Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- My Understanding of Teacher's Article: “Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal”
- My Understanding of Shakyamuni's Compassion
- Getting Rid of Jealousy during the Process of Comparing Oneself with Others
- My Understanding of “How Much You Obtain Depends on How Much You Cultivate”
- Abandoning the Attachment to Negligence
- Never Neglect One’s Own Cultivation
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the February 2016 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
Hope this year we will work harder to gain a better understanding of the Fa and be more steadfast in our cultivation and carry out our assigned responsibilities and be more accommodating and tolerant with fellow practitioners.
Let us spare a thought for our fellow practitioners in China who are still being persecuted.
There is a special request. Please click on the link below and put your Name, email and click on the Sign in red, to sign the petition. It is important to do it as a practitioner and forward it to all your contacts. Do not stop. Keep it ongoing!
http://chn.ge/1jFWwRV
In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites.
We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don’t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
Top
- 2. What’s Happening?
Practitioners from Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur participated in the Delhi Book Fair.
Practitioners in Bangalore were involved and participated in an 8 episode serial on Falun Dafa in Kannada by Hamsa TV channel . Practitioners were interviewed and demonstrated the exercises for the TV serial. The episodes were aired and can also be viewed on You Tube.
Practitioners from Bangalore and Mumbai participated in the Surat Book Fair. Practitioners distributed flyers and taught the exercises to many people. Most people were familiar with Falun Dafa because of earlier participation and were keen to follow up on the exercises.
Practitioners from Mumbai and Kolkata participated in the Kolkata Book Fair from 26 Jan to 7 Feb. The highlight of the Festival for practitioners was the release of the Dafa Books in Bengali. Practitioners distributed flyers and demonstrated the exercises. Many people were keen on learning the exercises.
Pune practitioners participated in ‘Happy Streets’ and distributed flyers and demonstrated the exercises. Many people bought the books and shown keenness to learn the exercise.
Top
- 3. My Understanding of Teacher's Article: “Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal”
By a practitioner from China
(Minghui.org)
I want to share some of my understandings of Teacher's article, “Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal.”
I have been persecuted three times over the past few years. The fundamental reason for my persecution was because I became relaxed in my cultivation and didn't let go of my attachments for a long time. The old forces took advantage of my loophole and persecuted me. If we relax in our own cultivation and don't maintain strong righteous thoughts, how can we shatter the old force's persecution? The old forces will be there unless we eliminate them by sending forth righteous thoughts, and they are watching us very closely and waiting to persecute us. Therefore, in order to succeed in cultivation during the Fa-rectification, we must cultivate ourselves well. We are practitioners with the goal of reaching consummation. If we do not cultivate ourselves well and do not succeed in cultivation, then where are those sentient beings who were saved by us going to go?
The first two times I was persecuted in the forced labor camp, I had a lot of human attachments. I wanted to break through the persecution using ordinary people's methods, which didn't work at all.
The persecution is not at an ordinary human level; it is the old forces in other dimensions that are using people to persecute us. If we use ordinary people's methods, how can we stop this? I intensified my Fa-study and sent forth more righteous thoughts. When I was the last time, the persecution seemed to be getting worse. But I was in line with the this time, and was able to break through the persecution more easily and left the prison with dignity. The situation seemed to be very serious, but when all the local practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts together, it gradually became more relaxed.
Teacher's article is also referring to our work. Many of my experiences have shown that when I do the well, my business ventures go very well. But if I don't do them well, then no matter how many human methods I try, my business just isn't good. I enlightened that since we are practitioners, everything we have comes from the Fa, and without this Fa, nothing we have will exist. Teacher has endured huge karma for us, and all that we do is actually for our own consummation. If we don't do the the three things well, even the divine beings will look down on us, but if we can save a lot of people, the divine beings will be happy for us.
We have learned from many sharing articles on the Clearwisdom website that practitioners who are good at solving technical problems always look inwards and adjust their hearts before actually doing their repairs and fixing problems. If practitioners pay attention to their cultivation, it is much easier for them to find solutions. If we always look at things with human notions, it will be hard for us to solve those problems.
These are my understandings. I hope fellow practitioners will share their understandings so that we can improve together.
Top
- 4. My Understanding of Shakyamuni's Compassion
(Minghui.org)
After I read a story about Buddha
Shakyamuni I gained a new understanding about having great
tolerance in one's heart.
The story goes like this. While practicing in the mountains,
Shakyamuni encountered a king who was leading his people on a hunt.
The king asked Shakyamuni where to find wild animals. Shakyamuni
thought, if I tell him the truth, the king will kill the animals,
which is indirect killing; but if I do not, I will be telling lies.
Because Shakyamuni was thinking and didn't answer immediately, the
king became furious and cut off one of his arms. Then the king
asked the same question again, but Shakyamuni still pondered over
how to answer the question, so the king cut off his other arm.
While in excruciating pain, Shakyamuni bore it with compassion and
made a vow, “When I become a Buddha, I must first save this man in
order not to let others follow him to do such bad things.” How
could Shakyamuni not have become a Buddha when he had such great
forbearance and compassion in his heart? Later, when Shakyamuni
attained Buddhahood, the first person he saved was this king.
Today, Falun Dafa practitioners are being persecuted, and they
can face danger at any moment. Even while in extreme pain, they
still try to save sentient beings. When I read the story, I see
that what had happened to Shakyamuni is also happening to Dafa
practitioners. They hold no grudges or hatred toward those who harm
them because cultivators have no enemies. When we send forth
righteous thoughts, we are clearing away the evil spirits existing
in other dimensions. Of course, Dafa cultivation is different from
past personal cultivation. We don't recognize the persecution
arranged by the old forces, and we cannot be persecuted passively.
Only by warning and preventing the evil from doing evil things are
we actually compassionate, because they are not just causing
personal injury but also persecuting Dafa. If they do not repent,
what awaits them is a most horrible ending.
I think of what Teacher said,
“What I just talked about was attachments that obstruct
cultivation. When many of you, my students, have run into conflicts
and become angry, did you think about the fact that your anger was
directed at everyday people? Think about it: Buddhas and Gods—those
magnificent enlightened beings—would they get angry with humans?
Absolutely not. That’s because they are not at the level of humans
and don’t have emotion (qing) as do everyday people. How could they
position themselves among everyday people? When you deal with
conflicts the same way as everyday people, you are then at the same
level, or in the same realm, as everyday people. That is to say,
you are one of the everyday people. Only when you are not like them
are you not one of them. Of course then, what you will display will
be tolerance and an immense capacity to forgive. Everyday people
will see it this way, but in fact it is the manifestation of your
xinxing level in cultivation. So, regardless of the setting or
circumstances in which you run into problems, you must maintain a
compassionate and merciful heart in handling everything. If you
cannot love your enemy, then you cannot reach Consummation.
(Applause) Then why is it that when an ordinary person angers you,
you cannot forgive him?! And instead you argue and fight with him
like an everyday person? Doesn’t this also hold true for the
interactions among practitioners?” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa
Conference in Australia”)
I hope that we can all save more sentient beings in the coming
year with great compassion.
Top
- 5. Getting Rid of Jealousy during the Process of Comparing Oneself with Others
By Xiaoli (Pseudonym)
(Minghui.org)
I started my cultivation in Falun Dafa in
the fall of 1996, but it was not until 2002 that I came to realize
the meaning of the term “Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple.”
Recently, I have gained some understanding on the issue of
jealousy, which I would like to share with fellow practitioners.
Some practitioners have mentioned the issue of jealousy in the
past, but I did not carefully examine myself in this regard. I just
superficially checked myself and believed that I did not have the
jealousy that practitioners talked about. For various reasons, the
sofa in my house was not in good condition and I paid no attention
to it, and did not make the effort to fix it. One day, I went to
visit a colleague. She had just made a sofa case with an old bed
sheet. She asked me, “Does it look better than the one in your
home?” I responded, “It is indeed very good.” I should have let
this go, but after I returned home, her words came to my mind
several times. I thought that she had even wanted to get the upper
hand on the issue of the sofa case. I did not feel very good as
this was not a tiny issue and it had moved me. I knew that I was
jealous of her, so I should take a good look at my attachment of
jealousy.
At this time I downloaded “A Compilation of Articles Related to
Eliminating the Attachment of Jealousy,” http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/1/28/93737.html).
After I printed it out, I carefully read it. I had read it before,
and it had not moved me much. I did not measure myself against
others. When I looked back at this issue again, I realized that in
the past I thought that I had some advantages over others and did
better in some aspects, so I had unknowingly compared myself with
others. Because through this comparison, I felt that I had done
better than others, hence I didn't become jealous of others. This
manifestation in my mindset is arrogance. With arrogance, I tended
to look down upon others. Arrogance is also a reflection of my
jealousy. This time when I visited this colleague of mine, I felt
she had measured herself against me and I was at a disadvantage in
this comparison since she was better than me. My jealousy surfaced
when I saw someone who seemed better than me.
When I read the compilation again, I found that the various
types of jealousy mentioned in the compiled articles have all
existed in me. For example, I complained that my husband did not do
much housework. Now I know that was a reflection of my jealousy. I
measured myself against each individual around me so as to see
whether I felt jealous of them. I wanted to dig out the root causes
and eliminate the attachment of jealousy. My mother-in-law first
came into my mind. She is rational and reasonable and considers
others first. So those who know her have very good impressions of
her. I had never spoken anything bad about her in private, which,
in fact, was because I was afraid that others would think I was not
good if I had said anything bad about her. Now when I look at her
way of dealing with others, I have come to respect her. I am able
to understand the distinction between filial obedience and filial
piety. The latter has the content of respect. When some elderly do
not have their children’s respect for what they have done, what
they get is their children’s filial obedience, rather than filial
piety. When I have a mindset of obedience and respect toward my
mother-in-law, I no longer feel jealous of her.
With regard to the wife of my husband’s brother, I had obviously
felt jealous of her. She had not contributed as much as I did to
the family. I felt unbalanced in my heart for I was always the
person who had contributed more to the family. Now that I have
started to think about her, she is the only child in her family, so
she needs to mind all the things that her parents need to deal
with. Being an elder sister-in-law of hers, I should care more
about her. After I had gotten rid of my jealousy, I came to feel
that the substance which served as blockage in my chest was gone
and I felt very pleased. When we met again in my mother-in-law’s
house, she even apologized for not being able to help in cleaning
the dishes. She also showed her respect for me in her own
words.
Master said,
“A wicked person is born of jealousy.
Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards
himself.
A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.
With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.
An enlightened person has no attachments at all.
He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions.”
(“Realms” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
I now understand that one is a wicked person when one holds
grudges, feels unbalanced, does not let go of things in one's mind
feeling unfair and angry. When I think this way, I feel frightened,
as I still behave like a wicked person after having cultivated for
over ten years. But fortunately, I have recognized these bad things
and I can get rid of them.
In sharing, a practitioner said, “I cannot take hardship as
joy.” His words remind me. Master has told us, “Eating bitterness
treated as joy”. ("Tempering the Will" in Hong Yin) Although
I have remembered this poem, I have not acted accordingly. I have
not taken it to the depths of my heart. From now on, I need to live
up to “Eating bitterness treated as joy.” When I can live up to
this requirement, I will have no grudges, hatred, anger or
unfairness in my heart. Only by being able to act that way can one
act and become a benevolent person.
I am really grateful to my colleague in my heart as her words
have prompted me to find and eliminate the deeply hidden attachment
of jealousy. In the meantime, I also feel how happy I am to be a
Dafa cultivator, who has the protection of Master, the guidance of
Master’s , as well as the assistance and reminders from
fellow practitioners.
Attachments, including jealousy, reveal themselves in layers.
They are still hidden within deeply. In our present realms, we have
measured ourselves with Master’s Fa to eliminate our attachments.
When we have improved in our realms, our attachments may show other
manifestations. So there are still things that we need to get rid
of.
This is my current understanding. Please point out anything
incorrect.
Top
- 6. My Understanding of “How Much You Obtain Depends on How Much You Cultivate”
By a practitioner in China
(Minghui.org)
In recent years there have been incidents where practitioners passed away. This situation was more prominent in our area. The practitioners who passed away were of various ages. Some of them seemed to be doing the pretty well. Recently, two more practitioners passed away. One was in her eighties, while the other was in her forties. It caused quite a stir. The evil also took the opportunity to spread rumors. Most practitioners felt that it was so unfortunate for the younger practitioner to pass away, but as for the older practitioner, they did not pay much attention to it. Some practitioners even said sighing, “How much you obtain depends on how much you cultivate.” When I heard these words, I felt that it was not right. This is being passive, helpless, and without righteous thoughts. But I thought perhaps the practitioners were not in the best of cultivation states and thus I only said one sentence, “This is not Master's arrangement!”
There are many reasons why practitioners pass away and thus lose their human body. Master also mentioned this in His lectures. The reasons could be due to agreements made in past lifetimes, paying debts or vows made, or going along with the old evil forces. But these should not become a reason for the old forces to persecute us. This is because ever since we began cultivation in Dafa, we do not belong to them. Master arranged a life of cultivation for us and he was already taking care of us even before we started cultivation. Master fundamentally does not acknowledge the old forces' arrangements. But the elements arranged by the old forces are still around, causing interference. When we do not have sufficient righteous thoughts, these elements take advantage of our loopholes, and thus there will be varying degrees of persecution. What Master wants is for sentient beings to be saved, for Fa-rectification to be completed, and for practitioners to reach consummation. “How much you obtain depends on how much you cultivate” is Master's compassion towards sentient beings. As a practitioner, we should not just enjoy the benefits of Master’s compassion. We should not forget that we are helping Master in Fa-rectification and we shoulder a heavy responsibility. Cultivation is solemn. If we cannot catch up with the pace of Fa-rectification, if we are not able to fulfill Master's requirements at different levels, our human body will be restricted by this material world. But leaving this world early would result in immeasurable losses to Dafa. This is because the practitioner will lose the chance to cultivate and the portion that has not met the standards would also be destroyed. When practitioners are saving sentient beings, one practitioner can do the tasks that ten everyday people do; ten practitioners can do the tasks done by one hundred everyday people. But the evil old forces watch our every thought and grab onto our loopholes to persecute us and thus destroy sentient beings.
“How much you obtain depends on how much you cultivate” is a helpless way of viewing things. This is not what Master wants. As practitioners we must improve our understanding from the standpoint of the Fa; if we don't, it would result in a big loophole. Currently there are some practitioners whose bodies are being persecuted. They could not take charge of themselves and eliminate the interference. Their family members who are also practitioners were also affected and could not do the three things expected of them well. The practitioners around them go to different places to help them send righteous thoughts and this caused much commotion. The practitioners who are in this tribulation are pondering whether to take medication or injections. They are going through the tribulation according to the old forces' arrangements. They even lie to their family members and say that they have taken medicine, so that their family members would not be worried. They do not understand the from the Fa’s viewpoint. If they do not improve their understanding of the Fa, they will not be able to free themselves from the arrangements of the old evil forces. Before reaching consummation, there will still be karma that needs to be eliminated. This will manifest itself in testing our human hearts, or our bodies will have symptoms of illnesses to help us eliminate karma, but this must not interfere with our doing the three things to save sentient beings. If the tribulation becomes big, then it must be the old forces interfering. If we improve our understanding of the Fa, it will be a safeguard that helps us to differentiate between Master’s arrangement and the evil old forces' interference.
Top
- 7. Abandoning the Attachment to Negligence
Hua Wang
(PureInsight.org)
This year, when we were planning our trip to the U.S. Fa Conference in New York, one of our elderly fellow practitioners in the local area asked me to help him apply for the U.S. VISA. Upon knowing that he had already acquired a British passport, I supposed that passing the U.S. VISA interview should be very easy. Distracted by several other things I forgot about his request, it was a couple of days before the flight I finally got the application form. When I read one of the columns on the form, it asks, “Have you ever been rejected for the U.S. visa?” That night, I completely forgot that it was the fellow practitioner’s application form that I was filling out, and instead I thought the question was directed to me. So without double thinking, I wrote a “NO” in the blank. After I made the payment, I informed the practitioner that his application was approved.
The next day, when I received an email from the U.S. Consulate titled “NO-REPLY”, I took for granted that it was just a confirmation letter and put it aside without opening it. However, it turned out that the elderly fellow practitioner got rejected for the visa. But it was not until the moment we went to check in our baggage before takeoff were we informed of the situation. It was impossible to immediately apply again for the visa, because normally the U.S. Consulate requires applicants to schedule an appointment a few weeks in advance.
Due to my careless mistake, the elderly practitioner lost the opportunity to attend the Fa conference. I was filled with guilt and sadness. In fact, early on Master showed me the way. One night before, I found the faucet in my bathroom was left open all night—I knew this was Master reminding me of a big loophole of my Xinxing, but as I thought for a short while, I did not find any and simply just let it be.
Your Main Consciousness Should Predominate
This is not the first time I did something wrong because of my carelessness. Being absent-minded, careless, panicky and reckless are not new to me. It is almost as if my mind is never at rest, but at the same time I find it hard to focus. I find that more often than not, when I am about to make a mistake, something occupies my mind and makes me do it involuntarily, although I always regret it afterwards.
Back in the 1980s, I used to practice one kind of Qigong with my eyes closed. Just like what Master says, oftentimes I opened my eyes only to find that I had backed up from one side of the playground to the other. I had absolutely no idea of whatever I did and however I did it. But it occurred to me that I might have several subordinate souls, of which some are here to create trouble. Because sometimes when a thought or image came across, I realize that I would cause a great mess if I were to do it the way the subordinate soul wanted. In fact, my carelessness should read as a sign of my weak Main Consciousness—I handed myself over to the subordinate soul, the acquired interferences and the foreign beings from other dimensions. From now on I should strengthen my Main Consciousness.
One Should Never Lose the Sense of Awe
Logically speaking, filling out a visa application form is so important that I have no reason I should be sloppy. However, hidden behind the situation is another one of my attachments: a lack of awe, a lack of respect for other people as well as for everyday people’s laws; there was no room in me for rules and orders. Perhaps because I might have been a robber in my previous life, I tend to treat the laws with contempt and to take advantage of loopholes in laws in my subconscious. It has to do with the CCP’s brain washing but more of my own problem.
Aren’t just the old forces the ones who disrespect Master and Dafa? These higher beings who consider themselves above Master claim to arrange the cultivation path for the Lord of Buddhas. If the earthly life of the ordinary were to reflect this self-righteousness, it would be those who flatter themselves from all walks of life: the Communist Party flatters itself on fighting the Gods and Buddhas; everyday people flatter themselves that the indoctrination they took from the CCP is the truth; practitioners never consider themselves wrong. After all, what’s behind this is the attachment to self-righteousness, which makes you take it for granted that you are always correct. If it goes on like this, one might develop demonic interference from one’s own mind. Self-righteousness is also a manifestation of the Main Consciousness not being clearheaded.
Taking shortcuts May Also Be an Attachment
What’s behind my carelessness is yet another attachment—unwillingness to take the time to overcome the trouble. For everything I do I tend to take shortcuts, without taking efforts or taking anything seriously. I recall a passage from Zhuan Falun where Master mentioned a story about eating tofu, “It was a pretty big hassle hustling and bustling to prepare food in the morning before going off to work. Sometimes I’d buy two steamed buns and a piece of tofu in soy sauce. You’d think such light things would be alright, but it still wasn’t okay to eat them all the time—that attachment had to go.”
I had been wondering what “that attachment” was. I had no attachment to picking on food. I ate tofu only because it doesn’t take much time to eat it. However, now my understanding is that “not willing to take efforts” might as well be an attachment. In the process of transforming the human body, it is necessary that we feed ourselves certain nutrients. Perhaps it wasn’t okay to eat the same type of food all the time.
My understanding isn’t necessarily right, but at my current level I realized that many people from mainland China have a tendency to take shortcuts. This may be because modern humans’ thinking has been badly warped by the Party culture. Such crooked, warped mentality will be reflected in all aspects. It is especially the case with the pursuit of product quality going downhill. Numerous products made in the Western world appear to be delicate and fine, say, a handbag or a watch, and of course people will buy it, even though the price may be several times more expensive than that of the ordinary ones. However, many products labeled “made in China” turn out to be rough and slipshod work. Behind this phenomenon is a question of the value orientation concerning “conscientiousness”. As practitioners, we practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Doesn’t “conscientiousness” pertain to this principle as well?
I was upset at the thought that my negligence had prevented the fellow practitioner to attend Fa Conference, and that I did not do well in my cultivation and it is likely to go awry at any moment, because the old forces always cast a covetous eye on us when we aren’t vigilant. Indeed, we must maintain righteous thoughts.
Top
- 8. Never Neglect One’s Own Cultivation
Tong Zhen
(PureInsight.org)
Recently, a fellow Dafa practitioner from our local practise site died of disease karma. In the past few years, several fellow Dafa practitioners had passed away, many were key members of our local Fa study group, and the average age of those practitioners was only 65 years. I felt very sorry for those practitioners. Many thoughts popped up in my mind.
In the past 10 years, some fellow practitioners have been very seriously persecuted. There are still others who are so busy with Dafa projects every day that they have become negligent of their personal cultivation. No matter how long we have practiced Dafa, no matter how many truth clarification tasks we have performed and how many people we have saved, we should never neglect on our own personal cultivation. In the first chapter of the book “Zhuan Falun”, Master has already told us, “I’ll tell you a truth: the whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments.” Master also tells us the reason behind one’s inability to raise one’s cultivation level, “you have no way to cultivate if you don’t know the Law at high levels, and if you don’t cultivate inward, if you don’t cultivate your character, your gong won’t increase.” In the very beginning of our cultivation, we were all able to cultivate inward, we all knew that we should look inward whenever there was a conflict; we also learnt from Dafa that our physical discomfort was a result of Master helping eliminate the disease karma for us, we all knew that no matter how busy we might be, we would still need to keep up with Fa study and practice of the gong.
As one’s personal cultivation changes to cultivation in Fa-rectification, every Dafa practitioner has to help by eliminating the evil forces, saving sentient beings along with improving one’s own personal cultivation. Some fellow practitioners have gradually neglected their own personal cultivation while doing Dafa projects, these practitioners like to use the excuse of “evil interference” to hide their own problems that should be solved through cultivation. Such practitioners also like to use the excuse of “too busy with Dafa projects” to hide slacking off in regards to cultivation; some of those practitioners would even decide to “eliminate” those that they themselves dare not to save. As a matter of fact, no matter whether it is personal cultivation or Fa-rectification cultivation, the requirements pressed upon us have never changed. It is due to our own human attachments that we lower those standards to fit our own needs.
Now, the old forces don’t think in such a way in this current unprecedented persecution against Dafa and its practitioners. Those old forces have already felt uneasy when we became Fa-rectification practitioners, as a result, even trivial things can be used by the old forces as excuses to further their persecution of us if we don’t treat those things properly. I just read Master’s latest Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference and it has become clearer to me that a cultivator’s personal cultivation should never be neglected. There is just a single notion of difference between a human being and a deity, as soon as one lets oneself loose; one will more likely degrade to the level of an ordinary person. When we slack off a little bit, we are actually getting closer to becoming an ordinary person. That tiny bit of negligence might eventually become an ant-hole that leads to the collapse of a dam. Master has told us a story about a lonely person who cultivated solely in the mountains. At first, this cultivator was also very diligent in his cultivations; one day, a deer got shot by a hunter and that deer ran to this cultivator. This cultivator decided to help the deer and keep the deer to himself as he was so lonely doing the meditation cultivation in the mountains. As time went by, this cultivator began to pet the deer and even treat the deer as his dearest friend spending much time and effort on the deer, neglecting his determination to cultivate. After the deer died, this cultivator still thought about the deer day and night. Even when this cultivator was dying, this deer was on his mind. After the cultivator died, he then reincarnated to a deer and his many years of personal cultivation was thus ruined in a single day. The lesson from this story is a serious one.
When we first started practicing Falun Dafa, we would always make up for missed exercises. Are we still doing that? When we sometimes don’t send forth righteous thoughts for whatever reason, do we try to make that up? When we first began to study the Fa, we would always look inward whenever something touched our hearts. Master has told us in Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe, “Remember my words: Regardless of whether the problem is your fault or not, you should look inside yourself, and you will find a problem.” So, are we still doing things like we were doing when we first started to cultivate? Yes, there are evil interferences, yes, there are many external reasons, and still we must “look inside” throughout our personal and Fa-rectification period cultivation. Every Dafa practitioner needs to reflect upon his or her own enthusiasm when he or she first learnt of Dafa, what is the current status now? If we are slacking off in our determination to cultivate, we will have to cultivate ourselves solidly from now on. Let our initial diligence and determination return to us now.
Every attachment has its own physical elements. If we don’t look inside and don’t improve ourselves, those physical elements will never get eliminated. Some of those notions that have been formed over thousands of years have already become parts of our own flesh bodies in various dimensions. Master has shown us the key to dissolve all such elements: look inside. Now, what happens is that whenever we run into tribulations, we always tend to look outside. “Looking inside” is indeed soul touching and extremely painful, it is tantamount to the cut of one’s own flesh, of course, it is excruciatingly agonizing when we try to “cut a piece” of our body. Yet, only through unconditional “looking inside” can we improve ourselves and get rid of that “black stuff” from our body.
No matter how busy one is with one’s Dafa projects, no matter how deeply one is involved with certain Fa-rectification projects, one still needs to arrange time to study the Fa, to cultivate oneself while completing those Dafa projects. Only after we have cultivated ourselves well can we approach Dafa projects completely from a cultivator’s mindset; with such a mindset, it is guaranteed that our Dafa tasks will be more efficient, the results will be even better. Otherwise, if we are separating ourselves from the Fa by not cultivating ourselves well, it will be difficult for us to validate the Fa, we will degrade ourselves to the level of ordinary people and treat things like ordinary people do, the old forces will definitely take the chance to interfere with us.
No matter how degenerate ordinary people have become, no matter how serious the evil CCP’s influence upon the people around us are, we just need to cultivate ourselves; we don’t even want to see how other fellow practitioners are doing. We’ve got the Fa in our heart; we should always cultivate according to Dafa’s fundamentals so that we can walk our path properly and help save more sentient beings.
Top
|