(Clearwisdom.net) A practitioner stated during a nationwide Shen Yun promotion sharing meeting in Japan that the Shen Yun-related articles on the Epoch Times website had not attracted enough readers. It looked like the Japanese people were not paying enough attention to Shen Yun. Another practitioner also shared her observation: Although practitioners set up TV and display boards in the freezing cold winter, most people walked by without paying much attention to them. But when people saw a pretty dog they got excited and could not contain their joy. Such a strong contrast clearly demonstrated the difficulty of saving people. I was motivated by this to share my thoughts with everyone.
I developed an interest in Falun Gong in 2004 when I began speaking with practitioners and reading Dafa books. Two years later I began to practice the exercises and became a new practitioner. I fully realized the difficulty of combining personal cultivation and offering people salvation during my relatively short time of Falun Gong practice. Fortunately, the profound Dafa offers boundless power, and compassionate Master painstakingly explains the principles to us over and over. I managed to gradually become a true cultivator, despite many ups and downs. Each time a tribulation seemed too difficult to overcome, I could feel a pair of huge hands carrying me, keeping me from falling. Thus supported, I continued my journey forward. I believe other practitioners probably share this realization.
Understanding the real reason behind a surface phenomena and breaking through human notions is the key when facing tough situations. A correct understanding guarantees success on the cultivation path.
Nothing happens without a reason in cultivation; everything is arranged. Master assigns some tests and tribulations to everyone, and uses these troubles to eliminate our karma and improve our xinxing. So when trouble occurs, if we react to it with a human understanding, we will fall in the tribulation and miss the profound lesson arranged by Master. Only when we let go of our human notions and position ourselves outside of the tribulation can the Fa manifest its principles for us.
In "Expounding on the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement, Master told us,
"Whenever a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term tribulations. As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification."
I recall a dream I had recently. Similar scenes were repeated in several dreams. I was at a banquet with many people and everyone was yelling, "Where is my wine? I have no more wine! Bring the wine over here!" Everyone reached out their arms, holding cups and other utensils and yelling desperately. I rushed to buy wine or looked for wine bottles all over the place. I served the wine to everyone. Once the wine was served, people cheered excitedly. Those who had not been served were still anxiously yelling. The scenario stayed with me long after I awoke--like a movie. I realized this dream was perhaps a true reflection of other dimensions where people yearn to be saved ("De Jiu", be saved in Chinese, sounds the same as "receiving wine").
I had called a relative in China to encourage him to quit the CCP, but the result was not good. He refused to listen each time I brought up the subject and our conversation ended on a sour note. He eventually ridiculed me and hung up, enraged. I felt disappointed and somewhat helpless. But the same person came into my dreams over and over and told me with a big smile, "I quit the CCP!" I think his knowing side must have reflected his real intention.
I think some people's reaction to the truth may not come from their real nature. Some are aloof about Dafa, about practitioners, and the Shen Yun show. They do not care and they do not speak their real thoughts. They change their minds often,and some are quite rude. But are these behaviors true reflections of their real thinking? I think not--those were merely illusions. Their behavior is closely related to our cultivation status and our conviction.
Master told us clearly in "Fa Teaching Given at the NTDTV Meeting" on August 20, 2009:
"None of you realize what the people in today's world once gave of themselves for this affair. Nor have you realized what magnificent beings they once were, plunging down headlong into such a dangerous place, braving the tremendous peril. That fact alone makes them worthy of your saving them and pulling them out."
Why are these people's reactions so different from their knowing side? Even completely opposite? Why do some people appear indifferent to our efforts to rescue them? I realized from Fa-teachings that the old forces play tricks on us. They take advantage of people's notions and strengthen the divisions between their real thinking and their apparent reaction. According to Master, the old forces' real motivation is to eliminate people and hinder the Fa-rectification. Despite Master's unprecedented desire to save all people, the old forces stubbornly prevent people from knowing the truth. They also create illusions to frustrate us and have us face all kinds of negative reactions when we tell them the truth. Negative thoughts, no matter how brief, can set off havoc in cultivators' environment, causing unnecessary trouble. Many practitioners have similar experiences.
Master told us in "Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting" on October 17, 2009:
"When I say 'the appearance stems from the mind,' by that I also mean that the difficulty stems from your overstating the importance of the matter itself and seeing yourself in a lesser light. Don't take any such things to be a big deal, for with something as significant as saving sentient beings you should just do what you are supposed to do, going about it in a composed manner. When you encounter things that don't sound so good or that aren't what you hoped for, don't take it to heart, and just nobly and confidently do what you are supposed to. If you don't let the evil's interference sway you, bad factors won't arise from you, the evil will become trivial, you will become towering and massive, and your righteous thoughts will be ample. That's truly the case."
Having realized this, I sent a thought to a Japanese friend whom I have been unsuccessfully trying to persuade to see Shen Yun over the past two years: "I will do everything according to Master's plan. But she may be someone I should rescue, so I have the power to make her buy tickets. My words count. I shall not allow any old forces to manipulate her mind and stifle her desire to see the show. She deserves salvation, and it is unfair for her to lose this opportunity. Anyone who interferes with her true intention violates the heavenly principles. All unjust reasons to prevent her from watching Shen Yun will be dissolved."
The friend sent a message, indicating she would take her mother to see Shen Yun this year. I will continue sending righteous thoughts, to ensure she makes it to the show.
Faced with urgency and time constraints, it is absolutely critical to adjust our state of mind and to remain firm when confronted with people's superficial behavior. If all practitioners could see through the illusion and maintain the confidence and sacred intention to rescue people and respond to people's inner yearning for salvation, our energy field would become super strong and harmonious.
As Master said in "Cautionary Advice" in Essentials for Further Advancement:
"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!"
As Master told us, the world's people have gone through thousands of years of reincarnation, waiting for the Fa. We should ride above the tide of this chaotic society, use wisdom to dispel all illusions and interference, and strive to save as many people as we can.
