Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What�s Happening?
- An Understanding of �Obtaining the Fa�
- To Fellow Practitioners Who Habitually Neglect the Practice of Falun Gong Exercises -- Countless Lives Yearn for Falun Gong Exercises
- On Respecting Teacher and Dafa
- A Whole New World, A Brand-New Person - Giving up Ego and Melting into Dafa
- Brain Science and Meditation
- A Few Words on Gaining an Advantage in Cultivation and What Genuine Cultivation Is
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the February 2008 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
The Human Rights Torch Relay was welcomed by India in end January.
There was a big event in Bangalore with the Divine Land Marching Band accompanying the Torch event in some places. This was followed by the Torch being hosted in Mumbai city.
We in India hope to make as many people aware of what the Torch stands for and its founding premise: The Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot coexist in China
Please visit this site and fill in the Support the Relay Form. http://www.humanrightstorch.org/join.php
Please forward it to as many people possible to create awareness.
In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites. We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don�t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of� practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What�s Happening?
Since everyone was busy with HRTR activities please
Check for reports and pictures of HRTR in Bangalore and Mumbai check on Clearwisdom and other Dafa websites.
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- 3. An Understanding of �Obtaining the Fa�
A Dafa Disciple
"Obtaining the Fa� has been one of the most frequently used phrases in discussions among Dafa disciples. However, on being asked what the exact meaning of �obtaining the Fa� is, practitioners are usually only able to give a general description of it. "When you obtain the Fa, Master will then take care of you; Master provides you with many Ji [mechanisms or machines] and you will increase your Gong by practicing ..."
However, I felt this explanation was still very vague. It was just like the junior monk�s explanation of consecration, "The Buddha statue will work after consecration." (From "Consecration" in Lecture 5 of Zhuan Falun) But it was not clear why the Buddha statue would work. The explanation is only superficial. I often thought about some questions that I was unable to answer. For example, for some phrases containing �Fa,� such as obtaining the Fa, studying the Fa, rectifying the Fa, assimilating into the Fa and Fa particles, how do they relate to each other?
Of course, I could come up with many superficial relations among them. But I always thought there should be a simple, essential relation. �A great way is extremely simple and easy.� (from Chapter One, "5. Five Exercises that are Easy and Simple to Learn," of The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa) and should be interpreted in a few words.
One day when I shared an experience with a fellow practitioner, a sentence she said raised my understanding at once. At least I obtained some enlightenment at my current level.
She said, �The reason why I am able to persist in practicing Falun Dafa during this difficult period is that I saw the �Fa� when I practiced for the first time.� Of course, I understood what she said was that she saw certain manifestations of the Fa. But when I heard her say of �seeing the Fa,� I immediately understood many Fa principles.
In fact, the reason that I did not understand �obtaining the Fa� very deeply before is that I thought �obtaining the Fa� was obtaining the high level �instruction� and Master�s protection, things like that. What I thought was not real and what I saw was not clear. My level limited my understanding.
Now I understand that the �obtaining� is neither getting something in everyday language, nor gaining or accepting something like a gift. In fact, it is the Fa�s thorough transformation of a life, a whole preparing process through which the life can enter into a new universe, and formation of a whole set of mechanisms from the most microscopic to the most macroscopic.
After enduring tens of thousands of hardships and difficulties, a practitioner is finally able to obtain the Dafa of the cosmos at the time when the entire cosmos is being renewed. What is that? It is Master giving you a complete set of essentials of Dafa used to build the new cosmos of your life. In other words, it is your cosmic system obtaining a set of mechanisms of the new cosmic Fa.
It is a real, concrete system. Obtaining the Fa is just like having a set of purification equipment installed in your body according to the standard of the new cosmos (the analogy here is imprecise). It is like a portable purification factory. That is why Gods do not regard a person who has obtained the Fa as a human being anymore.
When a practitioner studies the Fa with a peaceful mind, he will enhance the mechanisms of Fa on his body. At the same time, he would make clear the cultivation principles of Fa in the human world and regulate his own behavior.
So our every single thought, idea or action that is based on the Fa would become an energy source for the purification factory. That is how our lives are cultivated by the Fa. Layer after layer of our bodies are purified from the microscopic to the macroscopic, which is the process of assimilating to the Fa (along the way, all beings in the cosmic system in our microscopic bodies would also be saved by assimilating to the Fa). Finally we will meet the requirements of lives in the new cosmos.
However, since our lives were created in the old cosmos and we had warped notions, we originally carried a set of degenerated Fa-principles from the old cosmos. The old forces tried to improve such a system and tried to purify the old cosmos by having Dafa disciples follow their arrangements. But did they realize parts of their equipment were already contaminated? How could it produce [something like] �pure water?�
The systems from both the Fa of the new cosmos and the Fa of the old cosmos simultaneously exist in Dafa disciples� bodies. Therefore, whether Dafa disciples carry themselves in a righteous manner or not is of critical importance. If we can persist with righteous thoughts and righteous actions according to Master�s teaching, we will be cultivated in the mechanism of the new cosmic Fa that Master has installed in us. On the contrary, if our thoughts are not righteous, we will be interfered with and exploited by the mechanisms of the old forces.
The new cosmos will be in perfect harmony after Fa-rectification. That is because it experienced a lengthy development process as the colossal firmament was turned from new to old as it aged, and now a reverse transformation process from old to new is taking place by cultivating the old lives. The colossal firmament will finally complete a process from being born, death and followed by rebirth. After Fa-rectification, the new cosmos has a self-repairing mechanism. After that, the colossal firmament will not degenerate. �Heaven and earth will be stable, and the Fa will exist forever.� (�When the Fa is Right� in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Disciples in the Fa-rectification period are lives closely associated with the Fa, lives closely associated with the cosmos going through the process of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction and finally becoming indestructible. Wherever such a life is, he will reflect the brilliance of the Fa of the new cosmos.
With this understanding, I recalled that in his lectures Master Li often reminded Dafa disciples to treasure this cultivation opportunity in the Fa-rectification. My mind is filled with all sorts of feelings.
Beings who have obtained the Fa should understand that all transformations are due to obtaining the Fa and originate from obtaining the Fa. The meaning of �obtaining the Fa� is so solemn and splendid that it is really hard to describe it in human language.
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- 4. To Fellow Practitioners Who Habitually Neglect the Practice of Falun Gong Exercises -- Countless Lives Yearn for Falun Gong Exercises
By a Dafa practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) (Author's Note: The following is only meant for those fellow practitioners who habitually neglect to practice Falun Gong exercises, including those who feel they are too busy with Fa-rectification work to do the exercises.)
It has been over four years since Dafa practitioners in China were deprived of their group practice environment. During the four years of persecution against Falun Dafa, every Dafa practitioner has been walking his or her own path of cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. Needless to say, everyone has been studying the Fa voluntarily and persistently. However, there is a wide gap among Dafa practitioners in terms of practicing Dafa exercises of our own accord. Therefore I'd like to share my own understanding with those who habitually neglect to practice the Falun Gong exercises. My humble understandings are only for the purpose of exchanging cultivation notes on the subject. Please kindly point out anything that is in error.
I know a practitioner in my area who rarely practiced the standing exercises for the past five years. He occasionally practices the sitting meditation, and almost never practices the first four exercises except when he has some physical discomfort (or what the cultivation community calls "elimination of karma via pain"). I reminded him that practicing the exercises in pursuit of health was, strictly speaking, disrespectful to Dafa, and was not an appropriate behavior of a genuine Dafa practitioner. Now that we have lost the group practice environment in China that prompted us to practice the Falun Gong exercises daily, it becomes a challenge in our cultivation whether we can persist in practicing the exercises on a daily basis. I imagine that the old forces must have systematically arranged this situation to weed out some practitioners. It follows that, by persistently doing the exercises of our own accord, we are denying and eliminating the old forces' arrangement, as well as purging laziness in our own fields.
I think that one of the excuses that those practitioners who habitually neglect to practice the exercises may be, "As long as I keep studying the Fa and improving my understanding of the Fa, my body will naturally be transformed." True. The Fa is omnipotent. But I feel that such a mentality is a reflection of one's over-dependence on the Fa, as well as a lack of strong main consciousness to actively assimilate to the Fa. Though our practice is one in which the Fa cultivates practitioners, it still requires some physical exercises to strengthen supernormal abilities, to develop many living beings in the body, and to develop supernatural powers and skills. Teacher has clearly explained the importance of practicing the exercises in the first two paragraphs of "Characteristics of Falun Dafa" in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun. Moreover, it is unconscionable for a Dafa practitioner to take advantage of Dafa's omnipotence. It is a sly and impure scheme to expect to reap the harvest without any due effort.
Some practitioners thought that they had done enough group practicing in the early mornings prior to July 20, 1999, which should suffice to transform their bodies for consummation. They also tend to think that, since they are no longer cultivating in the personal cultivation period, they can relax the requirement of the practice of exercises. In my humble opinion, those who have this notion are trying to arrange their own cultivation path. Cultivation in Dafa is boundless. Before we reach consummation, we should meet everything that Dafa requires of practitioners. It is true that living among everyday people, arranging our daily affairs, clarifying the truth, sending forth righteous thoughts, and studying the Fa, together take a severe toll on our time. We never feel that there is enough time. A practitioner once asked me, "I only have one hour of free time today, which one do you think I should do? Doing the exercises or studying the Fa?" I told her stoutly, "Study the Fa!" We all know that studying the Fa should be our top priority. We have to make sure that we make time every day to study the Fa. On the days when I visit the farming villages to clarify the truth about Dafa and the persecution, I really don't have the time or place to study the Fa, but I will recite the Fa in bed before I fall asleep. I tell myself that I don't have any right to sleep unless I have studied the Fa. In fact, I cannot fall asleep if I don't finish the most important task of the day--studying the Fa.
As for doing the Falun Gong exercises, I continued to do the standing exercises in the morning and the sitting meditation at night every day for the first year since July 20, 1999. As I started to spend more time on sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth for the past several years, I would alternate between the standing exercises and the sitting meditation every day. But sometimes I would do all five exercises on the same day, and sometimes I couldn't even finish either one. Fortunately our school of practice is the most convenient. I can do the first exercise while making breakfast for the children, because the first, third and fourth exercises each takes no more than 10 minutes to finish. Besides, many practitioners in China no longer need the exercise music to measure the time or pace, which makes it very convenient to practice the exercises. In the evening I try to make time to do the second exercise and the sitting meditation.
Sometimes laziness got the better of me, and I would neglect practicing the exercises. It wasn't until last year, when I met a certain fellow practitioner that I resolved to refrain from laziness. Her actions truly made a great impact on me. She has a child that started to attend a high school very far from home, so she has to get up at 4:30 a.m. every day to prepare breakfast for her child. Consequently, she no longer has time in the early morning to practice the exercises. She told me that she was very troubled with her condition during that period of time. But she also recognized the fact that if she didn't practice the exercises in the morning, it was unlikely that she would have time to practice the exercises later in the day. Therefore, she made up her mind to resume practicing the exercises in the early morning. Since then she gets up at 3:30 a.m. to do the exercises before preparing breakfast. When she shared her story with me, I saw a large gap in cultivation states between us
We should seize every day for our cultivation. As long as we keep reminding ourselves that we are Dafa practitioners, we shall not neglect to do the exercises. Please understand that I am not implying the exact amount of time that we should be spending on practicing the exercises every day through my story and my fellow practitioner's story. Next, allow me to share my experience during a time when I neglected doing the exercises for about 4 or 5 days. I hope my experience will help inspire my fellow practitioners to keep up the practice.
One night I was lying in bed, feeling very tired and ready to sleep, but I kept reminding myself that I had not practiced the exercises for several days. While I was half asleep and struggling in my mind about whether to get up, I finally conquered the elements that discouraged me from doing exercises by a thought from the bottom of my heart: "I want to practice the Falun Gong exercises!" The very moment I sent forth this thought, I saw that all the living beings, lined up in an orderly fashion inside my body, raised their heads and became very energized. I was shocked beyond words by what I saw. I felt that they had been yearning to practice the exercises, and I immediately felt that I was in debt to them. I chose "Countless Lives Yearn for Falun Gong Exercises" as the subtitle of this article, to tell every practitioner that the numerous lives in our bodies yearn so very much for us to find time to do the exercises. Besides, while holding the Fa wheel in the second exercise and standing firmly on the ground, I felt myself immensely magnificent in this and other dimensions.
Another reason I wrote this article is that I have noticed that some fellow practitioners who have more free time are also neglecting to practice the exercises. These practitioners do not practice the exercises when they have time and they do not take the exercises seriously. What a regrettable and inappropriate phenomenon this is at this critical moment in the Fa-rectification period. After all, we have come a long way to be where we are today. We shouldn't have any omissions in doing the exercises.
My fellow practitioners, we should not create additional burdens on Teacher any more. We should not push our own responsibilities or Fa-rectification tasks within our capabilities, onto Teacher. Since we are Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period, we should do well in every area.
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- 5. On Respecting Teacher and Dafa
By Feilong, a Dafa practitioner from China
- (Clearwisdom.net)
Recently I have had a lot of interference when studying Zhuan Falun and, thus, the quality of the Fa study has been very poor. However, I was able to concentrate when I studied Teacher's new articles. An analysis of this issue led to a conclusion that, because I have read Zhuan Falun countless times, I knew what to expect when I started to read the beginning of the sentence. Therefore, I gradually lost concentration when studying Zhuan Falun. I had mixed up "understanding the words on the surface level" with "understanding the Fa." When I became absent-minded in Fa study, I could no longer see the inner meanings behind the Fa.
What caused me to become absent-minded when studying the Fa? I found the root cause was my lack of respect for Teacher and the Fa. It was also a reflection of my failure in understanding what the Fa is and how to study the Fa. I simply regarded Fa study with a human mentality. Teacher said,"I've written into this book everything that I can give you and everything that can enable you to improve and to achieve transformation--all these are compressed into this work of Fa. Not only will your improvement be guided by its principles: Behind the Fa there is powerful inner meaning." ("Lecture at the Conference in Europe") "In order to truly enable you to ascend through cultivation, I have utilized a method, which is, taking what I can give to you and what I can help you with, and compressing all of it into the book of Fa �,the only thing left is to see if you want to obtain it. Therefore I tell everyone that when you are unable to see me, you must take the Fa as the Master, take the Fa as the Master." ("Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference") There are many things that reflected my lack of respect for the Fa in Fa study. For example: Sometimes I would unintentionally press my hand or wrist on the book; I would study the Fa on the chair, on my back, or on my side; when holding a copy of Zhuan Falun at hand, I lacked the same level of heartfelt respect toward Zhuan Falun as that towards a Buddha statue. I seldom dress up and sit up properly while studying the Fa, and I rarely study the Fa with genuine respect. All the aforementioned behaviors are signs of disrespect toward the Fa, and disrespecting the Fa is like disrespecting Teacher.
Teacher has opened for us the widest and the most convenient door in order to offer us salvation. He is saving us with his immense compassion and revealed to us the inner meaning behind the Fa. Now that we have come to the final stage of the Fa-rectification, we must set an even stricter standard for ourselves on respecting Teacher and Dafa. Dafa is solemn and dignified. Respecting Teacher and Dafa should be the basic standard for a Dafa practitioner; however, I failed to meet this requirement. The old forces' behind-the-scenes helpers had exploited upon my biggest omission and used all kinds of methods to give me a lot of interference, preventing me from concentrating on studying the Fa and exposing my attachments. This interference was manifested in many different ways. The old forces would even manipulate the depraved people to persecute me, such as abducting me to the forced brainwashing center. A practitioner will truly be in serious danger if he disrespects Teacher or the Fa.
If we sit upright and concentrate when studying the Fa, as if we are most respectfully listening to Teacher giving us a Fa lecture in person, aren't we already displaying our sincere wish to assimilate the Fa? Teacher said,"Sakyamuni said that one should chant the scriptures with a righteous mind and undivided attention in order to shake the paradise of his cultivation practice. Only then can a great enlightened person be invited. And only when one of the great enlightened person's fashen arrives on the Buddha statue can the goal of consecration be achieved." ("Consecration" in Lecture Five of Zhuan Falun) If we study the Fa in such a respectful manner, who dares to interfere with our Fa study? This is the state of mind we should have for Fa study, and it's also an appropriate attitude that the Fa requires of us. Our action is the manifestation of our character.
When our forefathers sought the Fa, they would take a bath, change into fresh clothes, burn incense, empty their thoughts, and kowtow first. Some practitioners with open Celestial Eyes saw heavenly gods on their knees when listening to Teacher teaching the Fa. Influenced by the degenerate modern concepts, people no longer pay attention to etiquette. We have to let go of all these concepts and rectify our thoughts in our cultivation.
Respecting Teacher and the Fa is the manifestation of faith in Teacher and the Fa. The degree of our faith in Teacher and Dafa determines the degree of our respect toward Teacher and Dafa. If we could not do well in this respect, we must look inside ourselves. Please cherish the remaining time we have. (I do not mean cherishing time for the attachment of time, but cherishing the extremely rare opportunity that our Teacher has given us. Once the evils are completely eliminated, we would not have any opportunity to think about what other fundamental attachments we had that held ourselves and the sentient beings back.)
This concludes my personal understanding on respecting Teacher and Dafa. Please oblige me with your valuable comments.
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- 6. A Whole New World, A Brand-New Person - Giving up Ego and Melting into Dafa
By a Dafa Practitioner in the Western U.S.A.
(Clearwisdom.net)
In the last few days I have let go of an attachment that I have been clinging to for a long period of time. I have let go of my ego so as to view problems from a different perspective. There seems to be a window that has opened in my heart after having been shut for a long time through which I am breathing in wonderfully pure and fresh air. I have suddenly experienced a hard to describe beauty that Dafa brings to lives.
It turns out that everything Teacher gave us is so beautiful that it cannot be depicted and explained even by using the most beautiful languages of human beings. Yet my heart had been dirty, not thoroughly cleansed, it was not holy and pure, and not bright and crystal-clear enough to be worthy of enjoying what Teacher has given us. In many cases, I had been following a small number of the principles which I had learned from the boundless Great Law, while centering myself on my ego. This caused a separation between Dafa and myself.
Everything has been renewed and re-created but I had been still behaving in accord with the principles of the old cosmos. I have realized that on many occasions when doing something to validate the Fa, I didn't continuously purify my heart and do those things under the guidance of my profound awareness. I was doing it according to my postnatal mentality.
Looking back at the things I had previously done, in numerous instances I was doing those things with an attachment of pursuit. This was selfish and in consideration of only myself. I had been letting go for the purpose of letting go. I had been breaking for the purpose of breaking, thinking of others for the purpose of thinking of others, studying Dafa for the purpose of studying Dafa, sending forth righteous thoughts for the purpose of sending forth righteous thoughts on time, clarifying the truth for the purpose of clarifying the truth.
Everything I did was always for the purpose of accomplishing something. When I was able to, layer-by-layer, break through these spiritual shackles and restraints and truly begin letting go of them, I was then naturally satisfied by doing the things I should do. "Ego" didn't count, neither did doing things with pursuit. My personal purpose, gain and pursuit were all gone.
Now in facing any problem, I no longer stick to thinking how "I" should do it or why should I do it. I am able to first think of fellow practitioners and all of us as a whole and am therefore clear-minded and rationally able to do what a Dafa practitioner should without any human mentalities.
As a matter of fact, Teacher has given us everything. However, I didn't take them and made one mistake after another. I didn't really cherish what Teacher has given us, but only wanted to gain from Dafa. I asked myself, how firm and unshakable is my belief in Dafa? I had always had a bit of reservation and hesitation when it came to this question. Can I dedicate my whole heart to Dafa? Can I let go of the fear of death at any moment? If my belief in Dafa is firm and unshakable enough, how could I worry about the matter of life and death? If I really behave myself dauntlessly, would I still fear this or that?
Our respected Teacher told us in Lecture at the US East Coast Conference,"What I provide you with is not restriction, but a magnificent god." (unofficial translation) What really restrains us when rectifying the Fa is nothing but ourselves, not others or any other external factor.
Indeed, the mentality of "self" should not exist and everything must be melted into Dafa since this is the choice and gift of our respected Teacher. In this historical period of Fa-rectification, Dafa practitioners are lucky enough for the chance to realize their predestined relationships with our Teacher and Dafa. It is an opportunity of many lifetimes and is not meant for our personal cultivation and improvement. It is given to us, in the continuous process of purifying ourselves, to validate the great wisdom of our respected Teacher in His creation of the new cosmos.
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- 7. Brain Science and Meditation
A Western Practitioner in the U.S.
[PureInsight.org]
In Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa, A Dafa practitioner asked, �When I sit in meditation, I often feel as if I�m sliding down, like riding an escalator, and am becoming very small. I wonder why.� Master responded, �That too is normal, because the primordial spirit is very small. But it can also become large, and that�s why a person�s body can expand outward during practice. So some people feel that they�re as tall as heaven, and some feel that they�re becoming very small � all these are normal. But there�s one thing: once a cultivator has done something not so good, he might also feel that he�s falling; that�s his level dropping, and the volume of his body reducing.�
For Christmas my daughter gave me a picture book called Inside the Mind of God. It has color photomicrographs of hormones, drugs, cells, manifestations of karma and many other things related to the human body. This book, in a popularized format, gives a scientific background for our experiences such as the one above and what Master Li teaches us. Appearing in the introduction is the following, �The orientation area is what the mind of God bestowed on the brain of man so that puny humans could occasionally grasp the awesome existence of a deity, or, in other traditions, of a greater reality beyond the here and now.� According to neurologists there are two orientation systems in the human brain. The one on the right side contains neurons that process sensory input about distances and directions so we can safely move around. The system on the left side appears to connect us with a different reality. In that area, the neurons define the boundaries of our bodies, and our relation to the space beyond us. �When the orientation area is intact, it receives constant input from sense of sight and sense of touch which it uses to determine where the individual ends and the rest of the world begin.�
Described in the same book was an experiment performed to observe the effect of meditation on the brain. A Tibetan Buddhist was asked to meditate under experimental conditions. After quieting his inner chatter and finding his inner spiritual reality, he tugged on a string leading to scientists in another room. They immediately injected into him a radioactive tracer through a long tube. The doctors rushed him to a single photon emission tomography (SPECT) camera, which imaged his brain during meditation, and determined the blood flow in his brain at that time. They found a great change in the left orientation area (the posterior superior parietal lobe), which they described as a �quieting� of this area. The same experiment was done with seven other Tibetan Buddhists with very similar results. Later experiments were done with Franciscan nuns who described their peak experience as �a tangible sense of the closeness of God and a mingling with him.� Their brain pictures were strikingly similar to those of the Tibetan Buddhists. These experiments were done by Dr. Andrew Newburg who specializes in brain scans and Dr. Eugene d�Aquili who has spent years studying brain function and religious states as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.
Master has given us a great deal of material regarding tranquility. For example, �Everyone knows that Sakyamuni taught �samadhi.� What did he teach prior to samadhi? He taught �precept� and abandoning all desires and addictions until nothing is left � then one can achieve samadhi.� (From Zhuan Falun)
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- 8. A Few Words on Gaining an Advantage in Cultivation and What Genuine Cultivation Is
By a Dafa Practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net)
Thoughts of Gaining an Advantage
After one has studied the Fa for a long period of time, thoughts of gaining an advantage should not arise. No matter if the thought is regarding an advantage in daily life or cultivation, such thoughts are caused by various selfish pursuits.
If you were told that when studying the Fa, the advantages that you desire are not available to you, and the only benefit you will receive is that you will really be a better person who must first work hard, would you still want to cultivate? Cultivation of Dafa is not for gaining an advantage; it is for striving for righteousness and returning to one's original true self. Cultivating in hopes of obtaining an advantage in the future is not a pure thought, as there is no such thing as trading one thing for another in cultivation. Cultivation is the awakening of our inborn qualities, and we should cultivate in order to be a really good and righteous person.
Is It Genuine Cultivation?
Some people think that they are in cultivation of the Buddha Law, but what is the cultivation of the Buddha Law? Master Li told us in "Lunyu" of Zhuan Falun, "In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking." Have we changed our human concepts? Do we really understand the Buddha Law? If we do not change our ordinary human concepts, we will have only our own understandings, as the Buddha Law is boundless. No matter what, we must continue to strive to advance diligently.
Some others think that cultivation is a type of insurance. Buddha saves sentient beings instead of just blessing and protecting them. If we cannot conform to the requirements, will that do? Teacher has said in "Solid Cultivation" of Hong Yin
"Study the Fa and obtain the Fa.
Share in learning and share in cultivating,
Following [the Fa] in everything.
Compliance is cultivation."
We must achieve this to be successful in cultivation. If we knew everything that is within the Fa, yet at the crucial moment we don't act according to Dafa's requirements, instead acting according to our various excuses, old habits, human emotions and notions, etc., then this is not cultivation. That would not be cultivation. That is only studying the principles and saying one thing while doing something else!
The above are my personal understandings. Please kindly correct any errors in my thinking.
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