Exercising Self-Restraint
by Master Lee Feng San Shifu
Translated by Sophia Lui
Edited by Ric Meyers
A student had a quarrel with a good friend, and so I asked him what was going on. It turned out that the two supported different candidates. What had started out as a normal discussion quickly turned into a heated debate. Both were unwilling to back down, and they started yelling and swearing, even at each other’s ancestors.
When I heard this, I said to the student: “People like us who practice Qi Gong must have greater self-control than the average person. Particularly in our interactions with others, we must exercise self-restraint all the more.” As I have mentioned before, “When you think you have reached the limit of your patience, just keep going!” The student asked: “How long should I keep being self-restrained?”
When it comes to the practice of self-restraint, it is not something static, but moves along a scale. On a scale of one to ten, we may be able to exercise self-restraint up to level one, two, or three, but when it goes up to four, five or six, we may experience difficulty. Therefore, it is not a matter of reaching the limit of our patience, because if we do, it only shows that we do not have sufficient wisdom.
Some people might say: “But certainly I am not wrong. I can prove my point and I have justice on my side!” Therefore they refuse to exercise self-restraint any more. Sometimes we need to consider whether our personal development has reached the stage where we can show resourcefulness in critical situations. A wise person, when having exercised self-restraint up to a certain point, will have breakthrough insights into the situation and hence be able to take on challenges in a relaxed manner.
However, those who are muddle-headed will panic and succumb under pressure. I have seen people who are born to be leaders. In times of crisis, they have poise, agility and self-composure. People feel they can trust and rely on them. Therefore it all depends on ourselves. If we have reached a certain level of self-attainment, then exercising self-restraint will only lead to greater insight, and not mental exhaustion.
“Gain mastery in exercising self-restraint; when patience has reached its limit, work on our self-development.” — Lee Feng San Shifu