Truly Cultivate

(Minghui.org) Recently, several local Falun Dafa practitioners had severe sickness karma, and a few had been hospitalized. At the group Fa study, one practitioner said he also encountered various forms of interference. His legs hurt when meditating, and he fell asleep when sending forth righteous thoughts. Previously he could do the second exercise for one hour with ease, but recently even just 30 minutes proved difficult. Another fellow practitioner used to memorize one lecture of Zhuan Falun every day, but now he could only recite a little bit. He became passive and felt downhearted.

I think that truly cultivating is crucial to breaking through interference. We won’t be able to eliminate interference if we don’t truly cultivate ourselves. A poor cultivation state often results from loopholes in our practice. The seemingly minor things that happen in our everyday life usually reflect attachments we have not yet realized. The requirement for us is to reach higher and higher levels at the final stage of the Fa-rectification period. The old forces will never ignore our loopholes. They will seize upon any gaps and interfere with us.

I want to share my understandings of a few small things in my everyday life. Almost every day, I have encountered some seemingly minor things. After focusing on true cultivation, I could find my attachments and remove them by sending forth righteous thoughts. I grew quickly in cultivation when I cultivated myself truly and solidly.

One time, I found two children who were playing on the roof of my house. I told them, “You have to think of other people. You will damage my roof running around this way. Get off!” The two children ignored me, as if they did not hear what I said. At that moment, the worker repairing my roof said to the two children, “It is dangerous running around on the roof. You will hurt yourself if you fall off. You’d better go down and play in a safe place.” The two children obediently got down off the roof upon hearing what the man said to them.

I was touched and immediately realized the difference between what I said and what the renovation worker said. I asked the kids to get down, fearing they may damage my roof. My thoughts and words were from the perspective of self. But the worker wanted them to go down because he did not want the kids to fall and get hurt. He thought of the children, so they listened to him. Through this incident, I realized that large attachments often hid behind minor things.

In the past, when I met with fellow practitioners, I had a habit of asking how other practitioners were doing. I would ask about every one that I knew and worry about them if they did not do well. Sometimes I even complained and blamed them, “How come you still can’t pass this test after so long? How is your cultivation level?”

Recently, I realized my resentment and sentimentality toward practitioners. I let go of the habit of looking at how others practiced. I no longer had fixed ideas about how others should cultivate and I stopped making comments about their levels. I understood everyone had shortcomings, so I only looked at their good points. Now, I will send forth righteous thoughts for practitioners experiencing tribulations, but I no longer have sentimentality toward them. I became calmer in meditation, and my heart became purer when I did so.

I thought I took money lightly, but recently I found I still had the attachment to self-interest. For example, I compared prices for a few pennies when buying groceries and wanted the seller to give me more. When I went shopping with my wife, I wanted her to pay.

I felt something was wrong with my cultivation and wondered why I cared about money so much. I realized that my notions and attachments would grow like weeds if I did not eliminate them as they emerged. I started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the attachment to self-interest. I felt my heart broaden.

My daughter-in-law was pregnant. I gave her an MP3 player and asked her to listen to traditional culture stories and teachings by Master Li Hongzhi. I told her, “It’s important to listen to these for you and the baby.” But my daughter-in-law only listened to traditional culture stories and did not want to listen to Master’s teachings. I urged her several times, but she still did not listen to me. One day my wife asked me not to request my daughter-in-law to listen to Master’s Fa anymore.

I looked within. I realized that, on the surface, I was doing this for my daughter-in-law’s benefit. But behind this, I had the attachment to pursuit. I also had sentimentality to my grandchild. I wanted the baby to benefit from hearing Master’s Fa. I forgot that I could not change anyone’s fate, including my grandchild’s. As a practitioner, all I should do was to clarify the truth of Dafa to my daughter-in-law with compassion. I should not push her to follow my suggestion. It was an attachment to self-importance and ego when trying to force other people to do what I wished them to do.

In April, the Minghui website called for submission of articles to commemorate World Falun Dafa Day 2021. I wrote my sharing article with a sincere heart. The story I wrote was so vivid that I felt very touched when I wrote it. I was sure it would be published.

The first thing I did every day was to check to see if my article was published. It had not been published. I started to look within and realized I thought too highly of myself, and I was validating myself. Can I be successful in cultivation with these attachments? Dafa disciples should validate the Fa, not ourselves. I sent forth righteous thoughts right away to eliminate the attachment to validating myself.

The day before yesterday, a fellow practitioner told me that he had a vivid dream. In the dream, the Fa-rectification period ended. Many practitioners who had reached consummation were gathered together in a town square. The practitioner then said, “You were not in the square with those practitioners who reached consummation.” I was shocked: I thought I had been practicing diligently. How come I was not among the practitioners who had achieved success? I felt disturbed. Then I realized that I thought I was diligent because I had evaluated my cultivation state by my own standards. I knew I should not do this. In addition, I should no longer slack off in cultivation practice. We are now really approaching the final moment of Fa-rectification. We should hurry and catch up if we fall behind. We should let go of any attachments as soon as we detect them.