“Why Do We Exist?” – My Thoughts After Reading a World Falun Dafa Day Article

(Minghui.org) Every World Falun Dafa Day, Minghui.org publishes hundreds of greetings submitted by practitioners around the world to express their sincere gratitude for Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. In addition to the greetings, there are also article submissions that affirm how practitioners benefited from practicing Dafa and celebrate this sacred occasion.

One article titled “My Firm Belief That Cultivation Is the Only Way to Overcome Tribulations” caught my attention. This isn’t a typical sharing article published on Minghui.org. From the perspective of cultivation, this practitioner still has a lot to improve in his xinxing and understanding of the Fa.

The author is a young man who witnessed the persecution as he grew up. He was influenced by modern trends and repeatedly vacillated on whether to practice Falun Dafa. The most amazing thing about him is that when he didn’t experience the health improvement that attracted many others to take up Dafa, he still cherished the opportunity to practice and believed that truly cultivating oneself is the only way out of a tribulation.

In my opinion, practicing Falun Dafa isn’t about health improvement, but a “by-product” after one improves one’s xinxing. It’s Master’s compassionate blessing and encouragement after a practitioner develops righteous faith in Dafa.

In fact, I do see many practitioners who seem to feel practicing Falun Dafa is the same as “qigong healing,” including some practitioners who studied modern science in the West and feel they are very rational.

We have to be clear that reading the Fa is not the same as internalizing the Fa or obtaining the Fa. Doing the exercises without improving one’s xinxing is not the same as cultivating. However, many practitioners still think that they “deserve” the reward of good health because they read the Fa and do the exercises. This is especially true for those who took up Dafa years ago while seeking a cure for the severe diseases they had. Perhaps that’s the main reason why their “diseases” relapsed and remain no matter how many hours they studied the Fa or did the exercises.

On the other hand, when we clarify the facts to non-practitioners, examples like health improvement or improvement of strained family relationship after someone takes up Dafa are easier for people to understand. For the author of the article I mentioned, even if he didn’t experience dramatic health improvement himself, he can still share his understanding of why he practices Dafa or what practicing Falun Dafa is about. He didn’t have to expand on the profound principles, but a basic explanation of spiritual cultivation in Dafa can still attract people to practice.

No matter what topic we talk about, the most important thing is that we don’t take Dafa cultivation as the pursuit of blessing, fame, fortune or love. The true essence of cultivation is much deeper, not something that just meets the eye.

We, practitioners, might ask ourselves: Why do we exist? Why do we cultivate? What is Falun Dafa? What is life all about? What are practitoners’ missions and duties? If practitioners take it for granted that they will receive blessings if they believe in Dafa, then their understandings are too shallow, and they don’t really believe.

I’d like to share a story from the Bible. Job was the richest man in his time. He had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and many servants and maids. He also had seven sons and three daughters.

God said to Satan, “There is no one like him (Job) on earth, perfect and upright, one who fears God and shuns evil.” But Satan said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike down that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

But even after Satan took away Job’s children, wealth, health, and reputation — all that man holds dear, it didn’t shake Job’s faith in God.

In another attempt to strike Job, Satan “put painful sores on Job’s body, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, and he sat in ashes in misery.” Job’s wife said to him, “Why are you trying to stay innocent? Curse God and die!” Job answered, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Should we take only good things from God and not accept trouble?”

Job argued about these sufferings with three friends who came to comfort him. No matter how his friends tried to persuade him, Job refused to curse God.

Through several great tribulations, Job remained faithful to God. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

God appeared in a whirlwind, and instead of answering Job’s questions, he asked him about the mysteries of nature. Job knew his own insignificance and understood that the suffering he suffered was also God’s will. He said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” It is said that afterwards, Job lived a richer life than before and lived for 140 years.

If a spiritual cultivator thinks that he deserves blessings and stops practicing if he does not receive blessings, that is shallow and he doesn’t have true faith. When one’s heart is among humans, it may be impossible to understand the divine’s arrangements.

A man who can’t remain humble before the divine does not truly believe in the divine. If one practices Falun Dafa only for the benefits and blessings, then one has no idea what Dafa is all about. The purpose of a cultivator’s life is not to honor his ancestors, or to be rich or famous, but to return to his origin of life. Falun Dafa practitioners have an even greater mission.

What we believe in is the truth of the universe that creates and governs all things; where we want to return to is not only the place where our lives came from, but also our true homes after being purified by the Fa. How well each practitioner cultivates determines the future of countless lives.

For practitioners “Why do we exist?” is a profound topic. I wanted to share my thoughts with you. Let’s remember to truly cultivate ourselves!