PureInsight | January 14, 2002
Cultures are given by gods. Thus, those cultures that maintain their original state without alteration are true cultures. They manifest their divine nature - transcendent, pure and deeply penetrating. Masterpieces that are passed down from generation to generation convey gods’ wishes and exhibit glorious images of gods. Myths are the most obvious example. They are genuine records of occurrences when humans and gods coexisted, originating from the remote past and passed down for millennia. Now, mankind can no longer make contact with gods. However, because man’s original being fell down from gods’ worlds, mankind possesses inborn divine nature. Even amidst this world of illusion there are still some poems that reflect this nature. For example: “Singing while drinking, to where does life lead?”, “Endless roads reach far away; I will search for [truth] with many efforts”, “I look back, there were no ancestors; I look forward, there are no descendants.” All of these poems have survived through many generations because they touched upon the topic of our origins and which paths to follow. They also reflect a trace of our remaining soberness amidst a world of illusion and frustration of not knowing the path to the heavens. This is the eternal theme of man’s questions: Where did I come from? To where do I return? and Who am I? People of recent times have become more and more confused. Burdened with pursuit of fame and fortune, they carelessly gave these poems wrong interpretations. They could no longer sense the implications of the Tao in these poems, since they didn’t have the Tao in their hearts. Bits of culture handed down from generation to generation carry implications of the divine nature, sparkling with its true knowledge and deep insight. This is very common in Chinese culture. An example is the word 'spirit.” [In Chinese, the word “spirit” is literally translated as “divine essence”] Doesn’t it refer to the essence of man’s divinity? Also, when describing literary works, there are expressions of “works with spirit” and “carrying the divine spirit,” and so on.
Later, people became more and more corrupt, and the sparkle of divine nature faded away. Mankind became more materialistic and became attached to the ups and downs of qing (emotional attachments). This led to the addition of human notions into cultures and their degeneration. There have been progressively less legendary literary works. Even when such works are produced, gods are portrayed humanistically. Only by humanizing gods can these works be felt to have a solid basis. This is called artistic processing. An example is the legend of Niu Lang (the cowboy) and Zhi Nu (the weaver girl). [Translator’s note: The legend of “the cowboy and the weaver girl” is very commonly known to Chinese. The weaver girl, a heavenly beauty who wove garments for the queen of the heavens, fell in love with the cowboy, a human. She therefore sneaked out from the heavens and married him in the human world. Later on, the queen found out. She forced the weaver girl back to heaven, thus separating the couple. The couple was heartbroken, and their love moved the queen. She allowed them to meet once a year at every Qixi, July 7th on the Chinese Lunar Calendar.] Later works such as “Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai” made use of supernatural power by turning the protagonists into butterflies after their deaths. These works attracted generations of readers because people still had a little yearning for divinity deep inside. Yet, how could people know? They believe that literary works flourish for generations because the sentiments in the works are displayed to the extreme.
True cultures were given by gods. The original form is pure, good, and beyond the human level. Humans cannot create cultures. The best they can do is to imitate them.
“Falun Dafa has for the first time throughout the ages left the nature of the universe—the Buddha Fa—to human beings…” (From “The Teachings in Buddhism are the Weakest and Tiniest Portion of the Buddha Fa” in Essentials for Further Advancement.) Therefore, Dafa practitioners are very clear that Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) will start a completely new civilization. Master’s new article, 'Foretelling the Fa’s Rectification of the Human World' also gives advance notice of the imminent arrival of “Dafa's most glorious period.” Then, what will culture be like? I believe that what we are doing presently includes harmonizing the Fa at the human level and establishing the foundation for future cultures. After starting cultivation, especially during the Fa-rectification period, Dafa disciples will create many masterpieces. These works are at the realm of assimilating to the nature of the universe. Thus, they are bound to be celestial and beyond the mundane society. In addition, these Dafa disciples have the rare opportunity to be a part of this great historical period and directly assimilate into Zhen-Shan-Ren.
Throughout the ages, people have been pursuing works of divine spirit and at higher realms. As a matter of fact, returning to one’s origin and true self are the highest aims and the most powerful motivations for living. Works of such realms certainly carry divine nature, but with different degrees of purity. All human beings have a divine side. The literary works that touch this side of human beings can resonate with that side, inspire good thoughts and help people improve. On a level as low as that of sensory organs, there is a saying of “not being able to tell the taste of meat for three months” to describe that the pleasure of enjoying good literature far surpasses the pleasure gained directly from sensory organs. The poem, “Looking up, I see the bright moon; looking down, I miss my hometown” has touched people’s hearts for many generations. People believed that the verse described being homesick. Actually, the idea being homesick touches people because that is what their clear-minded side has been continuously seeking. “Where is my genuine home? Where is my genuine homeland?” Do humans truly understand? It is said that the verse “Finding nothing after searching for hundreds of times in the crowd. When I suddenly look back, that person is in the dim light” stood for the highest of the three realms that all famous literary people must go through. It is also said that “such verses can only be written by exceptional poets.” Certainly, without cultivation, without having a master of a righteous Fa, it is really difficult for people to reach such realms. It is no different than ascending to the sky. It is simply impossible.
Dafa practitioners have far surpassed this realm. Therefore, as long as we deter interference and human concepts, and show our true sides during the process of validating Dafa, our works will definitely carry “the divine spirit.” True cultures will become references for the future. This is such a magnificent era - the unprecedented Fa-rectification of the entire cosmos. We are all within it. One aspect of our mission is to carefully record everything in Fa-rectification. These records will be the basis for the next true culture.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/12/23/12999.html
