5,000 Years of Civilization as the Foundation, the Great Way Spreads in the Human World (Part I)

China's Brilliant Divinely Inspired Culture

The brilliant 5,000-year Chinese culture is divinely inspired. The thought of harmony between man and nature is the core of China's traditional culture, which has had a profound impact on various aspects of humanity, including ethics, values, and aesthetic sense. The connotation of “harmony between man and nature” is profound, and includes the legends of Pan Gu creating the universe, Nuwa making man out of clay, and Sanhuang ruling the world. Co-existence of humans and Gods, respect for Heaven, and worship of Gods are concepts that have been rooted in our ancestors' culture.

When the Yellow Emperor was born, 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture and 5,000 years of China's glorious civilization began. It was recorded that the Yellow Emperor successfully obtained the Great Way in a spectacular scene of a human becoming a God manifested in front of his people. Gods created man, and man can also obtain the Great Way and become a God through cultivation.

The culture of cultivation has a long history. During the Spring and Autumn Period (about 520 B.C.), Lao Zi left “The Classic of the Virtue of the Tao,” which included 5,000 statements that presented the mysteries of obtaining the Great Way and allowed for a systematic understanding of life, the human body, and the universe, including the concept of human beings coming from the heavens and going back to the heavens.

Slightly later, around the same time period, Confucius taught the principles of benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, faithfulness, wisdom, and courage, which laid the ethical relationships among human beings and within society. And later, after Buddhism was introduced to China, cultivating in Buddhism became a common practice. Ever since then, Buddhism has been rooted in China.

The Tang Dynasty represents the pinnacle of Chinese civilization. The Tang Dynasty thrived during the golden age of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. All three schools of thought regulated people's thinking and behaviour, penetrating into all aspects of society and guiding people to maintain high ethical standards. Because of this, the Tang Dynasty has been viewed as remarkable and famous, worldwide and throughout the ages. Emperor Taizong Tang not only respected Confucianism, but also supported Taoism and Buddhism. People worshipped Gods and Heaven, and valued virtue. Under the influence of these orthodox faiths, people maintained their good and pure nature.

Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are not only the three major orthodox systems, but also the spindles of traditional Chinese culture. Even though every dynasty eventually came to an end, the essence of this strong and vital culture has been passed down throughout the ages.

Cultivation Is the Core of China's Divinely Inspired Culture

Taoism and Buddhism are schools of thought that guide human beings to cultivate toward Godhood. Bodhidharma faced a wall and meditated for nine years. An image of him meditating was left on the rock he faced. Monk Jigong from the Southern Song Dynasty had magical powers. There are many well-known stories of him using his powers to reward virtue and punish vice.

Cultivation is not a means used by frustrated people to seek relief or escape. Even emperors throughout different dynasties who enjoyed the world's wealth still yearned for the Great Way and to practice cultivation. The Yellow Emperor obtained the Great Way and rode a dragon to ascend to Heaven when he was 120 years old. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty sent monk Xuanzang to India to bring back the Buddhist scriptures, and then welcomed him back to spread Buddhism in China. During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Shunzhi chose to become a Buddhist monk. Other emperors also respected Buddhas and worshipped the Heavens.

Falun Dafa Is Righteous Cultivation

Over thousands of years that the Chinese have had a culture of cultivation, all sorts of supernormal phenomena, theories, and techniques have manifested. However, the essence of what cultivation practice truly is, its purpose, how to ascend, and reasons behind the supernormal capabilities that manifest have remained an enigma to most people.

Master Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Dafa at a time when most of the world had forgotten about cultivation practice. He talked about the universal principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and revealed secrets that cultivators have pursued for thousands of years but were not able to obtain.

Falun Dafa is a high-level cultivation practice of the Buddha School that was first made public by Master Li Hongzhi in May 1992. Guided by the standard of the universe's highest characteristics, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and by the principles of the universe's evolution, tens of millions of practitioners have proven through their practice that Falun Dafa is a great cultivation method. While helping genuine cultivators ascend to high levels, Falun Dafa has also played an immeasurably positive role in stabilizing society, improving people's physical health, and uplifting their moral standards.

Falun Dafa cultivation practice focuses on the mind, emphasizing cultivation of one’s mind and moral character, or xinxing, following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. When xinxing improves, the gong energy increases and the physical body changes significantly.

Falun Dafa also includes cultivation of the body, which is accomplished by performing five specific exercises. A comprehensive mind-body cultivation system such as this requires both self-cultivation and physical exercises, with cultivation taking priority over the exercises.

Master Li said in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa:

“A person’s gong won’t increase if he merely does the exercises and fails to cultivate his character. Meanwhile, a person who only cultivates his character and doesn’t perform the exercises of the Great Way of Spiritual Perfection will find the growth of his gong strength impeded and his innate body (ben-ti) unchanged.”

Falun Dafa involves the cultivation of a Falun, or “Law Wheel.” The Falun is an intelligent, rotating entity composed of high-energy matter. The Falun that Master Li plants in a practitioner’s lower abdomen in another dimension rotates constantly, around the clock. (True cultivators can acquire a Falun by reading Master Li’s books, watching his 9-session lectures on video, listening to his 9-session lectures on audio, or studying the teachings together with other students of Falun Dafa.) The Falun helps practitioners to practice automatically. That is, the Falun refines the practitioner at all times, even when he or she isn’t performing the exercises. Of all practices made public in the world today, only Falun Dafa has managed to achieve a state in which the Fa refines the person.

Master Li said:

“The rotating Law Wheel has the same nature as the universe and is its miniature. The Buddhist Law Wheel, the Daoist yin-yang, and everything in the Ten-Directional World are reflected in the Law Wheel. The Law Wheel provides salvation to the cultivator when it rotates inward (clockwise), since it absorbs a great amount of energy from the universe and transforms it into gong. The Law Wheel provides salvation to others when rotating outward (counter-clockwise), for it releases energy that can save any being and rectify any abnormal condition; people near the cultivator benefit.” (The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa)

“Falun Dafa enables cultivators to assimilate to the supreme nature of the universe—Zhen, Shan, Ren. It differs fundamentally from all other practices...” (The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa)

“Falun Dafa is an upright Law. One right thought will subdue a hundred evils, provided that in the cultivator’s cultivation he maintains his character, abandons his attachments, and forgoes any incorrect pursuits, as prescribed by Dafa. Any wicked entity will be afraid, and anything not related to your improvement won’t dare to meddle with you or disturb you.” (The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa)

The Chinese Communist Party has been persecuting Falun Dafa for thirteen years. However, during this period of time, the practice has spread widely around the world. It unlocks the origin and essence of humanity's entire history. It embodies everything and includes profound principles, which are practised by the practitioners.

(To be Continued)