There’s a saying:
“When we pass and rub shoulders with someone on the street, consider the number of people we pass compared to those we never pass. The number of years of affinity we have with the people we pass on the streets and is it possible may we never speak, it is about three hundred years. For us to be in the same room and on the similar spiritual path of the Tao, it is likely that we will have at least three thousand years of affinity and affiliation with each other. “
We don’t know about our past lives and what happened to us before. That two people are together, be it husband and wife, brothers and sisters, a family, etc., is not something that just happened. For better or for worse, it has something to do with the past. There is a lineage of Tao with a history of 5,000 years and all the predecessors of Tao made considerable sacrifices. Their generosity and the heavenly knowledge they passed on deserve great reverence and respect. We can see in their books, great sayings and works made by them for our good. My Grand Master Han (Lao Qian Ren) is one of the most important predecessors of the Tao and briefly this is his story:
Lao Qian Ren was one of the eighteen (18) main disciples under my Heavenly Master JiGong (64th Patriarch) during the 1940s. After his departure and return to heaven in 1995, his heavenly title is “Pai Sui Sean Ti “conferred by God (Lao Mu). “Pai Sui” means “Flat Water”, “Sean” means “Holy or Immortal” and “Ti” means God or Emperor. Millions of devotees of the Tao bow, kneel, and offer him respect on a daily basis because of his great sacrifice. He was given the responsibility of getting the Tao out of China and during that time (in the late 1940s) China was facing a turbulent period. There were rapid social and political changes and a war between the Communists, Japanese, and Dr. Sun Yat Sun.
Lao Qian Ren received instructions from his teacher to pioneer the Tao in Taiwan. He was a family man who ran a very prosperous business. He owned a dye factory and led a worldly life with a promising career and family, like most people. Although he was doing very well, he decided to leave everything behind in China to pioneer the Tao in Taiwan. At that time, Taiwanese spoke Hokkien, which is a different vernacular from Lao Qian Ren’s mother tongue, Mandarin. He was unable to communicate effectively, but nevertheless, he was not discouraged. With great faith in heaven, he would ask for divine guidance during his daily prayers each morning.
Hoping to find people with whom he might have an affinity, he traveled in the general direction indicated by the smoke of the burning incense. He would walk and talk to people throughout his journey. Eventually, he managed to not only introduce some of these people to the Tao, but they also became the core of the Tao movement in Taiwan. He once walked forty miles in the rain to speak to a person who was not only disinterested, but also slammed the door in his face. His perseverance, endurance, and determination finally paid off, as can be seen in Taiwan today and around the world with thousands of Tao temples. In Malaysia alone there are more than 2,000 Tao temples under his command. Its large temple in Taiwan can accommodate more than a hundred buses.
During his funeral in 1995, his eldest son on his knees confessed that “father when you left us we cannot forgive you all, but father you are right”. His longing to be with his family and his homesickness was understandable. Writing about his travels back to the mainland, he expressed the pain and temptation to reunite each time the train passed through his hometown. He knew very well that if he stopped and visited, it would be very difficult for him to leave his family again. That would have been the end of his pioneering work on the Tao in Taiwan. He put the spiritual interest of others before his own interest. It is not because he was a heartless person, but rather the spiritual well-being of other people to be more important. It was also learned that she kept all her unopened letters from home under her pillow and her pillow was wet with tears. He knew he couldn’t control his excitement if he opened the cards.
With his great sacrifice, thousands or millions of people received the elevation and the true understanding and realization of the Tao throughout the world. With just over 50 years after his arrival in Taiwan, the world sees more vegetarians than any other spiritual path. At least 90% of Chinese vegetarian shops in Malaysia are operated by devotees of the Tao and there are more than 800,000 devotees. He was indirectly responsible for those with affinity in Malaysia, myself included, receiving the Tao and continuing to cultivate its essence today.
The propagation of the Tao is the combined effort and association between man and divinity. The divine dictates the general direction of its spread and humans are the ones who make the main effort and put it into action. Tao is the universal essence of spirit that has always existed since the beginning of time. It needs the sincerity of the heart to be able to ignite it. It has to be done with a sincere heart and it is not something we can gain by studying a book or trying to understand it with our reasoning and intellect. The 5,000 years of Tao lineage is also called the Golden Thread and this is the saying of my Heavenly Master JiGong:
“For those who have sought the Tao (received the seal of the living God) and obtained the Sign of the Shining Master (master with heavenly decree to transmit the Tao), the spiritual Hole or Gate of the soul has already been opened. While removing all the delusions (delusions within the mind) and they practice the heavenly virtues that are innate within their original nature, and as long as they benefit the crowd and preach the Tao for heaven, then they are linked with the Golden Thread. “
Author: TA Chew