(Minghui.org)
I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. Today I seriously re-read the article “The Dignity of Dafa” and Master's comments, and realized why I had been entangled by tribulations. Based on my own experiences, I'd like to share my understanding on the seriousness of cultivation, and the importance of looking inward.
Although very lazy when he was a child, my younger brother had been a little Dafa disciple who understood many Fa principles and had helped us with truth clarification. As he grew up, surrounded by the contaminating elements of ordinary human society, he did not continue in cultivation. Nevertheless, he always firmly believed in Dafa.
At the end of 2011, being idle and jobless for a long time, he asked me for money to buy a second-hand car to drive as a cab. I did not agree initially, but my brother was very determined and kept pressing me. Eventually I agreed to give him the money after the 2012 New Year, with the condition that he must hand transcribe Zhuan Falun and finish it.
In order to get the money, my brother started hand transcribing Zhuan Falun and finished in 4 months. I kept my promise and gave him the money. After purchasing a used car, my brother drove it as a cab for 2 months before returning to his lazy lifestyle and he stopped working. He soon sold the car, and with the help of his father-in-law, bought a new car. He drove the new car diligently for over a month, before his family noticed something was wrong. It turned out that he got mixed up with drug dealers and he started to use methamphetamine.
My mother and I were deeply grieved to know that. My father kept cursing and saying that it was I who ruined my brother. My mother, also a practitioner, and I blamed my father for not setting a good example for his child as my father was fond of gambling. We all pushed the responsibility to others and did not realize this issue was targeting cultivators' mindset. As the problem became more acute, everyone felt physically and mentally exhausted.
My mother and I had always focused on my father's bad habits, in an attempt to hide our own attachments. When we had a clear mind, we would remember that practitioners are supposed to study the Fa and look inward. When we forgot and became muddleheaded we'd look outward. This scenario repeated over and over and as a result, the problem was not resolved but instead kept getting more intense.
When I re-read the article “The Dignity of Dafa” I finally realized my problem. There is no doubt that the situation occurred to help me get rid of the attachment to affection for family, but the most fundamental problem was that I had not treated cultivation seriously and behaved disrespectfully towards the Fa. Although I had practiced for over ten years, I viewed things from an everyday person's viewpoint and thought my brother's cultivation would be secured after he hand transcribed Zhuan Falun. My impure mind led to the opposite situation--my brother, who had previously believed in Dafa and Master, stopped believing after finishing the hand transcription. The old forces also took advantage of the loophole of my improper intention and attempted to destroy three practitioners in my family—my mother, my brother, and I.
My father kept saying that it was I who had ruined my brother. From the human level, indeed it was after I gave him money to buy a car that my brother started to go wrong. From a Dafa disciple's perspective, this was caused by my lack of respect to Dafa. I had not recognized the dignity of Dafa and the seriousness of cultivation, and I usually do not pay attention to rectifying my thoughts and deeds. As a result, the evil took advantage of my loopholes and used this excuse to interfere with and persecute my family.
How can the incomparably great and majestic law of the universe be used for making a deal? In doing this, wasn't I disrespectful of the Fa? A Dafa disciple's mindset toward Dafa is the key to reaching Consummation. At the final stage of cultivation, the evil menacingly watches Dafa disciples' every thought and action. If a disciple who has gone the wrong way cannot return in time to recoup the losses, he/she will ruin the most precious opportunity that only comes once in thousands of years.
This is a profound lesson. I hope this sharing article can provide insight to practitioners with similar experiences. We must never attempt to use Dafa to make a deal. Meanwhile we must respect Master and Dafa in every thought, word and deed, and not give the old forces any excuse for interference and persecution.
