(Clearwisdom.net) A fellow practitioner encountered many tribulations in her life and was confused. Her six-year-old son has been sick and on the verge of death several times over the past few years, and each time he was fortunate to survive. She was frightened and shocked. Why does a cultivator in the Fa-rectification period have these large tribulations?
This is my impression about her: She has firm belief in Dafa and also contributes a lot financially. She spends almost all her savings in making Dafa truth clarification materials. She was removed from her post at her work because she did not give up the practice of Falun Gong. She is very active and enthusiastic in clarifying the facts to people. Then what were her weak points? First, she did not have a solid understanding of the Fa and could not calmly study the Fa. Secondly, she did not know how to cultivate. Although she studied the Fa, clarified the facts and sent forth righteous thoughts, she did not truly cultivate and did not make any improvement. Here I want to talk more about her second issue.
First we should distinguish which thoughts are not ours but come from postnatal notions Only through calmly studying the Fa can we distinguish them easily.
I would like to talk about my understanding of cultivation. My understanding is that during the process of cultivation, if we eliminate all human notions, we will reach our goal. The more we eliminate, the faster our cultivation will be. Then how do we get rid of these attachments?
Master is merciful and has already taught the Fa clearly. In 1999, Master clearly told us in "Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference"
"Question: I am aware of the state of my xinxing, and at the same time, I sense that I have demon nature. How should I eliminate my demon nature?
Teacher: That's actually an excellent state. In other words, you're able to sense the bad side of yourself, so you should repel it, resist it and reject it. You should repel it from your mind, not follow those thoughts, and stop doing those bad things. Then you are cultivating and improving--that's called cultivation."
I will summarize my understanding: During cultivation in the Fa-rectification period, we should first check whether or not each of our thoughts and ideas conforms to the Fa. We should not acknowledge it if it does not conform to the Fa. We should immediately eliminate it and have it disintegrate with our righteous thoughts.
For example, the practitioner was always worried about her child getting sick. For one, she did not have a clear understanding of the Fa so she did not realize the real reason for the "illness" of a practitioner's child. On the other hand, she viewed the thought of worrying about her child getting sick as being her own thought. In fact, when an abnormal condition happens to a practitioner's child, it is usually caused by the parents not being diligent in cultivation for a long time or even having obvious xinxing problems. Of course it could be that when you are more attached to the child's health with everyday people's notions, the child will be more easily interfered with by bad things and appear to be ill. If you have any fear, it [the evil] will take advantage of it. Thus the child's sickness karma appeared frequently. The mother felt on the surface that she could not let it go even if she wanted to. In fact, her unclear understanding on the Fa caused it. Master said that there are two reasons why gong doesn't increase with the practice: "Without knowing the Fa at high levels, one cannot practice cultivation. Without cultivating one's inner self and one's xinxing, one cannot increase gong." (from Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version) Thus when we experience long-term tribulations from the same problem, we should remember to pay attention to the above two aspects.
Moreover, this practitioner had been followed by police and agents before. It happened a long time ago and does not happen any more. However, she thinks that it is still happening. Master said,
"There is another type of person. Someone was told in the past that he had spirit or animal possession. He felt that way as well. However, upon having it removed for him, his mind still worries about it. He always thinks that the condition still exists. He still thinks that it is there, and this is already an attachment called suspicion. As time passes, this person may bring it to himself again. One should give up this attachment, as this spirit or animal possession no longer exists." (From Zhuan Falun)
Actually this kind of "suspicion" is not from her. Since it is interference from karma and external factors, we should send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate it, have it disintegrate, and at the same time study the Fa well and improve our xinxing.
The above are some of my understandings. Any comments are welcome.
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