(Clearwisdom.net) I recently identified a misunderstanding in my cultivation: I frequently used the results of some activities as the criterion to discern right and wrong, and the excuse of "validating the wonderfulness of Dafa" to cover it up. After carefully thinking about it, I realized that this was due to several reasons.
1. Not having a deep enough understanding of the Fa
Teacher said:
"Zhen-Shan-Ren is the sole criterion to discern good and bad people." "As a human being, you are a good person only if you can follow this universe's characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. A person who deviates from this characteristic is truly a bad person. In the workplace or in society, some people may say that you are bad, yet you may not necessarily be bad. Some people may say that you are good, but you may not really be good. As a practitioner, if you assimilate yourself to this characteristic you are one that has attained the Tao - it's just such a simple principle. "("Zhen-Shan-Ren is the Sole Criterion to Discern Good and Bad People" from Zhuan Falun, Lecture One)
From this Fa, I realized that there is only one criterion to discern right and wrong--the characteristic of the universe, not the results of something in the human world. Maybe something that you have done complies with the universe's Fa, but it is not understood or supported--and may even be denounced--by people whose moral standards have deteriorated significantly. Also, due to karma from previous lives, predestined relationships, the old forces' arrangements and interference, and many other factors, your may get adverse results. It will not be a smooth ride just because you cultivate Dafa. The old forces will not remove all the obstacles just because you are validating the Fa, nor will all your truth clarification activities be successful. Teacher is watching how we act during the process, and what we cultivate is our xinxing. If we conclude that our approach was wrong based only on adverse results, are we still "believing in Teacher and believing in the Fa?" Remember that during cultivation, one's xinxing is to be tested amidst tribulations.
2. Not understanding the difference between eliminating attachments and rejecting persecution
We don't acknowledge the old forces' persecution, but this does not mean that we should only "gain" and not "lose" things. The notion that "losing is being persecuted" is one-sided. As cultivators, we have our own karma to pay back and attachments to eliminate. If something does not severely affect our Fa-validation, I think that we should consider our tribulations from a cultivator's angle and take it lightly. Isn't it an attachment if we can only gain fame or benefit while only looking at loss as "being persecuted?" Rejecting persecution should not be an umbrella to cover up our attachments.
3. Not eliminating the fundamental attachment
Teacher said:
"As you know, when a person reaches the Arhat level, in his heart he is not concerned about anything. He does not care at all in his heart for any ordinary human matter, and he will always be smiling and in good spirits. No matter how much loss he suffers, he will still be smiling and in good spirits without any concern. If you can really do this, you have already reached the entry-level Fruit Status of Arhatship." ("People with Great Inborn Quality," from Zhuan Falun, Lecture Nine)
If we become upset when we lose something or think that it should not have happened, aren't we fundamentally still attached to human emotion? Aren't we still lost in the Three Realms and the fame, interests, and pursuits of the human world? If this is the case, then we are not really cultivating.
4. Forgetting the basis for cultivation
Teacher said,
"For a cultivator, all the vexations he has among ordinary people are ordeals for him to go through, and all the praises he receives are tests for him to pass." ("The Cultivator Is Always In It" from Essentials for Further Advancement )
Teacher has already taught us this Fa, that whatever happens to us--good or bad--is for our cultivation and that we should always look inward. But we often forget to do it. When others praise us or when we receive something good, we'll think "See, we are Dafa practitioners. We are superior to others." When something bad happens, we feel that it is "not right" and start to look outward. This is actually a human notion that "obtaining" something in the human world is the criterion to measure good or bad. Isn't this deviated from the universe's Fa? Using this standard, isn't the "good" or "bad" just gain or loss in the human world? Aren't we still circling in the human world during our cultivation?
When we clarify the truth, we can tell non-practitioners about the benefits of our cultivation, such as having our illnesses cured or that we have obtained some good rewards. This is appropriate because cultivating Dafa will bring us good results and we will experience supernormal things in this human world. Doing this also helps to save sentient beings, yet we should not have an attachment to receiving benefits or rewards. Cultivation is not for the purpose of receiving benefits, but to quickly pay back our karma. Cultivators consider the bad things to be good. We should reverse the human notion completely.
5. Wanting to validate self
During the cultivation process, when we get something, we often want to show it off, but when we lose something, we sometimes want to hide the fact and not openly discuss it. Actually, what Dafa practitioners should do is just to validate the Fa. The loss of personal interests will not affect the wonderfulness of Dafa. If we lose something but subsequently find our gaps and improve our "xinxing," isn't that the real "gain" for us? Isn't that validating the Fa?
We are Dafa practitioners. The only criterion for determining whether or not we have done things correctly is Teacher's Fa. We should use only the Fa to distinguish right from wrong, good from bad.
This is my understanding. Please point it out if there is anything inappropriate.