(Clearwisdom.net) Through studying the Fa, I arrived at certain understandings, which I would like to share with my fellow practitioners.
1. Letting go of selfishness and walking diligently on a righteous path
Not so long ago, I felt that I was cloaked in something evil and surrounded by an enormous field that separated me from Dafa. It was as if I was trapped and unable to make any further progress. I had been less diligent in doing the three things Master asked us to do. I began to suffer from a number of unwholesome symptoms. I looked within but couldn't find the root of the problem. I send forth righteous thoughts more intensely, but improved only fractionally on and off. It troubled me and I wondered about the negative substances that held me back. What was separating me from the Fa?
One day, Master's words hit me like a bolt of lightning: "Master sees that danger is already approaching you." ("My Version of a "Stick Wake-up."") I was shocked. I thought I didn't belong to those who failed to step forward. I calmed down and kept on studying the Fa. I saw what my problem was. Master says, "From what standpoint you view Dafa is fundamental."("Digging Out the Roots")
I now could look at myself from the perspective of the Fa-rectification. I asked myself, "Does everything you do meet the requirements of Fa-rectification? Does each and every step of yours meet the standard?" I could be honest with myself now and realized that I was not meeting the standard of a Fa-rectification disciple. Although I was doing the three things, what did I hold fast to? What were my basic attachments that I couldn't let go of? Looking further inward, I searched layer by layer and what I found deep within me was selfishness. It was the root of many of my attachments and was covered up by all kinds of sensible sounding excuses. It made me appear wonderful. But the real reason was to protect and preserve my human self. How much it resembled the behavior of the old forces! On the surface, they participated in the Fa-rectification. In fact, they are using the Fa-rectification to reach their selfish goals. No matter how much I do or how brilliantly I am doing it, I was still crawling within the framework of the corrupted old cosmos, based on selfishness. Therefore, am I not taking the path that was arranged by the old forces? This selfishness is not my true self. It is the fundamental flaw of the old cosmos and I adhered to it. As a being assimilating to the Fa and entering the new cosmos, can I let it trap me and dictate my actions? Realizing this, I sent forth strong righteous thoughts to eliminate it and my mind became clear.
I realized that every time Master lectures on the Fa, he is not talking to a particular group of people. The cosmos is going through Fa-rectification. As the Fa-rectification is moving forward at the greatest speed, it is rectifying everything that is not righteous. Isn't the sphere and field of every practitioner included in this rectification? We have to measure everything against the Fa and actively rectify everything from the standard of the Fa-rectification. We have to assimilate to the Fa unconditionally. This is the standard required by the Fa-rectification. It is immensely dangerous if one remains apart from that standard and believes that one's own standards meet the criteria of the Fa-rectification! How far is this removed from the requirement of the Fa-rectification? Who can stray from the requirements of the Fa-rectification?
In Fa-rectification cultivation, there is no self, only what Master requires, what the Fa-rectification needs, and the standards of the Fa-rectification. To follow the standards requires that one has a righteous mind and behavior. All that is unrighteous within us will be eliminated during the process.
"Genuine practice toward higher levels is in a state of wuwei and free of any mind activities. Everything is installed in your body, ready-made. They are automatically formed, and these internal mechanisms cultivate you..."(Zhuan Falun).
This tells me that I am required to walk on the path arranged by Master. It is a bright and a safe path. The more we act from the selfish point of view and measure ourselves while retaining selfishness, which is certainly safe and reliable within the human mindset, the farther away we are from the characteristics of the new cosmos. As a result, the fewer righteous elements we have within us, the more the evil has power over us. Such behavior follows the old laws of this realm. Under such laws we only do things that we think can validate the Fa from a human standpoint. Our understanding of the one body is superficial. We couldn't treat the Fa-rectification during different phases with rationality. We couldn't get rid of the attachment to doing things. We don't have a calm mind when studying the Fa or sending forth righteous thoughts. We are involved in all sorts of Dafa work, but we can't handle them properly. When looking within, we are unable to discover the root of the attachments. We also have concerns about loss and gain and bargain with others who are also involved in Dafa work. We have an attachment to establish our own mighty virtue. Consequently, we are suffering from much external interference, and we live in a chaotic state of mind. The worst that could happen is to be persecuted by the evil or even going astray. That is a path arranged by the old forces. One validates oneself, with a path strewn with tribulations and tests. No matter how one cultivates, one remains within the tribulations arranged by the old forces and is unable to make a clear break. In fact, such a situation should not exist in the first place. It is our unrighteous heart that can bring this situation to the forefront.
When we let go of ourselves, no longer hold on to the human self, and regain our true selves--only then are we truly melting into the Fa and becoming a genuinely pure Dafa particle. No one can damage Dafa. Then who can touch us? Master said,
"Do you think a Dafa disciple's cultivation path is supposed to accommodate your fear, your pursuit of comfort and ease, and all your desires?" ("My Version of a 'Stick Wake-up.'")
To retain one's human thinking and arrange one's own path will open a loophole for the old forces. They can use such excuses and impose tribulations and persecution.
"The path that Dafa disciples have walked in validating the Fa--where as they cultivate themselves they also save sentient beings, accommodate the needs of the cosmos's Fa-rectification, and disintegrate and clear away the dark minions and rotten demons that are negatively impacting the Fa-rectification and doing evil against Dafa disciples, as well as all the elements of interference and persecution arranged by the old forces--such is the complete path of cultivation, Consummation, and becoming a magnificent god that Disciples of Dafa walk." ("My Version of a 'Stick Wake-up.'")
Only the requirements and standards of Dafa make up the righteous cultivation path we have to walk in our separate lives and work environments.
2. Recognizing the nature of "redress"
Recently, a rumor was publicized regarding the possibility of the Chinese government clearing the name of Falun Gong. My understanding is that everyday people want to maintain the power of the Party. The ultimate reason is related to the nature of the old forces. The old forces at higher levels eliminate those at lower levels. They are eliminating the beings that they think are no longer useful. Their ultimate goal is to maintain the standard of the old cosmos. What an individual person does is his choice. Master told us to completely deny the old forces and eliminate them. Master asks us to not acknowledge them. We need to do the three things without conceding to the old forces. Fa-Rectification disciples have to seize the time and save more people. They cannot be moved by what is done in the human world.
3. Cultivate oneself even more in face of the praise
Articles on Clearwisdom point out clearly the reasons why practitioners encountered problems. They developed attachments of complacency, showing-off, and doing the work, after some practitioners praised them for making progress when validating Dafa. Consequently, the evil takes advantage of the loopholes.
Usually when we have a conflict and other people criticize us, we look within. Conversely, when other people praise us, we forget to look within. Is it because we have a potential attachment to contentment and a deeply hidden desire to validate ourselves? The existence of such an attachment is not easy to detect. It makes you feel good, complacent, and we see ourselves as being better than others, as if we had enlightened to higher principles. We become increasingly more reluctant to listen different opinions and think that we have enlightened to things from the Fa's perspective when we have not. We are more likely to find faults in others rather than look within. In the end the attachments are strengthened and become the excuses for the old forces to persecute us.
As for those who just like to praise other practitioners, are you being responsible to them? If they do well in one aspect, it means that they have cultivated well in the Fa, rather than they are better than the Fa. "Taking the Fa as teacher" is not a slogan. Only when we have a clear understanding of ourselves and cultivate solidly within the Fa, can we walk our path well.
Master has set up a good example for us in his words and behavior. In Zhuan Falun, a Beijing practitioner had developed the hard Qigong, Master says, "I did not tell him because I did not want him to develop an attachment." (Zhuan Falun.) Towards the end of Zhuan Falun, Master says, "In fact, many veteran practitioners sitting here or who are not present have already reached very high levels in their cultivation practice. I had not told you so, lest you develop some attachment or become complacent. That would affect the development of your gong potency." (Zhuan Falun.)
4. Looking at practitioners' experience sharing properly
Clearwisdom has provided a valuable forum for practitioners around the world to share their experiences. Through reading the articles everyday, I have benefited greatly. I understand that it is also a part of the cultivation process.
When I first read fellow practitioners' experience sharing articles, I found them to be quite interesting. I was like a by-stander. When I saw others do well, I felt that it was good, yet I had no idea why it was good. Being diligent in my Fa-study, I gained a more profound understanding and read practitioners' articles with a calm and clear mind. I could view them from the perspective of the Fa-rectification cultivation. What was based on the Fa and what was based on the human mindset? Why was the persecution so severe in this case? Although the practitioner was not afraid when facing the evil, he was being detained, set free and then detained over and over again. Is he walking on the path arranged by Master? What are the things arranged by the old forces that he silently accepted? How can we walk on the righteous path and completely deny the old forces?
I keep looking within and comparing my situation with what I read in those articles. After reading each article, I feel as if I had been further purified and I have made some improvement. I am often moved by the practitioners' righteous thoughts and actions. By diligently studying the Fa, I can feel the greatness of Master from deep within me. It is Master's benevolence and the great Fa that created us. All that we are enlightened to comes from the Fa.
In the process of looking within, I have gone through a process from individual cultivation to the cultivation of a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. In the past when I looked within, it was on the basis of improving myself and letting go of my attachments. Now when I look within for the attachments, I know that they are huge mountains that impede the Fa-rectification. I recognize them as places for the evil to hide and reside in. Once the evil has found a place to stay, they will not only interfere with me, but also the Fa-rectification. Furthermore, they will persecute Dafa disciples. In the end, they are going to use my attachments to destroy me. The bad substance is not something that one can get rid off in the state of individual cultivation, but something we have to actively rectify by diligently studying the Fa. Only by being within the Fa are we able to assist Master during the Fa-rectification process and are we doing the three things well.
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