(Minghui.org)
Greetings, esteemed Master!Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Just before Shen Yun Performing Arts went on tour, I read an article on the Minghui website titled, “In Promoting Shen Yun, Have We Lost Focus?” I was deeply touched and felt that many points were intended for all practitioners.
I thought that Dafa practitioners had slacked off in their mission to save people, and have become numb and apathetic. After doing the same things day-in and day-out for quite some time, we gradually forgot the reason why we came here. It wasn't like the way it was before, “cultivating with the heart you once had.” (Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference)
I read in the Minghui article: “The practitioners who have been participating all along have begun to feel very tired. Every year, it’s the same process over and over again. They just wanted to follow certain steps. What’s lacking is our basis as Falun Dafa practitioners, to “save sentient beings.” Instead, it has become, “merely doing things” or in some cases, merely “dealing with it”. Therefore, some practitioners have slacked off.”
That's right. If we performers have slacked off in cultivation, how can we assist Master in rectifying the Fa? If we have forgotten our responsibilities, are we worthy of taking on such a sacred task? What's more, Master is personally leading us in this project.
The article goes on to say: “Some practitioners have become arrogant because of their achievements. They look down on others and forget that every ability we have was given to us by Master. This is ungrateful. Master is leading Shen Yun. In this process, Master has also given practitioners a lot, including Shen Yun artists and the practitioners who promote Shen Yun.”
I brought this issue up because I used to hold this attitude. When I had a bit of success, I thought only of myself and not of Master. For example, when I mastered a certain skill, my attachment to zealotry would emerge. Then, I would think to myself, “That's not right. What am I thinking? Everything is given to us by Master!”
Master said,
“When what you do has just a little bit of success, you’re so pleased with yourselves. But are you playing the lead role [in your field]? You haven’t even managed to play a supporting role, and some are playing the role of a clown! Is that what Dafa disciples should be doing? Is that what Master has asked you to do?” (“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference”)
Why didn’t I enlighten to it? What was I getting so excited about? Was I getting excited at having elevated my skill so that I can lend Master a helping hand in rectifying the Fa, or was I getting excited because I finally show off my skill? I felt that deep inside my heart, I actually was concealing the attachment to showing off. Actually, these attachments can sometimes be very difficult to detect. We must get rid of these attachments. Otherwise, one human attachment can obstruct Master in rectifying the Fa.
Master said,
“Neither heaven nor earth canblock my road of Fa-rectificationBut disciples’ human hearts can”(“Troubles” in Hong Yin III)
I had a dream one day. Before going on tour, we had a small-scale Fa conference. I sat on the staircase. Then, just before leaving, Master helped me correct some of my dance movements and taught me how to use my upper arm. Master was at the bottom of the stairs, while I was at the top. Since I was still not doing it correctly, Master said something like, “Come down and I will teach you.”
I then asked myself: why is Master at the bottom while I am at the top? Have I placed myself too highly, and did not consider the Fa as the priority? Did I regard myself as too important, and thus forgot that cultivation is first and foremost? Because only by cultivating ourselves well can we do well the things that Master wants us to do.
Master said:
“As for you, disciples of Dafa, the closer it gets to the end the better you should walk your paths, seizing the day to cultivate yourselves well. After doing a whole slew of things, you might find, if you look back upon them, that all of it was done with a human mindset. When it is a human being doing human things, and things are not being done with righteous thoughts, there won’t be any Dafa-disciple mighty virtue in those things. In other words, as gods see it, that’s just fooling around—not mighty virtue, or cultivation—even though you did do it. Then wouldn’t you say it was done in vain?” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
In my dream, the last words Master said was, “Come down here. I will teach you.” Master hinted it to me so clearly. After I woke up, I really felt very ashamed.
Master said:
“Whether it is your supernormal abilities or your Unlocking of Gong, you achieve them through practicing cultivation in Dafa. If you put Dafa in a secondary place and put your supernatural powers in the primary place, or as an enlightened person you believe that what you understand one way or another is correct, or if you even regard yourself as being great and beyond Dafa, I would say that you have already started to stumble. It would be dangerous and you would become ever worse.” ( Zhuan Falun)
I enlightened that cultivation should be in the primary place, and everything else should be in the secondary place. I must place the Fa as the priority.
I clearly remember that Master corrected two specific dance movements in my dream. When I shared experiences with a fellow practitioner, I realized that the two movements were the beginning and ending of a certain dance piece. We enlightened that this meant one must finish what one started with. If we are to participate in such a sacred task, we must do it well. We absolutely cannot fool around.
At the last dress rehearsal before going on tour, I hurt my foot while running off the stage. Master had said, “not a single occurrence is coincidental.” (“Lecture at the First Conference in North America”)
I recognized that this was definitely interference. I didn’t take the matter to heart, but I also knew that it was because I had a gap in my understanding of the Fa that I encountered this interference.
Actually, I had realized long ago that I had slacked off and could not focus when sending forth righteous thoughts. Many times, I couldn’t focus when sending forth righteous thoughts. Every so often, distracting thoughts would pop up. I struggled with myself, because I didn’t know the danger of not sending forth righteous thoughts well. Why couldn’t I focus? I think it was because I didn’t actually attach importance to it.
I assumed that because I was staying at the mountain, I would be afforded greater protection. But, when on tour, sending forth righteous thoughts was especially critical, because we could be interfered with. Once we returned from tour, I would let up on sending righteous thoughts. Master requires us to do well the three things. Did I do it? I didn’t, because sometimes when I studied the Fa, my mind would wander. Not only did I not improve my level, but my level was dropping. I think this is because I still didn’t realize how serious a matter cultivation is.
Master said:
“Let me put it this way: Dafa disciples need to do three things well on their way to Consummation, right? And sending forth righteous thoughts is one of those things. If it's that important, why can't you do it well?! Why do you think of it as such a simple thing and not take it seriously? You do know how important it is. Besides, if you don't do one of the three things well, then what?” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
“A lot of people just go through the motions when they send righteous thoughts. If you don’t clean up those things in your body, your cultivation will be affected. But those things can be eliminated with one thought. When your righteous thoughts are not strong enough, when your righteous thoughts can’t come forth, they won’t work.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
This time, I really awakened to it. Why didn’t I try to do well sooner? Why do I enlighten to it only after something has happened? I felt very remorseful. But I didn’t let it bother me. I didn’t acknowledge it, because this was an arrangement by the old forces.
It was because I had gaps in my cultivation that I was interfered with by the old forces. However, they do not have the right to interfere with us, because we are assisting Master in saving people. The old forces are not worthy of interfering with us. Still, I must look within myself, and ask Master for assistance.
As I recited Master’s Hong Yin, I used righteous thoughts to finish performing the entire show. Cultivation is a serious matter, and I absolutely cannot let down my guard. My attachment to comfort was responsible for my becoming too relaxed, lazy, and not diligent. If I continued to be in this state for a long time, it would be dangerous! We cannot allow the attachment to comfort interfere and must maintain the mentality of cultivating with the heart we once had.
We must not allow what we didn’t do well in cultivation to interfere with saving sentient beings. Of course, Master will not let it happen, because Master is taking care of everything. Only if we cultivate ourselves well and do well the three things that Master requires of us, can we be worthy of doing this sacred and incomparably mighty task.
That night, I decided to meditate. It was only three days before the first performance. I couldn’t let my injured foot interfere with my performing to save people. I meditated for one hour and denied all interference, and recited over and over, “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
The next day, my foot was swollen, meaning the karma was coming out. During class, I tried my best to endure it, and did my best to complete every movement. By nighttime, the swelling had stopped. The third day, my foot was all better, as if it was never injured. This was truly the power of Dafa. I knew that Master had helped me to bear it. At the time, I had no words to describe the feeling I felt. Here, I want to thank Master again!
During the tour, I also encountered many different things that tested my attachments, but in the end I used righteous thoughts to overcome them. As along as we think of ourselves as cultivators at that moment in time, we can definitely overcome them.
For example, my lower back started to hurt, but I did not pay much attention to it. Then, the pain worsened when I practiced until it became unbearable. At the beginning, it hurt when I bent backwards into a bridge. Later, I couldn’t completely do the formations in class. Even bending forward a little would bring unbearable pain. I decided to send forth righteous thoughts and deny all the things that the old forces imposed on me that I was not supposed to bear. I also asked Master to settle karmic relationships with benevolent solutions. But my pain did not get better.
I really felt at a loss. I felt like there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t do well in class, and when I practiced on my own, I could only practice very little. But I also began to realize that I had many attachments. For example, when we had self-practice time, I saw many classmates practicing spinning with one leg held high above their heads. I envied them and thought about when my lower back would recover so that I could practice that. But this was an attachment to pursuit. It felt as if time was passing so slowly. I was beginning to feel passive, as if I was trapped in this place from where I couldn’t get myself out.
Until right before a performance, my lower back was still hurting. I tried my best to deny it, to not feel it. After reciting “Lunyu,” I suddenly heard a voice in my head. The general meaning of the message was: “it originally was not that serious, but I turned it into something difficult.” My heart stopped. Yes, it’s not as painful as how I’m imagining or feeling it. Isn’t this a case of “transformation follows mind-intent”?(Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun) I should be changing my mentality around. When I realized this, my lower back immediately felt much better.
At the same time, I began to practice the exercises more, seizing the opportunity to practice more each day. My mentality became more and more righteous. Thank you, Master, for providing me with the hint. It really was like Master was raising me up and sending me further ahead. Afterwards, my lower back still hurt, but I could use my righteous thoughts to combat it.
One day, a fellow disciple asked me, “Is your lower back still hurting?” I wasn’t sure how to respond, because my back had already felt much better. But in the end, I replied yes. By saying yes, I actually incurred a lot of trouble, because I had in effect acknowledged the old forces’ persecution of me. That day, before the performance, my lower back hurt a lot when I was practicing. I knew this was the thought that could bring about different consequences. Those few days, it really felt like a life-or-death test, and it demonstrated the level of my faith in Master and the Fa. If I fully believed in Master at the time and completely denied the old forces’ persecution, then this wouldn’t have happened.
Master said:
“Things here in this world are illusory, however, and the way in which one cultivates has you cultivate precisely amidst faith and doubt.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)
I felt that in cultivation, there is no such thing as a coincidence. Whether it is due to karma or something else, I need to think of everything that happened as a good thing, as an opportunity to upgrade myself and cultivate my xinxing. Then, I will pass the test. As long as I believe in Master and upgrade my level from the Fa. With Master’s support and blessings, it not only failed to interfere with me, but instead allowed my righteous thoughts to become even stronger.
Master said:
“As long as you upgrade your xinxing, you can overcome them. Unless you, yourself do not want to do so, you can make it, provided you want to overcome them.” ( Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
As long as I always remember to measure myself using a cultivator’s standard, I can overcome it. Under Master’s arrangement, there were two days of rest after the two performances. Those two days, other than going outside with the entire group, I just studied to the Fa, listened to Master’s lectures, did the exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts. After studying the Fa and searching within myself to find lots of shortcomings, my lower back gradually got better. I recognized that at the critical moment, whatever thought comes into your mind is also very critical.
But in the most challenging moments, as long as we think of Master, we can definitely overcome the obstacle! Thank you, Master, for giving this opportunity, for allowing me to use this format to assist Master in rectifying the Fa! Master has done so much for us. I can only be worthy of Master’s saving grace if I cultivate well, and do everything that I am supposed to!
Above are what I have personally understood. If there is anything inappropriate, please point them out to me.
Thank you, Master!Thank you, everyone!
(Presented at the 2015 New York Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
