(Minghui.org) I would like to share the following experience.
A Simple Practitioner
There is a practitioner at my practice site whose only education was elementary school. He always follows the requirements of the Falun Dafa teachings, and progresses diligently. He can sit with his legs double-crossed and study the teachings for three hours or more. When he meditates, he often has the feeling of sitting in an eggshell. “What Teacher says is what I do,” he often says. When we share experiences, he often quotes Teacher’s words, and most of us enjoy listening to him.
His thoughts are simple with few notions, and what he says is usually based on the Fa. Some practitioners often ask him questions, but still don’t know what to do after he answers them. He tells them, “You don’t always have to understand. Maybe it’s not time yet. When it’s time, the Fa will manifest in front of you naturally.”
At first, I didn't completely agree with him. I believed that the answers to some questions were obvious to some practitioners, but should be explained to others. For the parts of the Fa that we don't understand, we should try to think it through until we understand it. We should even look for meanings and hints behind the superficial meaning.
How I Look at Myself as a Practitioner
I am an intellectual, and I like to think. I try to figure everything out. I made sure that I understood and could explain the superficial meanings of the Fa. I also discovered many things that science couldn't explain. I always thought that my way of studying the Fa was right, and that the approach of the other practitioner was too extreme. He often stopped other practitioners from asking a lot of questions. My thought was that we should try to ask and answer questions so that we can better understand the Fa principles as a whole.
A while ago the old forces tried to interfere with me. As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw scenes, which were sometimes things and people from real life, and sometimes not. I saw them when I meditated or sent forth righteous thoughts. I tried to figure out what caused me to see these scenes so I could stop the interference. I wanted to know what I was seeing from a higher-level perspective, what the scenes were trying to tell me, and whether I was still cultivating at a low level.
Sharing With the Other Practitioner
I couldn't understand why I was seeing these scenes, and talked to that practitioner about them. He told me that I didn't have to lose any sleep over it. I told him that any circumstance could be Teacher's way of telling us something, and that we shouldn't miss the chance to improve. I asked, “If I don't know what they are, how can I eliminate them?” He asked me if the scenes were interfering with what I did. I told him they were. “If they are interfering with you, why don't you just eliminate them instead of trying to understand them? Do you want them to continue interfering with you?” His words sounded reasonable, but it wasn't the answer I wanted to hear.
There are two kinds of practitioners the evil old forces don't dare to persecute. One is the practitioners who know the teachings very well. The old forces can't find any gaps in their character and have no reason to persecute them. The other kind is those with very simple thoughts. They don't have much to share with others, but they believe 100% in the teachings and Teacher. They don't have many human notions to block them from doing what Teacher asks practitioners to do. They never wonder “why?”
Pondering at Home
I thought about every word the practitioner said after I got home. There wasn't anything wrong with what he said, but I just couldn't accept it. I needed to understand the principles, while he had simple thoughts. I didn't think his way of thinking was right for me. Then I asked myself, “Why couldn't I be a little simpler? Could I change my way of thinking?”
I thought of myself as an intellectual, and always evaluated everything by asking, “Does that make sense?” “Is it scientific?” This came from the communist ideology that I knew for dozens of years. I realized that this wasn't the road that I should travel, and decided to break free from this way of thinking.
When I first learned Falun Dafa, I couldn't just believe what Teacher said without having doubts. I went through a process of “doubt-explanations-breakthrough” before I could accept the teachings. After 18 years I decided to break through my logical and scientific way of thinking. It was totally unnecessary and wrong. I realized that I could simplify my thoughts, yet still believe and do whatever Teacher says and asks. As soon as I came to this conclusion, my heart lightened and I agreed with what the practitioner told me.
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Category: Improving Oneself
