Pyeong Hwa Gyeong (041) - The Fundamental Truth
5. A true disciple is one who can receive love from a religious leader
From among each of the four great religions, which one can set the standard of morality? There cannot be two highest peaks. Though you may climb peaks in all the four different directions, east, west, north and south, there is only one highest peak.
What are the traits of a true believer? There are many Buddhist monks present here, as well as the high priest. How wonderful would it be if the Buddha told you, “Your high priest is number one!” What would Buddha really wish for? When you go to the spirit world, you do not need money. Nor do you need knowledge. I have been there, and that is what I saw. You do not need power. God can create money. He can even make a diamond as big as a star. He is the Absolute Being, and the Great King of knowledge and power. He can transcend the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and exercise His power freely and eternally. What then would He need?
Buddhist believers are those who have earned the trust of Buddha. Is having his trust the best thing there is? It isn’t. In the end, where you need to go is to the internal relationship from the external relationship. You need to become the person who receives the love of Buddha more than anyone else. After all, would you rather be a person who is trusted or a person who is loved? A mother absolutely trusts her child. However, it will not do if she only trusts in her son and does nothing else. She will be happy only if she holds him in her embrace and breastfeeds him and loves him. It is her original nature to do so.
That is why, as I have said before, there is a relationship between the moral leader and the believer. It is a relationship based on the saying, “When one’s home is harmonious, all goes well.” What is this relationship like? A relationship centered on a doctrine is excellent. Yet the doctrine only teaches you the path to follow. It teaches you what is morally right and wrong. The Chinese character for morality do (道) signifies the path you walk. It teaches you what direction to follow. What will you do once you have arrived? What will you do when you meet Buddha and Jesus? Everyone wishes to meet all the religious leaders. What will you do when you meet them? Would it be nice if what belongs to Jesus also became yours, and what belongs to you also became his? When all is said and done, it is about embracing the faith. In other words, it is the wish of believers to be on an equal footing with their leaders.
What will you need to do to be on an equal footing with them? Centering on Buddha, would it be nice to have a relationship of niece or nephew with him as your uncle, either on your father’s side or on your mother’s side? Or would it be nicer to be in a master-servant relationship with him? If you were to ask believers, “What kind of a relationship would you like to have with him?” they will answer, “We wish to be Buddha’s sons and daughters.” That is the ultimate conclusion.
The sons and daughters are the heirs. And they can live together with him and go with him wherever he goes. They can participate in whatever he does. In the parent-child relationship, when you are centered on love you are entitled to the inheritance. One of the attributes of love is the right of inheritance.
When a man and a woman are in love with each other, to whom will the husband’s possessions belong? They will belong to the wife. Similarly, the wife’s possessions will belong to the husband. For that reason, a married couple with separate bank accounts can be said to be false. It is as if they are prepared to pack up and leave at any time. Such behavior needs to be set right, and set right at the root.
With respect to the relationship between Buddha and his disciples, or if you were to ask Jesus, “What do you desire of believers?” they wouldn’t say, “I wish them to work as my servants for generations to come,” would they? Christian ministers in prayer say that they are servants of God. Why do they offer such prayers? Are they satisfied only to be servants of God? Above the servant are the adopted son, the stepson and the son of direct lineage. Since you recognize three stages through which to climb from being a servant to being His son or daughter, all other things being equal, wouldn’t you just want to establish yourself as His son or daughter? Why would you opt for being His servant?
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