LIVING LIFE SERIES 1

A BO TIEN (武天) MISSION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED ON 28TH SEPT 2010 BY INNER TRUTH NETIZEN 2. THE MISSION IS TO SHOW THE WAY TO HOPE, INNER PEACE AND ULTIMATELY SALVATION FOR ALL BEINGS. THE PURPOSE IS TO SAVE SOULS. IT IS WAY BEYOND NORMAL GOOD WORK LIKE CHARITY AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES. NO ONE SHALL BE SAVED BY GOOD WORKS ALONE BUT BY MORE THAN GOOD WORK. THERE IS NEED TO BE IMBUED WITH THE BASIC DOCTRINE COMMON TO AND BEHIND ALL RELIGIONS AND SECTS. LIVE IN DOCTRINE. DOCTRINE IN LIFE IS PARAMOUNT.

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The Living Life Series is dedicated to Lord Bo Tien (武天菩萨). The doctrine is in His image. The image is the doctrine. He who sees, understands and effects the doctrine sees and knows Him. He who does not see, know and effect the doctrine sees not and knows not the saint even if the saint or His image is beside him. The far may be near and the near may be far. Let the doctrine and the saint be part of our life. The lord saint in your life can be any heavenly saint of any religion, sect or school. The doctrine of truth is behind all and this is the Inner Truth that leads all (regardless of their religious affiliation or even if none) to inner peace and heaven on earth here and now and not just in the after life. The ideal worship and devotion is to know and effect the doctrine of God and the saints. The best gospel is the gospel of life. We learn from our life and the lives of others. The true temple is the world we live in. The sky is the roof of the temple and religions and sects are the pillars of the temple. All under Heaven are in the temple. Needless to say that all the saints we know are in this temple. Ji Gong Posat too is no exception. The whole wide world and web is the temple and must be regarded as a sacred place --- a temple for living and learning. It is more important that everyone that counts plays a role in this universal temple if due focus is to be given to the Mission of Heaven. Men must not be distracted by the agenda of men and end up serving the mission of man. That would be a far cry from the Mission of Heaven. We worship God and saints, not man however good that man may be. There should be no hero worshiping or idolizing of man whether he is a charismatic pastor, priest, monk, medium or lay leader. We don't even idol worship the image of any saint but reflect on what the image stands for. - the doctrine in the image. Omitofo 阿弥陀佛!.

Monday, December 27, 2010

The shrine hall at Bo Tien Temple was designed based on the doctrine of Heaven.

No 230 of Living Life Series 1

Bo Tien Temple front view.
Octagonal temple shrine is at ground floor together with koi pond
Aged home is on the second and third floor. Auditorium, meeting rooms
and Mutual Help and Care are on the second floor

click for enlarged view

Four transparent fibre glass pillars surround the prayer hall on the ground floor of the temple.

They arise from the pool with koi fish. In the centre of the pool is the octagon pakua shaped shrine floor.

koi in pool around the octagon shaped shrine floor

The altar of the shrine displays the three images of Amitabha Buddha in centre, the Lord Bo Tien on the left and Goddess Kuanyin on the right.

Buddha is at the divine apex or God head (the Pure Ones). God refers to both the Pure Ones and the Jade Emperor.

Goddess Kuanyin is everywhere and she aptly portrays the essence of God's love - the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly saints like Lord Bo Tien are representatives of God.

The trinity of Buddha, Lord Bo Tien and Goddess Kuanyin is in a way parallel to the concept of Divine Trinity - God, His representative and the Holy Spirit ('leng' in Hokkien Chinese dialect).

This again demonstrates that the inner truth is the same behind the different religions of the world. Religions and sects are many but they reach out to more, for the benefit of one and all and to save all souls. This is the Inner Truth Message of God which Lord Bo Tien wants us to know and which forms the prime basis of His Mission. Sometimes, it is known as the Four Pillar doctrine with religions as the pillars but of course there will be more than four religions in the four cardinal directions.

In front of the image of Lord Bo Tien are the figure heads of the five archangels of God.

octagon shrine hall with pakua in centre.
Part of the conical glass roof can be seen in background

The roof of the shrine is the towering glass cone roof. This depicts the sky or Heaven as the roof of the Temple.

Conical glass roof gives clear view
of the sky as the roof of the temple.
Religions are the pillars and
the sky is the roof of the temple of heaven
Lord Bo Tien said that
the whole wide world is the temple
with religions as pillars and
all under heaven are in the universal temple
The actual temple is not a building
but the universe of the hearts of beings

The four pillars with flowing water curtain down pillar surfaces are reminiscent of the religions of the world in the north south, east and west. Religions depicted by the pillars support the roof or Heaven.

The ever pleasing and crystal clear water curtain running down the pillars depicts endless blessings from Heaven.

right pillar in front and arising from koi pool

The pumping of water from the pond under the floor of the prayer hall up the cores of the pillars represent the merits of men of religions.

These rise up to the heavens and are returned as curtain of divine blessings to the pond or pool of life.

The shrine floor with pakua and one of the four pillars is in the background

The shrine hall in octagon shape sitting amidst the pool of life reflects the pakua of life.

The pakua embodies the flux of yin and yang, the polar or dual contingencies of life like gain & loss, love & hatred, joy & sorrow, praise & blame, success & failure, denial & indulgence etc --- the balance of which yields inner peace. Inner peace is the essence of Heavenly experience which would lead to enlightenment - oneness with Divinity.

The octagon shrine hall with pakua. Photo courtesy of BWY. 2nd Jan 2011

We should neither deny the worldly life (and escape head long into obsessional craving for spiritual and for heaven beyond present life) nor over indulge in worldly life (without any care or concern for spiritual and for heaven).

When we go for the spiritual life, the same values for spiritual life applied to our worldly life gives adequate optimum comfort and success in worldly life as well. We gain spiritually simultaneously while leading worldly life. This is possible because our moment to moment life, that is, our daily life is the very ground for our spiritual practice and cultivation. We can have heaven and inner peace here and now in this life and not wait for heaven beyond this life. We have both worldly and heavenly gains

Our worldly life is our gospel. We learn from the gospel of life as it unfurls. The whole wide world and web is our temple for spirituality - for spiritual understanding and cultivation. We learn to be one with God. God is everywhere in the nature or world we live in and even in us and in our life.

We certainly can have heaven by having more inner peace here and now in this life and not wait for heaven beyond this life.

This is the message of God through saints like Lord Bo Tien. The balancing of yin and yang for inner peace is portrayed in the seated image of the lord saint with the feet of the lord saint balancing the yin yang elements -- the polarities of life.

The shrine hall at Bo Tien Temple was designed based on the doctrine of heaven. It embodies the Inner Truth message of God. This was expounded to us through the lord saint Lord Bo Tien.

In the opinion of inner truth netizen, there is need to mention Senior Bro Png Philip, Elder Ling Diung Kwong and many others who played their parts to bring about the reality of the temple premises

But there is the universal temple that Lord Bo Tien wants us to know and all under Heaven are in this temple. This is not a concrete building. The sky is the roof of the temple and religions and sects are the pillars of the temple. All under Heaven are in the temple. The whole wide world and web is the temple and must be regarded as a sacred place --- a temple for living and learning. It is more important that everyone that counts plays a role in this universal temple if due focus is to be given to the Mission of Heaven. Men must not be distracted by the agenda of men and end up serving the mission of man. That would be a far cry from the Mission of Heaven.

Side view of Bo Tien Temple with the towering glass cone housing over the shrine hall

Ji Gong

Lest you forget

Do not make the mistake of idolizing any man who tells you about the Word. He is in the same boat as you even if religion refers to him as a religious leader. Mere mention of a religious leader is as good as encouraging idolising of that man. Why must there be hierarchy in religion? Hierarchy is conventional but may end up as liability rather than a necessity or asset. There should be no caste or hierarchy system in religion. No one is to be considered above another in religion. A religious leader or follower is a servant to serve you and not a leader to be idolised. Do not put him on the pedestal and make a monster out of him.

MAY ALL BE WELL AND HAPPY

May all be well and happy. May they have peace. May our departed friends and kins be well, happy and have divine peace. The main writer wishes the best for all for those near and far. Our kins may be far when they had passed on to better lives but they are near though far. He remembers and wishes his parents Mr Siow Soo Koh and Mdm Tay Hung Siang, his uncles and aunties like Mr Tay Koon Huay, his cousins like Mr Tay Chong Sim and his friends like Mr Philip Png well and have abundance of life. May they be rich in spirit for without such ancestors, there will be no posterity - no us and no you and me. They have blessed us and we must blessed them in return forever and ever.