The eighteenth generation Patriarch, Chang Tienzen was born in Shantung province, China in 1889. There was a saying that if the Yellow River became clear there must be a birth of a holy sage into the world. After receiving the Heavenly Decree in 1930, his teachings reached many parts of China where many masters were delegated with the decree of Heaven by Patriarch Chang to transmit Tao.

All forms of miracles happened to help the masters to encourage people to receive Tao. This was one of the most difficult times in China where the Chinese were at war with Japan. Tao and calamities came at the same time. It was during this time before 1947 that Patriarch Chang and another Lady Patriarch Sun, directed several elders to go to Taiwan to propagate Tao and at that time Taiwan was a backward place. He told them, Go ahead and do not worry; Taiwan will have everything. His words came true that now Taiwan has everything and if not for Taiwan, Tao would not be able to propagate worldwide. The timing was just perfect for Tao to be shifted to Taiwan as Heaven knows and it is the Heavenly time that it has to be so.

With the Heavenly Decree, his light illuminates throughout the three realms of the universe and not only mortals rely upon him to liberate them from suffering, but the spirits of the deities and ghosts in hell will also be able to receive his grace and mercy so that they can return to Heaven. Patriarch Chang returned to Heaven on 15th August 1947, of the Chinese lunar calendar where the moon is the brightest and this is what he said:

The reason that mankind fails to be awakened and enlightened is due to the attachment to the myriad worldly things, which consequently gives rise to a multitude of obstacles and entanglement. We should know that the worldly realm is not our real home and the physical body is not our true self. These are transient illusions that are like the sparks of flames or flashes of lightning. When all of these ephemeral entities perish, the true nature would have no place to belong to. It is then compelled to roam around in the earthly realm and wanders endlessly through birth and death as dictated by the rough and ruthless tide of karma. The true nature thus declines viciously as time goes by.

Such degeneration is a let-down to the great expectation of God and the efforts of all divinities in saving the world from destruction. Furthermore, it degrades and obliterates ones own spiritual foundation and affinity, which also affects directly the elevation of the souls of ones own ancestors and descendants.

Now is the time for the Heavenly Way to descend in order to save the world. This presents a truly rare opportunity for our own elevation. Wouldnt it be a great pity if we miss out on such good opportunity? Remember that time and tide wait for no man. As we become older, such great timing and opportunities become increasingly less. Only through meticulous understanding and realization on this critical matter can you begin to appreciate how anxious I am in attempting to save the world. It is really not a simple task at all.

The mission is to save the world before the coming of the Final Catastrophe. The past Saints and Buddhas, with their high level of cultivation and their far reaching wisdom, actually pity the worldly beings for their ignorance. Human being is pitiful not because of their failure in worldly pursuits, but rather their ignorance of the precious essence in them and their failure to put such precious essence into good use.

God had endowed us with the most precious essence within each and everyone of us but unfortunately we may not realize it. Instead we choose to pursue externally and regard all the material things that we acquire externally as being valuable. After working for more than half of our lives, we might appear to have acquired and possessed many things. All these worldly possessions, however, will eventually turn to nothingness and be of no use to us when we die. It is not only that all of our efforts will be wasted as we might also have committed many wrongdoings in the process of pursuing. This will result in negative karma and it will contaminate our true nature, causing it to be trapped in the vicious reincarnation cycle.

There is a Godly nature within us and that is the essence of creation of the universe. If we can apply this gift of God into our lives, things will become orderly and harmonious. Gradually, our inner true self will manifest and subsequently it will guide us into the realm of Truth and become one with God. This is The Mission. This is the reason why the Patriarch said mankind fails to be awakened and enlightened. His mission is to wake us up to the Truth and save ourselves through his guidance and teachings and end the cycle of birth and death.

Patriarch Chang Tienzen was the reincarnation of the Heavenly Teacher JiGong, a Living Saint during the Song Dynasty in China and he returned to Heaven in Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the 8th lunar month) in the 36th year of the Republic (1947). Upon his return to Heaven, God bestowed him a Heavenly title as Tien Ran Ku Fo, the status of a Buddha. The word Fo means Buddha and he is also addressed as the Living Buddha in the teachings of Tao of Heaven because his divine soul always descends from Heaven to teach the devotees.

Author: T.A Chew