(Minghui.org) I come across different kinds of people every day and have concluded that there are three kinds of gaps that Dafa cultivators must break through in order to save sentient beings and cultivate ourselves well.
The Gap Between Those Who Cultivate Dafa and Those Who Don't
When telling people the facts of Falun Dafa, I am often troubled by my inability to truly save them. Whenever I was going to talk to someone about withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, I could clearly feel that there was a huge gap between us, like a wall between us in another dimension. There was a kind of power that prevented me from continuing. I wondered where the root of this gap originated.
Through memorizing the Dafa teachings and genuinely cultivating, I gradually discovered that the root of the gap was in my heart and that the manifestation of it in this dimension was represented by my human notions. Let me share a story:
A co-worker of mine, Zhao, often had many things to worry about. Looking at him pacing back and forth one day, I pondered, “Why didn't he want to believe the facts about Dafa? What problems do I have?” Eventually, I realized that I had the same problem: I always felt uneasy, and my mind was often troubled by small things for no clear reason. Zhao was reflecting my own issues for me to see, like a mirror! I also saw that he had given me the key to how to save him – I had to get rid of my human notions.
I recently enlightened that everyone who comes into contact with me has all kinds of issues and that I must address these issues to save them. These issues are gaps between us, and I must elevate in Dafa to remove them. If their corresponding worlds deviate from Dafa, it is due to the bad factors in me that have prevented them from returning to their original worlds. I must dispel my attachments and everything that hinders me from saving people. I must eliminate all of the bad notions and cultivate myself well.
The Gaps Among Fellow Cultivators
This kind of gap is a problem that I have only recently begun to pay attention to. I often ran into conflicts with fellow cultivators and could not control my anger. I was like that for a long time.
There are five of us in my family and we are all Dafa cultivators. We often cooperate together to do Dafa projects. My mother-in-law and I do the exercises together every morning. Yet, for a period of time last spring, she often dozed off when doing the fifth exercise. So I constantly opened my eyes to watch her to make sure she did not fall asleep again. Later on, I myself began to doze off when meditating and sending forth righteous thoughts. I even began to miss the alarm to wake me up in the morning. I also had all sorts of dreams at night, leaving me tired and sleepy during the day. This troubled me for a long time. I recently discovered that this was because I had not genuinely cultivated myself among my family members who were also fellow cultivators. The evil forces were creating gaps to push us apart.
I did not pay attention to my tone of voice when I spoke to them, so I often missed the opportunity to improve my xinxing. I believed that they should listen to me, and sometimes I even gave them orders on how to cultivate.
For example, when my husband could not get up in the morning to do the exercises with us, I formed a notion that it was due to his laziness, so I often scolded him. When my mother-in-law chatted about trivial things, I immediately assumed that she was not diligent in cultivation and complained that she was sending me negative thoughts. After my father-in-law memorized Dafa teachings once, he stopped doing it, prompting me to have the notion that he was not cultivating well, so I was impatient with him. I even felt sad that there were no good fellow cultivators nearby and no good role models for me to follow.
In response to my problems with fellow cultivators, I recently searched inside and discovered that I had so many bad opinions about them! I often saw that no one was pleasing to my eye, and all their shortcomings were apparent to me. I told myself that I had sided with the old forces because I often measured my fellow cultivators against my own standards. Looking for errors in others instead of searching inside and not cultivating myself, I have missed many opportunities to cultivate.
My opinions are only superficial representations that are made up of concepts derived from selfishness. The ideas that deviated from Dafa were extended from my corresponding world to me in this dimension. I must disintegrate these notions and use Dafa to measure all of my thoughts to rectify myself in Dafa
The Gap Between Me and Those Loyal to the CCP
This kind of gap is also very difficult to close, because it manifests in those who participate in the persecution of Dafa cultivators and those who worship the evil CCP. In the face of their behavior, I am often completely overcome with pain and hatred, and it is difficult for me to show them compassion. To save them, I should further expand my capacity and bridge the gap between us. Let me share two stories.
The Village CCP Secretary
When we were ready to send righteous thoughts one night, my mother-in-law told me that the CCP secretary in their hometown had asked her relatives to give him their phone numbers.
Everyone in their village knew that our entire family practiced Falun Dafa. Pressured by the village government, my mother-in-law had given her husband’s ID number to the village CCP secretary many years ago without letting me know, so my father-in-law’s name was put on the local government's blacklist. Later, our entire family's names were added to the blacklist.
When I closed my eyes to send forth righteous thoughts that night, my mind was filled with fear, hatred, and anger. I thought that I could not forgive the village CCP secretary for persecuting good people. Then I noticed that my nose had started to bleed. Why?
If I cultivated Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I could not harbor hatred! I absolutely did not want negative thoughts in my mind! From then on, I intentionally dispelled hatred and restrained myself from having negative thoughts by constantly sending forth righteous thoughts.
The village CCP secretary had repeatedly harassed my family in the past. The reason he collected our family's phone numbers was to collaborate with the authorities. But I do not want to hate him, I want to have compassion, because I am a Dafa cultivator who follows Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Our Daughter's School
Our daughter's school informed us that they would hold their annual event to commemorate important CCP figures who've died. During the event, all the students would be required to wear the red scarf of the Young Pioneers and salute the CCP's red flag.
Our daughter was sick that day, so she did not go to school. If she had, she would have been forced to wear a red scarf like the other students although she was not a member of the Young Pioneers.
I am particularly saddened by the fact that the school holds similar events all the time. Fellow cultivators and my family members send forth thoughts, but we have not been able to stop the school from hosting those events, and neither can we prevent the CCP from poisoning people's minds.
Thinking about the people whose minds were poisoned by the CCP, I had felt helpless, and wished that I had some power to destroy the CCP completely. However, now I know that the root of that thought is hatred – something that a cultivator should get rid of.
If my heart is filled with hate, it is a gap that separates me from sentient beings, and my righteous thoughts will not be effective.
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Category: Improving Oneself
