(Clearwisdom.net) I was most impressed with the following passage of the Fa, after studying "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles." Teacher said,
"The most noticeable and biggest problem, which has gone unresolved for a long time, is also what the gods have been muttering in my ears, something that troubles them the most." "What is it, then? When Dafa disciples make mistakes, they do not like to be criticized."
Each and every Dafa practitioner must treat their cultivation seriously and identify their inadequacies to advance in cultivation levels. Practitioners must avoid having compassionate Teacher wait for us to improve.
I would like to share some of my recent cultivation experiences and insights. I hope that they might be of some help to fellow Dafa practitioners. Please kindly correct anything inappropriate.
1. Belligerence, Jealousy and Neglecting to Cultivate Our Speech
Having cultivated for so long, most [veteran] practitioners have abandoned their attachments to secular fame and gain. However, within our cultivation community, many practitioners are still overcome with hostility and jealousy due to the competitive mentality. To make my point I will recount some happenings in my area.
Some practitioners have very different understandings of the Fa. Therefore, they had difficulties reaching a consensus when working together on a truth-clarification project. When such disagreements go unresolved for a long time, practitioners grow apart and animosity increases between practitioners. Such animosity creates a very negative atmosphere in our community. Moreover, practitioners refuse to face such interference and do not remove it at its root. Our neglect nourishes the bad atmosphere and allows it to infest and spread among the entire body. When we lack righteous thoughts, we are under the spell of the bad atmosphere and are driven to think, say and do bad things, thus reinforce the negative influence. In turn, it then interferes with our thoughts again and manipulates us to do bad things, forming a vicious cycle.
When we see a fellow practitioner's attachment, we may point it out, but we shouldn't form any opinion or pass judgment. Such a bad attitude will not do any good to anyone, especially fellow practitioners or the one-body of Falun Gong cultivators. When we see a fellow practitioner speaking ill of another practitioner, we shouldn't respond to the criticism or we will reinforce his attachment. We should try to harmonize with the one-body, try to solve conflicts, and try to eliminate distance and animosity between practitioners. Of course, if there is something wrong with a practitioner or if a practitioner has impacted the one-body negatively, it is perfectly all right for us to discuss the problems together and try to solve them. But we need to be vigilant of our mentality and avoid developing any attachment during the process. By doing so, we will be responsible for the one-body and fellow practitioners.
2. The Attachment to Fame or Showing Off
I discovered a substance in myself. It thinks it cultivates well, but cannot tolerate when others look down on it. Whenever I feel I'm being treated unjustly, this substance is at work. For example, once I asked a coordinator at a truth-clarification material site, "Are there enough practitioners helping at the site? If so, I think I should go look for a job to harmonize with my family and society." It was really uncalled for when she told me off coldly, "You don't have to be part of this if you think you are contributing too much." I didn't explode, but I did feel very offended. I thought, "I am even willing to let go of my life for the sake of the Fa. Who doesn't want to do Dafa work full-time? I have given everything to help with this truth-clarification material site. Now you accuse me of being unhappy because I have contributed too much?" I was so mad that I felt I was about to explode.
Later on I realized that it had nothing to do with the coordinator. It was the aforementioned bad substance that was feeling offended. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had those feelings. Why couldn't I stand it when others look down on me? Why did I seek affection or approval from others? This must be an attachment to fame. A cultivator approaching Consummation will not be moved by either praise or criticism. All that matters for a cultivator is to follow Teacher's Fa. Teacher said,
"Doing but pursuing not--Constantly dwelling in Dao." ("In Dao" in Hong Yin)
I should do Dafa work without any pursuit and everything will be harmonized. It only matters that Dafa is validated and sentient beings are saved. Isn't that the true purpose of our coming to the human realm? Once I identified this attachment, I worked on eliminating it. When it came into thoughts, I would eliminate it right away. Gradually it was eliminated altogether.
3. Sentimentality
I also realized that I would easily become emotional and excited depending on the behavior of people close to me. Why is that? It must be sentimentality. I tend to regard people close to me as my family and failed to live by Teacher's Fa about sentimentality. Teacher said,
"We should treat everyone in the same way. We must be good to our parents and children and be considerate of others in all respects. Such a heart is thus unselfish, and it is a heart of kindness and benevolence." ("Demonic Interference From One's Own Mind" in Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun)
In order to do well as a cultivator in my own personal cultivation, I should treat my parents, spouse, siblings and children like a cultivator. My attitude reflects my true xinxing level. I decided to pay great attention to my cultivation. I should treat everyone equally well, as I'm a cultivator, which also includes the way I treat myself .
My mother is also a practitioner. In the past when I saw her attachments, I would immediately criticize her. I never even considered whether I hurt her feelings. Sometimes when mother refused to take my criticism, I would become very judgmental and reproach her, forcing her to admit her attachments and accept my criticism. Yet, with other practitioners, I would express my concern in a friendly manner, acceptable to them. If they didn't want to listen, I wouldn't pass judgment or hold a negative opinion of them. I realized the different attitudes reflected my sentimentality. I now try hard to suppress it. I am beginning to treat mother as a fellow practitioner and adjust my attitude towards her.
One day, mother pointed at a group of spring onions in our backyard and said, "Look at these spring onions. We look at them and praise them daily, 'Look how tall you have grown.' Now they really are growing taller and bigger every day. Look at another group of spring onions by the door. We don't get many chances to look at them or admire them. They are short and thin, just about half of the height of those in the backyard. It appears that even a Dafa practitioners' eye contact emits energy."
It suddenly dawned on me that kind thoughts are very powerful and that we should send positive thoughts toward fellow practitioners. Negative criticism will only make their cultivation worse. I resolved to never become emotional with mother. Even if I had a bad predestined relationship with mother, I should improve my xinxing as a cultivator. When I stopped to criticize or reprove her for her attachments, mother enlightened to her attachments on her own. Moreover, her understanding of the Fa was very profound. I felt so embarrassed about my past attitude towards her. Teacher is so right. Teacher said,
"Improvement for a cultivator definitely doesn't result from finger pointing, nor does it result from my criticism of you as your Master or from your pointing fingers at or criticizing each other. It comes from you cultivating yourself." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles")
4. My Present Understanding about "a Clear and Clean Mind"
Sometimes my head was filled with bad thoughts, such as how fellow practitioners have misunderstood me, something should be done this way, what fellow practitioners think of me, and so on. These bad thoughts would haunt me. Therefore, I had difficulties to enter tranquility when I send forth righteous thoughts. These are manifestations of thought karma. Sometimes it will take me a long time before I realize I have been under its manipulation. When this happens, I am very frustrated with myself. Why am I unable to control my own thoughts? Reading "A Clear and Clean Mind" in Lecture Nine of Zhuan Falun while memorizing the Fa, I finally developed a better understanding of this.
This is my present understanding. There are objective and subjective reasons why I was unable to enter tranquility. On a subjective level, I am beginning to understand the root cause. Objectively speaking, there are many matters that interfere with our cultivation. In the past I had a very shallow understanding of the Fa. I thought I couldn't enter tranquility solely because of external interferences. On the personal level, I thought, "It is because of the degeneration of mankind's morality, culture, performing arts and fine arts that there are bad thoughts in my head. As a cultivator, it will be alright as long as I don't follow the trend or live by those moral standards. It will suffice if I try to rectify these bad thoughts." Now I realize that overcoming those objective factors are not as easy as I thought because there are more profound reasons for their existence.
Everything existing in the human society is the result of divine beings' work. Teacher said,
"Even the most worthless, degenerate things in society were brought in by various gods." ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005")
Keeping these words in mind, I tell myself that these interferences are more than superficial interferences in such a low level as mankind's society. All interferences correspond to high-level divine beings. This is the reason why it is so difficult for us to attain godhood.
Teacher said,
"The old forces are, with regard to going toward the renewal and rescuing all beings, like an obstacle that's the biggest, the most difficult to push away, the most likely to cause one to lose direction, to make one unable to easily distinguish the true from the false, and the most difficult to overcome; they are a critical, life-or-death lock at the brink of the new colossal firmament's birth, and a gigantic obstacle to renewal." ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
The old forces have made arrangements within every Dafa practitioner's each and every thought. We should not endure or accept their arrangements for we must be determined in repelling and destroying their interferences.
Sometimes these thoughts were so intensely reflected in my head that I found it difficult to eliminate them. Sometimes I even felt as though I had no control over my own thoughts. Why is that? After I finished memorizing "A Clear and Clean Mind" in Lecture Nine, I suddenly remembered a passage of the Fa. Teacher said,
"You're too afraid of that bad energy. If it comes, you're able to dissolve it, to dissolve it into primordial qi for your use." ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
Indeed. I should eliminate the bad thought if it comes from my own karma. With each part of karma eliminated, my gong will increase by an equal amount. Isn't it a great deal? If it comes from the old forces' interference, I will dissolve it into primordial qi. Why do I worry about it or feel frustrated? The more they come, the more opportunities I have to destroy them. I won't have to search for them. (I don't mean we should pursue them.) Now I feel very lighthearted. All these interferences stop being a challenge to me. In fact, I now find it very easy to combat them. It is just like Teacher said,
"[...] a tiny finger will be more than enough to crush it." ("Spirit or Animal Possession" in Lecture Three of Zhuan Falun)
5. My Life Is Enhanced Because of Teacher's Altruistic Cultivation Method
A few days ago, mother and I had a discussion. She felt that I become anxious when I do Dafa work. Yet, I think of the Fa first and that's what matters the most. (I must not become anxious even when I do Dafa work. I must attain non-omission before I reach Consummation.)
As a cultivator, his/her cultivation level fundamentally depends on the level of his/her faith in Teacher and the Fa, whether he/she is able to be responsible for all the righteous elements in the universe and whether he/she will sacrifice his/her life for sentient beings. This is the requirement for a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period. It is a characteristic of a degenerated being of the old universe to think and make choices based on his/her needs, instead of others. The fundamental characteristic of the new universe is altruistic. In order to renew the universe, the old universe's mechanism based on selfishness must be disintegrated.
I didn't think about this issue much in the past. It was not until my discussion with mother when I began to think of others and the Fa. Yet, I had increased my level even when I didn't realize it. When we don't think about ourselves, think about everything from the Fa's perspective, and give everything altruistically, Teacher will give us everything we need and all the most beautiful and precious things that the future needs. We will never be able to repay for what Teacher has done for us!
I am increasingly sensitive to Teacher's mechanism based on altruism. When I earnestly helped fellow practitioners, I felt very warm throughout my body, especially my abdomen. I also felt some of my attachments disappear afterwards. Every time I thought from the perspective of one-body of cultivators, made an effort to eliminate distance and animosity between practitioners, help fellow practitioners improve and not think selfish thoughts, I experienced the aforementioned phenomena. This is how a cultivator truly improves with Teacher's mechanism that is based on altruism! It is not about purposely doing good deeds to help others. It is about each thought we send, we think of others, instead of ourselves. Even when we search within for our attachments so we improve our cultivation level, we should do it for the Fa, for the one-body of cultivators and for saving sentient beings.
Some fellow practitioners and I made an agreement, "We must encourage each other at all times." Only when we truly trust each other and harmonize with each other can we create the powerful energy as one-body.
6. Resurrect Our Divine Side
We must deny human based logic. We must think like a divine being. Only when we think like a divine being continuously will we be able to attain a divine state. If we often use human logic to solve problems, we won't be able to transcend the human level.
Not long ago I suddenly decided to recite Teacher's article entitled, "Expounding on the Fa," in Essentials for Further Advancement. I recited it repeatedly. I recited it aloud at home and recited it at heart when I walked on the streets. I felt as though those seemingly stubborn human thoughts and thought karma were disintegrated all of sudden and my entire body was within the Fa. I felt as though the sky was clear and my body became transparent. My righteous thoughts became very powerful. I felt this must be what it is like when our divine side dominates our body. I didn't try to do anything purposely, but my surrounding was corrected and everything I wanted to do for the Fa was achieved. Isn't it what it means to resurrect our divine side?
We are Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period. It is our mission to assist Teacher with his Fa-rectification. We must think what Teacher thinks and do what Teacher wants. We must not acknowledge anything that the old forces have arranged or any scheme that the old forces designed to manipulate Teacher's Fa-rectification. We must abandon everything in us that is human and all the elements from the old universe. As long as we maintain this steadfast faith, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master," we shall be able to attain the state that Teacher expects of us. ("Why Doesn't Your Gong Increase with Your Practice?" in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun)
Finally, I would like to remind fellow practitioners: when we encounter a demonic tribulation, we must think of Teacher first and ask for Teacher's help.
The above is my limited understanding of the Fa. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
