Knowing Something vs Truly Understanding

(Minghui.org) After I began practicing Falun Dafa I gradually understood that we come from the vast universe, and made a great vow to assist Master in rescuing the cosmos, and save the sentient beings in our world. We gave up our divine status and faced countless tribulations to come to the human world. When humanity arrived at the final period of the last havoc, we were fortunate to encounter Falun Dafa—the great law of the universe that Master taught, and we obtained the heavenly book, Zhuan Falun which guides us to cultivate to high levels.

I’ve always wished to memorize Zhuan Falun. However, its sometimes difficult to remain determined. It requires strong willpower, and one must continually overcome laziness, the desire for comfort, and the fear of hardship. Because I hadn’t fully eliminated these attachments, I only managed to memorize up to the third lecture.

For a long time, I fell into a routine of going to work, studying the Fa, and distributing materials, but my improvement was very slow. I felt I was falling far behind the progress of Fa-rectification. Laziness and numbness became my normal state. I felt that since I hadn’t deviated from the Fa, that was enough. I was no longer diligently cultivating as I did when I began practicing.

I remember that when I first obtained the Fa, I would make use of every moment to study and memorize the Fa, even during my commute to and from work. At that time, I experienced rapid improvement in my cultivation. I once had a dream in which I was the daughter-in-law of a boat king. The boat king’s son didn’t like me, so I was sad, but I remained steadfast in Dafa cultivation. In the same dream, someone offered me 200 million dollars to stop practicing Falun Dafa. I clearly remember my response: “Even if you give me two billion, I won’t take it. I’ll steadfastly practice Dafa.” It was Dafa that shaped us practitioners, and gave us unwavering righteous faith and enlightenment.

In cultivation, however, merely having determination is not enough. We need to study the Fa more, assimilate to the Fa, and cultivate diligently to fulfill our vows and lead sentient beings into the new universe.

Although I knew these principles, I still couldn’t persist in memorizing the Fa. Why did I lack sufficient righteous thoughts and continue memorizing? What fundamental attachment blocked me? I attended a Fa study group and every one was memorizing the Fa. When I compared myself to them, I immediately saw my gap. That’s when my righteous thoughts emerged, and all the negative factors that blocked me from memorizing the Fa vanished. In that moment, I had only one thought: this time I will persist.

I finally started memorizing the Fa again. During the process, my attachments to speed, showing off, and comparing myself with others were revealed. I felt that I was memorizing faster than some others, and I became a bit complacent. I quickly recognized these negative attachments, eliminated them, and regained the feeling of cultivating as I did when I first started.

Memorizing the Fa also required me to break through many notions. For example, when I reached the part of Zhuan Falun that mentions Darwin’s theory of evolution, I had difficulty memorizing. I found that I had some resistance around Darwin’s theory of evolution, so I was unable to continue. But then I realized that I was memorizing the Fa, and that this was unrelated to Darwin’s theory. Once I changed my mindset, I was able to continue. It was truly amazing.

I Eliminated My Attachment to My Daughter Getting Married

Master said,

“Marriage between a man and a woman is decided upon by Gods....” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIV)

Our entire family practices Falun Dafa and my daughter is old enough to marry. Last year, I became very attached to the idea that she should quickly find a suitable partner. A relative introduced her to a young man who was suitable in terms of job, and age. After learning more about him, I was very pleased with his character; he was well-liked by his colleagues, enthusiastic, generous, hardworking, and helpful. His supervisors praised his abilities and character. In today’s society where morality is declining, it’s rare to receive such good feedback. I was very satisfied with him and hoped they would develop a relationship.

However, after meeting him a few times, my daughter said she didn’t feel a connection with him, and they stopped seeing each other. The young man liked her very much, admired her kindness and ambition, and wanted to give her gifts, but she refused. My attachment flared up, and I scolded and pressured her. My anxious thoughts interfered with my Fa-study, and I couldn’t concentrate. I was deeply troubled and often thought, “Master, why am I so attached? Why can’t I let go? If I continue holding on to these attachments to my daughter’s marriage am I truly practicing?”

Through studying the Fa, I realized that marriages are arranged by the divine and cannot be controlled by human interference. But my attachments were still there, making me obsess over the situation. During this time, my human thinking and desires were in a battle with my righteous thoughts, and I struggled with myself.

I continued to memorize the Fa, look within, and eventually uncovered my fundamental attachment: the pursuit of happiness and a good life in the human world, the desire to live a comfortable life, and the wish for family harmony. I thought that once my daughter got married, I could stop working, have plenty of time to do the three things well, and focus on cultivation. But this state wasn't completely in line with the Fa. How could I cultivate without eliminating these attachments? With such attachments, how could I truly cultivate compassion and save others? This is a serious issue!

Through repeatedly studying and memorizing the Fa, I was able to improve my xinxing and let go of my attachment. I’ve calmed down and I no longer dwell on these things. I let things take their natural course. When the time is right, everything will fall into place.

I’ve identified my shortcomings in cultivation, and I’m also able to send righteous thoughts to eliminate interference and negate the old forces’ arrangements. Now I understand that superficial understanding is merely a sentimental realization that contains human attachments. True understanding comes not only from knowing the Fa’s principles but also from solid cultivation. This is my recent cultivation experience, and I hope to share it with fellow practitioners so we can improve together.

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