Another movement which is a part of the Taiwanese religious venue is the sect I-Kuan Tao, Yīguàn Dào, whose modern founder is Kui Sheng or Zhang Guang Bi also known as Zhang Tian Ran and Kung Chang.
This T’ien-tao or Tian Dao/Zhenli Tiandao organization is considered a new religion which is syncretistic in combining the elements of Chinese religion such as Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism as well as having some similarities to Christianity and Islam.
This cult preaches a familiar theme that is common among many new religious movements in carrying an apocalyptical message with strong mystical elements which draws people to be more spiritually sensitive in seeking answers to a better life in respect to the political chaos of fear and panic which has caused the popularity of this sect to grow based on an emotional dependency as achieving security rather than forming a real pursuit for ultimate or pervading truth.
That sense of controlling one’s destiny is directly related to the initiation within the Tian Dao sect as giving them a way to heaven along with the termination of the continuos cycle of rebirth. However this salvation can be haphazardly lost if for some reason the adherent fails to show their passport as their rite of passage which is dependent on the ability of the practitioner to provide an accurate record of the temple name and date when they became officially initiated. Thus this ticket to heaven, if erroneous, can be cancelled by the frivolous error of misspellings or by having the wrong date and yet I am wondering how can an all powerful infinite god be so dependent upon the ability of human record keeping as to to not know the details of such a momentous occasion as well as being so scrupulously capricious over trivial matters as to disavow a sincere worshipper through a mismanaged possession.
Therefore can they really be for sure that such a being like Ming Ming Shang Ti “Clear Emperor on High” or Wuji Laomu “Ancient Mother of Limitless Heaven” even really exists and is able to receive and sustain them with such limited knowledge and power over their life?
Furthermore what makes this group even more psychologically dependent is by keeping them ritually connected with those to whom they are related such as their deceased relatives or parents who are supposedly benefiting from the worshippers acts of pious service. Ironically the deceased individual themselves could have led a non disciplinarian materialistic lifestyle and yet mysteriously receive the benefiting merit as ushering them into a heaven which may not even be according to their willful consent as evidenced by their earthily lifestyle. Anyway this approach is a strong and powerful motivator to ensure the continued devotion even though they can never be absolutely sure as whether they have ever done enough to affect themselves or others.
Additionally they claim that they can enlist a 100 people to rectify past non-filial acts and save ones parents and yet whether it is 99 or 101 what proof or evidence has there been offered to justify the significance of this magical numerical value for salvific benefits? Additionally how can you even pray for a deceased individual when they have already been re-birthed? Anyway this video that I am including speaks of near death experiences and you might find it helpful in your research about the after life.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ8TEGMj-jc&feature=player_embedded
To move on their religious practices are steeped in Chinese folklore with the superstitious and cultural beliefs as entertaining legends as they honor sculptured figurines as some sort of direct representation or manifestation of a reality towards an unseen or invisible being which they can not know nor have they ever seen apart from an artists imagination. They are merely objects and statues of devotion without any kind of tangible witness to their reality as the worship of these so called deities are reduced to merely fictitious characters of fascination in becoming the metaphysical rockstars and athletes as heroes of these religious devotees.
In addition to this there is also the dark side of this sect which practices such occultic arts like automatic writing or spirit writings which has a similar effect to using a Ouija board to convey messages from the spirit world. Thus the team members, who are normally teenage girls, are being guided by demonic entities as mediums as they write, interpret and record such information without the audience even knowing the legitimacy of such cryptic messages.
Practically speaking there are inconsistencies between their ethic or virtue for peace when there is no peace amongst themselves with their numerous sub lineages who are opposed in bringing about any sense of consistency or unity and cooperation between their groups. Also their vegetarian diet does not coincide with Tianran who permitted his followers to eat meat. Which is yet another point in which I question the efficacy of such a practice towards a persons spiritual well being and I think that Jesus said it best with His infamous words.
Mark 7: 18-23
18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
In closing I respect a persons openness towards spiritual matters and attempting to uphold to concepts of morality but what I question and challenge here are the application of their beliefs towards a reality based in ultimate truth.
In your heart and mind maybe you have wondered about some of these same things and perhaps you have even become wearied with this heavy burden as carrying the load of not really knowing whether your belief pattern and ritualism with its endless cycle of chantings, prayers, moralism, abstention, ceremonies and religious classes, lectures, offerings etc, initiation, etc., etc., is really the right path in life. Maybe you are unsure and desperate to really know the truth as perhaps the doubts of this elitism, with its limited and localized religious worldview, is making you wonder if there is a bigger God. A God, who transcends the Taiwanese landscape as embracing all Nations on earth and therefore I would like to introduce you to the one and only Almighty God who so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.
This person is namely Jesus who came from heaven according to the direction, purpose and will of Father to reconcile unto Himself; those who have lost their way as being separated from God but now can be united through the saving work of Christ as He justifies as well as renews and regenerates by the work of the Holy Spirit as they truly represent the Three Treasures of the soul.
Finally you can know Jesus personally as He has made Himself accessible first through His incarnation and now by the means of the Holy Spirit which inhabits or indwells the life of the believer and who changes ones nature to be pure, holy and moral. It is through Christ’s’ mediatorial role and according to His great power that He has overcome the weakness of humanity by destroying the law of sin, which had originally been given opportunity through the forbidden fruit, by redeeming for Himself a people who were once lost and fallen.
Thus in Christ you can have your name indelibly written in His Book of Life which can not be lost or mistaken and is freely given to you. Therefore it is according to His grace and mercy that He has given the gift of eternal life as the Gatekeeper of Heaven in that He is the only way/path, truth and life.
Lastly Jesus is sacred in being revered as the Light of the World. His name is high above every name as the King of kings and the Lord of lords in which every kneel will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.
So in conclusion it is Jesus, not Maitreya, who has saved the day and will return to consummate this age through His millennial reign as bringing heaven to earth in establishing everlasting peace.
Finally my last request is for you to be open and ask Him to reveal himself to you in a knowable way so as to surrender your heart and life to Him as Lord and Savior. God bless!
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
How to have a relationship with God
Other links
Religions of the world: a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices/ J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, editors; Todd M. Johnson, World Religious Statistics; Donald Wiebe, Introduction-2nd ed., Copyright 2010 by ABC-CLIO, LLC. Reproduced with permission of ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007