Cultivating Through Minor Daily Affairs

(Minghui.org) A practitioner shared two stories with me recently.

She had promised a fellow practitioner that she would deliver some truth-clarification materials, but because of some trivial errand she didn't. She had a minor car accident that day.

On another occasion, her sister had borrowed money from her. This practitioner was worried that her sister would not pay her back, so she told her sister that a portion of the money belonged to other people. The practitioner almost had another car accident the same day.

This practitioner realized that the evil old forces had taken advantage of her loopholes. The first story reveals that she broke her promise, and the second one reveals that she told a lie. Through these two incidents, this practitioner realized that if a cultivator's heart is not righteous, negative consequences will follow. She also realized that if her heart is righteous, then all difficulties can be overcome.

It is important for a practitioner to maintain righteous thoughts when facing big tests. But minor tests are important too. From the Fa, we have learned that the human world is akin to a large temple for our cultivation, and it is also akin to a melting pot. This is where we cultivate. Everything that happens here is related to our cultivation. So everything in our daily life can be a test of our xinxing. This means that we should stay righteous in the face of minor tests too. If we only have righteous thoughts in the face of important tests then we actually have attachments and pursuits, because the motivation for having righteous thoughts in the face of big tests may not come from true cultivation but from the determination to pass tests.

For example, an everyday person could do well in a driving test, but might drive under the influence of alcohol later. It is not really good if practitioners just do well on special occasions, and indulge themselves when the special occasion is over.

Master said in the article “Environment” (Essentials for Further Advancement)

“I often find that you are in a good state of mind when you study the Fa or do the exercises, but when you come into contact with your work or other people, you become the same as everyday people. You sometimes seem even worse than everyday people. How could this be the conduct of a Dafa disciple?”

Also, in “Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”, Master said,

“Sometimes I observe that, in a lot of situations, the way some Dafa disciples act is really worrisome. But when it really comes to matters of Dafa disciples’ principles, you can truly see that, “Ah, this is a Dafa disciple.””

In these teachings, Master pointed out that we have righteous thoughts when facing matters of Dafa disciple's principles, but he also pointed out that our xinxing doesn't meet the criteria for minor things. Master sees our selfishness and twisted minds and the many shortcomings that we haven't tried to discard.

Master is concerned about all of these; however, we often ignore these loopholes in our cultivation.

Master said in “What is a Dafa Disciple”

“You are cultivators. I’m not talking about your past, what you once were, or what you display on the surface. I am talking about your core and the meaning of your life, the responsibility you shoulder, and your historic mission. Only thus are you truly a Dafa disciple.”

The lives in the universe have deviated from the Fa, and are on the verge of being destroyed. To save the universe and sentient beings, Master teaches the Fa so that we can make fundamental changes in our xinxing. Only if we make real changes deep in our heart, can we reach consummation and become able to sustain our own universe.

Master said in the article “Cautionary Advice” (Essentials for Further Advancement)

“In practicing cultivation, you are not making real, solid progress on your own, which would effect great, fundamental changes internally. Instead, you rely on my power and take advantage of powerful external factors. This can never transform your human nature into Buddha-nature. 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!”

If we can treat the big tests and minor tests the same way, maintain righteous thoughts at every single moment, and conduct ourselves according to the Fa, the big tests or big tribulations will be solved or disintegrated by our solid xinxing and by the pure righteous thoughts that we have obtained through our daily cultivation. In contrast, if we cannot treat ourselves as cultivators with regards to minor daily affairs, we will run into all kinds of troubles caused by our xinxing problems.