(Minghui.org) People have both a divine and a human side. The human side has human thoughts and notions acquired after birth. The divine side also has thoughts, but they are usually suppressed.
Because our mind controls how we think, what we say, and how we behave it plays an important role.
As we raise our cultivation level, our human side should become weaker, our divine side stronger, and our understanding of the Fa should become more godlike.
When they encounter problems, many practitioners view Master and the Fa based on their human thinking. Consequently, their thoughts were not always based on the Fa, their behavior is somewhat irrational, and they fail to remember “cultivation of speech.” They regard the Fa with human logic, thus diminishing their faith and their respect toward Master and the Fa.
Why I Was Unable to Recite Zhuan Falun
I’ve been trying to memorize Zhuan Falun. It was easy to memorize a paragraph, but I’ve had a hard time connecting the paragraphs. I could not recite the entire book. I became very frustrated.
I knew that reciting Zhuan Falun is part of the cultivation process, but it's not easy. I struggled for the longest time. I looked inward, found some shortcomings and got rid of them. This did not really help me recite the book.
Master pointed things out to me one day. I had a realization while reading Zhuan Falun – not only are the words the Fa, the order and the connection between the paragraphs are also manifestations of the Fa. The profound meaning runs throughout every sentence and paragraph, and expresses Master’s wisdom. The reason I could not recite the Fa in its entirety was because of my thoughts.
At the same time, I read a Minghui article, “Abandon Human Notions and Logic to Enlighten to the Profound Content of Dafa,” and I saw where my problem was.
I was trained in modern medicine and grew up in communist controlled China, so I was conditioned to think a certain way. This thought process occupied a substantial part of my mind and became a fixture on my human side. I did not realize that I had brought this type of thinking and logic into Dafa cultivation. I did not even try to eliminate it.
This kind of thinking was arranged by the old forces, and the main reason why I could not recite Zhuan Falun.
I then better understood why we should read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Disintegrate Party Culture (a book published by Chinese Epoch Times, similar to the Nine Commentaries). I understood why we help Chinese people to do the “three withdrawals,” get rid of the indoctrination by the Party, and negate the old forces' arrangements.
When I first learned about doing the three things, I just went through the motions, and did what we were supposed to do. I did not quite understand the meaning behind them, let alone eliminating the human notions I still had.
Master said,
“...thinking about eliminating the bad thoughts, karma, bad notions, and external interference in their minds. As you’re like this, think that they die, and then they will be eliminated. Five minutes will do.”(“Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference,” Guiding the Voyage)
I became aware that human thoughts are complicated. A person’s thought karma, thoughts that people consider normal, and other external messages are actually bad when we measure them against the standards of the Fa.
We need to eliminate all of them. Therefore, Master arranged and taught us to “send forth righteous thoughts” as one of the three things to solve the “thought” issue.
Master said,
“My overall impression is that most Dafa disciples have matured; the way in which they are cultivating has matured; the understanding cultivators have of cultivation has matured; and the rational behavior that comes from a progressive decrease in human thoughts has, likewise, matured. When all Dafa disciples are like this, the evil will be completely eliminated and Gods and Buddhas will grandly manifest.”(“Mature,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
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Category: Improving Oneself
