PureInsight | July 9, 2001
Before I became a cultivator, I loved Beethoven's music for its vigorous power and rich emotion. It seemed to be so free from all restraint and knew no boundary. When I listened to Bach's music, I thought it was pleasant, but simple and boring.
But after I read Zhuan Falun once and then listened to Bach's music, I suddenly realized that I was touched by its purity. The very accord of harmony and melody, compared to Beethoven's work, manifested as clean and pure on the surface. And this is exactly what I had thought was the limitation.
During Bach's time, religion was still very powerful in society; music was created in service to religion. At that time, no matter if it was music, art, architecture or literature there were still certain restrictions because people were required to behave according to religious teachings. But with decreasing religious faith, people began to admire personal emotion, personal effort and personal heroism. In music, Beethoven took the lead in this rebellious trend. His music completely revealed his emotion without any restrictions. This rebellion was represented by dissonance, stunningly contrasting melodies, accents and untraditional instrumentation. These can really invoke strong reactions from people both superficially and profoundly.
On the surface, Beethoven's music presents the conflict between humans and fate, which contains a lot of personal expression and freedom. But Bach's music highlights the understanding and acceptance of fate, which reveals an even broader freedom.
When people behave in accordance with their conscience, they are not caged but are lead to real freedom.
Translated from http://www.zhengjian.org/sci/sci/home/newscontent.asp?ID=10782.
