(Minghui.org) I noticed a common phenomenon recently. Some practitioners did not do well in some seemingly basic and minor things in everyday life. I wondered how this could be. I would like to share my understanding of this phenomenon. I hope we can all pay attention to these issues and break through together.
The Evil is Watching Intently
A practitioner’s car decorative hanging caught my attention. It was a hand-embroidered decoration. When I looked at it, a picture appeared in my mind: This car hanging was a gift from a dignified and beautiful girl. I bluntly said, “This is a gift from a girl!” The practitioner was surprised upon hearing this, and then he explained, “I’m not having an affair with her.” I said, “How could you think that you are not moved when you see her hand-embroidered gift hanging in front of you all day long? Can you forget about her? Can you say you do not have a desire for her? What will happen if you let your desire grow? The evils are watching intently for our loopholes. Why are you so muddle-headed?”
The practitioner awakened immediately and removed the decoration. He looked inward, and found his attachment to lust, face, and sentimentality.
When people of the opposite sex are interested in practitioners, we should be alert, as it is a token of our loopholes. Ordeals may follow our loopholes.
We sometimes can pass the test if we cultivate every thought. However, many times we may not act properly, and may slip in cultivation.
For example, we may have tried very hard to get rid of the attachment to lust and desire. However, sometimes our spouses, especially non-practitioners, may talk to us intimately. If we are not attentive, it could lead us to engage in regrettable behavior.
We should be alert at all times and face all tests knowing how to act. Nothing that happens to a practitioner is accidental. Many things in our daily lives are to test if we are cultivating ourselves solidly.
Watch for Doing Wrong Despite Knowing Better
I was chatting with a practitioner under a tree one day, and some ants crawled around our shoes. I found them annoying, so I stepped on and killed dozens of ants. The practitioner asked surprisingly, “Why are you killing ants on purpose?” I realized it and said, “Yes, isn’t this killing?” I felt regret and apologized to the ants. Although I repented, I still had large red bumps on my body that itched and hurt, as if I had ant bites. I knew that the old forces took advantage of my loopholes to persecute me.
Some practitioners do wrongful acts while fully aware. For example, we all know there is no such thing as free lunch. But some practitioners were still unable to resist the temptation of the so-called high rate of return, and invested tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars into financial investment schemes. How many practitioners have bought into this and fallen into the trap laid by the old forces?
Some practitioners knew they should not get involved in loaning money at high interest rates, but they still can’t resist the temptation of high profits, and ask their relatives or family members to operate it for them. At first, they received some return, but most of the time, they lost all their money a little later.
A practitioner who did the three things well suddenly had a severe sickness tribulation and almost died. We learned that he said what he should not have said. When he felt uncomfortable, he said, “It is worse than death.” He invited the tribulation, and old force’s persecution.
A single practitioner who had sickness karma once said, “I am so lonely. Life is meaningless.” Aren’t they inviting the tribulation themselves? The old forces can’t wait for practitioners to die. Didn’t saying this invite the old forces’ persecution?
Improving Xinxing
A fellow practitioner felt resentment toward his neighbor because the neighbor asked him for help, but did not invite him to the dinner party. The practitioner’s wife added fuel to the fire and said, “Why did he ask you for help, but didn’t invite you to dinner. Don’t do anything for such people in the future.” The practitioner felt resentful and couldn’t get over it. A practitioner reminded him, “From which perspective should you view this? If you look at this from the perspective of ‘self’, you did not receive proper return for your work. But if you can view this issue from another perspective as a person thinking of others, then you can improve your xinxing from it.”
I was once distressed because a person borrowed money from me, but did not want to pay me back. I wondered what I could do to get my money back. I even thought about it in meditation. A practitioner who learned about it asked me, “Why did you come to earth? Was it because of this small profit? Are you still holding on to this little thing? How can you become a god if you are attached to this small thing?” I felt relieved when I realized my attachment to money.
A practitioner who used to be a Fengshui master did spirit communication business activities at funeral ceremonies, but he stopped doing it after he began cultivating. When his relative died, the child of the dead knelt to him, and asked him to host the ceremony again. The practitioner found another Fengshui master to do it for his relative, but the Fengshui master did not know how to do it, so the practitioner guided him on everything. The Fengshui master paid him money. The practitioner didn’t realize how serious this issue was until he was interfered with by weird sounds at home afterward, which lasted for several days.
Hurting Others by Doing Wrong
A practitioner’s vision became blurred, and he could not see things clearly, even with glasses. I asked him why and he said he watched a video several times even though he knew it was wrong. As cultivators, we can’t always knowingly do what is wrong. We must pass the test at some point.
A practitioner said he had not signed any renouncement statement in the “Zero-Out” campaign. He just smiled when I asked him about his attitude toward the harassment. It turned out that he was hiding behind his children, as he asked them to sign the statement on his behalf. Is this compassion? Isn’t it selfishness? Whoever signed the renouncement statement was committing a crime against Dafa. Will the old forces let these practitioners go?
A female practitioner did not want to get the vaccine shot. When the community center asked her why, she lied by saying, “I am preparing for another baby.” She was exempt from the mandatory shot. She was pretty happy at that time. I reminded her, “This is a big loophole as you did not tell the truth. The old forces may make you pregnant. Aren’t you making trouble for yourself?”
Master said,
“For instance, a Dafa disciple may have cultivated extremely well, but, no matter how well he cultivates, it is still a human being who cultivates, and as long as he has yet to achieve Consummation he will be composed of whatever makes up a human body at all levels...” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
My current understanding of Master’s teaching was that Master is so compassionate, but as disciples, we should be strict with ourselves in cultivation and walk out of humanness. The more we get to the end of Fa-rectification, the more we should be diligent. Stepping out of human notions as soon as possible is what Master wants.
[Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s current understanding meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)]
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Category: Improving Oneself
