Finding and Fixing Problems Lead to True Improvement

(Minghui.org) In the past six months, I have experienced a lot and have had a lot of thoughts. I would like to write down this journey to report it to Master. I will also take this opportunity to reflect on myself, sum up my experiences and lessons, so I can become more diligent in my future cultivation.

Looking Inward When Facing My Practitioner Wife

My wife and I are both Falun Dafa practitioners. We had the opportunity to visit our child who is studying abroad. My wife intended to stay overseas as a refugee, but I didn’t feel that was right. Our parents are old and need to be taken care of, so we came back.

After coming back, my wife was in low spirits every day. She kept trying to find a way to leave the house. She was no longer diligent in her cultivation, and she couldn’t keep up with her practice. I also felt a lot of pressure, especially since the economy was not good, I had no income, and our child was studying abroad and spending a lot of money. I felt that our pressure in all aspects had increased. My parents were sick one after the other. We had to go to the hospital with the elders almost every month, and it really felt like a midlife crisis. Especially for my wife, who had been more diligent in cultivation than me. But she was in an abnormal state, and I felt anxious for her, so I urged her to cheer up. I forgot to cultivate myself, and I began to feel depressed, and I started to have chest pains.

Fortunately, I studied the Fa every day with a Fa study group, and I read Minghui Weekly a lot, so I had the opportunity to look inward. I gradually realized that I had taken sentimentality seriously and was trapped in it. Moreover, I needed to cultivate myself, and I shouldn’t slack off just because of my wife’s state. My wife is a fellow practitioner and is also in Master’s hands. My concern about her is attachments, which have pulled both of us down. The old forces could take advantage of our loopholes because of our sentimentality. Often, when I was in a good state, she was not, and that made me get into a bad state. And when she was in a good state, I was not, which in turn affected her, so we affected each other.

In addition, family members do not have to be the same in terms of understanding the principles of the Fa, so they should put cultivation first as cultivators and handle family relations well in accordance with Dafa. Only when we get things right can we eliminate interference and validate the Fa. I gradually let go and slowly walked out of the cycle of mutual interference. My wife’s state is gradually getting back on the right track.

Finding the Problems and Fixing Them

I was caught in economic and other difficulties, which may be that my own problems were used by the old forces. I began to look inward for my problems. I found a few large attachments.

1) I need to get rid of lustful desire. It seems that male practitioners are more affected in this regard than female practitioners. There is no shortcut to this, and one needs to always pay attention to cultivating one’s thoughts.

2) Watching stuff on my mobile phone must be strictly controlled. Some of the things of ordinary people do seem to be trivial, but in fact there may be bad things behind them. Also, often when I felt depressed, this bad thing got worse, as if it was working with other attachments to interfere with me. The persistent interference attacked me from all directions under the unified command of the old forces.

Often, when I was depressed, I would watch videos on my mobile phone to feel better, but I often regretted it later. What was most needed at that time was a pair of the Monkey King’s fiery eyes, so I could see clearly that these were all external evil elements. If I could see the factors clearly, I would be able to distinguish them, and it would be easy to clear them away. To practice forbearance, it’s really important to have patience when trying to get rid of the attachment to the mobile phone.

3) We can’t treat the “sickness karma” with ordinary people’s notions. I had a serious illness before I practiced Dafa. I got better after I cultivated, but the notion of this disease was never completely removed. When encountering my body’s karmic reactions, I often followed an ordinary person’s train of thought. I couldn’t completely put it down or do well as a cultivator. I held onto the divine with one hand and the human with the other.

Through studying the Fa, I gradually realized that ordinary people’s illnesses are constrained by ordinary people’s logic. So it is beyond reproach that they should be treated according to common sense. As for the “illness” of a cultivator, there are probably two situations: the severe conditions may be due to persecution from the old forces. The lighter conditions may be the process of eliminating karma (of course, this is not absolute). In either case, first of all, we should not have fear. If you are afraid, you have already fallen into the trap of the old forces. Because we will all have a bright future, there is no need to be afraid. So, how can a cultivator’s “disease” be cured? That’s a different thing from what happens to ordinary people.

I think the first thing is to examine and correct my own starting point. This is not empty talk. Because Master said,

“And yet we are beings shouldering the greatest responsibility in the universe!” (“A Wake-Up Call”)

Only by truly knowing and understanding our purpose from the depths of our hearts can we truly deal with this calamity from the basis of the Fa. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into the perspective of solving difficulties for yourself without knowing it. In that case, no matter how you look inward or send forth righteous thoughts, it is actually rooted in selfishness. You won’t get the blessings of the Fa, Master can’t help you, and your efforts won’t have any effect. Just like the old forces, aren’t they also working very hard to “help” Master in the Fa-rectification? In fact, it’s just their own wishful thinking. Not only did they fail to play any positive roles, but they are heading toward ruin because they interfered with the Fa-rectification.

After returning to the starting point, we should look within from the perspective of the Fa, for the salvation of sentient beings, and for the fulfillment of our missions. We must dig deep into our thoughts, be patient, look carefully, fix what we find, and keep reminding ourselves not to be driven by attachments. Secondly, it is necessary to send forth righteous thoughts to clear the interference of the old forces.

Finally, we can’t be weak, and we cannot cooperate with evil in our behavior. For example, over the past few years, every August I would have rhinitis symptoms. Last year I had to have injections, take medicine, and see a doctor when I was uncomfortable. Every year, it is very painful to endure. This year, I read Minghui Weekly and was inspired by other practitioners. The practitioners quoted Master’s teachings, which require one to not only cultivate one’s heart, but also negate the interference with one’s behavior. So when I had these symptoms again, I didn’t cry like I used to, but I tried to be as strong as I could. I felt much better than before. In addition, throughout the process of cultivation, we need to keep reminding ourselves not to deviate from our starting point, and not to fall into the mentality of solving problems for ourselves.

4) I lacked compassion, and I had ego and jealousy. I often felt that I was “different” from others because of the “achievements” I had made. When I saw that others were better than me or that others did not “respect” me, I couldn’t stand it and even resented them. This mind was very awful, because it could have easily led to demonic interference in my own mind. Those who recently attacked Dafa overseas were driven by this mentality and gradually entered a demonic path. Over the years, I have been paying attention to cultivating this mentality, but I felt that it was only after Master published the new article “A Wake-Up Call” that I completely changed.

After Master’s new scripture “A Wake-Up Call” was published, I memorized it for half a month before I could recite it, and then I recited it every day. Gradually, my compassion grew. Many attachments that had been difficult to let go of before were easily resolved.

I have been cooperating with a company for the past two years, doing product design and operations. Often the problems I pointed out, or the suggestions that I made, were not taken seriously. Through continuous Fa study, especially after learning the new scripture, my mentality has become much better. I no longer resent others. I can consider difficulties from the other party’s point of view. Now I am doing my part well in accordance with the requirements of the Fa and not obsessing about the other party’s attitude.

When I encounter a problem, I would think if I did it properly or if I had not done what I am responsible for. I can think about the problem from a different angle: the main task is done by others, and if I just point fingers and do not really do the work, of course, the other people won’t want to accept what I say. I should think more comprehensively about this. I have a responsibility to communicate well and make things clear. I shouldn’t look for other people’s faults.

Also, after reciting the new scripture, I went through the people whom I usually looked down upon or even held grudges against. I told myself to let go of my past suspicions and treat them with compassion. Because I lost contact with some people, I had forgotten about them. But, in fact, it was not that these attachments had been removed, but only that they had been covered up. I didn’t really put down my resentment toward them. This time, I looked for my attachments and got rid of them.

I also understood from the Fa that all living beings in the world are Master’s previous family members. They are all to be saved by Master. I shouldn’t judge who is superficially good or bad. It was all caused by the old forces’ interference and persecution. All in all, it is from the Fa that I understand the deeper meaning of compassion, so I don’t have hatred toward those who hurt me.

One day I passed by a group of elderly people singing. Before, I had been dismissive of them, not only because they didn’t sing well, but because I felt that they were all people who were deeply misled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), so I looked down on them in my mind. But when I saw them singing that day, I felt different. And in the past, when I saw passersby, I didn’t want to pay any attention to them, but now I have a kind feeling toward them. I feel that I have really cultivated the “love and kindness” that Master mentioned in the article, “A Wake-Up Call”.

5) I saw that I had fear and the attachment to comfort. I didn’t do a good job of clarifying the truth because of the financial pressure, so it was difficult for me to calm down and do it. At the same time, I had fear. And another thing was that I thought a lot of people are online nowadays, so I’ve always wanted to do an online project, but I haven’t been able to put it into action.

I’ve spent some time researching lately. So even though I’m under pressure at work and financially, I think I should take the time to clarify the truth well. Because we came with a mission. One day, I was reading a sharing article in Minghui Weekly, and suddenly I felt that this was the most important thing. It was wrong for me to think that I should clarify the truth after I had done other things; I should arrange everything in a balanced way, and nothing should be left out. It’s because of my attachment to comfort that I can’t do this or that. Reasonably arranging our time is also a requirement for us in cultivation.

6) I realize that I was impatient. I am impatient when I am doing things. I should do it well and shouldn’t worry about the results. Moreover, it should be done well from the perspective of cultivation and accomplishing my mission, and I should not be trapped in working hard to solve personal economic problems. Sometimes when I didn’t see any progress, I began to feel helpless and depressed. Once, when I was reading Minghui Weekly at night, I reflected on myself. I had found a lot of bad notions, and every time I found one, I sent forth righteous thoughts to clear it out. That night in bed, I suddenly felt that I had floated up into the vast cosmic space. At that moment, when I looked at the things I usually couldn’t put down, I felt that they didn’t matter.

Epilogue

In the past, when I wrote a sharing article, I found that more often than not, I approached it from the perspective of “writing” an article, that is, the article should be written to have something to say, or it should be readable, etc. A lot of times it was not really an in-depth analysis of my own cultivation. This time, I changed my perspective because I felt that this was an opportunity that Master has created for us in China, so that we can sort ourselves out, find our shortcomings, and be more diligent in our future cultivation. At the same time, my own cultivation experience may give some inspiration or lessons to other practitioners. So I didn’t pay much attention to the structure of this article or the regularity of the language. I just wrote down what I thought.

Finally, thank you, Master, for your mercy and salvation! I would also like to thank Minghui.org for providing me with an environment for sharing in my cultivation, so that I can see the gaps between me and other practitioners. I hope that in the near future, I will do what I should do well, and live up to Master’s salvation!