(Clearwisdom.net)
All practitioners who can step forward to validate the Fa are particles of the Fa, and beings established for Dafa. Thus, as a whole, we must maintain our understandings concerning our stepping forward at a certain high level. I think the rudimentary requirement for Fa-rectification disciples is that they base their points of view on Dafa as opposed to themselves. In an evil environment, practitioners remain able to steadfastly rectify the Fa, spread the Fa, clarify the truth, save people, as well as keep up with Fa-rectification. We are able to achieve this because we assimilate to the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," keep righteous beliefs in those principles, as well as our Teacher, and remain rational. Thus, like diamond, we become indestructible, unshakable, and solid. Many practitioners have already learned painstaking lessons resulting from either the mentality of taking chances, impulsive actions, selfish motives, or from having a gambling attitude with no consideration of the consequences. These lessons should help practitioners become mature.
Dafa disciples not only validate the Fa to all people, but also to the Buddhas, Daos, and Gods in the universe as well as the old evil forces. We face all sentient beings in the universe. Our mindset towards validating the Fa is a tangible reality in other dimensions. Our selflessness, purity, uprightness and benevolence, our painstakingly offering salvation to sentient beings, our being responsible to the Fa, and our willingness to give up everything for the Fa are all shining with boundless radiance. In other dimensions, it can touch and melt all those things. However, if the foundation of practitioners' stepping forward is based upon individual self-interests, and for the sake of stepping forward or of reaching consummation, their impure attitudes are just as clear. Teacher told us that validating the Fa and clarifying the truth are done out of our benevolent compassion, and that the mighty virtue of the Enlightened Beings would be established during this process. Therefore validating the Fa and clarifying the truth are what Falun Dafa practitioners should do. Assimilating to the Fa and safeguarding the Fa are the realms and the meanings of our lives.
Teacher told us we shouldn't lead people to learn the Fa with any pursuit. "There is no precondition for practicing cultivation, and one should practice cultivation if one wants to." (From Zhuan Falun Lecture One, "Genuinely Guiding People toward High Levels") When we help other practitioners to step forward to validate the Fa, we should make them realize their attachments by using the principles of the Fa, instead of using another attachment or guiding them to do Fa-rectification work through pursuits. Only the principles of the Fa can help practitioners genuinely improve. "The Fa can reveal all attachments, the Fa can eradicate all evils, the Fa can expose and dispel all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." (From Teacher's article "Deter Interference") Practitioners will become Fa-rectification disciples if they step forward to validate the Fa, and the results will be unimaginable if they don't. What a difference! Practitioners who can't step forward pain our hearts, but cultivation means to cultivate one's heart instead of pursuing some simple acts. "... good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous thought." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Four, "Upgrading Xinxing") Buddhas can use their mighty benevolence to help people return to their true selves and to save people without any conditions. However, they would never lower the requirements of the Fa at different levels for any cultivator. The Fa is the standard to judge everything. And it is the Fa that we safeguard.
For those practitioners unable to step forward, if you consider yourself here for true cultivation, you must take Dafa as the foundation for your point of view and consider your reasons for not stepping forward. Once you do this, you will feel ashamed of all those "reasons." Should you not have righteous beliefs in the Fa and in Teacher, that would be the root cause and you must clearly identify your fundamental attachments.
My understanding is that during the Fa-rectification period, "righteous thoughts, tranquil hearts and a strong main consciousness" are fundamental guarantees that Fa-rectification disciples can step forward and succeed in what we are supposed to do.
1. Regarding Righteous Thoughts
My understanding from personal experience is that assisting the Teacher to rectify the Fa and safeguarding the Fa are the most righteous thoughts. The magnificence of Dafa disciples, such as their selflessness, purity and righteousness, benevolence and other virtues will be naturally manifested in the course of taking responsibility for the Fa.
Some practitioners mentioned in their articles that while they were distributing flyers and clarifying the truth to people, they were primarily thinking about saving everyday people. Practitioners' actions are indeed magnificent feats. However, my fellow practitioners, you are already majestic because your efforts to save people have played the role of assisting the Fa. Why don't you come to realize clearly that you are majestic because you are assisting the Fa, and are offering salvation to people as a consequence of that? Fa-rectification has profound meanings, including saving people. We are cultivating during the Fa-rectification period and have already passed the individual cultivation process. How much Dafa work we do and to what extent we have assisted Teacher to rectify the Fa are not simply about how many people we have saved. Saving people can be done during any period, while Fa-rectification can only be encountered now, during the Fa-rectification period. This is the fundamental reason that Dafa disciples are magnificent and this is the fundamental reason that Dafa disciples can establish such a great amount of mighty virtue.
"Dafa disciples are magnificent because you are here at the same time as the period of Master's Fa-rectification and are able to safeguard Dafa." (From Teacher's article "Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples".) Maybe the two thoughts of assisting the Fa and saving people just appear in a different order or with different relative importance in practitioners' minds, but even such a tiny difference can lead to very different results when doing things. The difference between Fa-rectification cultivation and individual cultivation is of more seriousness. I think we must be clear on this in our minds.
2. Regarding the Tranquil Heart (Rationality)
Teacher said great Enlightened Beings are able to achieve the tranquility that "resembles a pond of still water with nothing in it." (From Zhuan Falun Lecture Three, "Practicing Only One Cultivation Way") Teacher also described the still water (also called "origin of matter") for us, "If you toss something into it there won't be any ripples. Sound vibrations won't cause waves, either--it's completely motionless." (From Falun Buddha Fa -- Lecture in the United States, "Teaching the Fa in San Francisco")
I have come to realize that this tranquility is real matter's existence. Tranquility reveals how microscopic this matter is and how thick its density is. We must have righteous thoughts, and strive to press those thoughts into our lives down to the most microscopic level, so that righteous thoughts will exist like the origin of matter. Thus, instead of our hearts being moved, the attachments, thought karma and external interferences (including those sudden evil situations) that pop up when we are doing work will disintegrate under our powerful righteous thoughts. That is the tranquil heart I understand.
3. Regarding the Strong Main Consciousness
Teacher said, "When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test. If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are capitalizing on the weak spots caused by your lack of control." (From Falun Dafa Essentials for Further Advancement, "Expounding on the Fa")
How could weak spots appear? Teacher talked about mind-intent in Zhuan Falun Chapter Nine, "When one's Main Consciousness relaxes and does not control the brain, one does not have a clear consciousness, as if one has fallen asleep. Either in a dream or in an unconscious state, one will be easily controlled by the Assistant Consciousness or the Assistant Spirit." "Because when one's brain is controlled by the Main Consciousness, the more one uses the brain, the more control the Main Consciousness has, and the less the Assistant Consciousness can step in."
My understanding is that weak spots appear when our main consciousness isn't strong or relaxes. The brain can be easily controlled by beings in other dimensions when weak spots exist. Attachments, bad notions and evils will sneak into these weak spots. Actually, "imagination" often takes advantage of those weak spots. A strong main consciousness can reduce or eliminate those weak spots, thus leaving no chance for the brain to be controlled. It's not so dangerous to have those weak spots, but it's very dangerous if we indulge them. We must keep a strong main consciousness, so that we may deter, oppose, and ultimately eliminate our weak spots through righteous thoughts.
When we enlighten to Fa principles, we need to closely follow those principles. However high the principles are, that is the height of the standards we should use to measure ourselves. We shouldn't "step back." Even when we can't follow Fa principles one hundred percent, we need to be strict with ourselves. Teacher spoke about his disciples as a warning., "... they always compare themselves with humans and with their own past, but fail to examine themselves with the requirements of the Fa at different levels." (From Falun Dafa Essentials for Further Advancement, "A Dialogue with Time") When we enlighten to Fa principles, if we "step back" or lower the standards for ourselves because of attachments, that should be considered wavering on the Fa principles as well as surrendering to attachments and evil. We should prevent this situation from happening to fellow practitioners and ourselves. Also, the difference and the separation between enlightening to principles of the Fa and acting upon that enlightenment is another kind of weak spot for practitioners. Laziness, slacking off, low efficiency, compromise and habits will easily take advantage of these weak spots. Indulging the evil is the same as fostering the evil, and it is the excuse used by the evil to persecute the Fa as well as Dafa disciples.
From the perspective of the Fa-rectification's progress, this is the final stage towards consummation now for the Fa-rectification disciples. "... full of great aspirations while minding minor details." (From Falun Dafa Essentials for Further Advancement, "Sage") We should never engage in evil even if it is small, and we shouldn't fail to do good even if it is small. Not being strict with either fellow practitioners or ourselves could affect our and others' ability to reach consummation. This brings to mind the sentence fellow practitioners often use in their articles on our Dafa websites, "Please correct me if I'm wrong with anything." There are no human factors in it, as it's truly being responsible to the Fa.
With regard to the weak spots, I've come to realize that there is another kind of weak spot that makes a huge amount of interference with practitioners during the current Dharma-ending period. Only during the Dharma-ending period would the evil dare to take advantage of these weak spots. Specifically, we have inadequate understandings of the fundamental Fa of the universe, the Fa principles, and the hierarchy of different sentient beings established by those Fa principles. We are unclear about our own identities (as Fa particles) as well as our levels, the relationship between individual cultivation and rectifying the Fa and safeguarding the Fa. All these inadequacies themselves are weak spots. They are indeed the gaps and separations between our understandings and reality. Their existence constrains our divine side.
Teacher said that those cultivating Falun Dafa would have good fortune. Nobleness, dignity, mighty virtue, good fortune and wonderfulness are all with the Fa, and with us. The Fa establishes this and this is the manifestation of the Fa. Doing good deeds should be met with good rewards. Dafa disciples are the most compassionate beings and thus should also be met with good rewards -- this should be manifested at the lowest level of the Fa -- the human world. But the degenerated old forces have been imposing unreasonable persecutions, humiliations, troubles, poverty and other unimaginable hardships on the practitioners with the excuse of testing the Fa and the practitioners.
Actually, the evil is nothing. All the crimes that they have committed against practitioners have damaged the civilization and the order of the universe, and insulted the Fa. This is caused by, on one hand, the evil degeneration; on the other hand, we indulge the evil either because we fail to discern the degeneration or because we are blocked by the attachment of fear. When we were deprived of all the wonderful things that we were entitled to, we failed to request their return or protect them. Our protection of and request for all the wonderful things is also protecting the Fa at this level, because they are established by the Fa. Of course, our points of view are based on Dafa, not on individual cultivation.
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