(Clearwisdom.net) A few days ago, my daughter's friend and her college student sister came to my house. I thought that since they were at my home, they must have come as per Master's arrangement, and that I must clarify the truth about Falun Gong to them. I told them in order to find an excuse to persecute Falun Gong, the CCP faked the self-immolation at Tiananmen Square. Dafa teaches people to be good, to be honest, to do good deeds and to be tolerant; those who have learnt Falun Gong have all benefited from it. Dafa is known in over one hundred countries and has received over a thousand awards. There are over one hundred million people practicing Falun Gong worldwide. Falun Gong is a pure land, and Falun Gong practitioners are genuinely good people. The sisters nodded in agreement.
I continued by telling them that a massive number of people in China and overseas were withdrawing from the CCP organizations to protect themselves. I suggested the sisters withdraw from the Youth League and the Young Pioneers, so that they would not be affected when the CCP falls, and so that they would have a chance to have a better future. The sisters smiled and said that they would indeed withdraw from the CCP organizations.
As they were leaving, I reminded them: “Remember, recite the phrases, 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good' when encountering any dangers or difficulties. By doing so, dangerous situations can become safer, and heavenly beings will protect you and you may also be rewarded with good fortune.” I also told them about reports on the Clearwisdom website. For example, a fire changed direction once the person in danger recited that phrase, thus this person and his possessions were saved; people on a boat during a hurricane shouted that phrase together, and the waves soon calmed down; a passenger on a bus that was about to fall from a cliff recited the phrase and the bus stopped immediately.
As the sisters were leaving my home, the older sister said: “I will only believe what you said after I see these events with my own eyes, or else they are just rumors.” I was surprised as she still did not believe me after I had said so much.
I was very sad after they left, and felt they were stubborn. However, I soon adjusted my attitude. I searched within: Why did the older sister bring up “seeing is believing” to argue against me? How come my words did not have the power to change and penetrate ordinary people's minds? Is Master using this to show me that on my cultivation path, I myself have always secretly held the ordinary people's view of “seeing is believing”?
After thinking it over, I realized it was true. When I saw the lotus flower on the back cover of Zhuan Falun blossom every day, I was blown away. “This Fa is real, it has magic, I must cultivate diligently!” I then cultivated diligently for a few days, but became relaxed again after my enthusiasm faded. Just as Master said in “What is a Dafa Disciple,” “...whose fleeting enthusiasm fades after a few minutes and then disappears altogether.”
As I was studying the Fa, through my third eye, I saw every character in the Fa was golden and transparent. I exclaimed: “Master's every word is true, it really is beautiful in other dimensions, I must listen to Master's words, and be ever more diligent!” Thus I cultivated diligently for a couple of days—I did not waste a second; however, as my enthusiasm faded, I went back to my relaxed state.
Once, I was able to access the Clearwisdom website without plugging into the outlet, Falun pointed the way when I was lost in the countryside, I had made a barking dog silent, and I had used my righteous thoughts to make police cars change directions... I believed in these miracles because I witnessed them. However, looking at it from a different angle, wouldn't I still believe in Dafa's power if I had not “seen” anything? Furthermore, if those events had happened to other practitioners, would I see them as “rumors”? Wouldn't I be holding the mindset of ordinary people?
I suddenly understood what Master said in “What is a Dafa Disciple,”
“When you are not cooperating well together, and your righteous thoughts aren’t strong enough, this will cause your mind to, while sending righteous thoughts, dwell on attachments that lead you to look outward, rather than inward, in cultivation. It can even lead you to feel indignant, and get mad whenever you think about someone. Then tell me, what’s the point of your sending righteous thoughts? They are not going to achieve a positive effect, and you will be revealing all of your thoughts, opinions, and attachments to the gods of the entire cosmos. When that thought goes out, all of that gets put on display for the entire cosmos to see—for all to see how you are.”
Our every thought, including our human thoughts and beliefs that still need to be eliminated in cultivation, has always controlled and interfered with the three things we do. Our attachments to loss and gain, lust, jealousy and other human attachments directly affect the quality and power of our righteous thoughts, and they also interfere with our truth clarification. Our heart is like a mirror, ordinary human beings and our fellow practitioners' reflection show us what our human attachments are. Usually when we see the behavior of others, we can also see such behavior in ourselves. Therefore, searching within is essential for our cultivation, not only when we are reminded, but also naturally as a habit. Strictly speaking, for a Dafa practitioner, not knowing how to search within is like not knowing how to cultivate.
As we dig deeper within ourselves, do we have attachments to food, sleep, fun activities, personal interests and love of comfort? To dig even deeper, do we have attachments to domestic bliss, sentimental feelings for male-female relationships and all the human feelings that keep us in a daze? The old forces are watching us. Every one of us should search within meticulously and seriously, to find and eliminate our loopholes.
As I am writing this article, the word “interest” comes to mind. I suddenly remembered what Master said in “What is a Dafa Disciple,”
“When someone is seized by a whim and acts on it, that doesn’t count as compassion. Rather, in that case it stems from the person’s likings. Or put more bluntly, it’s out of attachment. True compassion doesn’t have any selfishness mixed in, and one will, when dealing with anyone, or sentient beings in general, look at things with righteous thoughts and loving kindness.”
Looking at myself, I sometimes write experience sharing papers based on my interests. Prior to cultivation, I liked writing essays, especially those to express my feelings. Thus, unknowingly, the words I chose for writing experience sharings have strong sentimental tones. Once, after my article was edited by Clearwisdom editors, it looked purified. The editors eliminated the fancy, pointless words I had used. I was able to see my strong sentimental feelings from the words I chose to use. Through searching within, I discovered those loopholes and have been constantly eliminating them. A fellow practitioner who reads my articles often said, “The way one writes reflects one's appearance and heart. Your articles are purer than before, you've made some major improvements!” I replied: “Master gave me the magic pen, Dafa gave me wisdom. The words come to me once the foundation is there.”
“Search within” are not common words, they are Fa and they have deep meanings. They are like keys to untie the knots we are unable to solve. On our road to divinity, let us use the the magic of “searching within” to solve our problems, avoid unnecessary setbacks, save more sentient beings and better cultivate ourselves!
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Category: Improving Oneself
