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On the 13th day of the 9th lunar month of 1980. the emissary of Lord Bo Tien descended through late Senior Bro Philip. He came and blessed the four directions. He was heartened that 12 years had passed since his first descent. This represented the full cycle of the clock and the era of "two dragons supporting pearl" would come into being.
He then recapitulated the previous year's anniversary message (1979) about a lone tree planted in a fringe plot of land. As there was water beneath the tree, it survived and blossomed despite the dry season. The beautiful fringe garden of which it is a part has created an atmosphere of pleasantness, harmony and serenity. The transition to this big tree while other trees in plantations beside the fringe wither in dry season has enabled people to be wiser and learn from its knowledge of survival.
He then went on to interpret His carved image to drive home the point that the image is the doctrine and the doctrine is the image. The one who knows the doctrine knows Him and the mission. The one who knows Him knows the doctrine and the mission. He who does not know the doctrine will not know and see Him even if the lord saint or His image is in front of him. (Inner truth netizen adds: The less spiritually inclined will end up doing the mission of man and not the mission of Heaven. This is inevitable for most men when they pursue the spiritual path. This though can be corrected and be just a passing phase. Heaven understands and does go along with the ways of men. But Heaven will endeavour to uplift men to be closer to saints and be more like saints)
The sceptre He is holding represents the Mission of Heaven. The mission is here to stay and will last. There is need to have firm foot hold, that is, to be committed, unwavering, steadfast and firm. The mission is definable, doable and durable. It is for one and all, irrespective of their religious affiliation or even if none. His lordship is to enlighten all on the inner truth and not to start a new sect or religion. The inner truth perspective enables all to be better adherents of their respective religions or sects and promotes oneness in diversity of approach.
The left hand in salutation pose signifies that Heaven will clear the way for the mission even if there be obstacles and obstructions. The left hand pose bides all to be faithful, wholehearted and fully committed. Heaven will answer prayers of the faithful.
Followers should not mistake the majestic military attire to conceive that He is a general. He is a heavenly saint and not a general. There is no need to know who He is but to know what He represents and the values He wants to share with all.
The dragon chair He sits on reminds us that His seat is the Holy Spirit of Divinity ('leng" in Hokkien). The Holy Spirit brings divine love, peaceful joy, comfort and hope. Because of its omnipresence, it is the nest or seat of life for certainty and predictability for all in the life of yin yang uncertainty and woes. The twin dragon (the arm rests) supports the pearl of doctrine personified as the carved image of His lordship (hence the four worded phrase in Hokkien -'two dragons support pearl' )
The armour projects the values of vitality, vigour and victory in endeavours and challenges in life' s front line or battle field.
The many colors of the image represent the many races, sects and religions which are different in approach but complement one another to bring inner truth and ultimate peace for all to be with God and saints here now and in this life. There is no need to wait till afterlife.
The two figurines at His feet represent the yin and yang. All need to be atop, ride and balance the yin and yang in life (the axes of gain loss, wealth poverty, health sickness, honour dishonour, birth death etc). All must take full cognisance of and not deny yin and yang. The mind is the chief. It is the main deciding factor and it must be cultivated to rise above and be atop the yin and yang. All that we are and can have start with, arise in, develop within and end with the mind. All can have inner peace and be seated on the Holy Spirit like the heavenly saints. Everyone should strive to be the embodiment of the doctrine and be the pearl supported by the two dragons of the Holy Spirit ('two dragons support pearl')
The image of the lord saint is as important to Him as it is to all. It is a pictorial lucid portrayal of the true nature of life, the inner truth doctrine and the purpose of the Mission of Heaven. (Inner truth netizen elaborates. It portrays the true nature of life and the issues due to the yin yang interplay. It leads us to understand (a) the problems as result of yin yang, (b) the consequent need to accept the reality and (c) the cause of why we have problems. The solution is not to evade yin yang but to ride and balance the yin and yang and have victory in life with inner peace. This inner peace we can have here and now is heavenly and we do not need to yearn and get it only in after life. There is need to work towards this out of love for oneself and also for the world. There is the need for the mission to share this as underlying truth behind the facades of all religions and sects. Heavenly saints will pave the way and no obstacles can stop the mission of Heaven unless, due to free will and human frailty, man side-steps from time to time and make it the mission of man. Even then Heaven is divine. Heaven is not like man. Heaven will not give up hope in the weakest or worst amongst men.)
The image is made of wood and would crack over time but this should not be of concern. What is of concern to all is that all should be able to grasp its significance and the divine message it conveys and projects. Impermanence is the hallmark of sentient life. Where there is arising, there is decay. Unsatisfactoriness is to be expected and should not cause dis-ease to whip up storms in life. Calm seas do follow after storms. Where there is sorrow, there will soon be happiness. There will be ups and downs in sentient life. Whilst all should want to have the good in life, what is more important is to have goodness of spirit or soul. The form, blessings and fortunes of mortal yin yang life do not last but the blessings and fortunes of spirit will go on and will last. Purify and fortify the spirit (with purity, love and merits). This should be the main driver in life, not the sentient form, wealth, status and all that are sentient and transitory. (Inner truth netizen reminds that the modus operandi that works for the spirit to bring divine peace will work well to ensure ample blessings in sentient life but not vice versa. The spiritual way will ensure that we neither deny sentient life nor be slave to trappings of sentient life. There is need to have correct approach to nurture inner peace of spirit. All else will follow suit. The wayfarer should not be detracted from the path by worldly or sentient trappings which are 'good to have' but not 'must have'. What is 'must have' is divine inner peace amidst the yin and yang. This inner peace generates the purity of the spirit or soul. Even the wealthiest may be troubled and not be at peace in life if they do not have the correct spiritual approach)
The emissary conveyed that the need to continue with the mission. For this, cooperation and meeting needs are key areas to focus on. Love for life is to be emphasized, more when suffering, unsatisfactoriness and incompleteness abound. Feel for life of others as much as one would feel for oneself. Feel for others unhappiness, suffering, pain, loss and sorrow. If there be enough for oneself, spare some for the unfortunate. This will brighten the day for them and lighten their load. All religions are of the same objective. All are for the same goal regardless of their colors, race, and attributes. The differences and varieties do not pose barriers to the mission. All that is needed is for all to continue in their own distinctive ways but yet driven by the same underlying values in life - to save all or as many as can be .
Lord Bo Tien commented that " The arguments and reasoning of man are plentiful" Men tend to rationalise, to give excuses, to lament and complain but men should be reassured that heavenly saints like lord saint are aware of problems faced by men. Do pray in earnest and heaven will open the ways out for men to resolve their problems. Big issues will be small issues and small issues be no issues. What is needed is to be insightful with life and to perceive the true nature of life and its inner truth. This is in keeping with the will of God and Heaven. This is the mission of Heaven. The lordship is a heavenly messenger for the mission. When men look up towards the heavenly saints, they must see this doctrine of life. When they grasp the doctrine of life, they will see Heaven and the saints like the lord saint.
At this point, there was a gush of wind followed by heavy downpour of rain. The emissary commented thus. Followers and adherents are like the wind and the rain is like the doctrine to quench the thirst of society for the inner truth of life. The wind carries rain to wider area. (It would be better that rain comes with wind for the rain to be carried to wider area. It is best to have doctrine propelled by men working in unison, harmony and with gusto like the gust of wind. This way the doctrine will spread to wider society.)
The mission can also be compared to the sailing boat at sea. The boat will not sail if there is no wind. Men in the mission provide the wind to set sail the mission. When there is wind, the boat will sail. When there are men for the mission, the mission will move on. All must be in harmony for the wind to be more effective to move the boat of the mission. With harmony and all working in unison, the mission will spread globally with new urban initiatives .
When there is lack of unison and harmony (due to lack of wisdom both insight and foresight), there is less impetus or wind for mission. All must press on and not loose heart. All beings must understand the spirit and essence of the doctrine. All need to be versatile and be able to adapt it to their life. There is need to do so in context so as to be relevant and optimal. Perseverance and patience are needed in all undertakings. No obstacles there be can hinder mission to save souls.
PS This blog posting like all other blog postings dwells on the inner truth behind life as re-elucidated by the lord saint Lord Bo Tien. They do not represent and reflect the official views of any organisation or sub-group but the perspectives of inner truth netizen, Singapore based on the inner truth concept. The perspectives though may overlap significantly with that of one or more of many organisations or sub-groups. In addition, they are also not primarily meant to focus on or be portrayal of doctrines and teachings of any one or more of the various specific religions or sects
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1980 message is re-scoped in English based on that in Hokkien through late Snr Bro Philip. Best to read it after reading brief of 1979 message appended in pre-blog text. Inner Truth Netizen has emphasized on the big picture i.e. relevance of the messages for the wider world at large, for any temple, for any organisation and for anyone individual in any corner of the world. 1979 message is not available but pre-blog brief is attempt to reconstruct it based on limited information.
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1979 MESSAGE AS PRE-BLOG BRIEF FOR 1980 MESSAGE
Brethren, on the 13th day of the 9th lunar month in 1979, the emissary of Lord Bo Tien emphasized to us that the inner truth underlies the directions of all sects and religions. In that anniversary message, he elaborated the doctrine with the lesson of the tree at the fringe. As the message has been misplaced, this article is not substantial portrayal of the message. But nevertheless, inner truth netizen would like to attempt to reconstruct the message at least to present the spirit of the message.
There are many trees in plantations. Come dry season, the trees shrivel, do not fare well and have few fruits. At the fringe, there is a lone tree. The grass and shrubs around it remain green and flowering despite the dry season. This lone tree pales in comparison with the trees in the plantations in good seasons. Somehow, however, despite dry season, it still has a good crown of leaves and fruits. Though rivers dry up and there is hardly a drop of rain, it ironically thrives better than the trees in the orchard. The farmers are at a lost but a few decide to relocate their trees to the fringe. Soon these trees too survive the dry spell and could flower and bear fruit.
How do we explain this? The answer is simple. The lone tree at the fringe is rooted in ground with subterrain water stream in all seasons. Even not tended to and watered by farmers in good seasons, it can still survive though less majestic than the trees in the plantations. But the trees in the plantations wither in the dry season as the farmers could not secure any water for the trees. The lone tree at fringe rooted in ground stream has continuous water supply in all seasons. It could survive even when not tended and watered. (It would certainly fare even better if tended and nurtured with more water in good seasons)
Brethren, adherents of religious institutions too must ensure their institutions must be sustained not just by the water of conventional ways of sectional society but more importantly, by the all-season underground water of inner truth.
The inner truth is that God and Heaven reach out to us via more than one religion or sect, via more than one tree of hope. This is to allow more to experience the inner peace amidst the yin yang ups and downs in life. This inner peace is achieved by recognising, by balancing and by non-denial of yin and yang. We will then not be tossed and swept around by yin and yang. Yin and yang refers to the worldly contingencies or axes in life like gain loss, health sickness, praise blame, honour dishonour, elation and dejection, mania and depression etc which create restlessness and dis-ease. We do not need to wait till kingdom come in after-life to have heavenly peace. We can do so here and now. Only by inner peace can we be one with the peace and purity of the holy spirit of God and heavenly saints ('leng' in Chinese Hokkien). We will have heavenly inner peace of our spirit or inner being here and now. We develop the God or Divinity within us.
Religions and sects are thus the trees of hope to save souls by appealing through diverse ways and means to reach out to as many as can be to bring on the inner peace in the world within every individual. For the trees of hope to be effective all the time, the religions as trees of hope must be nurtured by the water of inner truth and not just driven by water of sectional preferences, interests and norms unique and peculiar to sectional society. The latter are effective but religions would otherwise be more effective for all seasons if rooted in water of inner truth.
There is another application of the lesson of the lone tree. Do we as individuals want to be the lone tree and survive all seasons and contingencies of life? We can do so by being rooted in underground water of inner truth when we practice and profess our separate spiritual approaches? We are one in inner truth (that is in our goal to have godly divine inner peace) but remain distinctive in our separate approaches.
Do we want to see the oneness of religions and sects or do we want to see the sects and religions as divides and contradictions? Just like water and fire, they complement and make nature more whole, so too with religions. They may appear different but serve the diverse needs and make humanity more wholesome and divine. Religions have their worldly or mundane ways to attract, meet needs and hold on to their adherents. They need to evolve and to be innovative to do so. Collectively, they appeal to more men than what could be achieved by just any one religion or sect. But to be more effective, not to cause divides, and to be synergistic, they must be sustained concurrently by the divine underground water of inner truth.
Last but not least the lone tree lesson can be applied to another perspective. The lone tree can represent the fringe small and modest organisation of the lord saint. The organisation (like many others) is not set up to roll out another sect or religion. As His lordship has stressed, it is to serve as platform to promote better understanding of religions and why God and Heaven have sanctioned proliferation of more religions and sects to be pillars to bring more beings to the fold of divine peace here and now. There is no need to wait for the afterlife.
In time, many more religious institutions the world over will be persuaded to adopt the intentions of the many organisations like that of the lord saint and uphold the inner truth. They can reach out in their own separate, special and unique ways. Yet they will rejoice in and complement the good works of other institutions. This points to the harmony, infinite compassion and peace so characteristic of divinity but not instinctive in men.
This hopefully gives a glimpse-cum-discussion of the 1979 anniversary message. The attempt at re-enactment does not do justice to the divine wisdom of the lord saint.
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