(Clearwisdom.net) I read through Zhuan Falun once during the past few days, and then read it from the beginning again. When reading the following Fa I suddenly came to understand a principle:
"Our cultivation practice is based upon the principles of the universe's evolution, and it is guided by the standard of the universe's highest characteristic, Zhen-Shan-Ren. We cultivate something so enormous that it equates to cultivating the universe." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I have pondered for a long time why many of our Falun Dafa practitioners appear not to be diligent in offering sentient beings salvation and sending righteous thoughts.
Some practitioners have said that this is the case because they still have strong human attachments. Now I realize that this is not merely an issue of strong human attachments; it is the result of the hindrance from the old cosmos's leftovers, which is selfishness. This trait decided that all the cultivation in the past belonged to the realm of personal cultivation, in which the cultivators only pursued personal salvation. However, in the present time, the great Fa that Master has taught us is much more profound. As I understand it, Master has taught the Fa to the beings in the cosmos for the purpose of rectifying the cosmos. As Dafa disciples, how can we be here to merely achieve personal consummation? We will not be able to reach consummation or even move one step forward if we still cannot break through this most fundamental property of the old cosmos, which has also been buried deeply into our lives! Master had alluded to this same topic in recent Fa-teachings. As Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, we are to attain "righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Here I do not want to cite too much of Master's Fa. I suggest that practitioners carefully study Essentials for Further Advancement and all of the articles and lectures that Master has published since 2000.
We should calm ourselves and carefully study the Fa, examine ourselves to see if we still have that one thought of being "selfish" when we encounter interference while clarifying the truth or sending righteous thoughts, or when we encounter hindrances when cooperating with other practitioners. If all we did had been truly for the benefit of others (whether they are ordinary people or Dafa practitioners), if our thoughts had been truly unselfish, then the results of some of the things we did would not have been what we see today; our cultivation environment and our mindsets of rescuing sentient beings would have become much better.
Ever since the evil started the persecution of Dafa, Master has told us to completely negate the old forces. Dafa practitioners have spent much time in this regard. We all talk about negating the old forces in various aspects of our cultivation, such as sending righteous thoughts, clarifying the facts, or handling family or work-related issues. We have indeed accumulated much virtue during this process, but we cultivators still need to see our shortcomings and loopholes.
For example, when we clarify the facts to those kind people who have a predestined relationship with the Fa, have we really answered their concerns? When they show disregard or disrespect while we try hard to tell them the facts, has our human mentality been stirred? When we see practitioners who appear to have not cultivated well, or who had been persecuted, do we feel that their issues do not concern us? Have we even shown ordinary people's cleverness, and utilized these practitioners' shortcomings or suffering to validate ourselves, not generating the necessary compassion that we should have? We all say, "completely negating the old forces' arrangements" before we send righteous thoughts. So when we encounter interference or blocks, don't we still need to cultivate ourselves? Is our first thought really that pure when we do Dafa work or encounter other things? If this is not the case, should we reexamine the persecution and the losses that have occurred around us, to see if we are also responsible?
Only when we always hold pure, unselfish, and altruistic thoughts, can we do the three things well, be worthy of the title "Fa-rectification Period Dafa disciples," and hope to reach consummation. Otherwise, if we keep holding onto the selfish properties of the old cosmos, we will be doing things that the old forces want, even things that they wanted to do but failed at themselves. This is because the future universes (the different small universes where we will be) exist not for ourselves, but for the harmonious, everlasting existence of the much more immense universes and the sentient beings inside.
If a Dafa practitioner cannot cultivate himself or herself to this level during the Fa-rectification period, how can he or she conform to the criteria of the new cosmos? How can he or she be qualified to reach consummation?
This is my personal understanding. Please point out anything improper.
