(Minghui.org) Master said:
“As long as you cultivate and as long as you’re able to understand the Fa from the Fa, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.” (“Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II)
When I first read the Falun Dafa teachings, I told myself that I must understand the Fa from the Fa. Only this way can I walk well on the cultivation path, and increase my ability to resist the persecution.
Let Go of Oneself, Treat Practitioners’ Indifferent Attitudes Positively
One year, as World Falun Dafa Day approached, I tried to convince fellow practitioners to pass out Dafa informational materials to celebrate it. I went to talk to the group, but none of them said anything. The next day I thought of it again. I didn’t want to give up but didn’t know what to do.
I suddenly recalled the scene when I first talked to them. I was happy when I saw that those I was looking for were in the same room. But I didn’t realize that they were together for studying the Fa—I only had the thing I wanted to achieve in mind.
All of sudden I realized that Master was telling me I should have put down myself and studied the Fa with the practitioners. I was being selfish, and not considering the needs of others. I decided to look for them again. This time I would study the Fa with them first, and then talk about the thing that I wanted to discuss.
When I found them, they were studying the Fa together. I joined them. During the discussion, I treated practitioners’ negative attitudes as good things, because only when the problems are exposed, can we cultivate and eliminate them. If they are hiding, we cannot cultivate. This time, most practitioners supported my idea, and proactively took some assignments.
On Falun Dafa Day, practitioners cooperated and distributed a lot of materials. I didn’t feel tired and instead had a relaxed feeling for the first time.
Pay Attention to Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
One day I realized that some of the problems facing the local practitioners had worked themselves out. I asked myself to find the solution from the Fa. I studied the Fa, and looked within. I found that the reason was my failing to send forth enough righteous thoughts. So I decided to correct myself.
The second day, a practitioner complained to me about her conflicts with another practitioner. I did not ask her to look within as I used to, but that day we read the Minghui Weekly first. When we opened the magazine, the first article we saw was a practitioner talking about intensively sending forth righteous thoughts when their area had conflicts. I told myself that this is what we should do.
I talked to the group, and we decided to form a sending righteous thoughts team to solve our local problems. The team sent forth righteous thoughts together three times a week, two hours each time. All practitioners joined the team.
I clearly remember that during sending righteous thoughts a large piece of rotten stuff fell out of my field. In my heart I felt that a heavy burden was removed.
To my surprise, fellow practitioners said they had similar experiences. Two days later the local police carried out a large scale search and arrest action, but none of us experienced any trouble.
From then on, intensively sending righteous thoughts has become something I must do every day. I realized that it is very important in the Fa-rectification cultivation, and it is a process of cultivating.
Treat Practitioners with Compassion
One day I heard that a coordinator in a nearby town had been arrested. This reminded me of a local coordinator practitioner whose cultivation state was similar to the arrested practitioner. I looked down on her, and didn’t want to hang out with her.
But then I reminded myself that we were cultivating the same Fa and we are both Master’s disciples, saving people in the persecution together. So I told myself to prioritize the Fa, and do what Master wants. I should form a whole body with fellow practitioners. Otherwise I would be on the side of the old forces.
I thought I had jealousy and competitiveness. I was not compassionate. I told myself that I was not like a cultivator, and my thoughts were not on the Fa. I had set up a barrier between myself and the fellow practitioner, that I should eliminate.
I decided to share my thoughts with the coordinator, but I was afraid that my understandings were wrong, and they may interfere with her. To make sure it was OK, I talked to a senior practitioner, and asked her to tell me if I was wrong. But she totally agreed with me and supported my idea of sharing with that coordinator.
So I did. Whenever the coordinator didn’t agree with me, I looked within. When I noticed my fears and jealousy, I sincerely told her that her understandings of security were wrong. Finally, she agreed with me because she saw that my motivation was sincere and compassionate.
Through this experience, I saw that studying the Fa well and cultivating myself well are not only my responsibility, but also parts of validating the Fa and protesting the persecution.
Looking Within When Hearing of Persecution of Fellow Practitioners
When I first heard that a group of local practitioners were arrested, suddenly a sneer feeling arose in my mind. I became alert right away. How can I sneer when practitioners are arrested? This is problematic and also dangerous. I started to look within.
I found that I liked to judge others, pointing out what they did wrong. On the surface it is a complaint, but deep down it is rooted in jealousy, and jealousy is caused by my self-righteousness.
I looked at my heart again. This time I saw practitioners’ shining points and my shortcomings. I realized that I should improve myself. Only by continuing to look within and handling the problems on the Fa, can we do the three things well.
Fear Is Not from My True Self
After practitioners were arrested, although I still did what I should do at the surface, deep in my heart I felt upset, nervous, and anxious. I felt stress. So I looked within. I realized that the true self is divine, and it came for the Fa, so it will not feel fear. The uncontrollable fear I had did not come from my true self. It was from the bad beings that were afraid of being disintegrated.
Thinking of this, I started to look for the reason for fear. At the beginning, I found nothing, but I persisted. After a while, I decided to check if I had similar problems that the arrested practitioners had. I saw something, but was still not clear.
I suddenly thought about one of my recent behaviors. I submitted an article to the Minghui website, but it didn’t get published. I was calm at the beginning. But when I saw that an article with the same topic was published, I felt upset. I could not get rid of it or suppress it. I knew it was a demonic thought, pursuing fame and being jealous. I forced myself to push it down, but in my heart, I had not really improved.
Thinking of this, I saw some gray stuff developing in my mind, and there were tiny beings moving in the stuff. I realized that this must be the cause of the fear. I looked at them carefully, and found that they were the same kind of beings. I believe that they were “conceited notion.” They were the stuff that was afraid of being disintegrated. I felt peace when I realized that. I genuinely felt that the stuff that made me upset, nervous, and anxious had left.
But the pressure in my mind was not completely gone. I still held fear. I was not completely sure if my understanding was correct. To my surprise, a few days later, a fellow practitioner came to my house to tell me that in her dream, she saw a few bad beings leaving my house. I realized that she was sent here by Master to remind me that I should put down my concerns and focus on cultivation.
Through this experience, I learned something new about looking within and had a new understanding of the Fa.
The above are my experiences and understandings. Recalling the past, most of what I experienced is Master’s salvation. Without Master’s help and guidance, I would have not been able to walk this far smoothly.
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Category: Improving Oneself
