(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Time flies. In the twinkling of an eye, it's now the Fifth Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Practitioners in China. I'd also like to share my understandings gained during my cultivation. There are no accidental events in my cultivation--all is arranged by Master. I'll describe a few incidents in brief.
A truth clarifying materials production site
Two years ago, our local truth clarifying materials production site was damaged, and a practitioner with technical skills got into trouble at the same time. Although I wanted to build up our local materials site, I faced a lot of difficulty. Nobody had the technical skills and there was a financial problem, too.
It was then that a practitioner in Guangdong Province called me and asked me to come there to work. There I learned the technical skills of printing and got a job as well. Everything was arranged by Master. In Guangdong Province, we all had our jobs. Fellow practitioners and I put great emphasis on Fa study, sending righteous thoughts, clarifying the truth, and making truth-clarifying materials. The three things were intertwined with our jobs.
The practitioner with technical skills had very limited time and left me to teach others how to print and burn CDs, so I had to teach an elderly practitioner to make materials. "Auntie" (a respectful term for an older woman) had never touched a computer and had no basic computer knowledge at all. She had to start by learning how to use a mouse. I had only explained in brief and she watched me a few times. When I came home after work, she had actually already printed a few copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. She smiled, "As long as we do it with our hearts, everything is taken care of by Master. I only clicked a few times, loaded papers inside, then it was printed out." It was truly magical.
Auntie and I made truth-clarifying materials at home in turn, and we also collaborated in clarifying the truth. One sent out righteous thoughts while the other spoke. When one did not explain well, the other would supplement next. People generally could accept what we said and we persuaded a lot of people to withdraw from the Communist Party. For those that did not withdraw after we tried to persuade them, we wished that they would get another chance in the future.
Remembering this makes me feel ashamed. Although Auntie had only attended primary school, she always did better than I in clarifying the truth. When we shared our experiences, she said, "As soon as I see somebody, I want to talk to him and I think that I must save him. When I talk with him, I do not think of anything except that it is for his benefit and I must save him." In fact, it is a real issue of whether you put your heart into saving people. When you truly do it for the sake of wanting to save someone, the knowing side of the other person can feel it. What was reflected onto the surface was that people were relatively willing to listen to what Auntie talked about.
After moving around, I went back to my hometown. As soon as I got home, I immediately contacted local practitioners and bought equipment to make truth-clarifying materials. Our family materials production site started to function. Teaching my practitioner father how to make materials took a great amount of patience. My father is a farmer and had never touched a computer, either. He has a bad memory, too. Sometimes after I repeated something quite a few times, he still could not remember it. I started to lose my patience. Looking inward, it was still my problem. I was too anxious and did not think about the situation from my father's angle. He was at his 50s and had never touched computer in his life. Even learning how to use an MP3 player took him a long time. Now he had to start with learning how to use a mouse. It was already not easy, but he was willing to learn the computer and how to make materials. Remembering it now, I realize it was, in fact, miraculous. After a few hours, my father mastered the basic use of a mouse. Now my father can print copies of the Nine Commentaries all by himself.
During the process of making truth-clarifying materials, the status of the printer can reflect a cultivator's xinxing. Once while I was printing materials, the printer kept having problems. One page came out blank when it was printing "Minghui Weekly." I was doing some other things then and did not notice it. In the end, several dozen pages were printed wrong. That pained me so much! After I had finished Minghui Weekly, the printer ran into problems again when I started printing other materials. When it was printing the backside of a page, it kept jamming. After a short time, quite a few pages had been wasted. At that time, I only thought that it was because of interference. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference and asked Master to strengthen me. After printing out a few pages, the printer jammed again. I then thought that I had to finish printing these materials today. In fact, a strong attitude of competing and not willing to concede was manifesting, so then every page got stuck in the printer.
Finally I realized that this wasn't right and there must be a problem within me. Putting down the materials in my hands, I thought it over. Where was my fault? I usually work with the printer really well. I immediately came to an understanding. I had become more busy with my job back then. I did not come home for two days and did not do the exercises. Spending less time studying the "Fa" and with human attachments, I did not even remain calm when sending out righteous thoughts. I was in such a poor state. Printing truth-clarifying materials is such a noble thing, how could it be done with all kinds of human attachments? The printer is also an intelligent being, a sacred weapon. A sacred weapon certainly can only be used by a god at his will.
Having improved my xinxing, I turned on the printer again. All the back pages left printed out perfectly. It seemed that whether the paper was wrinkled or not was not a problem any longer. In fact, the printer is really an intelligent being. The printer got jammed a couple of times. When I examined it, I saw that the previous page was blank. The printer was reminding me.
Upgrading xinxing
Let me also talk about my understanding of upgrading xinxing during my cultivation in Fa rectification period.
Before 1999, Master had already very thoroughly explained the Fa in this respect. The understanding of Fa and upgrading xinxing during the Fa rectification period was truly an ascending process from the perceptual phase to the rational phase. In my cultivation, whether I was diligent or not, I was doing all three things, and I had always thought that I did whatever Master taught. Until once, while sharing experiences with another practitioner, I was giving an involved explanation for something. The practitioner pointed out, "Don't argue, no matter what other people say to you. It's all for your own good. Since the thing was said, there must be some factors in you. Cultivation is to cultivate oneself. Don't push it onto others." It was a simple sentence, but I was shocked. Yes, I must make it a habit to look inside. Isn't explaining things to find reasons an attempt to excuse myself?
In "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles," when a practitioner raised a question, he said that he did not cultivate solidly enough when it came to accepting criticism and he was focused on defending himself. Master taught with respect on this issue
"Speaking of defending oneself (Teacher chuckles), that reminds me of something. Someone said to me--and I have indeed observed it--someone said to me that there is a difference between how students from mainland China and students from Taiwan deal with problems. If a Taiwanese student hasn't done something well, he will listen to you if you point that out to him, and he won't be defensive. But when a student from mainland China hasn't done something well and others point it out to him, he will immediately say, 'You don't know what happened. The situation at that time was such and such.' (Teacher chuckles) (Audience laughs, applauds) He knows that it's not good for a cultivator to directly rebut what is said. So he tries to shirk responsibility in a roundabout way, to defend himself in a roundabout way. When you've made a mistake, you've made a mistake. Be straightforward. If you have done something wrong, you have done something wrong. Only those who dare to admit their mistakes are viewed in a positive light by others and admired by others. Even gods admire them. (Applause) [Imagine this,] if you reach the very end of this journey and gods ask you, 'Were you always able to handle it correctly when others criticized you before? Show us,' you will have nothing to show. (Audience laughs) And if you say, 'I never did anything wrong, and no one ever criticized me,' will anyone believe you?
"How could a human being not make mistakes? It is human beings cultivating, so how could they not make mistakes? And yet no one has seen you admit to your mistakes. (Audience laughs) Aren't you giving away the fact that something is wrong with you? Don't you have a flaw in your cultivation? From now on I will be watching to see who can admit to their mistakes. (Audience laughs, applauds). Who is capable of never making mistakes, anyway? And what do mistakes count for? We just need to correct them, don't we? The crux of the matter is your attachments. Aren't you supposed to cultivate away your human attachments? If you always try to be evasive, keep things from being hit on, and are unwilling to get rid of them, that is a big problem."
During my cultivation in these years, although I could also look inside to different extents and could solve the difficulties that I came across, I had always felt that I seemed not to be doing it enough, and I did not think about where the problem was. In fact, I lacked initiative. I did not truly and actively search for the factors in me, and I only stopped on the surface. Because Master taught about this, I did it this way. I hadn't truly understood Master's teaching from the depths of my heart, and I did not let the principle of looking inside that Master taught truly become a part of me. I was still understanding the Fa perceptually.
Only when we truly make it a habit to look inside are we truly understanding this Fa principal rationally. The lives in the old universe are for self. They only want to change others and do not want to change themselves. That is the reason for the old force's persecution. To become a life in the new universe, one must break through this thought of self! A few years ago, I had a dream. Upon waking up from the dream, I was still reading one paragraph of Master's teaching: "If every one of you can understand the Fa from the depths of your mind, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary--the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!"("Cautionary Advice" in Essentials for Further Advancement) Master had actually pointed that out to me long time before, I just never understand it.
Speaking about the issue of xinxing, let me talk about another incident. One evening after my work, after 6:00 p.m., I was riding my bicycle home when a motorcycle roared up behind me and hit me. I fell to the ground. At that moment, I thought that I was okay. My bicycle and I turned out to be fine. The other person fell down, too, but after she got up, she grabbed me and would not let me go. She insisted that I accompany her to a hospital for an examination. Practitioners were waiting for truth-clarifying materials and I needed to get home and make those materials quickly. I did not have time to deal with her. She was actually fine. She had gone too fast and the skin on her knees was scratched a bit when she fell down. Furthermore, it was she who had hit me from behind and knocked me down. She hassled me and wanted to call 110 to get the traffic police to handle the case. My human attachments came forward and I said, "It was not my fault, call the police if you want to." I immediately realized that this was interference--it was obviously taking up my time. I started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all interfering factors in other dimensions that were manipulating her.
After about 10 minutes, one of her relatives came on a motorcycle and asked me to settle this behind closed doors, meaning that I should take her to the hospital for an examination. Dafa practitioners' money is used to make materials to save people, how could I agree with this interference? It was not a Dafa practitioner's fault, and I would definitely not agree with any interference or persecution on any excuse. I kept sending righteous thoughts to eliminate interference. Her relative, who might have had some relationship with the traffic police, called 110 again to ask them to come to tow my bicycle. After half an hour, the traffic police came and towed away my bicycle and her motorcycle.
I felt that they were not the ones to decide things, and I could definitely get my bicycle back. It was not a Dafa practitioner's fault, and I would never acknowledge any interference or persecution in any form. I kept sending out righteous thoughts and also asked another practitioner to send righteous thoughts with me for strengthening. But, I still felt in my heart that it was a bit unfair.
The next morning, I called the traffic police and asked when I could get my bicycle back. They said that they were processing the case and that the other party still remained in the hospital. They said that after the other party had left the hospital and we had discussed who should be held responsible, they would see how to deal with the case. I became a bit angry when I heard this, and my human attachments also surfaced. It was obvious who should be held responsible. The police did not seem to even know about this. They were simply delaying the case on purpose and wanted to extort some money. My colleagues all thought that this was unfair, and my boss even told me to appeal to higher authorities and sue them if my case was not handled fairly.
All of the sudden, my human attachments expanded. An attitude of complaint, resentfulness, all kinds of human attachments--even the notion of being a hero found in ordinary people--came up in my heart. I was thinking that if it was not handled fairly, I would do such and such. My attachment of competing and fighting immediately came up. I instantly felt not right and expelled this attachment, which would came back again in a little while. For the whole morning, my heart was boiling like this and remained restless.
I had a bit of free time at noon and started to study the Fa. After reading just a few pages, one thought came to my mind: "What can ordinary people do to a god?" I was shocked and suddenly understood. Looking at how I understood this incident, I saw that so many human attachments had emerged that I was scared! I had let go of the attachment of competing and fighting many times, but this time it had manifested itself again so strongly! And it also mingled with human resentfulness. This did not look like a Dafa practitioner at all! Ordinary people are the people that we need to save, and everybody came for the Fa. With a heart of resentfulness, how could one save people! The person who hit me might also have come for the Fa through reincarnation from life to life, might also suffered a lot. She might just have this kind of predestined relationship with me. I was not able to save her. Instead, with my resentfulness, I pushed her away. All my feelings of unfairness disappeared, and in my heart I only felt that world's people were so pitiful. I would follow Master's arrangement for everything and remember that everything is decided by Master. I would negate all the interfering factors. If it's mine, I would not lose it. If it's not mine, I could not pick it up, either. At this time, my heart became calm.
In the evening when I finished my work and was ready to go home, there was a car parked in front of our store. My boss asked me to come over and told me about the person in the car. The person had called the traffic police and asked whether somebody was interfering in this case and why it was still not processed. The police on the other end immediately answered that nobody who was interfering in this case and they would finish processing it at once and that my bicycle could be picked up at any time. Just like that, I got back my bicycle back with no problem, and I also did not have to pay any "management fees" that the police wanted to charge for keeping my bicycle. Later my boss told me that the person who hit me broke one of her ribs. She originally wanted to use her relationship with the traffic police to get compensation out of me. Everything was solved. When we truly let go of our human attachments, when we think for numerous beings at every moment and our xinxing reaches the standard, Master solves everything for us. Originally, from an ordinary person's perspective, it was going to be very difficult to get my bicycle back. The thing was resolved with Master's arrangement.
An understanding of marriage
Recently, some young practitioners talked about their opinions on marriage. When I obtained the Fa, I was about 14 or 15 years old. Now more than ten years had passed by in a blink of eye, and it was "time" for me to get married. In the eyes of a farmer, I was already an "old girl." When I was a kid, I even joked that I would not marry anybody in this life. Later I really never thought about the issue of my getting married. I also felt puzzled because, in the village, farmers wouldn't understand me, and my family would get a lot of pressure and many strange glances from villagers. I also thought about my father's advice to date a young male practitioner just to cope with the situation. If I don't want to get married, then I won't get married. This was just to cope with the situation. Later this thought also disappeared and I felt that marriage was really something for ordinary people. If I don't want to get married, why would I get a fellow practitioner to help out with it? That is also being selfish and irresponsible. No matter how good looking the person my neighbors, relatives, or friends introduced me to, how good his job was, or how much money his family had, I did not feel anything while I listened to them talk. No matter what my neighbors or my relatives said about me, my heart remained calm, as if none of it had anything to do with me at all. Dafa practitioners only need to do well what we should do, and we don't participate in ordinary people's things. In fact, when I felt that I was not involved in these things, there was no longer much gossip about me and my family basically stopped caring about the issue. When other people mentioned it to my mother again, she got around it by saying that this was my own business and that I would decide for myself, and in fact, weren't there many people these days that didn't want to get married? It wasn't anything new.
To speak in detail about how to walk every step in cultivation, everyone should discuss their understandings. Now the most urgent thing for practitioners is to save people. We are doing the three things together, but are we truly putting our hearts in it? Do we really understand why we need to save people? I remember once when teaching the Fa, Master asked practitioners: "Let me ask you, if it would take another ten years to save all sentient beings, would you still do it? (The students reply together, 'Yes!') (Applause) That's how a Dafa disciple should be. (Applause)" ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa ") As long as numerous beings can be saved, no matter how many years it takes, a Dafa practitioner will do it! The three things are linked together. Let us together walk correctly and well on our final portion of our journey!