(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I would like to report to Master and fellow practitioners about the journey of how I and my Fa-study group are constantly looking inward to find and remove attachments, rectify shortcomings and believe in Master and Dafa one hundred percent. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
1. Studying the Fa Well and Laying a Solid Foundation of Constantly Looking Inward on Everything
Master has taught us in many Fa lectures to look inward when encountering conflicts. Master also told us: “... looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”) But during the actual tribulation, many practitioners could not calm down and look inward for their own attachments. They often find themselves being led by the conflict and the appearance of things. They only look at other people's shortcomings; they don't think about what attachments attracted these conflicts. When practitioners point out to them to look inward, they still try to explain angrily: “It's obviously the other person's fault, why do I need to look inward?” All these things happen because we have not studied the Fa well. I was also in this state previously: I have a very good state of mind when studying the Fa, but it's still difficult for me to control when encountering conflicts.
Master told us in “Drive Out Interference”: “The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (In Essentials for Further Advancement II) Realizing the importance of studying the Fa, we quickly resumed group Fa-study. Everyone who participated in group Fa-study saw rapid improvements and learned how to look inward. I am no longer anxious, nor do I always focus on other people's shortcomings. Now I look inward when I see others' shortcomings.
But over time it became a formality, and we were no longer able to put the Fa into our hearts while studying the Fa. Focusing on this issue, we found many fundamental attachments by looking inward. For example, the attachment to the timing of Fa-rectification. With the prolonging of Fa-rectification, we started thinking that we should take our time in validating the Fa and that we need to take care of everyday life first. As a result, we became less diligent gradually. Our attachment to personal gain grew, and there were more practitioners attached to comfort. While we were still doing the three things on the surface, our dedication was compromised.
For example, recently a practitioner from our group encountered direct interference from the evil after he slacked off in cultivation for a long time. This practitioner also realized the seriousness of the issue, but he still could not break through the state of slacking off. That is, he was not able to put the Fa into his heart when studying, not wanting to clarify the truth and not getting up every morning to do the exercises. Fellow practitioners were all worried about him, and he was also anxious. In his own words, it was like he could not be diligent anymore, regardless of how hard he tried. In fact, his words also pointed out his state of Fa-study. Master has said to us: “A Dafa disciple’s righteous thoughts stem from the Fa, ...” (“Be More Diligent”) If we don't have the righteous thoughts of being diligent, then it indicates exactly that we have not studied the Fa well. At the same time, when we look inward, we also correctly lay down a foundation for studying the Fa. We study the Fa not for the sake of study, nor for maintaining the form of learning. Fa-study is a process of assimilating to the Fa. It is a process of constantly identifying shortcomings by examining ourselves according to the Fa, rectifying the shortcomings and strengthening our righteous thoughts. After clarifying this relationship, we adjusted our state of mind when studying the Fa. We removed the attachment to quantity when studying the Fa. Instead, we put more effort into improving the quality of our Fa-study. Now we try our best to meet Master's requirements to study the Fa with our hearts and melt into the Fa.
Once at a group study, when we started to read the Fa, I had all kinds of thoughts in my mind that I was not able to suppress, no matter how hard I tried. I remembered that Master asked us to melt into the Fa. So I thought: “Then let me unconditionally melt my mind and body into the Fa!” I deliberately stopped artificially suppressing these thoughts; instead I focused more on melting my mind into the Fa. When my mind gradually melted into the Fa, the bad selfish thoughts were either rectified or eliminated by Dafa, and they instantly vanished.
2. Looking Inward and Improving Myself Gradually Through Coordination
After July 20, 1999, I participated in coordinating the work of fellow practitioners. Initially, the evil persecution was very severe, and I had a large attachment of fear. As a coordinator I also felt a lot of pressure. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do a good job, which would affect other practitioners.
Master said, “Fear is a death trap on a human being's journey toward divinity.” (“Pass the Deadly Test”) “If you are not afraid, the factor that would make you afraid will cease to exist.” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)” in Essentials for Further Advancement II) Through repeatedly studying Master's Fa lectures, I was able to identify the origin of the attachment of fear by looking inward. The attachment of fear is an attachment of selfishness and an attachment to oneself. It is fear of suffering of one's body, personal gain or reputation. Isn't that protecting everyday people's “fame, profit and sentiment”? Realizing this, my mind is always filled with Fa. When I keep righteous thoughts, my attachment of fear is weaker and weaker. But sometimes the attachment of fear still comes up. Through studying the Fa and looking inward, I found another issue, which is the issue of believing in Master and Dafa. When we treat the persecution as people persecuting people, we lack trust in Master and Dafa, and we make the persecution more evil in its appearance. Master said to us in “What’s There to Fear” (in Hong Yin Vol. II),
“If you have fear, they will grab you
Once your thought is righteous, evil will collapse
People practicing cultivation, filled with Fa
Sending righteous thoughts, exploding rotten ghosts
Gods are in the world, validating Fa”
During these years of cultivation as a coordinator, the most likely attachment to have is the self-validating attachment of showing-off. Through studying the Fa and looking inward, I gradually formed a mechanism or process for looking inward. When practitioner A tells me that practitioner B is not on the Fa, I will look at myself regarding the same issue; when I hear that a practitioner has been persecuted, I will examine whether my first thought is on the Fa; when a practitioner tells me that such and such is still interested in erotic things, I will treat it as a warning to myself, etc.
In short, looking inward is a magical tool that Master gave us. Then we should grasp this magical tool and make good use of it. When we can truly learn to look inward and are looking inward, we will create a diamond-like one body which has no energy channels and no acupuncture points. It will be all-conquering and the evil will perish.
3. Looking Inward and Ascending to One Hundred Percent Belief in Master and Dafa
During the more than ten years of cultivation, no matter what tribulation and test we face, we are always tested on the same issue: do we believe in Master and Dafa? If we have a starting point of one hundred percent belief in Master and Dafa, all the conflicts and difficulties will be resolved, and everything will be rectified and resolved in a benevolent way by Dafa. How we maintain the righteous thought of belief in Master and Dafa is a cultivation process of our continuously removing human notions and ascending to one hundred percent belief in Master and Dafa.
Some time ago, I fell while riding a motorcycle, which resulted in a dislocated wrist and chest contusion. After I came back home, my wrist was badly swollen, and it was very painful. My family insisted that I go to see an orthopedic doctor. Because I was really attached to comfort at that time, I didn't object to doing so. When we got there, the orthopedic doctor's office was closed. I began to wake up: I am a Dafa practitioner, why do I ask an everyday person to treat my illness? Whatever issues I have should be rectified by Dafa. Isn't Dafa omnipotent? So I sat down and started looking inward. Besides my obvious attachments, the most fundamental issue I found was that I was not dedicated enough in my belief in Master and Dafa. During the critical times, I did not do as Master told us; instead I used everyday people's thinking. Realizing this, I made up my mind. Master said that practitioners don't have illnesses. Then I should not have any illness, and I should resume what I was doing. I started doing the exercises. I felt excruciating pain and some of my movements were not fully correct. I ignored it and continued doing the exercises. When I was doing the third exercise, I clearly felt discomfort in the dislocated wrist and heard some noise come from it. Therefore I deliberately slowed down every time I did “chong-guan” in order to reduce the pain. I was in fact using human ways to face this problem. At the third “chong-guan” I unconsciously relaxed this human notion. Not paying attention, I heard a slight sound and my dislocated wrist was restored during the exercise. The unbearable pain disappeared. My eyes were filled with tears of joy. I cried; I cried for my unworthiness. I was ashamed of not letting go of fame, profit, sentiment and hatred in the human world, while holding the glittering and all-powerful Dafa without cherishing it.
Realizing this, I felt that cultivation is not really difficult. Our whole cultivation process is a continuous process of believing in Master and Dafa. When we believe in Master and Dafa one hundred percent on everything without wavering, we are already in the realm of enlightened beings at different levels.
4. Looking Inward at Anytime on Anything and Cultivating with Renewed Diligence and Vitality
Looking inward is reflected in every matter in cultivation. Whenever we feel upset or happy, we should look inward. It's guaranteed we have attachments when we are easily affected by conflicts; otherwise nothing in everyday society will be able to move our hearts. Of course, we are cultivating in the human world. It's impossible to not have any human attachments and notions. Therefore, it's not terrible to have attachments. What's worrisome is when we have attachments, but we don't look inward and cultivate ourselves. Can we say we are true practitioners? Can we have the honor of being Dafa practitioners, without doing what we should according to the requirements of Dafa? Perhaps this is the fundamental reason that Dafa practitioners are persecuted and experience interference.
I remember that when practitioners started to spread the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and help people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, there were many unclear minds. So we encountered all sorts of things and interference. For example, after reading the Nine Commentaries, an official in our village thought we were engaging in politics and almost slammed the door on a fellow practitioner.
We focused on this incident to share our understandings and truly look inward from the standpoint of the Fa. Many practitioners had this thought: “We knew that what Master told us to do was obviously correct. But we still had doubts: is this engaging in politics? Is this related to cultivation?” As we were doing Dafa work with these human notions, no wonder non-practitioners said that we were engaging in politics. In fact, the reactions of everyday people are prompted by our attachments. Realizing this, practitioners all understood at once: it's our human attachments and notions that block sentient beings from being saved! In this regard, if we don't cultivate well, it's also an obstacle to saving sentient beings. So every Dafa practitioner is responsible. The main reason is still not believing in Master and Dafa enough, in addition to a lack of Fa-study and studying the Fa with human attachments. The evil old forces are using Dafa practitioners' attachments to stir things up. Plus the CCP evil spirits are manipulating people in society. After sorting these things out, we sent forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate the CCP evil spirits that were manipulating and preventing people from being saved. Not long after, I ran into this official as he was unloading a truck. I went to help him and asked him to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Without interference by evil spirits, he gladly quit the evil CCP organization.
My overall experience is that looking inward is truly a magical tool. It is a magical tool Master gave us to slay demons on our cultivation path and cultivate with renewed diligence and vitality. This tool is invisible and intangible, but it is ever-present and it's everywhere. As long as we learn how to “look inward” and always use the magic tool of “looking inward” on everything, it will work: perhaps persecution and interference are disintegrated; perhaps conflicts are resolved; perhaps tantrum-throwing non-practitioners calm down and accept the truth and are saved; perhaps the sick body becomes free of illness and becomes light; perhaps a dead end road and closed door are opened, etc. Whenever I encounter a seemingly hopeless situation and am able to look inward on the basis of the Fa, most likely a realm of “After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!” will appear. (“Lecture Nine” in Zhuan Falun)
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