(Minghui.org) After reading the article “Some Thoughts on Most Dafa Disciples’ Cultivation State,” I’d like to share some of my understanding about it.
The practitioner pointed out in the article that some common problems among Dafa practitioners, such as that a large number of practitioners have failed to meet the standards of our cultivation and haven’t done the three things well, especially regarding sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result, we have not been able to save as many people, and the persecution in many places in China is still severe.
Indulging Ourselves as Everyday People
Since the persecution started in 1999, we Dafa disciples have entered the Fa-rectification period of our cultivation and have committed ourselves to safeguarding the Fa, resisting the persecution, and clarifying the truth to save sentient beings.
While doing these things, however, we have slacked off in the most important aspect—cultivating our own xinxing, and we sometimes even forget we are cultivators, to the point of neglecting the standards required of us. Many of us think that as long as we study the Fa, clarify the truth, and send forth righteous thoughts, we are qualified Dafa disciples.
The reality is that in many cases, Fa study has become a formality, our truth-clarification is less effective because we are not very clear about the truth ourselves, and while sending forth righteous thoughts many of us are not even aware whether our thoughts are righteous or not.
If the cultivation state of most Dafa disciples is like this, then how can we possibly achieve Consummation?!
Just Going Through the Motions When Studying the Fa—Behaving Like Everyday People
I feel that the biggest problem among fellow practitioners is that many of us don’t truly understand the Fa principles. Although practitioners study the Fa every day, it is often just going through the motions. After Fa study, people start chatting about family issues, about this practitioner or that practitioner, or try to resolve issues using everyday people’s thinking.
In the early years before the persecution, practitioners always shared how they had elevated based on the Fa, their new understandings of Fa principles, how they had overcome tests in family relationships, or how they overcame tribulations of sickness karma with strong righteous thoughts. Each sharing was connected with xinxing cultivation.
After the persecution started, Dafa disciples in China began to share more on how to resist the persecution.
Over the years, we have also summed up a lot of experience to counter the persecution. For example, many say that they will not be persecuted if they do things based on the Fa, so they spend more time studying or reciting the Fa.
Believing that sending forth righteous thoughts can eliminate the evil, many have started sending forth righteous thoughts more often. But oftentimes their thoughts are not truly righteous as required, such as “So and so, who is persecuting Dafa disciples must die, and die immediately, let so and so get better from his/her illness quickly, eliminate all that interferes with so and so,” as well as other odd thoughts.
I have shared with many fellow practitioners, and asked if they also study Master’s new lectures in addition to Zhuan Falun. Many of them said that even reading one lecture a day isn’t easy, because there are so many things to do, and they need to rescue this practitioner or help that practitioner, etc.
When I asked if they studied Essentials for Further Advancement, many said that they only read the new articles one or two times, as it was difficult to keep them at home.
Master has told us again and again that Dafa disciples must study the Fa more, study the Fa well, and understand the Fa principles. Many, however, are just going through the motions when they study the Fa. They are unwilling to keep Master’s recent articles at home due to the attachment of fear, and they try to find excuses for not studying them.
There are also many practitioners who have been lingering in tribulations for a long time and can not overcome them.
Some practitioners have not been able to get over sickness karma for years, and when the pain becomes too much to bear, they go to the hospital for medication or surgical procedures. One practitioner said, “I study the Fa every day, but I don’t see anything new. When I can’t read, I listen to the Fa, but I’m still in great pain, so I have to go to the hospital.”
It might be a minor issue if one goes to the hospital out of desperation, but it is a big problem if one does not understand the Fa principles and can’t pass tests in cultivation.
Those practitioners cannot maintain righteous thoughts during tribulations, and when things get tough and their xinxing doesn’t improve, they complain that Master is not helping them.
If we really want to elevate in the Fa and truly understand the Fa principles, we need to calmly read Essentials for Further Advancement ten times in a row.
Not Understanding What It Means to “Look Within”
Not looking within to find one’s own problems is a common problem among many practitioners. For many, “looking inward” has become no more than a phrase, and they have a very shallow understanding of what it entails. Everyone talks about “looking within,” but when things happen, they all look for external causes.
Another problem is that many of us do not know what their human notions and attachments are, so the concept of “looking inward” has become empty words.
A fellow practitioner once came to see me. We hadn’t seen each other for many years because she had been illegally sentenced to nine years in prison. She shared with me enthusiastically about this practitioner and that practitioner, and everything was about others.
But when I asked her to spend more time studying the Fa herself instead of trying to solve others’ problems, she didn’t agree and left disappointed.
There are also fellow practitioners who study the Fa very well. When they talk, they can cite the Fa one paragraph after another and see others’ attachments very clearly. However, they don’t look within to cultivate their own xinxing, thinking they are perfect in every way.
Cultivation is about tempering one’s own xinxing and character. If one sees oneself as so perfect, with hardly any human attachments, then what is there to cultivate?
With that mindset, one will not even recognize if their conduct is in compliance with the Fa. This could be the reason why some practitioners frequently speak in an arrogant manner and do things that damage the Fa without realizing it.
Deeply Poisoned by Atheism
When practitioners do not know how to look inward, are unwilling to do so, or cannot find any of their human attachments, it probably indicates that they don’t understand the Fa.
They tend to do things with human thinking and look at things based on degenerated moral standards, Party culture, and atheism. These things have made it harder for them to distinguish good from bad. When they do something wrong, they always blame others.
I have noticed that almost every song lyric in Hong Yin VI mentions that atheism is a deceptive ruse. We were deeply poisoned by atheism and the CCP culture in China, and such poison is far from being cleaned out of our minds. Oftentimes, things may look normal, but when we look at them more deeply, we can see that atheism is playing a role behind the scenes.
When I became aware of this issue, I saw that many fellow practitioners who have been cultivating Dafa for over 20 years are still suffering from the poison of atheism.
I believe this is why many fellow practitioners gave in easily and wrote guarantee statements when the police ordered them to. But they still want to practice Falun Gong and enjoy good health, so they made a “solemn declaration” on Minghui.org to nullify their statements, treating cultivation like child’s play.
They probably do not truly believe that “there are gods three feet above our heads” and “good is rewarded with good and evil incurs evil,” which explains why some practitioners would never admit their wrongdoing unless undeniable evidence is laid bare in front of them.
There are also people who practice Falun Gong but do not believe in gods. One woman told me that she practices Falun Gong for good health. “I’ve become healthy and strong,” she said. “I can carry two bags of fertilizer up the mountain, where I opened a few acres of wasteland to grow corn. I also raise a few pigs every year and make over 10,000 yuan selling them.”
“Do you study the Fa?” I asked her. “Of course. I even recite Zhuan Falun,” she said, and started to recite the first lecture from the book.
From our conversation, I have also recognized the poison of atheism in myself, which is the biggest obstacle that has hindered me from having 100% faith in Master and Dafa.
I remember a story from ancient times recorded in Zhang Daoling Tested Zhao Sheng Seven Times. In this story, Zhang’s principal disciple Zhou Chang asked him, “Amongst so many of your disciples, why is it that only Zhao Sheng reached Consummation?”
“Because Zhao Sheng is the only one who is free from secular attachments,” Zhang Daoling replied.
What I see in that story is the complete faith Zhao Sheng had in his master. From his master’s perspective, if his disciples wanted to reach Consummation in cultivation, they must first of all have the will to become divine and transcend the secular world.
I then remembered a line in Master’s poem “Your Heart Should Know:”
“Vessels freed of attachments quickly skim forthVessels humanly burdened struggle along at sea”(“Your Heart Should Know,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
Treating the Fa with Everyday People’s Gratitude
Due to a shallow understanding of the Fa principles, we may tend to treat Master and Dafa with human sentiments and gratitude. This prevents us from elevating in cultivation.
I would like to encourage fellow practitioners to read Master’s article “Cautionary Advice” in Essentials for Further Advancement, and study the book repeatedly to quickly improve comprehension of the Fa principles.
Cherishing How Master Cherishes Us
Master treasures every one of us who has made it through to today and regards us as Dafa disciples. We must not keep doing wrong things based on everyday people’s reasoning.
Looking back on our paths of cultivation, some have walked righteously, some have gone astray, some gave up halfway, and others dropped out completely.
Master has been watching us all along. When we stumbled and fell, we were given opportunities to stand up and move on again. Master has repeatedly postponed the ending time, in the hope that we can succeed in cultivation and truly elevate in the Fa. But we must stop making the same mistakes over and over again.
Dafa disciples in China should be relatively mature in doing things by now, but our cultivation state is not that good. The persecution is still going on, not because the evil is powerful, but because we are so burdened with human attachments and we can’t shed this human skin!
When I look around, I see many fellow practitioners in our area who have fallen and didn’t get up, or went astray and refused to get back on the right track. There are also many others keenly holding on to personal fame and gain.
I’m not a pessimist, but what I have said above is indeed the cultivation situation in my local area. We need to become more clear-headed and rational and catch up quickly in both personal cultivation and doing well the three things, so that we will not suffer the pain of eternal remorse and regret.
The above is only my limited understanding at my current level. Please kindly point out anything improper in the sharing.
Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Perspectives
