(Clearwisdom.net) Master has taught us the two reasons for the inability to increase gong, "Without knowing the Fa at high levels, one cannot practice cultivation. Without cultivating one's inner self and one's xinxing, one cannot increase gong." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
Master has handed the higher-level Fa to us, and according to that, cultivating one's inner self and looking inward is our cultivation path.
I have spoken about looking inward ever since I began to Falun Gong practice. My personal improvement is a result of my cultivation. During the Fa-rectification period, looking inward becomes broader and deeper because it is closely tied to personal improvement, Fa validation, rescuing sentient beings, completely negating the old forces, and overcoming the old forces' persecution. It requires a lot to become a genuine practitioner--constantly looking inward, cultivating one's mind, and understanding the Fa principles clearly. Master said, "To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
On the road from a karma-laden human being full of karma to a great deity, one has to eliminate many attachments and transform much karma. This should be a process of cultivating one's mind, but I treated it as a task. Because of an erroneous starting point, I often felt that I had not improved even after cultivating for a long time.
I knew how to cultivate once I began reciting the Fa and studying Master's lectures daily. As I recited more, I gradually melted into the Fa and truly felt holistically the harmony of the entire Fa and principles Master explained. I truly felt the joy of looking inward.
While validating the Fa and rescuing sentient beings, when facing conflicts, the first thought is to look inward and examine oneself. Do not try to shirk responsibilities. Do not try to avoid the issues. It has to amount to unconditionally examining one's mindset. It is a process of gradually maturing. Oftentimes my first thought was not to examine myself; it was usually the second thought. I was frustrated with myself because on that account. After a while I was able to look inward right away. It is a battle between Buddha nature and demonic nature,, and sometimes it really is a heart-wrenching struggle. Master said, "if it does not irritate a person psychologically, it does not count or is useless and cannot make him or her improve." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Once I remembered this Fa principle I calmed down and used righteous thoughts to strengthen myself. When I look back I find that "after passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!" (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I now put more emphasis on examining my every single thought. As soon as one emerges I immediately look inward and ask myself, "Where is this coming from? Why do I have this thought? Is this what Fa-rectification needs?" If this is not a righteous thought, I look to find and eliminate my attachments, even when I am doing household chores. I do not let my mind relax, even though sometimes I might unable to differentiate which one comes from the true self because I have been controlled by long-formed human notions and mistakenly thought it was my main consciousness. When I examine every single thought and look for my fundamental attachments, I correct myself, thus having formed an inward-looking process. When I truly identify my fundamental attachments and eliminate them, Master helps me during my Fa-study, and my reciting the Fa rectifies me.
With Master's hints I feel enlightened. Here are my current understandings:
1. I better understand Master's teaching "Different levels have different Fa" in Zhuan Falun. I can let go of my own personal Fa understandings, as there is no way for one person's understandings to cover the great Fa. Be tolerant and understanding of others' level of Fa-comprehension and their ways of eliminating attachments without selfish intent, kindly pointing out their attachments with an intention of truly being good to others.
2. I can think from the one-body perspective and the angle of rescuing sentient beings. Consider regarding the concept of the one body and sentient beings' salvation as one's responsibilities. Examine oneself more often: will this be beneficial to the validation of the Fa? Is this what's needed for rescuing sentient beings? Is this what Master asked for? Don't just eliminate an attachment for the sake of elimination or solve conflicts merely for the sake of solving them.
3. Completely negate the old forces and eliminate the old forces' persecution. Recognize the evilness of the old forces and how they take advantage of our human notions to create conflicts among us, which eventually become their excuses for the persecution.
I first exchanged the recognition of my attachments with fellow practitioners and shared experiences with them in the above-mentioned three areas. After sharing for one morning, we felt we had reached a clear understanding. We felt we had overcome our egos. We felt the responsibilities we have as practitioners during the Fa-rectification period. At that moment I felt I had gotten rid of a thick shell. I felt Master's infinite grace and also the endless power of Master's teaching, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Oftentimes when an issue appears it is not one or two attachments, but many. I usually take a pen and write them down, one by one. I go from the surface and then dig deeper to find the root cause. It is a very effective way to find my problems and rectify them.
The inward-looking process has eliminated more and more karma and notions. When encountering conflicts I was able to think from the standpoint of Dafa practitioners' being one body and the Fa-rectification. Master said:
"According to one who sees with supernatural capabilities, wherever there is black qi, that place is considered to have pathogenic qi. A doctor of Chinese medicine will find the energy channels blocked in that place, as the qi and blood are not circulating and the energy channels are congested. To a doctor of Western medicine, that place may present the symptom of an ulcer, tumor, osteophytosis, or inflammation, etc. When it manifests in this dimension, it is in this form. After you remove that being, you will find that there is nothing wrong with the body in this dimension. Whether it is protrusion of the lumbar intervertebral discs or osteophytosis, after you remove that thing and clear out that field, you will find it instantly healed. You can take another x-ray and find that the osteophytosis has disappeared. The fundamental reason is that this being was producing an effect." (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)
Once realizing the importance of eliminating attachments, I constantly work hard to eliminate and correct them. I am thus able to change human notions into righteous thoughts.
This is my personal experience. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
