(Clearwisdom.net) Teacher said in "Solid Cultivation," (Hong Yin, translation A):
"Study the Fa and gain the Fa,
Focus on how you study and cultivate,
Let each and every thing
be measured against the Fa.
Only then, with that,
is it actually cultivation."
My understanding is that for many things, if we only know the Fa on the surface but don't understand it deep in our hearts, it will be hard for us to practice it, and thus, the result that manifests in cultivation may not be ideal.
I heard a story that took place in another city. A practitioner was released from a detention center. Another practitioner told the first practitioner that his company was planning to send him to a brainwashing center, and suggested that he leave home for a while. But the first practitioner said, "That's just the evil persecution and interference. We should not acknowledge it!"
The practitioner who gave the suggestion had no response. But later, the first practitioner's employer did send him to a brainwashing center, and he accepted the evil transformation within three days.
The practitioner who told me the story said, "That practitioner was not in a very good cultivation state. 'Rejecting the evil persecution' has just become a catch phrase for some practitioners."
Thinking about it carefully, I realized that what the practitioner said was right. We all say that we are cultivators, but, are we really "cultivating" and "practicing" all of the time? Let's ask ourselves: To what extent do we have true faith in Teacher and in the Fa? How much do we truly use everything that we encounter and treat them as good things to use to cultivate ourselves?
Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe" in 1998,
"Think about it. What is true faith? You're merely saying with your mouth that you have faith, but in your heart you don't actually have faith. Why do I say that? Because when you truly have faith your actions match your words."
A practitioner told me a story that happened in a forced labor camp in 2001. Most of the practitioners held there, with a few exceptions, had been "transformed." The director of the camp wanted to reach a 100 percent "transformation" rate, so he started a tough campaign aimed at the firm practitioners. One day, the director talked with him and said that if he didn't declare that he would no longer practice Falun Gong within 72 hours, the director would order some thugs in the camp to beat all of the practitioners, claiming, "No one will hold me responsible if you are beaten to death!" Everyone in the camp was terrified. The thugs said to the practitioner, "There are only three hours left. Eat your fill, then get prepared for our 'education!'"
When the deadline passed, the practitioner lied on his bed, calmly facing everything. The thugs arrived. They drank a lot of wine and kept cursing at him. The thugs filled the room in two rows. The practitioner still refused to give up his beliefs. He thought, "Everything I have was given to me by Dafa. Even if I am beaten to death, I will still reach consummation." One thug asked "Shall we start?" Another answered, "The director is at a meeting. Let's wait for him." However, the director's meeting lasted for several hours. During that time, the tense air in the room was suffocating. A pack of villainous thugs, with torture instruments in their hands, just like devils, stared at the practitioner. In his mind, he had only Teacher, only Dafa, and nothing else. He couldn't think of anything either. He told me later, "At that time, I just thought, 'If I want to cultivate, I have to be firm.'" After a few hours, the director finally arrived. He asked the practitioner, "Are you going to 'transform?'" The practitioner replied, "No!" To his surprise, the director waved his hands to the thugs and said, "You all leave! I can't make the 'transformation' rate 100 percent anyway. I don't want to be bothered with you any more!" Then, everyone left.
Although practitioners will meet different things on their cultivation paths, their righteous faith in Dafa should be the same. Why is it that some practitioners can't reach the goal of rejecting the evil even though they talk about "rejecting the evil" on the surface?
The real reason is their foundation. Evil interference, whether it results from karma, distractions from money, time, or qing, arrests, beatings, or even death, exists for itself. The evil is here to damage the Fa. However, if we as Dafa disciples are diamond-solid great gods, what kind of evil could come near us? The Buddha light emitted by us from the Fa would eliminate the evil factors. Why can't we reach this level? When we encounter interference, many times we are thinking about personal gains or losses and personal feelings, but not about the whole body.
When we are interfered with, it does not just affect us--doesn't it delay the saving of sentient beings? Don't we ensure that we can consistently do the three things so we can save sentient beings? If we apply strict requirements to ourselves, and try our best to look inwards when something occurs so as to gradually awaken our divine sides, then what hurdle can block us? On the other hand, if we just use those words as excuses to protect ourselves, this amounts to nothing but deceiving ourselves and others!
The above is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out any gaps.
Original Article: December 13, 2009
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