Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal  

If people do not value virtue, the world will be in great chaos and out of control; everyone will become enemies of one another and live without happiness. Living without happiness, they will not fear death. Lao Zi said, “If the populace doesn’t fear death, what good will it do to threaten them with death?” This is a great, imminent danger. A peaceful world is what people hope for. If at this point an excessive number of laws and decrees are created to secure stability, it will end up having the opposite effect. In order to solve this problem, virtue has to be cultivated around the world—only this way can the problem be fundamentally resolved. If officials are unselfish, the state will not be corrupt. If the population values self-cultivation and the nurturing of virtues, and if both officials and civilians alike exercise self-restraint in their minds, the whole nation will be stable and supported by the people. Being solid and stable, the nation will naturally intimidate foreign enemies and peace will thus reign under heaven. This is the work of a sage. 

Li Hongzhi

January 5, 1996