash, they will be shunned by those who would certainly feel threatened and pressurized by their relentless and somewhat stubborn pursuit for progressiveness.
Sad to say that they will look set to fail in their pursuit if they cannot carry the equally or more stubborn men in the temples with them. They may even be ostracized and be caught in quad-mire of their making.
But this will be a small problem compared to the bigger problem of regressiveness and refusal to embark on road of progressiveness advocated by men the likes of Elder Ling.
People must not stubbornly hold on to old ways but allow reforms to rationalize and make simple the practices in a temple to align with and uphold the doctrine of Heaven. Time is not on their side. They may well live or even die to regret.
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| Elder Ling |
So obviously there are problems in temples and the problems lie with men. The issues and problems of men are many and plentiful. This did Lord Bo Tien opined.
In summary, progressiveness applies to all places of worship and religious institutions. There must be the proper showcasing of doctrine and emphasis on simplicity and purity of God, not hanging on to age old traditions and rituals which run counter to simplicity and add to complexity, often causing issues of misconceptions.
Doctrine and practice also must take precedence over hero worshiping and idolising, be it of men or of God and his saints.
It must be stressed that there must however be no room for both overt or covert manipulation and twisting of doctrine by men for devious human gains.
Doctrine emphasis must be on the premise that God is the Word and the Word is God. This must be.
Doctrine coverage must be holistic and global, so that it will not by any chance or other be slanted, wrongly conveyed and misconstrued.
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