None of the odds can hinder a lord saint

Learning Point No 422

    

Amitabha and all heavenly saints
are like the great ocean

Any heavenly saint is like the great ocean. No amount of mud flowing into the ocean will sully the ocean that reaches out to many a land. 

Despite the odds, a lord saint will not be stopped from reaching out to men like the rain that comes down from the clouds to bless the land away from the ocean. 

  

What are these odds? They are at least eight in number, 

1) The human mediators primary and secondary who refuse to be faithful intermediary of the lord saint. They are weak links. A lord saint is never shackled down by such weak links who may be pastors, monks and trancers.

2) The falsehood that arises when men mistook what men said as what a lord saint said. Men can have doubts of the teachings of a lord saint and at times even prefer to sidetrack the teachings but men should not dwell in falsehood. It is like breaking commandments or precepts. 

3) The subtle 'unseating' of a lord saint in the temple relegating the saint to the 'backyard' or museum so that some men can have more limelight to pursue their agenda as the agenda of the saint. Men in the temple then become beholden to man instead of God and saint. Pastor or priest take the limelight instead of God and saint.

4) The lord saint has no voice and say because men refuse to live in the doctrine specified in the messages of the saint. Men see not the Word as God and saint. They ensure that their own voice and say be heard instead. 

5) Men claim credit for the good works motivated by the lord saint of that temple or church. They may even divorce the good works as a separate society from the temple or church of the saint with man becoming the overall patron and adviser instead of the heavenly saint. 

6) Men profaning allegiance by holding temple celebrations and burning jos sticks and offering livestock when it is the doctrine and heart that count, not the outward actions of men. 

7) Tuff guarding by men so that other men could not share the joy of being in the temple of a lord saint. They want to ensure that all who come are those with them. If not, they have no place there. But the reality is that men in a temple of a lord saint need not have same beliefs as the tuff guarders. This is just like the men in the world of the same one God can have different religions and sects. 

8) (a) The denial of the publication of the messages of a lord saint and branding them as personal accounts which are mostly not true and authentic. But these messages contain the instructions and teachings of a lord saint and published officially by the earlier pioneer committee. 

(b) It is however alright to have publications other than that containing the messages of a saint of the temple, so that men can have choice and free will. Men can compare and decide for themselves. 

  

It is consistent with the Mission of Lord Bo Tien to make sure that such odds do not happen in any house of God and saints, and even if these do occur, men will learn and be wiser from the learning. 

This will go a long way to ensure that men will be better adherents of a religion they choose. There is no need to switch religion or sect. The lord saint too is not starting a new sect or religion. 

That the lord saint indeed has a temple in Singapore and another in Sitiawan Malaysia is not indicative of his starting a new sect or religion or that he favors any.

Better for wolves to be in the temple than be in the wilderness

Learning Point No 421

    

Lord Ji  or Ji Gong highlighted on
 the issue of divine affinity with saints
otherwise it would seem unfair
why wolves in men may have affinity
while others who are not
 may not have such. Read on...

This post is penned by the shadow of the golden fan on the afternoon of the 45th Mission Day of Lord Bo Tien on the thirteenth day of the ninth lunar month - 17th Oct 2013. For those upset by this post, remember what Buddha said, 

Despite the many saints and the many religions and sects, it is unrealistic to expect Heaven to reach out to all. 

Ji Gong when asked why not all can be associated with saints has this to say. Only those with affinity have the chance to be associated with saints and of those associated with saints, only some have the chance to hear the Doctrine. Of these some, only few after hearing the Doctrine can make good. 

This is the case as rare are those who have the heart for Doctrine and many only have the heart to go for personal gains usually at the expense of the good of others and even at the expense of the religion or temple that they are in. They are like parasites of the temple or religion. 

They come to a saint for selfish worldly blessings that are at others disadvantage and are harmful to others. They are oblivious of the true nature of life. 

They live as though they will live forever. They go for worldly status and acclaim.  What they want is that they gain, never mind if others are hurt or deprived in the process.

It is difficult to change them for the better. It is definitely rare to be able to get them to be in a temple or church. 

Let us be realistic and repeat that it would be rare and perhaps a near miracle if a temple can attract them but alas even after attracting them, it is more likely that they go for personal gains and not for spiritual concerns. 

They may cause problems and cause the temple to rot like insects causing wood rot in a tree, as was once referred to by Lord Bo Tien in one of the many anniversary messages. The branch may have to be chopped off to save the tree.

They may be the worst among men. Heavenly saints like Ji Gong and Bo Tien being benevolent, do still want to reach out to them but can the saints reach out to all and can they change them for their own good and for the good of all men? 

Ideally yes but it would be onerous. If such men can indeed be in the temple, even if their motives are not ideal and far from good, it is already good enough just for them to be in the temple. 

If they, despite it being ridiculous, can go one further step and take up management posts in the temple, that would be beyond dreams. Why? The explanation is this. Even if they may indeed create problems of spiritual transgression, their taking up appointments would be wonderful in a way. 

This would be a near miracle though not miraculous enough. They would be somewhat forced along to do some good though they might inevitably by their inherent nature create problems and frustrate others.

They like leopards do not change their spots. Saints can only help those who happen to come bye. They happen to come by probably due to fate of past lives and benevolent saints treasure opportunity to have them and be with them.

Men must have affinity to religion. God and saints try to create more chances and affinity but alas many more remain out of the orbit of religions and saints. 

If men of questionable integrity come to a temple, they may be seen as unworthy by the elders in a temple but not by God and saints. 

They by right have little affinity or inclination to spiritual but if they do come and take interest in a temple, this is a rarity and God and saints will value the opportunity to change them for the better. Though in the short and medium term this is not probable as they may even wreck havoc. Do reflect on why this is so. 

Lord Bo Tien said that men should not blame the flower for insects coming to it for nectar. Affinity to saints is already finite for all. What more for those who are wayward and undeserving? They will need the luck of the lottery to be in the house of God. 

Even if they disappoint and pollute the spirituality of the temple, God and saints do relish the rarity of having them in the house of God than be totally lost out there in the wilderness. 

It is indeed better for 'wolves' to be in the temple than to be in the wilderness. They will do less harm and may even do some good. Isn't this still good of sorts?

As long as there is the affinity, there is the chance however remote that they will make good and in the process open the eyes of others even if they themselves fail for now to make good spiritually. 

Men in a temple even of the lord saint Lord Bo Tien must learn from the mistakes of others so that they can be better off from the learning. We learn from life, not only our own but also from the life of others. This is the living gospel which Lord Bo Tien referred to in one of the anniversary messages he gave.

Hope that all who read this post is convinced that it is better for wolves to be in the temple than to be in the wilderness. 

But the question is this. Who are the wolves? The elder head or pioneer may think that the young upstart is the wolf but the latter may think that the elder pioneer is the wolf. 

It is probable that all are 'wolves' in their own ways and all come to the temple or saint for personal agenda. Do ask yourself, who don't? All are like insects coming to the flower for nectar. So the pot should not call the kettle black or should it do so? 

Jesus said, "Judge not lest ye be judged." and "Many see the dust in others' eyes but not in their own."

In the old days, Chinese temples in China and in countries outside China used to be run somehow by shady people who have connections with triads. As Lord Bo Tien said that the flower should not be blamed for insects coming to it for nectar. 

Temples often became the operational centers of triads and people of unlikely or devious spiritual intents. But as said earlier, the saints welcome them and while saints want them to change, this might not happen overnight. 

But at least the temple environment and belief in heavenly saints might knock some sense of morality and conscience into them so that they be more principled. 

Like in the society outside the temples, even with the more so-called straight people, only a few see the real light and live life based on doctrine of God and saints. Even priests of temples and pastors of churches have proven to be disappointment in modern time of 2013. They are like wolves in sheep's clothings.

Saints like Kuang Kong and Ji Gong are often revered by men whom the mainstream regard as the condemned and to be avoided. 

In the setting up of Bo Tien Mission or Temple, Lord Bo Tien too did welcome them and the man whom the lord saint chose to be the medium to speak to men was of such shady background. That man had very much changed for the better but still not up to the expectations of critical society. 

He was miraculously reformed like many pastors who had past like him. But just like pastors, we should not expect the sky out of people like him. 

Had people like them not been inducted into the various churches and temples, they would be worse off and society too would likewise be worse off. 

Thus looking back, it was with great foresight and sheer wisdom that Lord Bo Tien chose a senior police officer in 1970 to be the temple head or 'Ah Tau' to oversee the mission and ensure that it would not falter. 

That man has since retired from police force and he is Elder Ling Diung Kwong. He should still play his supervisory role of the Mission otherwise who will be there to manage men who however good will still have shady sides and may run foul of the law of the land. 

Elder Ling in ? 1980 picture

But men especially the 'wolves' in them may find the likes of him irritating and want him to get off their backs. Without men like him in temples and churches, the governance and spiritual integrity will go down by notches

Reflections on The Forty Fifth Year of The Mission

Learning Point No 420

    

The mission of the lord saint has indeed reached 45 year mark on 17th Oct 2013 - the 13th day of the ninth lunar month. 

A temple is the people and not the building. This the lord saint said. 

Forty five years on, there should be concrete temple of people with men not lacking at all in doctrine. 

The men should be solidly grounded and substantial in doctrine. 

It is the concrete men that matter and not the concrete building. The success of a temple and mission depends on the quality of people. 

Success is not reflected by the type of building or the societal trappings. 

Success is not in the numbers or quantity of people gathering for the celebration of the mission day. This the lord saint said before. 

Lord Bo Tien said that what is needed is just a handful of good men. If there are such men in the crowd, then the mission day is indeed a joyous occasion for the lord saint and for Heaven.

The men of the mission should be men of God and saints and not just mere men of the world of men.

The agenda of men are secondary, of less concern and often incidental. Men of God go for wholesome divine calling of Heaven to save souls and are not detracted by any worldly distractions. 

There must be focus on doctrine and not on worldly material physical needs. Welfare activities are just the beginning. To save souls, more need to be done. 

Only when all these are there, only when they are factored, instituted and operational, the mission could then be considered truly to have arrived as is indeed the case... 

The Mission has fared well but much more must be done. Do not rest on past laurels....

If men can be more man, that alone will suffice....

Learning Point No 419

Have we wondered why man is better than animal and yet far from being immortals? 

Men and animals have pack loyalty. But men can think and can understand doctrine. Animals cannot. Men can go beyond loyalty and hero worship but animals cannot. Men respect elders and parents more so when the elders are old and infirm. 

Animals like hamsters can be cruel to elders and parents. They enforce subservience and fear of those weaker than them. They can maim and kill those which are sick and old, more so the old. 

In a human society with ageing population, if the old have to work as cleaners and dish washers despite being frail and old, it is both good and not so. Why not so? It is not a good reflection of that society unless society can accord dignity to the job. 

But often their supervisors are young and may even yell at them to get job done at hawker and food centers  This they say is being pragmatic and how to ensure cost effectiveness. But if there are young children around, what impressions will this create in the young minds. 

In a temple or a church, if younger men have to yell at the old who were previous leaders or pioneers and take them to task for their wrong, something is seriously wrong or simply just not right. Where has the morality and spirituality gone to? Some temples run by the younger generation even expel the elder founder pioneers. 

They are in a way like pack of animals such as hamster packs. How shocking and unbelievable can this be? 

If in a family when the children are young, the parents patiently teach and coach young children in school work, such as spelling and mathematics. But when they grow up, it is difficult for the elderly parents to get the help of the grown up children to teach them how to handle computer. Isn't this an eye opener that human society has backslided and no longer as human as before and perhaps more like animals. 

Men should be better than animals and one clear distinction lies in man's respect for elders and parents. 

No wonder, monks in temples of old used to say that before men can learn to be immortals and be in Heaven, they must first learn to be men and not be like animals. In fact, some animals are more lovable than some men and they put many men to shame. 

In a growing nation, if the population can degrade the old retired statesmen for some sore points of contention when these elder statesmen have done wonders for nation building, what has become of society? 

The young should take over the good work of the old and add on to the good work. They should not discredit the old and credit themselves for the good work of the old. 

Man is innately better than animal and can even be immortals but some men cannot even be man and behave more like animals. Some animals can be so lovable and loyal and can even put some men to shame.

The precept of respect for elders  and the precept of respect of what belonging to neighbors in the universal precepts of the mission of Lord Bo Tien are to ensure that men will be better than animals. Some men have no qualms and would not even blink an eye when committing adultery or incest. If this happens in a house of God, what an eye opener?

If they cannot be good men and even behave like animals towards elders and neighbors, how can they be immortals and saints? If men can be more man, that alone will suffice for now. 

No need for them to try to be immortals and saints. Better be good mortals, of course more man than animal.... 

As good mortals, they should not mortalise and cause hurt but rather immortalise the elders and pioneers in temple, in society and in the nation for their contributions towards the good of many generations of men and women.

Men may wrong God but will God wrong men?

Learning Point No 418

The mission of a church must first start with the church. If it is to save souls, then the first souls to be saved are those in that church. 

Any man who professes to be in the mission must be role model of how his soul will be saved. If man is to love others the way God loves all, then he must hold to his awe of God, not just God as a being but God as the Word or Doctrine. The Word is God. 

The church or temple is the place for men to feel the greatness of God and men are mere beneficiaries of God's greatness. Instead, men  in a church or temple may end up being swayed by the greatness of some men who want to claim credit and who often like to also discredit. They want to make others beholden to them and to hold them in awe. 

They put aside God and the lord saint of that temple or church so that they can stand in their place and be great, so as to get acclaim of sorts. They usurp the place of God and saints and the Word which is God.

Even if they try to be the embodiment of the Word, in no way are they great like God and the Word. So what will happen or become of the mission of that temple or church? 

People at a church may thus often be so naive and incapable at mission and only know how to find fault with one another. 

As what Jesus said, they see the dust in others' eyes but not the dust in their own. They are good only at crediting themselves for the work others do and discrediting others. 

Their errant ways will not help to save souls, be it their own or the significant others. 

Some men in a church or temple can be naive and incapable of mission. They need to stand aside for more worthy others to run the place. 

But, like it or not, the church or temple is indeed still the best place for them to learn and be better off. They may wrong God (and other men) but will God wrong men? God and saints will not wrong men but men have to learn and make good. 

Men even in a temple or church may wrong God but God will not wrong men. God will put them right. 

This can happen in any temple or church and even in a mission related temple of Lord Bo Tien. He says that insects may come to the flower for nectar and we should not blame the flower for insects coming to it. 

The lord saint however reassured that the lord saint is like the vast ocean and no amount of mud flowing into it will sully the ocean.

What must we do when it is our turn?

Learning Points No 417

As human beings, we ago through the same phases of life whatever and however varied and different our life fortunes may be. 

We are born, will be the children, then go to school or learning of some form, become adults and take on jobs, then reach the top of careers, only to come down and level off into the sunset of life. 

At every turn and corner, there are joys that come and do not stay for long even if we want to cling on to them for dear life. There are also the headaches and issues we rather not have but could not avoid. 

We will not be spared and we must face every turn and corner of life. It is a matter of time. Our turn will surely come and so what must we do?

The sages of old refer to these turns and corners with their inevitable issues as the woes and wows of life. Woes are bad but wows are no better as when they fade, they give rise to emptiness and even more woes that are not only more numerically but more intense. 

But to live as humans, we go through the same phases and face the same destiny of issues going from cradle to grave. Even the greatest of statesmen cannot stay on top for long and when they do come down, the descent can be precipitous and all hell may break lose. Their descent into the pits is even more pronounced

We have to embark on life and cannot let go of life the moment we see the light of the sun at birth till the time the sun literally set on us for good unless on earth we are reborn again. 

Lord Bo Tien re-introduce this description of life. We climb and come down high mountains of life to cross seas and oceans of life, sometimes calm and at times stormy. Then though victorious we will still have to face the merciless heat of the sun  to finally face drought of desert of life where the end is nigh and all that thrills and fill life no longer matter and seem to come to nothing substantive. 

This aptly describes the phases of life all of us will undergo, regardless of who we are. There is no giving up the moment we see the light at birth and no stopping till the sun sets on us at the end of life, only to be reborn for the next journey of life. 

Mountain phase 
-This includes birth, childhood, education, job, marriage and advancement in job or success in business enterprise.

Sea phase
This refers to middle age when things appear calm and plateau or level off but interrupted by storms / problems.

Scotching sun and desert phase
This encompasses late middle to early old age when we are dehydrated and drained by the strains of age and want a slower pace but could not. This is the last phase when life is drying up and does not seem to be as exciting, more so for those who are better endowed. 

Sages too walk the same road but they stay calm and at peace in the various phases and come what may. 

They run not from life. At one extreme, they deny not life. 

At the other extreme, they do not cling to more and more in life so that they do not end up ever the more in pain, not from not having life but having too much of life. Unlike others, they do not suffer as they do not cling to them though they value them. 

Others who have too much of life could not stomach life. Life issues will give pain when they cannot have what they want. They want too much out of life. They suffer when they envy what others have that they cannot have. Also what they have will cause sheer pain when these are no longer there. 

The wise ones and the sages tread life and balance the host of vicissitudes and contingencies of life, experiencing them like any other men but always not disturbed or ruffled in any way. 

They convert them into positive experiences as though the whole of life is the living gospel for them to learn and be wiser and more stronger from the learning. They are at peace despite the ups and downs - the yin and yang. 

This is the way of the saints which we must tread so that when our turn comes, we are at peace and  not suffer from the varied many trepidations of life. 

We will then not make issues into big issues and issues however big will at most be small issues even if they cannot be no issues. Issues big and small will be no issues. This the great saints do say is possible.

For many of us who are new to this Way or Tao of saints, we do need the shelter of the great saints like Jesus the Messiah, Ji Gong the Living Buddha and Lord Bo Tien the Messenger of God The Jade Emperor. 

Omitofo.

The worst things in life may happen in a temple

Learning Point No 416

Some of the worst conflicts of men arise in the house of God and saints. This is not the making of God and saints but the making of men who are like insects who come to a flower for nectar. 

Blame not the flower for insects coming to it. This parable was used rather aptly by Lord Bo Tien in one of his past annual messages.

Men may be attracted to religion but once in the very house of God and saints, they may take matters into their own hands and do what they ought not to do. 

They are supposed to love their neighbors but they may not even love their brothers in the same temple or religion. 

They literally clobber their brothers and elders. Elders may even bash the young who take over the managing of their temple or church. Where have all the religiosity and the doctrine of God and saints gone to? 

Isn't this pathetic? Like what the lord saint Lord Bo Tien said in one of his messages that when it rains, it would be like Heaven shedding tears in pity. Men should know better having learnt the doctrine in the very house of God and saints. 

Heaven is benevolent and will wait patiently for men to learn. But men of faith and even of the same church forget the Word thinking that they know best. 

They forget that the Word is God and when they do not live in the Word and act not in accordance with the Word, what would we expect? Some of the worst things in life happen in a temple or rather in the house of God and saints. 

Wars are waged in name of God. Wars do take away many lives. Terrorism may well still surface despite the best of supposedly spiritual intentions. 

Men plunder the wealth of congregations. Adultery and divorce too are not uncommon in the house of God. 

All these are not because God is not there but because men are there. Men often get carried away when they live not in the Word.