(Clearwisdom.net) I am a Falun Gong practitioner in China. After the persecution began in July 1999, I lost contact with all sources of positive information of Falun Gong. Although I studied the Fa on my own, I frequently ran into questions that left me deeply confused. Luckily, I have been able to receive updates about Falun Gong since the beginning of the year. Reading Teacher's recent lectures has made me feel like a lost boat regaining direction. My confusion was washed away, everything became clear to me and I felt more confident. Recalling my cultivation these past few years, I would like to share my understandings on letting go of human attachments and stepping forward.
When the persecution began, many practitioners appealed peacefully on the streets or on Tiananmen Square. The term "stepping forward" was commonly used and, according to my understanding at the time, it signified practitioners stepping outside of their homes to call for an end to the persecution. However, I was not able to step forward, as I was held back by my various attachments. Later on, my understanding was that Teacher said not to allow the evil to persecute us so I never did "step forward." This was my initial perception of the term.
After reading Teacher's recent articles stating that we should do the three things well, I gained another level of understanding regarding "stepping forward." We should step out from personal cultivation and become Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. We must study the Fa, send righteous thoughts and clarify the truth well to live up to our significant historical responsibility.
Through intense Fa study, I enlightened to another meaning behind "stepping forward." It also encompasses relinquishing various human attachments and removing human sentiments. Teacher mentioned in Zhuan Falun and in recent articles that, "...the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments," (Zhuan Falun) and that, "many attachments that come from sentimentality, we should take them lightly and eventually abandon them." (Zhuan Falun) Only by letting go of our attachments can we do the three things well and truly walk the path to godhood.
By doing the three things Teacher asked of us, I have gained some new understanding with regard to letting go of human attachments in the past few months.
1. Falun Gong practitioners' studying the Fa and cultivation is the foundation. If the persecution did not occur, Teacher might have arranged our paths differently. However, since the old forces' interference is now directly targeting Fa-rectification, Teacher has arranged our cultivation accordingly. Yet it is absolutely not a path of "revolting like revolutionaries". Doing the three things well is the requirement of cultivation and is what is asked of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. It is not for the development of human society. By doing the three things well, we are not only assisting Teacher in Fa-rectification but also establishing practitioners' mighty virtue and reaching Consummation. A person's increase in level directly affects the potency of one's righteous thoughts and the outcome of his or her truth clarification.
In order to test Falun Gong practitioners, the old forces have taken advantage of our loopholes. I was once very attached to my child, hoping that he would be able to make something of himself in society one day. Lately, whenever such notions occurred, he would wind up making serious mistakes in school. These intolerable mistakes, however, were ones I had repeatedly warned him against. I couldn't help but feel that his future was ruined. Then I recalled Teacher saying that if we "learn from that person instead of the Fa," then we would "likely push that student to a place where there is no way out for him." (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York) Therefore, these attachments will not only influence my own progress in cultivation but affect others as well. Dafa disciples must unconditionally let go of attachments and cultivate uprightly from the heart.
2. Sending righteous thoughts is a way to eradicate various interferences. In sending righteous thoughts we eliminate the interference within our own dimensions, which in turn facilitates our cultivation and truth clarification. Here I would like to bring up the issue of "dimension" when sending righteous thoughts. Teacher has mentioned many times the complexity of the universe and the human body, so we should not limit ourselves to everyday people's understanding of dimensions. We should follow Teacher's guidance and strengthen our righteous thoughts until they are as big as the universe, encompassing everything and leaving out nothing. Therefore, we cannot always restrict our righteous thoughts to our own cities or areas, for it is the most superficial understanding of dimensions.
3. The main purpose of clarifying the facts is to save sentient beings. This is the historic mission of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, as well as an opportunity to establish our mighty virtue. While clarifying the truth, we must pay attention to letting go of our own attachments. In the beginning, I found myself more willing to talk to people whom I got along with and tend to neglect those I disliked. I realized that it was my humanness interfering with what I should do. Falun Dafa has no enemies, nor is anyone capable of becoming an enemy of Dafa. Dafa encompasses all beings, so we must not be guided by our own likes and dislikes. After eliminating the interference behind a person, we must do our best to save him or her. I also ran into difficulties when clarifying the facts to my relatives. Teacher has already explained to us how we should deal with this problem. The key is to let go of our attachments, treat them as a sentient being and earnestly clarify the facts to them.
Coordination and cooperation between project groups is crucial when clarifying the truth. Since people's thoughts are extremely complex and hard to ascertain, unlocking their hearts becomes a difficult task. TV programs, e-mails, faxes or clarifying the facts face-to-face, etc, there is no telling which method could be more effective for a person. Learning the truth from friends or relatives, receiving occasional e-mails from strangers or reading information from websites, it is uncertain when a person's knowing side will be touched. For instance, I did not receive any direct response after clarifying the facts to the people around me. However, one of them saw an information booth for resigning from the Chinese Communist Party during his travels abroad and became more receptive to the truth later on. Another friend of mine received truth clarification material on the Internet and began to ask me for Falun Gong related information.
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