(Minghui.org) Since I returned to cultivation in Falun Dafa, after previously being forced to give it up due to the persecution, I have not been able to clarify the truth effectively. Though I tried many times, I haven’t made a breakthrough, which has caused me considerable distress and frustration.
I studied the Fa every day, and asked for Master’s help, but my diligence only lasted for a short period before I became lax again. As a result, I wasted a lot of precious time. Master has endured tremendous hardships to extend the time for us.
Practitioners tried to help me look inward. Although I made some progress, I haven’t made fundamental changes. I asked myself what attachments have been taken advantage of by the old forces?
A typhoon struck my area and led me to a realization. I would like to share my experience with fellow practitioners of how I looked inward and cultivated my xinxing.
In mid-September 2025, a strong typhoon struck my area, affecting several provinces. I live in a coastal city where the authorities issued a severe typhoon warning. Schools were closed, government offices and state-owned enterprises suspended operations, factories and shops shut down, and public transportation services were halted.
When I first heard the news, I remained quite calm. I thought the disaster had nothing to do with practitioners. I even wondered, “Is it really necessary to be so alarmed?”
On my way home from work that evening, it suddenly hit me that everyone in the area would be staying home the next day to avoid the approaching typhoon. I figured that by now the supermarket must be packed. I began to feel uneasy. Especially once in the store, when I saw that the shelves in the supermarket had been completely stripped of food and vegetables, and the notice announcing that the store would be closed the following day, my composure completely vanished. Panic took over and my mind went blank.
In a panic, I immediately rushed off to another supermarket and bought a huge pile of food and other necessaries, far more than I could possibly use. In reality, the typhoon was to only last for a day or two. The problem was that in the frenzy of buying, I found myself getting caught up in the panic. In that moment, I was no different from everyone else. My only thought was to stock up, get home, close the door, and retreat into the safety of my own little life.
Imagine how ordinary people would view Dafa disciples if they saw how we react in the face of disasters like these. How could they be saved? And how could this validate the Fa?
During the SARS outbreak, I rushed to buy salt. During COVID, I stockpiled food. Now, as Fa-rectification has entered its final stage, a typhoon arrives, and once again I’m stocking up on food instead of thinking, “With yet another disaster upon us, how many people who have never had the chance to hear the truth will be lost?”
Isn’t this exactly what has hindered my truth-clarification efforts all these years? My attachment to living a comfortable life among ordinary people, my fear of trouble, my mentality of self-preservation, and my pursuit of comfort have prevented me from truly stepping beyond the mindset of an everyday person all this time.
After dinner, it was time to attend group Fa study. Once again, my human thoughts began to arise: “Should I go or not? What if a typhoon arrives and I can’t get home?” Every one of these thoughts came from an ordinary human mindset. My starting point was entirely human. I was treating myself completely as an ordinary person.
This time, however, I decided that I would no longer allow those human thoughts to dominate my actions as they had before. Group Fa study is a form of cultivation that Master has left for us, and I must follow Master’s arrangements by participating, without interruption. So I picked up my umbrella and headed to the Fa study site. Although the rain soaked the lower half of my trousers, I was grateful that, this time, I had finally been able to act with righteous thoughts and righteous action.
Master said in “In Fa-Rectification Your Thoughts Have to Be Righteous, Not Human,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III:
“My Dafa disciples who have strong human thoughts: the path I’m leading you down heads toward godhood, yet some students just tenaciously cling to human notions. Before, in personal cultivation you always saw Dafa’s benefits as benefits for human society; during the tribulation, you’ve taken the persecution of Dafa disciples by evil beings in this cosmos using bad people to be human acts...”
This was exactly describing me. Whenever I face people who do not understand the truth about Dafa, I have failed to treat the so-called tracking and surveillance as illusions created by human beings persecuting one another, I have not maintained sufficient righteous thoughts to break through them. I also do not have enough compassionate and kind thoughts to regard them as Master’s relatives and as people to be saved. Because I have not clarified the truth well enough, sentient beings have not been able to be saved through me.
This self-centered, self-serving mentality is also reflected in my daily business. Whenever a client shows interest in cooperation, human thoughts immediately take the upper hand. My mind instantly begins generating all kinds of methods, measures, and even tactics, such as: how to set a price so as to maximize my own side’s profit, how to phrase things in a way so as to secure the order, rather than thinking from the client’s perspective about how to offer them the most favorable price and the best service.
When I hear that long-term clients have switched to working with other suppliers, I feel regret and a sense of loss, and at times even resentment and a feeling of unfairness. Instead of looking inward to see what attachments have been touched, I do not examine myself. Nor do I consider things from a perspective of benefiting others, and of being happy for them when they are doing well. Instead, I start searching for faults in the other party’s service, trying to prove that they are not as good as I am. In this process, my jealousy and competitive mentality are completely exposed.
Recently, a long-term client I had worked with for over 10 years, after multiple rounds of quoting and negotiations in line with their requirements, ultimately did not proceed with the deal I had assumed they would. After some inquiries, I learned that the client had chosen a new partner, and the transaction price was not low. In today’s difficult economic environment, losing an order worth tens of thousands is no small matter.
However, after repeated hardships, tests and inner struggles, along with continuous Fa study and Master’s compassionate help, I found myself surprisingly calm when I heard this news. I no longer blame external circumstances or dwell on personal gains and losses. Whoever gets the business, it is fine. It felt as though this matter had nothing to do with me at all.
When the typhoon came, Master compassionately used it to expose my deepest and most fundamental attachments. When the typhoon passed, however, it could not take those attachments away. That requires me to treat cultivation with utmost seriousness through genuine cultivation in the days ahead.
I need the courage to confront my attachments, identify every single thought and intention that falls short of the Fa, and, over time, eliminate the selfish nature that the old forces arranged: the mindset of living for oneself that led to the degeneration of the old universe.
Only by doing so can I truly change from a human being into a divine one. I must no longer fall short of Master’s compassionate salvation, nor the hopes of all sentient beings. As I write these words, my eyes are filled with tears.
Perhaps another typhoon will come again in the near future. I hope that by then I will truly cultivate myself with sincerity, fundamentally transform my nature, and complete the journey from human to divine.
Category: Improving Oneself
