Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Learning from Traditional Roles How to Better Cooperate Within the One Body
- My Understanding after Reading Master's Scripture, "Sifting of the Sand"
- Another Level of the Meaning of "Righteousness"
- Western Practitioner: Teacher Saved My Life
- Several Manifestations of Jealousy
- Only When We Truly Cultivate Can We Know How to Cultivate
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the April 2010 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
Hope everyone keeps Master’s message in their hearts and are doing Fa study diligently and remain steadfast in cultivation.
Also keep your righteous thoughts for welcoming Shen Yun to India later
this year. It is a good idea to dedicate a certain time for righteous thoughts for Shen Yun every day. Wish you all the best in your efforts.
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 in Hyderabad introduced Falun Dafa exercises in three schools
and visited the schools for follow ups. The school authorities are happy about the discipline and sense of well being that Falun Dafa has brought to the students.
Practitioners in Hyderabad also introduced the practice to the Andhra Pradesh
Chamber of Commerce where 30 members participated.
Practitioners in Bangalore continue their follow up with schools and encourage
students in their Fa study.
Top
- 3. Learning from Traditional Roles How to Better Cooperate Within the One Body
(Clearwisdom.net)
In ancient China,
the relationships among people were clear and strictly observed. It
was emphasized that everyone should fulfill his or her own duties and
roles. Specifically, in public, decision-makers and decision-executioners
had clear divisions in their social functions. The upper class was benevolent
and the lower class was trustworthy. In a family, a father was benevolent
and a son had filial piety; a big brother was kindhearted and a little
brother was respectful. This natural state of respectful heaven and
humble earth was expanded to a form of systematic ethics, and is an
important part of traditional Chinese culture.
However, the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) has distorted the harmonic follower and leader relationships among
people into class oppression and exploitation relationships. The CCP
stirs up human desires for fame and gain, which leads to eventual social
disorder and chaos.
I remember a foreigner once commented
on Chinese people: A Chinese person working alone is a dragon, but the
Chinese are a worm if they work together. I think this sentence profoundly
revealed the state of mind of the people who have been constantly poisoned
by the CCP culture. Not understanding cooperation, coordination or duty,
it is very difficult for people to live together harmoniously, not to
mention collaborating or working together on projects. As Dafa practitioners,
we should not be like that. We should restore the natural living state
for people.
At Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New
York International Fa Conference, Master said:
"If people don't want to listen
whenever you assign something and they just want to do whatever suits
their fancy, and each does things his own way, could that ever work?
Some people might think, "Why should
I listen to so-and-so? I think I've cultivated better than him."
You mustn't say that. Only someone who has cultivated well will be content
to follow whatever is assigned to him, and [thinking that way] only
proves that you have not cultivated well.
After finishing studying Master's Fa
teaching, I thought about what was happening around me. There were gaps
among my fellow practitioners. The things we tried to do as a whole
body of practitioners were not going smoothly. Many problems were caused
by mutual disrespect among fellow practitioners. Everyone insisted that
he or she was right, his or her idea was good, or he or she was not
willing to put oneself behind others and to coordinate with fellow practitioners
or coordinators. Practitioners would judge or discount other practitioners'
opinions or the coordinator's arrangements. We were not actively coordinating
and silently harmonizing with what coordinators were doing. The direct
result was that we were a mess. For long periods of time, we could not
even share our experiences, or everyone was focusing on cultivating
themselves well or doing their own work. How could there be great power
for destroying the evil?
We have many practical things to do in
our efforts to clarify the truth. Though it is not easy to handle coordination
problems when we do things together, we must have whole body awareness.
Our personal cultivation is for cultivating ourselves. Within the whole
body, there will be coordination issues at times, which will require
us to put ourselves in the right positions. There are coordinators at
each practice site. They are the leaders of our groups. If coordinators
have already decided on a specific thing, as long as they are in accordance
with the Fa, we should comply unconditionally. Even if there are shortcomings
with regard to a decision, we should not treat it negatively. We should
quietly harmonize our shortcomings in the process of doing things. Putting
Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings as our highest priorities
are the examples a Dafa practitioner should set.
The above is my personal understanding.
I welcome any comments.
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- 4. My Understanding after Reading Master's Scripture, "Sifting of the Sand"
By a practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net)
After I read
Master's article, "Sifting of the Sand," the first thought
that came to me were Master's words in "Zhuan Falun": "The
great waves shift the sand, and that is what cultivation practice is
all about. What is left in the end will be genuine gold." (Lecture
Six, Zhuan Falun) Those words whirled around in my mind repeatedly.
Yes, now it is almost the end of Fa-rectification. Of course now is
the time to separate the genuine gold from the sand and the impure gold.
The pure gold will soon shine forth. This is really something very serious.
Then I thought about the disagreements
and conflicts between fellow practitioners. We have tried so many times
to resolve them, but failed. In this split second that will be over
in a twinkling, some practitioners cannot do the exercises correctly
and some are reluctant to get up early to practice. Once, when we just
finished the morning exercises, a practitioner asked, "What should
I do if I can't get up early?" Another practitioner said, "If
at the very moment when all of us achieve Consummation while doing the
exercises, you were asleep, how do you think Master would treat you?"
The practitioner was startled by these words, and then could make himself
get up on time.
We were really worried about some practitioners
who couldn't do the exercises correctly. Other practitioners pointed
out their problems several times and they refused to accept it. They
always swayed while doing the exercises and would become angry if we
reminded them too many times. Master told us that our main consciousness
needs to be strong. If your consciousness is strong enough, it is impossible
for you to sway during the exercises. In tranquil meditation, some practitioners
fall asleep. We really need to pay attention to these things. You are
not living up to Master's standard if you sway, sleep, or to not do
the movements correctly. I think we should watch the video that demonstrates
how to do the exercises again, or read The Great Consummation Way of
Falun Dafa once every while.
The other problem that was also mentioned
several times in articles published on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website
is that of pronouncing the words incorrectly while we study the Fa
together. Some practitioners read the Fa incorrectly, and when others
tell them, they are unwilling to correct themselves. Actually sometimes
they would make the correction, but if it was a practitioner who had
a conflict with him that pointed out his mistake, he would just refuse
to correct himself. I think that attachment should also be gotten rid
of. What we study and read is the Fa. If you are pronouncing the words
incorrectly, you should be willing to correct yourself, even if your
mistake is being pointed out by the practitioner who is having a conflict
with you. If you are able to do this, you can also get rid of your human
attachment. Isn't this quite a good thing?
Besides, while collectivity reading the
Fa, while one person reads the Fa, the others who listen should read
or recite silently along and try not to do unrelated things. Isn't your
respect to Master and Dafa revealed by this? Our Fa study is not just
a formality and we should treat it seriously with a pure heart and in
a good manner. In ancient times, before they went to a temple to burn
incense and pay respects to Buddha, people needed to take baths, change
into clean clothes, and very sincerely pay respect to Buddha. To our
universal Dafa that has created all things in this universe shouldn't
we treasure Him the most, and be our most respectful?
I had always thought that I only had
an attachment to money but after going through some tribulations on
this matter, I felt this attachment had become much less than before.
I no longer thought a lot about fame, benefits, and sentimentality (qing).
I didn't realize that I was still paying attention to those things until
one day I felt extremely pained when something happened to touch on
these attachments. I was unwilling to speak about it, as I was worried
about losing face. Doesn't this mean that I still have some strong attachments
that I don't want to let go of? I thought, "Since I don't go to
work, I have no place to struggle for fame and benefits." But I
was wrong. My child's school grades became the platform for me to fight
for fame and personal benefits. I would be happy when he achieved good
grades in school, but I would feel unhappy when he did not.
At first I didn't realize or admit what
was going on. But then the situation turned worse and worse due to my
not letting go of this bad element. My child used to be excellent in
school, but in the end the teacher asked me to come to school to have
a talk with him. I felt bad, and started to search inside. Did this
happen because my child didn't cultivate diligently, or was it because
I have too strong of an attachment? Of course a child is still just
a child. But perhaps if he had studied the Fa better, he would be a
better student. I kept on studying the Fa, and suddenly one word stood
out: fame. Fame and benefit. Yes, this attachment was hidden too deeply
and I didn't even realize it until it became painful. Letting go of
qing is only one aspect; we also should demolish all attachments to
fame and personal benefit.
Master worries about us a great deal.
He writes articles to instruct us how to cultivate, improve ourselves,
and save more sentient beings. As Master's disciples, we must strive
hard to achieve a better understanding. We must get rid of the attachment
to competitiveness, and many other attachments. We should work to make
our surroundings even more compassionate and not argue about which practitioner
is right or wrong.
We must also cultivate ourselves in family
conflicts. It is so difficult for fellow practitioners to come together
in person. Then why are we always paying so much attention to other
practitioners' attachments? While you are busy focusing on their attachments,
perhaps it is your own attachments that are using you. If you always
want to change others to be more in agreement with you, couldn't this
be another attachment whose origin is qing? All the practitioners who
point out others' mistakes and whose mistakes have been pointed out
should stop and reflect on this. We should strive together to sift the
sand so that together we can become genuine gold.
These are only my own experiences. Please
compassionately correct me if I have any misunderstandings.
Top
- 5. Another Level of the Meaning of "Righteousness"
By a Falun Dafa practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net)
Recently, I experienced
interference while preparing materials to clarify
the truth about the persecution
in China. I think the gaps in my xinxing are one of the reasons, but it is also because
the evil forces are struggling on their last legs as the truth of the
persecution is exposed. During this period I constantly looked for ways
to improve my xinxing and found a number of human notions that I didn't
realize existed. They are more clear to me now, based on the Fa
principles. However, I found that the interference continued. Although
sending forth righteous thoughts did effectively disintegrate the evil
and eliminate the interference, as soon as I stopped sending forth righteous
thought and started working on truth-clarification materials, the interference
would come again. For instance, the power would go out while I was making
copies.
Thus, I was trapped in a state of frustration
and anxiety. I was very worried and wondered why I could not get out
of this state. I also frequently asked Master to give me hints.
Several days ago, words from Master's
article, "Expounding on the Fa," suddenly appeared in my mind,
"If it continues endlessly and if
there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must
be that the evil demons are capitalizing on the weak spots caused by
your lack of control. After all, a cultivator is not an ordinary human.
So why doesn't the side of you that is your original nature rectify
the Fa?"
These words really got my full attention
and I began to study the article right away.
Through studying "Expounding on
the Fa" again and again, I was able to gain a deeper understanding
of the Fa principles. I realized that I have always been in a passive
state prior to tribulations, as if I don't have any divine capabilities
and could only react to the evil. This notion is exactly the state of
a human being. Can a great divine being be manipulated by the evil and
yet feel helpless? Would a divine being feel he is impotent? Would a
divine being be afraid of the evil? Would a divine being passively bear
the tribulation and passively look for or depend on others' help? I
do not think so. Only humans would get confused, feel helpless, and
not know what to do; this is because humans are very weak and at the
same time cannot see the truth. On the other hand, a great divine being
always has a strong righteous mind, and with his boundless wisdom, he
will be able to see through any tricks of the evil forces and thus completely
disintegrate them. Divine beings will never hesitate. Divine beings'
minds are firm and steady.
As soon as I realized this, I suddenly
felt that the answers to many questions became clear. Thinking back
on July 20, 1999 (when the persecution officially began), wasn't it
because our righteous thoughts were not strong enough, and we hesitated
and did not know what to do when facing the unexpected persecution,
that the persecution could occur? Today there are still many practitioners
who are in prison and are not able to get out; is it partly because
of the existence of these passive factors? Can these passive factors
and lack of confidence be considered a state of "righteousness?"
If these conditions are not right, but
we are still quietly bearing them, aren't we acknowledging these wrong
conditions in a different form? If we acknowledged these wrong conditions,
how can we say that we are righteous?
Master said, "A Buddha is a defender
of the universe." ("Teaching the Fa at the International Experience-Sharing
Conference in Beijing") Looking at ourselves, aren't we trying
to cultivate to Buddhahood? Then aren't we supposed to maintain and
protect the truth of the universe and other positive factors? Are any
of the tricks used by the evil, as well as the so-called "taking
advantage of the gaps," positive things? Are so-called "tribulations
or tests" by the evil acknowledged by Dafa? If not, can we tacitly
approve them under any condition?
I feel that now I have a new understanding
on "what is righteousness" as well as how to walk a righteous
path. At the same time, I also have deeper thoughts and a better understanding
of my mission.
I have written this article with the
hope that it will encourage fellow practitioners who have been under
tribulation for a long period of time. I hope that we can all share
with each other, improve together, eliminate the interference by the
evil, and hurry in saving sentient beings. These are just my personal
understandings, and if there is anything not in accordance with the
Fa, please kindly point them out.
Master also said in "Expounding
on the Fa",
"As a matter of fact, this results
from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have
humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained
the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented
them from doing Fa-rectification."
I understood that all these are due to
the lack of Fa-study and the lack of improvement in xinxing and understanding
of Fa-principles. Thus, I am determined to study the Fa more. I would
also like to remind fellow practitioners to place more importance on
Fa-study.
Top
- 6. Western Practitioner: Teacher Saved My Life
By a Western practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net)
I am sharing
the following experience to remind fellow practitioners to always have
faith in Teacher and to let non-practitioners know of the power of Dafa
and our Master. I was first introduced to Falun Dafa in late 2001 but
did not really start my cultivation until 2005. I had a number of different
tribulations and tests to pass but none more dramatic than what I experienced
two weeks ago when my husband and I were in a scooter accident. We were
just coming back from an event in Chinatown to celebrate the 50 million
plus people who had quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated
organizations. We were two blocks from our home when we drove right
into a car that had made a sudden and illegal u-turn into our lane.
As our scooter was propelled over onto the sidewalk, we were catapulted
over the driver's car and then smashed down onto the road. My husband
got up soon after we crashed, but I was unable to move. Blood covered
my face and people quickly came to help. Several men told me not to
move and within minutes emergency medical technicians put me in an ambulance
and took me to the hospital.
After the initial shock of being thrown
down to the ground, I immediately continued to send forth righteous
thoughts and recite the Fa when I could. In the ambulance, I asked my husband
to call two practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts. I knew that
what was happening to me was only on the surface and I needed to negate
the thought that anything was wrong with me. I was anxious to get home
and start studying Fa and sending righteous thoughts.
In fact, nothing serious had happened
to me. Despite being jolted into the air, without any protective clothing
or material except my helmet, I had no broken bones. My face was torn
up from landing so abruptly on the ground and I had several bruises
on my body. My father came to the hospital that night and wondered if
I should consult with a plastic surgeon and medical staff suggested
I not look at my face! The doctors and nurses continued to tell me I
was in shock and would soon be in great pain but the worst I felt was
only some moderate discomfort. They offered me strong pain killers in
the hospital but I declined, saying I really felt okay and did not need
to take them. I waited for several hours to get x-rays and a brain scan.
In between the periods when the medical staff came over to examine me,
I had a little time to study the Fa. Each time the staff came over to
check on me, they told me how much better I looked. One time I had been
sitting up in bed, studying the Fa, when a nurse, noting the difference
in my appearance, exclaimed, "See what a difference those pain
meds make?!" I told her that I had not taken any medication. I
thought to myself, "See how powerful and benevolent Master is?"
Teacher writes about a practitioner who
emerges unscathed from a bad car accident in "Zhuan Falun":
"We have said that good or evil
comes from a person's spontaneous thought, and the thought at that moment
can bring about different consequences. With her old age, if she were
an everyday person, how could she not be injured? Yet her skin was not
even scratched. Good or evil comes from that instant thought. If she
were lying down there claiming, "Ugh, I feel terrible. Something
is wrong here and there." Then, her bones might really be fractured
and she would be paralyzed."
As I lay in bed in the hospital, I noticed
a young Chinese man waiting in the hallway. I asked my husband to give
him a Falun Dafa bookmark--it was the only truth clarification material I
had on me. The Chinese man did not appear to have any reaction when
my husband gave him the bookmark but he later came over to my bed and
asked me how I was doing. Over the next few hours we continued to run
into each other and he stopped by a couple of times to talk. He was
there with his mother and grandmother, who had a bad fall. His grandmother
was only in the U.S. for a visit and was planning on returning to China
the following day. He was raised in America and knew very little of
Falun Dafa. I was hoping he would have a favorable impression of Dafa
after we talked and would tell his grandmother the truth about the practice,
so she could be in a better position to be saved before returning to
China.
In the taxi back home from the hospital,
I had a brief thought that I perhaps should take medicine if the pain
was going to be so unbearable and my sleep might be interrupted. I called
a practitioner to get some advice. She told me it was up to me as to
whether I should take medication but I knew right when I asked the question
what the answer was. I had to negate those thoughts. I was not an everyday
person. Master was looking after me and this was simply a test I must
pass. Medicine would have no effect on me and only put me back on a
destructive path. As a cultivator, I had gong which would rectify
any damage to my physical body. So, keeping this in mind, I decided
that I would not take any medicine.
The wounds on my face healed incredibly
fast. In less than a week, all my scabs had come off and the swelling
in my face had gone down completely. People who had seen me after the
accident or had heard about my injuries could not believe how fast I
had healed. My friend said to me, "no one heals this fast...it
must be the practice (of Falun Dafa)." My neighbor asked me what
medications or lotions I had been using on face and my husband (a non-practitioner)
kept referring to my face as a "magic face."
My injuries are now almost fully recovered.
I have used this time to look inside to understand why this accident
happened. I see that the accident brought to the surface several attachments,
such as fear of being harmed, the attachment of comfort, and vanity,
all of which I need to eliminate. Teacher writes in "Digging Out
the Roots": "I use various means to expose your deeply-concealed
attachments and get rid of them." (Essentials for Further Advancements)
I have gone back to memorizing the Fa, which I had not done in several
months, and have spent more time actively sending forth righteous thoughts
to eliminate the evil in my mind and in my body. I feel in fact my "xinxing"
is stronger now than ever.
I hope that all practitioners are able
to look inside when faced with tribulations and always negate the old
forces' arrangements. We must cultivate diligently in the Fa, so that
we always walk the path that Master has arranged for us. Sometimes the
path that Teacher has arranged for us is a very difficult one to follow
but if our xinxing is strong and we have faith in Teacher, we can
make it through.
"As a truly-determined practitioner,
one is able to endure everything and give up or care less for any attachment
in the face of various self-interests. As long as once can do this,
it will not be difficult. Those people find it difficult because they
cannot let go of these things. Cultivation practice itself is not difficult,
and neither is upgrading one's level itself difficult. It is because
they cannot give up the human mind that they call it difficult."
(Zhuan Falun)
Top
- 7. Several Manifestations of Jealousy
By a practitioner in Shandong Province, China
(Clearwisdom.net)
Master has lectured clearly on jealousy in the
Fa. Jealousy means being envious of others. I would like to share about
several manifestations of jealousy that I have encountered. My understanding
may not be correct. The purpose of my writing this is to share understandings
with fellow practitioners, so that we can recognize jealousy and improve
together. In the past, I believed that jealousy always meant being envious
of others who were better, more capable, or had more strong points.
I now have new understanding about jealousy. Some kinds of jealousy
are subtle, and have formed naturally, so they are difficult see, and
you may not be able to recognize some jealousies. What I have discussed
may not include every aspect of jealousy. I ask fellow practitioners
to point out anything that I have understood incorrectly.
1. Gloating over others' mishaps
I remembered that shortly after I obtained
the Fa, one practitioner mentioned that a coordinator had not done well
on certain things, which resulted in a conflict in the coordinator's
family. Upon hearing this, I somehow felt happy knowing that coordinators
also have times in which they fail to do well. So what was hidden deeply
in my mind was that I felt better when those who were more capable than
I had faltered. On the surface however, I didn't say a word or show
any reaction that would indicate my mindset. So although others didn't
see me that way, I was actually jealous in my mind.
2. Being jealous of others who are better
at doing things than I am
Shortly after I obtained the Fa, I realized
when I saw others doing the exercise movements accurately, I felt anxious.
One day, after we finished the exercises, the coordinator announced,
"Everyone come here and let me correct your movements." I
then thought in my mind, "What is the use of correcting the movements?
It would be fine if it is not so bad." Immediately after I had
this thought I realized that I was jealous of others. I still find myself
becoming envious when others are much better at doing things than I
am.
3. Being jealous of others when I feel
inferior to them
Sometimes, our local coordinator made
the decisions as to when the practitioners should practice the exercises
or study the Fa. I thought in my mind, "The coordinator can arrange
for us to study the Fa and practice the exercises. Their words count,
while mine do not count. I am not that good." As Master said,
"You're Employee of the Month and
you're so good at your job, you should come to work early and
go home late. Why don't you do all this work? You're doing so
well, and we're not good enough... " (The Seventh Talk, Zhuan
Falun, 2003 Translation Version)
In my case, I was just jealous in my
mind and it wasn't visible on the surface. There are also times when
jealousy is manifested strongly between practitioners, and this interferes
with validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. For example, practitioner
A and practitioner B worked at the same materials production site, and
Practitioner A was more capable than practitioner B in some areas. Practitioner
B then spread rumors about practitioner A's mistakes, telling others
not to get into contact with practitioner A or accept the materials
brought to them by practitioner A. They were then instructed to accept
the materials brought by practitioner B himself. Practitioner B also
told others how well he had passed the tribulations in that situation.
Those who had believed in practitioner B then avoided practitioner A,
and didn't accept materials brought to them by practitioner A. This
is an example of one's being jealous of others, and doing something
that interfered with the Fa-rectification. Here I don't want to say
how bad practitioner B is. I just want fellow practitioners to recognize
the attachment of jealousy and then eliminate it.
4. Using one's own strong points to measure
others' weak points
When I was detained in a detention center
by the evil last year, all the inmates there said that one Dafa practitioner
there could move his legs into a double-lotus meditation position without
using his hands. I thought that even though he could do the double-lotus
position so well, my xinxing may not be worse than his. A moment later, an
inmate said "jealousy" in front of me. I then wondered why
he mentioned jealousy in front of me. Was it possible that I had jealousy?
However, what I had thought did not seem to indicate my being jealous
of others, as I had not felt unbalanced in my heart. After I came out
of the detention center, I wondered more about that incident. One day,
a fellow practitioner told me that when her uncle told her how nice
his house looked, she thought to herself, "What is so extraordinary
about your house being nice? In some aspects we are better than you,
and we will be better off in the future." She asked me what attachment
this was, and I replied that Master had lectured on the story about
that child who scored a hundred on a test, and the neighbor who was
jealous of the child, "'What's the big deal? It's just a hundred.
What's he got to brag about!'" (The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)
This allowed me to see that I also had such an attachment, and it was
just that the nature of the jealousies were different. When others received
something good, I always used some of my strong points to measure against
their weak points, so as to satisfy that unbalanced heart of mine. Sometimes
when I saw that some ordinary persons had made fortunes, some had become
government officials, and some had gotten rewards, although I didn't
go to compete as ordinary people would, I thought about how much we
practitioners will be better off than everyday people in the future.
So what was hidden deeply in my mind was my being jealous of others.
When others got something good, I didn't feel happy, and instead used
my strong points to measure against their weak points.
5. Being jealous of those who are not
as capable as I am
Jealousy is not just reflected in my
being jealous of those who are more capable than I am. Sometimes, when
one who is not as capable gets something good, I also became jealous.
For example, when a fellow practitioner mentioned his understanding
of some Fa principles, or some cultivation-related matters, I didn't
want to hear them, because I thought that I already knew it. So in my
subconscious mind, I held the notion that their understanding of the
Fa was not as high as mine. This is just like what Master has said,
"Or when a qigong master holds a
class, some people sit there in a huff, 'Pfff, what kind of qigong master
is he? I don't want to listen to any of the stuff he talks about.'"
(The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)
For a person, whether he is non-practitioner
or practitioner, if he is not as capable as I am, and tells me how I
should do things, I would think, "You, being not as good as I am,
why are you telling me how to do things? My understanding is better
than yours." So I felt unbalanced in my mind. This was just like
the story mentioned in Zhuan Falun about the person who wasn't
as capable becoming the supervisor, which made the other person feel
unbalanced. When those who are less capable as I am got something good,
why did I feel unbalanced? Even if others are really not as good as
I am, why could I not be modest in carefully listening to their suggestions?
Why do I not feel happy when other practitioners make progress in their
cultivation?
6. The jealousy that results from the
belief in absolute egalitarianism
One fellow practitioner talked to me
about her work. She said that her work can only be accomplished when
four persons do it together: Each person performs one task, and all
the tasks are different. One of the tasks is relatively difficult to
do, while the other three are relatively easy. In the past, when they
did the work, they rotated the roles. In this way, no one would be at
a disadvantage. There was a period of time when it was her turn to do
the difficult task. At that point, the other three persons stopped the
rotation of roles. She didn't mind much when it went that way for a
few days. But after it lasted for quite a long time, she could no longer
take it. After she could not endure it, she told her family about it.
Her family members then went to those persons who did the work together
with her. At the time, I also felt that it wasn't reasonable for the
three everyday persons to act that way, but after judging it according
to the Fa, I came to realize that it was the evil party's past propaganda
about "absolute egalitarianism" that had resulted in my thinking
that way.
"If the sky falls, everybody dies
together, after all; everybody should share equally in anything good;
when there's a pay hike, everybody should be entitled to the same share."
(The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)
We Dafa practitioners should not use
ordinary people's principles to measure things. We particularly should
not use the evil party's ideology to view things. We should use Dafa
to measure things. Usually when I make a little more sacrifice than
others, I feel unbalanced in my heart. If the others were my own dear
ones, or my parents or children, would I still feel unbalanced?
"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" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
When I didn't get the good things, but
others got them, I felt envious. When I encountered a bad thing while
others didn't, I also became jealous. For example, when I was still
in school, I and several classmates did something we shouldn't have
done, which was found out by the teacher. The teacher didn't criticize
my classmates, but he criticized me. I then felt unbalanced. I thought,
"They also did it, so why was I the only one who got criticized?"
This was, in fact, the result of believing in absolute egalitarianism:
One feels comfortable only when one shares things, no matter how good
or bad.
People carry different amounts of de
(virtue) and karma, as well as the amounts of de and karma that one's
ancestors have accumulated. The amounts of blessings that people will
get in their lifetimes are all different. So how can we get rewards
based on absolute egalitarianism? What Dafa cultivators should do is
to cultivate when encountering things, take hardships as blessings,
and not be moved by the ordinary pursuit of fame, interest, and sentimentality.
Only by striving to be this way can one make progress in cultivation.
During the course of my writing, I have
gained a better understanding of jealousy. Only by truly recognizing
it can one eliminate it. Many practitioners agree that through writing
about their experiences, they can gain new understandings. In this way,
they can not only improve themselves, but also help others by pointing
out their mistakes, so that we can all recognize and then remove them.
Please kindly point out anything that
is improper.
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- 8. Only When We Truly Cultivate Can We Know How to Cultivate
(Clearwisdom.net)
The measurement of whether a person is truly cultivating occurs when he cultivates and searches within when he gets into trouble. True cultivation is searching within rather than pursuing and outwardly seeking answers. If a person cannot manage to fundamentally change himself or get rid of all human attachments during cultivation, no matter how much Fa he studies or how much Fa-validation work he does, he does not count as a real cultivator in the end.
The premise of knowing how to cultivate is being a true cultivator. If a person does not want to fundamentally change himself at all and always pursues and searches for answers externally, he is not cultivating, let alone to say whether or not he knows how to cultivate.
So "knowing how to cultivate" means we can pinpoint our human attachment at the time of the incident. We all have had similar experiences: sometimes we find a lot of attachments but the real one for us to get rid of in this incident is overlooked. Then we stagnate in the tribulation for a long time and our xinxing does not improve. How can we find the correct attachment and get rid of it? When we cannot find our attachment but all of sudden get a hint when studying the Fa with a calm mind, the attachment being hinted is the one; when we are keen to point out and fix others' attachments or argue with others, the thing that stirred our heart is our attachment; when we see two people arguing, the obvious attachment they exhibit is a reminder of our attachment; when a practitioner points out an attachment of ours and we feel uncomfortable, annoyed, or even feel a need to explain, then that is our attachment. That antagonistic feeling is from our human heart and notions. They cannot stand it, so they reflect it to your brain. But they are not you. We should grab it and get rid of it instantly.
Above is just my understanding. The significance of searching within in the Fa is far deeper than this. I hope more Dafa disciples advance diligently in the Fa!
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