January 16, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net) In Zhuan Falun, Teacher tells the story of Sakyamuni, who kept improving himself during his forty nine years of Dharma teaching. I realized this has importance in guiding our Fa-rectification cultivation. Whenever Teacher pointed out problems among Dafa disciples my first though was, "Thank goodness, Teacher is not talking about me!" Later, I stumbled on the road of Fa-rectification. Then I studied Teacher's Fa again, looked inward and enlightened to it all of a sudden. "Teacher is talking about me."
Fa-rectification disciples do not have forty-nine years for cultivation, but they still need to cultivate to higher levels. As long as we follow Teacher's words, we can make it. My understanding is that there are two reasons why Gong doesn't increase: not knowing the principles of higher levels and not examining one's self. Experiences and lessons made me realize that while studying the Fa, I should judge myself from the standpoint of the Fa. I should cultivate inwardly and look at my self. I should not be afraid of finding my shortcomings and mistakes. Instead, I should actively look for my mistakes and shortcomings. As Sakyamuni demonstrated, only when one realizes one's shortcomings can one improve one's self.
Now when I study Fa, especially when Teacher points out disciples' problems, my first thought is, "Teacher is talking about me." I keep examining myself while studying the Fa. Therefore, Fa study is harder than before because examining one's inner self is painful. Now, every time I step further, I can clearly see with a heavy heart that my old thoughts, understandings and enlightenment were low level and even wrong. And every time I step further, I realize how profound Dafa is, how great Teacher is and how fortunate Fa-rectification Dafa disciples are.
These are my personal understandings, only for your reference.
