Creating Harmony – Part of Our Daily Discipline?

He continues with these paraphrases:

I first read these sayings in my senior year in high school. It was required
reading then for a philosophy class in Germany. The words did not have much
meaning for me back then, except for tinges of the exotic, because they were
bits of wisdom from the Orient, from many centuries ago. Then, in 1957, I bought
an English language copy of the book here in America because I had lost my German
copy. I did not yet know then that there was much greater wisdom and profound
teaching coming in my direction, not until much later.

In the intervening years I had not thought much about this old wisdom. About
seven years ago I began to seriously study Falun Dafa. I suddenly remembered
this text I had read so long ago, because several things I have since learned
from absorbing Zhuan Falun, Li Hongzhi’s masterwork, struck a chord.
Two of Master Li’s messages in particular have been a guide throughout my cultivation
struggles:

You need to treat all of the troubles you encounter as cultivation
practice, because they are definitely cultivation practice.

(From “Lecture at the Conference in Switzerland,” unofficial translation) The
other message comes from Zhuan Falun(1998 English Translation), where Master
tells us that the “seven emotions and six desires”* [qing, sometimes translated
“sentimentality”] wreak havoc in people’s lives.

Much of Master Li’s wisdom, conveyed through his teachings in Zhuan Falun,
as well as in his poetry and lectures around the world, have given me a much
better and more thorough insight into the frailties of the human mind, how it
can be healed and possibly become one with a greater entity. Ever since practicing
Falun Dafa I have discovered greater wisdom in Truthfulness, Compassion and
Forbearance and all the profundity included in those “simple” words, and have
gained much more than Lao Tze’s words could have ever taught me. This week I
have realized the interconnectedness of all living things, and that evil things
cannot be allowed to flourish.

How do I manage “to be immune to evil,” as Lao Tze says, by applying the principles
put forth in Zhuan Falun? I am making myself immune to it. It starts
with small things, such as no longer even looking at pictures of abased art,
forgoing modern music, preferring classical composers’ creations; avoiding any
kind of sexually-slanted or blatantly violent TV programming, preferring lovely
nature offerings or old-fashioned movies with a moral message and the classics
in literature; staying away from people who are bent on amassing “things” instead
of collecting values. Sometimes this is a lonely existence. Frankly, quite often
I don’t even read a newspaper, because the common media reek of what I call
“guts and gore,” meaning news items that offend the stomach, sensationalizing
incest here, child rape there, political brouhaha on the next page, with a couple
of murders thrown in for good measure, spiked with domestic violence. Why cram
those good-for-nothing things into my brain and pollute my thoughts?

Training myself to give up old habits, old notions and old conventions is sometimes
successful and at other times presents quite a struggle. At the beginning of
each week I write down three things on a piece of paper that I want to give
up/get rid off for this week. Last week my list consisted of giving up all negative
thoughts for a week, not eating in front of the computer and not eating sweets
of any kind. That sounds easy and almost childish. On the other hand, since
I am still living in this realm, I find it particularly difficult NOT to think
a negative thought here and there. Instead of thinking,
“what a stupid thing to say,” or “that outfit looks terrible on her,” or some
other such comment, I tell myself, ”hm…s/he said something,” without editorializing,
and let it go. It was quite challenging to do that for a whole week, but got
easier toward the end. The next time I attempt to rid myself of some unproductive
habit, using all the self-discipline I can muster might make it easier.

I appreciate “the constancy of nature,” as the sage calls it – where there
is a rhythm, a balance to everything, such as the ebb and flow of the tides,
the rising and setting of the sun, night and day, the seasons and all they bring
with them, down to the decaying of this year’s flowers in the beds. Those make
“couches for trees of another year.” Even an occasional thunderstorm has its
place. The intrusive noise is hard on my ears, though, but the ions it gives
off make the air smell so refreshed – a fragrance is not unlike linens dried
outside on a sunny, breeze-whipped spring day.

Keeping away from as much banal interference and influences as possible is
my lantern that lights the way on my cultivation path. I make this conscious
choice, to continue on the road, bolstered by Master’s encouragement and his
never-failing grace. Some might argue that one cannot avoid facing unpleasant
situations in this “vale of tears.” That is true, but my reactions and attitudes
toward those situations make or break my progress on the bumpy road. No one
can “force” me to do anything unless I let them! No one can make me quit or
become hypocritical; I am the one who would have to give consent for that to
happen. No one can break me – but I have to be flexible within reason, and if
others (old energies, enticing influences, other practitioners, deranged devils,
old minions or whatever I want to call them) try to push too hard, I must have
the courage to say “Stop right here, no further! I am a Falun Dafa practitioner
and won’t allow you to influence me like this!

Struggling along is difficult, but the end result, to have found meaning and
purpose in this Falun Dafa is definitely worth any struggle. Master Li’s many
texts and teachings, so generously bestowed on us, cannot help but lead us in
the right direction of “home.”

*seven emotions – joy, anger, grief, worry, fear, melancholy, affection
six desires – lust, vanity, melodic sounds, good life/death, sensual pleasures