(Clearwisdom.net October 16, 2003) On August 28 Master wrote a comment on an article by a Dafa practitioner in Mainland China titled "Singing the Praises of Master and Dafa." Master wrote, "The ideas in this article are laid out well, and the author has a very clear understanding of Master's Fa-rectification and Dafa disciples' validation of the Fa. If all Dafa disciples can be as rational and clearheaded as this, and have righteous thoughts and righteous actions in validating the Fa, then there will be no persecution, and there will be no gaps for the evil to exploit." From this we can see that rapid improvement of Dafa practitioners as a whole in our understanding of the Fa principles for Fa-rectification cultivation plays a crucial role in our resisting the evil persecution and keeping up with the progress of Fa-rectification. I realize that the publication of Master's comment has set a new requirement for Dafa practitioners to enhance their understanding of the Fa principles for Fa-rectification cultivation.
Presently, the old forces that arranged and manipulated this persecution have been completely eliminated, and the "behind-the-scenes helpers" are about to be completely cleared out. However, the evil beings in the human world are still trying to put up a last-ditch struggle and attempting to run evil brainwashing classes in various places in China. The reason they are still able to have their way for a while is that they have taken advantage of the fact that some practitioners have failed to study the Fa well and to let go of their human mindsets and attachments. Also, the evil deliberately confuses the difference between Fa-rectification cultivation and personal cultivation so that they can prolong and aggravate this persecution. It also shows the importance of having a good understanding of the principles of Fa-rectification.
Master made clear requirements of Dafa practitioners in his first Fa-lecture a year after the persecution, "In the course of your cultivation, each one of you should understand correctly the relationship between your personal cultivation and Fa-rectification. How should you view the tribulations and trials that you experience? I can tell you that if a person doesn't have that much karma, he absolutely won't have tribulations that severe. You should clearheadedly distinguish personal cultivation from evil's persecution of the Fa. All of the arrangements that have interfered with Dafa, that have tried to forcefully impose something on me or the Fa, are absolutely unacceptable. So they have to bear responsibility for everything they've done." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference" Guiding the Voyage)
All of Master's new lectures and jingwen since then, to my understanding, are principles of Fa-rectification cultivation to guide us during the evil test arranged by the old forces so that we could withstand the test and improve ourselves, and at the same time lessen the persecution. My understanding of the difference between personal cultivation and Fa-rectification cultivation is: All the tests and tribulations we come across in personal cultivation are arranged by Master for our improvement, and they are tests that we can overcome if we set out to do so. Therefore, Master never directly tells us what to do, and practitioners would need to understand the Fa-principles themselves. They would need to look inward whenever they come across difficulties, so that they can cultivate themselves. However, the tests and tribulations we come across in Fa-rectification cultivation were arranged by the old forces based on the principles of the old universe, and the means of tests deployed are evil. The standards they require are not in accordance with the requirements of the new universe. Therefore they can only result in persecution of Dafa practitioners and interference with Master's Fa-rectification. Because of this, the suffering and tribulations Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples experience are, as Master said,
"I can tell you that the suffering and tribulations endured by our Dafa disciples are not only aimed at their personal cultivation--there are also factors related to high-level beings' testing Dafa using the fact that the students have karma, using "improving them" as an excuse, and using degenerate beings at low levels to carry out the persecution. In fact, all of these have harmed the Fa-rectification." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference" Guiding the Voyage)
Therefore, when we encounter problems, we should generally look inward, and if they are not our own problems, then they must be persecution by the old forces. In order to lessen the persecution of Dafa practitioners by the old forces and the interference to Master's Fa-rectification to guarantee the Fa-rectification progress, Master, making use of the circumstances, taught us the principles of Fa-rectification cultivation to negate the arrangements of the old forces, and he clearly told us what to do at each different stage of the old forces' arrangements. This fully manifests the boundless mercy and concern Master has shown towards Fa-rectification cultivation Dafa disciples in guiding us to grasp the unprecedented chance of Fa-rectification to elevate to the highest position each of us can reach.
Now, the Fa-rectification is approaching its end, and the Fa-rectification of the human world is just around the corner. Why is it that Master still makes such special requirements of us at this stage? My understanding is: Master has always emphasized that the improvement of xinxing in Dafa cultivation is the most important, and Fa-rectification Dafa disciples' improvement in xinxing should be based first and foremost on the improvement of our understanding of the principles of Fa-rectification cultivation.
Fa-rectification cultivation has progressed to date, yet there are still practitioners in Mainland China who are falling behind, and the persecution is still happening. This shows a lack of understanding of the principles of Fa-rectification cultivation amongst these practitioners, or they have not paid enough attention to this matter. Some practitioners around me, especially those who have little time to study the Fa every day or who have a poor enlightenment quality, usually only focus on reading Zhuan Falun, and seldom read Master's other Fa lectures. Even less do they read articles on Minghui.net. Even with Master's new lectures and new jingwen published during Fa-rectification period, they only read them a few times for a short period, and have not taken the time to understand the meanings in depth. Such a state of mind undoubtedly affects their understanding of the Fa principles. In order to improve, we need to make some adjustment in our Fa-study.
Regarding the relationship of studying Zhuan Falun well and Master's other lectures, I have the following understandings:
Zhuan Falun is a book that systematically guides Dafa practitioners in cultivation. The book expounds the Fa principles in general, so the profound inner meanings require practitioners to enlighten to them during cultivation. Thus, as Dafa practitioners, what we often read should be Zhuan Falun. Master's other lectures are auxiliary materials for Zhuan Falun, but they are the Fa too, and are the specific explanations of certain Fa principles in Zhuan Falun. Therefore, although auxiliary material cannot replace Zhuan Falun, studying these materials well can help deepen our understanding of the inner meanings of Zhuan Falun.
People in the future will only have Zhuan Falun. As Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, our personal cultivation was just to set a foundation for cultivation during Fa-rectification. It is because we need to shoulder the great historic mission of validating Dafa and saving sentient beings that Master additionally expounded on many Fa principles to us before the persecution. One year after the persecution started, when the tribulations that should be endured and which were caused by Dafa disciples' karma and attachments had basically passed, Master came out again, and directly taught us the high level Fa principles of cultivation during Fa-rectification. Isn't this like what Master often mentioned as "gaining without pursuit" for Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples? Doesn't studying these lectures well in a timely manner provide us a faster and more effective way of Fa study? Therefore as long as we arrange things properly, studying Zhuan Falun and other lectures should complement each other and bring out the best.
My spouse and I both cultivate and are both retired, so we have an ample amount of time and a good environment for Fa study. During the past 4 years of persecution, and inside the perilous environment of Mainland China, we soon understood from studying the Fa that this evil persecution was not arranged by Master. With our firm belief in Master and Dafa, we passed through that year of evil trials. Later on as we read Master's new articles and lectures, we gradually were able to see through the chaotic and evil surface phenomena created on purpose by the old forces. We realized that everything is under our great Master's control. Our state of mind became more and more stable, and we could face things with a relatively clear and rational mind, thus coming through safe and sound. Looking back, maybe we benefited from our above understanding and way of doing things.
The Fa-rectification of the human world is on the verge of arriving. Let's firmly grasp the last opportunity of cultivation during the Fa-rectification. On the improvement of understanding Fa-rectification cultivation Fa principles, we hope diligent disciples will be more diligent, and those who have lagged behind can catch up quickly, so that we can improve to a new level as one body and live up to Master's expectations.
Above is my personal understanding. Please point out anything improper.
October 15, 2003
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