(Clearwisdom.net) The following are some of my personal understandings during Fa-rectification cultivation. Please correct me if there are any incorrect thoughts.
1. "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" is the Fa; it is not the living code among everyday people
In clarifying the truth of Falun Dafa, some people I met were often confused and said that although they didn't practice Falun Dafa, they could also follow the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is the Chinese tradition to treat people truthfully, kindly and tolerantly and is not unique to Falun Dafa. Thereby, I realized that we should not only explain the lower inner meaning of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," that is to treat people truthfully, kindly and tolerantly, but also expound its higher inner meaning, in the proper way according to different situations. "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" is the Great Law of the Universe. It creates and restrains everything. In order to eliminate the degeneration and for more people to have wonderful futures, we should not only understand the Fa from the Dafa principles, but also clarify the truth from the principles.
2. Teacher's words are the Fa
Teacher has given many examples in his Fa teaching. He has mentioned that wandering around in society is a very torturous process of cultivation. While wandering around in society, to keep upgrading one's xinxing [mind and heart nature], one will encounter many different kinds of people and meet different kinds of tests of fame, self-interest and feelings, and the need to maintain one's xinxing. Now many practitioners are forced to leave home and wander about in hard situations, in order to clarify the truth and save people. They wander around in society facing persecution, danger, hatred, misunderstanding, obstruction, ridicule and apathy -- isn't it a difficult environment in which to cultivate one's xinxing? This is to establish the great mighty virtue of the Great Law of the Universe. It is unprecedented.
3. Those who attained the Fa but could not stand up to validate the Fa, are not Dafa disciples
If one studies the Fa but cannot stand up to validate the immeasurable benevolence and incomparable mighty dignity of the Great Law of the Universe, he cannot assimilate to the Fa and therefore cannot genuinely attain the Fa. "One's action in front of the test reveals one's true heart:" to protect the mighty dignity of the Fa and save people, the genuine practitioners practice the pure truthfulness, the selfless compassion of the Universe Law, and the tolerance that can sacrifice all of oneself for the truth.
If a practitioner understands the principle of the law, yet the fear mentality may prevent him from stepping forward. Take one step backwards and think of the consequences: to resign oneself to an unobtrusive life, a life of dozens of years that would pass as fast as the snap of the fingers; or to be determined to step forward, and be forever free from the reincarnation cycle of life and death.
Thinking this way, the fear mentality would be gone by itself and the courage to face evil would rise up. Then it may not be that difficult to step forward.
4. To step forward and rectify the Fa, we practitioners must rectify ourselves and eliminate our own degeneration
Nowadays, literature, history and philosophy are neglected; computer science, biology, economics and law are foremost. Literature, history and philosophy are the accumulated wisdom of human civilization. Literature can exert a favorable influence on one's character; history can help one to know the past and learn from it; philosophy can initiate one's intelligence. One can become noble from the knowledge of these subjects. Now this intelligent knowledge is much neglected and at the same time, computer and biological engineering are drawing people away from human nature. Economics is established on the basis of selfish human interest. Law studies how to limit humans. All of them accelerate the effects of the maze and the degeneration of the human being.
It is very important to have a peaceful mind and to cultivate speech all the time. The interference, no matter from ordinary people or other practitioners, should not move your heart. Even when joking around with close friends or relatives, it is also important to cultivate speech and know what to say and what not to say. Degenerated words could be said, which results in you unwittingly strengthening the degeneration.
The first poem in Hong Yin (Teacher's book of poems) is "Tempering One's Mind and Heart." The poem presents the essence of cultivation. The pain of the body is also the suffering in one's heart. "When it's difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it's impossible to do, you can do it." [Zhuan Falun, Chapter 9] During the sitting meditation or embracing the wheel [Falun Gong exercises], if you can endure the extreme of the pain and pass it, you will experience the happiness after suffering and pleasure that the capacity of your body increases. You will understand that only hard cultivation can expand your benevolence. You will raise the strong righteous belief and righteous thoughts towards the Great Law of the Universe from the bottom of your heart, and you can truly break away from the human side. Hard personal cultivation is the foundation of cultivation in the Fa-rectification.
To step forward and validate the Fa, practitioners must rectify themselves. Only by rectifying and purifying oneself first, can one rectify all that has deviated from the Fa. If one is not righteous, the evil beings will easily take advantage of you. You may obstruct or even damage the Fa-rectification.
5. Making use of all available time to clarify the truth is also the process to cultivate and purify oneself
To clarify the truth is just like educating children. The educator should be patient to explain the reasons to whoever is willing to listen. If the one being educated is bent on having his own way, it is necessary to give a sharp warning to wake up his main consciousness and his kind nature; otherwise it is being irresponsible to him.
In telling the truth about Dafa, people often ask such a question, Falun Dafa is good; you can practice at home; what difference does it make by stepping forward and validating Dafa in public? Stepping forward may not take immediate effect for the condition of the current human world and one may lose a lot. However with practitioners continuing to step forward, it can effectively frighten the evil beings in other dimensions and wake up more people, thereby advancing the process of the Fa-rectification. At the same time, a practitioner can keep upgrading xinxing and establish his own mighty virtue. Seeing the practitioners stepping forward like wave upon wave with dignity and with no fear of life and death, the evil beings are trembling. The long lasting righteousness against evil has raised more attention in the world: what strength is behind the indomitable practitioners? Led by their curiosity, more people realize the truth and are thereby saved. During the process, we face all kinds of interference from ordinary people's notions. It is the process of cultivation whether to maintain one's xinxing, whether to be moved by the interference, whether to do all of this without pursuit and whether to keep a peaceful mind at all times.
To make use of all available time to tell the truth, it is necessary to always bring Dafa materials with you and distribute them according to the situation. Properly choose the time, place and materials, including all the honors received in China before the persecution and Dafa's impact overseas, the stories about the benefits of practicing Falun Dafa, the persecution in China and its reasons, and the retribution stories. It is better if everything was presented with pictures and words, which has its effect of persuasion. Break through the degeneration of the human mind with wisdom, and wake up people's kind nature.
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