(Clearwisdom.net) After I studied Master's "Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference," I had a few understandings that I would like to share with everyone.
Our tone of voice when clarifying the truth
Because we cultivate in Dafa, we can clearly see the key issues underlying society's problems. As a result, some of us often unconsciously speak in a condescending way to others when we clarify the truth. I had never realized this until a friend of mine visited me one day. I sincerely talked to her for over an hour. I gave all kinds of examples and had all the reasons. I thought she would benefit tremendously from my speech. But she did not appreciate it at all. She said, "I went out of my way to visit you. Well, you just gave me an ethics lesson for over an hour." Then she left quickly. I felt rather depressed and couldn't figure out what went wrong.
Later I read Master's "Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference:"
"As I have always said, none of today's Chinese people are simple or ordinary. Don't be fooled by the fact that the human skin looks the same--the person that's in charge of it is actually no longer who it used to be, and in most cases beings that descended from high levels are in charge. And a great many kings from different nations throughout history reincarnated in China. So the group of people in China today is far from ordinary. It's just that when a person reincarnates or a divine being comes down to this world he enters the delusion, and people in delusion are susceptible to being used. But they were all meant to obtain the Fa and be saved, and they have great predestined connections."
I suddenly realized that I had put myself above non-practitioners when I clarified the truth. Though I tried to be calm on the surface, I had always believed that they were at the level of ordinary people, that they were lost in ordinary society, and that they could not see the fundamental points. So whenever I talked to them, I used a condescending tone to tell them the principles. The Chinese people of today all came from a certain high level. Since the origin of their lives was high, they tend to be proud. If we don't pay attention to our tone, they might easily feel resentful towards us.
Master told us long ago that "your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning" could change a person's heart. Yet in the past I had simply interpreted that as remaining calm. In fact, it includes the manner in which we talk.
"So during this Fa-rectification Dafa disciples can use at will any method that makes it easier to save sentient beings, so long as it's something the world's people can understand and can thus be saved through. All the same, we have been using things selectively and in a good and upright way." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference")
Not being diligent in cultivation will cause our physical bodies to be the same as non-practitioners'
I often hear people around me complaining about being tired. I used to think it was due to the stress from work and family lives. In "Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference," Master said,
"The matter that makes up human beings has its limitations, so if time goes too fast, the sentient beings in the Three Realms won't be able to bear it. It has almost reached the limit now of what human beings can adapt to in terms of time. The only way human beings can detect time's acceleration and how it compares to before, is by a sense they might have based on their impressions. And older people know this even better: before, it felt like a person could do a lot in a day, one day felt long, and it seemed as though it would never get dark, whereas now dusk comes soon after dawn and it gets dark before you have done much. Another thing is, the capacity of the human body wouldn't keep up [if time were sped up too much]. The matter in each layer is subject to that layer's limitations, so the material elements wouldn't be able to keep up. The speed of Fa-rectification is, in fact, extremely rapid."
I came to understand that one feels tired because the capacity of the human body cannot keep up. If a practitioner doesn't cultivate diligently and lingers in the state of a non-practitioner, the same thing might happen to him. Only when we regard ourselves as genuine cultivators can we not be confined to a human's field of time. Then we won't be restricted by the field of time in this dimension, and we won't feel tired like non-practitioners do because of time's acceleration. We also won't need to sleep as much as non-practitioners need to, so that we have more time to do the three things well.
I've learned a serious lesson on this issue. I had a baby not long ago. During the pregnancy my righteous thoughts were quite strong and I did not relax in doing the three things. As a result, my entire pregnancy went quite smoothly, and I did not have much sickness related to pregnancy. Before the birth, my family insisted that I should follow the tradition that women rest for a month after giving birth. I accepted it and told myself to take a month of nice rest. I even found an excuse for doing so in Master's Fa,
"Take a break, look inward, and strengthen the righteous thoughts. Clearly analyze the shortcoming and work hard in cultivation again." ( "Be Rational and Alert" from Hongyin II)
However, during the special period of Fa-rectification, the requirements for Dafa disciples are very high. Once we regard ourselves as ordinary people, our physical bodies will fall into the state of ordinary people and encounter severe interference. During the month after the birth, I had to get up many times every night to take care of the baby. As a result, I became very sleepy during the day and was sleepy and drowsy all day long. I felt time was passing by quickly, and I had no time to study the Fa or to do the exercises at all. When I was finally able to squeeze in a little time to listen to Master's lectures, I often fell asleep. I also fell asleep when I did the sitting meditation. My baby would cry when it was time to send forth righteous thoughts. I felt terrible, and I even developed the symptoms of postpartum depression. It was a painful month. Later, I asked Master to help me and increased my efforts in sending forth righteous thoughts. At the baby's one-month-old celebration, I took the opportunity to clarify the truth to friends and relatives who came to see the baby. Gradually I returned to the state of a Dafa practitioner. Now I often sleep only four or five hours a day, but I feel very good.
Doing well in cultivation can only be achieved with practice
In "Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference", Master said,
"If you don't cultivate yourselves well you won't have mighty virtue, what you say will not be in line with the Fa, and then you can't possibly save sentient beings. When what you say has no mighty virtue and no power, it will have no effect, and the evil will capitalize on that. What's more, if you don't cultivate yourselves well and your righteous thoughts are lacking, when you handle certain things you will tend to slip into human ways of thinking, and then you won't be able to have the effect of saving sentient beings."
I thought deeply on this. I often ran into the situation of having a poor effect when clarifying the truth. Though there are skills that I can improve, we all know that the genuine cause is the level of our xinxing. I used to believe that I had a clear understanding of the Fa principles and that I had pretty good xinxing. Master said,
"Your xinxing cultivation has already made progress if, for instance, when someone swears at you among everyday people, you do not say a word and feel very calm; or when someone throws a fist at you, you do not say a word and let it go with a smile. Your xinxing level is already very high." (Zhuan Falun)
I had always thought I was able to "not fight back when being punched or insulted." As a matter of fact, my understanding of "not fighting back when being punched or insulted" is too shallow and remains theoretical.
As an educated person, I naturally do not quarrel or fight with others. But when I was stirred up by other people's words, I always reacted quickly and responded, though in a genteel manner. In fact, I was fighting back with my mouth. My good speaking ability concealed my xinxing defect. Because my xinxing has not reached the level, I often cannot achieve the effect described as:
"With compassion, one can dissolve the spring in heaven and earth; with righteous thoughts, one can save the people in the world." (Hongyin II, "The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos")
Therefore, our cultivation of xinxing must be solid and cannot have even a tiny bit of carelessness. Though many practitioners are very busy trying their best to save people, better preparation will not delay the job. If we don't cultivate well, it will lessen the effect of saving people and sometimes cause us to miss the chance to save people.
The above are some of my personal understandings in cultivation. Please correct me if there is anything improper.