Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- Countless Ways in Which Master Helps Me in Fa-rectification Cultivation
- Reflecting upon the Difficulty of Spreading the Fa
- My Understanding of Fa Study, Exercises, and Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
- Thoughts about Life: The Wisdom of Ordinary Kindness
- When Compassion is Lacking, Complaints Often Fill the Gap
- We Must Approach Our Jobs in Society from the Right Standpoint
- A Xinxing Test: From "Knowing" to "Putting It into Action"
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the November 2006 newsletter.
At the end of last month Indians celebrated the Festival of Diwali. It is a festival of lights symbolizing the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It celebrates the victory of good over evil - and the glory of light. Hope it inspires practitioners to do better in cultivation and come into the light! In this context, it would be nice if practitioners read Master’s latest Article “Thoroughly Dissolve the Evil”. Master says, ‘In order to completely eliminate the persecution of Dafa disciples by the dark minions, rotten demons, and old forces, all Dafa disciples around the world--particularly the Dafa disciples in each region of mainland China--are to concertedly send righteous thoughts toward those evil places….’ Let each one of us step up our sending forth righteous thoughts effort and do our little bit!
In this issue, we have an experience sharing article by an Indian practitioner and as usual we have a compilation of experience-sharing articles culled from Clearwisdom and Pureinsight 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.
We would request you to please let us know if you have received the newsletter. Our repeated requests for any feedback, etc have elicited no response. All that we ask of you is a simple ‘yes’ if you have received the newsletter.
Please send it to: newsletter_team@fastmail.fm
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. Countless Ways in Which Master Helps Me in Fa-rectification Cultivation
By an Indian Falun Dafa practitioner
I wish to share some of the countless ways in which our Venerable Teacher Li Hongzhi helps me in practicing Fa-rectification cultivation. I am greatly indebted to Master and wish to express my gratitude, and share with fellow practitioners the immense mercy of Master through this article.
1) Scenes from other dimensions: To increase my confidence in cultivation, Master shows me beautiful dimensions, Faluns of various sizes and the power of Fa. During early cultivation, Master showed me my eye that looked as large as the cosmos to me and during later stages in cultivation a large eye with countless tiny eyes within it. Master showed me and my sister, also a practitioner an enormous Falun covering half the sky, powerful and rotating that stayed for over an hour in the sky. After watching such a large Falun, I thought to myself that with such large Faluns and bigger ones existing in the cosmos, how easy it is to protect a tiny cultivator like me. Master also lets me experience rotation of Falun while practicing and at other times. Sometimes the momentum of the spinning Falun feels heavy and powerful like how one feels standing close to a train running by. Falun is very beautiful, whether in this dimension or others, and it greatly encourages me to cultivate better.
2) Fa-study: While reading the books, I feel that Master is directly teaching me the Fa. Master makes me feel His presence all the time, it’s so real that I feel Master is always here with me. When I cultivate well, Master seems to smile more, in the photograph in Zhuan Falun and other photographs and when I commit something wrong Master's heart is greatly pained. Master always guides me in my cultivation. Whenever I ask any questions of Master (in my heart or through Zhuan Falun) , Master always replies ( in my heart or I find the answers in Zhuan Falun). Master explains things in a very simple manner so that I can easily understand it. Looking back, I can see that Master has always replied. Also, Master has always been there for me, in tough times when I did not have recourse to any practitioner.
3) Practicing: While practicing the exercise movements, earlier (when I didn't have exercise videos) and later, whenever I ask Master to correct my movements our benevolent Master has been correcting my movements to this day.
4) Sending forth righteous thoughts: If I'm unaware , Master automatically reminds when its time to send forth righteous thoughts and He also strengthens me during that time ( I feel an electric feeling near my right shoulder blade) so that I send powerful righteous thoughts. On the day, when BBC was showing live news of practitioner Wenyi Wang and other practitioners validating Dafa during Hu Jintao's meeting with President Bush, I decided to send forth righteous thoughts to support Wenyi Wang. My hand started quaking terribly and I couldn't control the quaking despite my best efforts. During that day, my hand started quaking whenever I sent forth righteous thoughts. First, I thought it was bad, later I thought it was good. Later when I read one of Master's lectures, I realized that my divine side had come into full play in this dimension and hence my untransformed flesh body could not bear such strong gong. This incidence has greatly increased my confidence in sending forth righteous thoughts. Nowadays, I keep experiencing this quaking sometimes. I know it is Master encouraging me to send strong righteous thoughts.
5) Dreams: Master usually solves my hard-pending questions and issues by enlightening me through real, life-like dreams that sometimes have background narration. Recently , Master showed me a big river that was smooth flowing on the surface, but just one foot below the surface it was gigantically turbulent with great power. I was shocked to see it. Actually, Master hinted to me that though on the surface there appears no remarkable change in me but inside its all turning with enormous power. When I commit some wrong, Master also shows me (in dreams) the disastrous consequences and the terrible situation I'll be in if I don't mend my ways.
I'll conclude my experience sharing with these words: Dear fellow cultivators our venerable Great Master has arranged our cultivation path. Master has made the most harmonious and best arrangements for us. Can the old forces block Master's arrangements? Could anything in the cosmos obstruct what Master has set out to do? NO. So, when things don't go smoothly, it can only be that we're not following Master's arrangements. It can only be that we're not meeting the requirements of Master and Fa-rectification.
Since Master directly helps us so much to practice cultivation, we should not have any reasons for making excuses and we should strive to be even more diligent in our cultivation and do well.
The above is my personal understanding. Please, correct me if my understanding doesn't conform to Dafa.
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- 3. Reflecting upon the Difficulty of Spreading the Fa
Zhang Tianliang
[PureInsight.org]
When I read Records of the Grand Historian (or Shi Ji) by Sima Qian (145-87 B.C.), China’s most famous historian from the Western Han Dynasty, I came across a passage in the “Biography of Confucius” that really spoke to me. I closed the book and reflected upon China’s holocaust against Falun Gong.
Confucius (551-479 B.C.) was born a pauper and had difficulty in making ends meet throughout his life. At about the age of fifty, Confucius “began a twelve year journey around China, seeking the ‘Way’ and trying unsuccessfully to convince many different rulers to endorse his beliefs.” He was once stuck between the Chen State and the Cai State with no food or money along with many of his disciples. His disciples were emaciated and had lost the strength to stand up, but Confucius continued to give lectures and play the Chinese zither peacefully. One of his disciples named Zi Lu started to lose his composure and questioned his teacher, “You taught us to become a man of virtue. Is this the rotten place where you are leading us to?” Confucius replied, “A man of virtue will continue to govern himself with virtue even at his darkest hour, but a depraved man will stop at nothing to secure his interest when he encounters difficulty.”
Confucius knew his disciples were starting to doubt his philosophy, so he threw a question in the air. He said, “The Classics of Poetry (or Shi Jing) says, ‘I am not a rhino or a tiger, but I am wandering in the wilderness.’ This is exactly what I have become. Have I done something in violation of virtue? Why am I reduced to this state?”
Zi Lu tried to answer the question first, “Perhaps we are not virtuous or wise enough for people to trust us. They even put us under a siege.” Confucius refuted, “That cannot be true. If a man of virtue were accepted everywhere and by everyone, Bo Yi and Shu Qi (the two sages) would not have starved to death on Shouyang Mountain, and King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty would not have snapped the heart of Bi Gan (a virtuous court subject) from his chest.”
Then another disciple named Zi Gong said, “Teacher, your philosophy is so profound that no country will accept it. Why don’t you lower your standard?” Confucius sighed. “Zi Gong, you lack noble aspirations. Instead of cultivating yourself to attain the Tao, you are asking the Tao to lower itself to meet your level!”
Finally Yan Hui, the disciple that Confucius was most proud of, spoke. “It is true that our teacher’s philosophy is so profound that no country will accept it, but a man of virtue ought to cultivate himself regardless. If we do not cultivate our virtue well, that’s our problem. If we have cultivated ourselves well but are not accepted by any country, that’s the shame of those countries. That they do not accept men of virtue distinguishes our virtue!”
Confucius had 3,000 disciples and 72 of them were very distinguished. Zi Lu and Zi Gong were among Confucius’ 72 distinguished disciples, but Zi Lu lacked faith in his Teacher’s philosophy and Zi Gong even wished his teacher to alter and lower his philosophy to meet the standards of the secular world. Only Yan Hui had a steadfast belief in Confucius’ philosophy.
Confucius was known as the greatest educator in the Chinese history, but this dialogue reveals how difficult it is for a man to persevere in his faith and abide by virtue during tribulations.
Lao Zi, the famous Chinese philosopher and the author of The Book of the Way and its Virtue (Tao De Jing), might have foreseen the problem, and perhaps that’s why he decided to live in obscurity and hide his wisdom from others. But the true wisdom cannot be hidden. Confucius found Lao Zi and paid him a visit. During the visit, Lao Zi gave Confucius a piece of advice, “The real treasure should be hidden. A man of virtue should carry himself like a dumb and foolish man.” Although Lao Zi’s Taoism continues to be prevalent today, Lao Zi worked as a lowly archivist in the Imperial Library of the Zhou Dynasty court at his time. No one knew him or noticed him.
Lao Zi would not even have left his philosophy behind if it had not been for a guard at Hangu Pass, the western-most gate of China. As Lao Zi traveled on his water buffalo towards the west, the guard saw a long purple cloud in the shape of a Chinese dragon trailing behind him and was convinced that Lao Zi was someone special. When Lao Zi reached Hangu Pass, the guard stopped him and convinced him to write down his wisdom before heading out into the desert. Lao Zi’s response to the guard’s request was The Book of the Way and its Virtue. At the end of the book, Lao Zi said, “My words are easy to learn and easy to do, but the secular people will find it difficult to learn and difficult to follow.”
Buddha Sakyamuni shared a similar thought on the secular people’s receptiveness of the Truth.
According to multiple Buddha scriptures, after sitting under a Bodhi tree for 49 days in meditation, Sakyamuni eventually became enlightened. He once became frustrated about spreading the Buddha Fa to the secular people. He said, “The Buddha Fa I have enlightened to is invisible to the secular eye and difficult to understand for the secular people. How will I ever make them understand the Buddha Fa? They are overcome with their greed, emotions, stubbornness, wickedness, arrogance, insincerity, and countless other attachments. They have poor enlightenment quality and wisdom, how will they ever understand the Buddha Fa I have enlightened to? If I start giving them Buddha Fa lectures, they would not understand or accept it. They would even start to attack and slander the Buddha Fa and me and go to Hell because of it. Instead of offering them the salvation, wouldn’t I be pushing them towards the opposite direction? To prevent them from suffering in Hell, why don’t I just enter nirvana and depart with the human realm quietly without spreading the Buddha Fa at all?” When the King of the cosmos saw Buddha Sakyamuni’s doubt, he hurried to see Sakyamuni and convinced him to stay in the human realm spreading the Buddha Fa. Thus Buddha Sakyamuni stayed in the human realm for 49 years after he reached enlightenment. During the 49 years, he endured countless tribulations.
When Jesus Christ spread Christianity, he had 12 disciples. When the Romans seized Jesus Christ, all of his disciples ran away from him. When he entered Jerusalem, he foresaw that he would be nailed to the cross and let out a sigh, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets, you stone the messengers God has sent you!” (Luke 13:34)
When Confucius traveled around China, he was stuck between the Chen State and Cai State without food and money. Lao Zi said the secular people will find his Tao difficult to learn and difficult to follow. Buddha Sakyamuni wanted to enter nirvana without spreading the Buddha because he knew it was difficult for the secular people to understand and accept the Buddha Fa. Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross for offering his salvation to the secular people. All the saints, enlightened beings and prophets encountered tremendous tribulations when they spread their Tao or the Buddha Fa.
I often wonder: If today’s people could learn from history, wouldn’t they have less biased judgments or misunderstanding of Falun Gong?
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- 4. My Understanding of Fa Study, Exercises, and Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
By a Dafa Practitioner in Hebei province, China
(Clearwisdom.net)
All Dafa practitioners study the Fa, but there are big differences among our attitudes towards Fa study. I feel that we must have a pure heart before we can calmly study the Fa. The purpose of Fa study should not be to solve problems or to fulfill certain expectations. The Fa-rectification has progressed to the present stage, so we must examine our attitudes, seriously look inside ourselves to discover all of our impure approaches, and eliminate all selfish ideas towards Fa study.
When we study the Fa, it is as if we are listening to Master's lecture in person, and we should not have any selfish goals mixed in with this. It should simply be our natural wish, from the bottoms of our hearts, to study the Fa, in which all of our lives are rooted. We started learning the Fa and cultivating because our original, true selves became distant and unfamiliar. Our true selves are created by the Fa. Since, this opportunity has been given by Master, we should naturally assimilate to the Fa and follow our Master's teachings. We should not pay too much attention to formalities, such as how many hours we study in a given day, or how many pages we have read. Fa study is not a chore. Yet we should be demanding of ourselves, to live within the Fa, and to not tolerate separation from the Fa even for a second. Sometimes when I deviate from the Fa, I feel as if my life will become desperate and uncertain.
I have noticed that some Dafa practitioners who are doing Fa rectification work are so busy with their work that they overlook Fa study and raising their level through self-cultivation. This is truly not a small problem. It is not only a time management problem, but in fact shows that they do not really understand the Fa, and are still following basic human notions. There appears to be a phenomenon here: Some practitioners who have special talents or who have been working on important Dafa projects have been arrested and detained by police. This makes some other practitioners who are doing the same kind of Dafa work feel great pressure. Is it true that those working on important Dafa projects will be very easily arrested? I think that the main issue is that these situations are caused by the individual problems of practitioners. Master and Dafa have given some practitioners special talents, to enable them to play an important role during the Fa rectification period. We must improve our mind nature, otherwise it is very easy to become lost or confused by false phenomena. While focusing only on Dafa work, we can be easily moved by our personal interests or achievements. We can forget our fundamental mission, neglect learning and assimilating to the Fa, and stop continuously upgrading ourselves. However, all of these things are the basic premises and safeguards to aid us in fulfilling the age-old arrangements that we made!
I want to talk about exercises. For a long time my mind wandered while I was doing the exercises. I was not paying attention to Master's instructions, and just focused on finishing the exercises with the standard movements. Gradually it became clear to me that this was not right. Why have thought karma and messy negative thoughts prevented me from listening to the instructions? When I became clearer and clearer, I realized the profound meaning of the word "Master." I noticed that while being a practitioner in the Fa rectification period, I am being deeply honored. Master personally leads us through the exercises with his instructions, and I should follow every gesture with respect and deep concentration. As a result, when I practice now, my mind does not wander, my thoughts are tranquil, and my emotional state is calm. Now I can see that some other practitioners have a similar problem when doing the exercises. Sometimes it's easy to think that we are only practicing exercises, but in fact they are "The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa," the gestures that embody deep meaning of the Fa.
When sending forth-righteous thoughts, much of the time we pay attention only to the form, and neglect the quality, or the correct point of view for sending forth the righteous thoughts. The key is to try our best to define our focal point through following the Fa, and to act according to the requirements of Fa rectification. We need to continually find our remaining attachments and loopholes, and continuously upgrade ourselves. Our minds will become more and more righteous, and through this the quantity of our righteous thoughts will also increase. However, if we send forth righteous thoughts only from our personal standpoint, only think about the basic requirements, worry due to not wanting to be left behind, only pay attention to the form of sending forth righteous thoughts, or neglect the improvement of our mind nature, that will not be enough. We will be easily satisfied with ourselves for following the routine of sending forth righteous thoughts according to time schedules, and not realize the disparity that can exist between form and quality, and in the end becoming bogged down in our cultivation.
My personal understanding is that when we send forth righteous thoughts, we should eliminate the evil elements within all dimensions of Dafa practitioners. Dafa practitioners are one body. Our fields should join together, and within this dimension, we should coordinate among ourselves. If it's possible, we should study the Fa and practice together, exchanging our understandings of the Fa and improving together. We should encourage the practitioners who have gone astray to return to cultivation, and support those who have not stepped forward or who are just beginning to step forward in becoming more steadfast. We should give further encouragement to those practitioners who have had many tribulations due to their attachments, and to those who are being persecuted in the prisons. They need our help and support. We should do this with initiative, and should show them our biggest compassion. I understand that this is what we have to do: We should send forth righteous thoughts together to eliminate all evil elements within all dimensions of Dafa practitioners.
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- 5. Thoughts about Life: The Wisdom of Ordinary Kindness
By Guan Ming
[PureInsight.org]
In this practical society, because all sorts of external environmental factors can influence people, it is very difficult for people to completely control their thoughts and feelings. All kinds of different sentiments and feelings, joy, happiness, sadness, anger, etc, regularly disturb people's thinking. When one runs into someone or something he loves, one feels very happy. When one loses friends or relatives, he feels utterly bereft. Upon encountering someone or something that is difficult to understand, one often feels indignant or angry. If someone can't deal with life's losses and gains with composure, then he won't be able to maintain his heart as calm as a tranquil pond. Zhuge Liang, a famous ancient Chinese thinker of vast wisdom, once said, "Be calm to cultivate one's character, be frugal to accumulate virtue. If one doesn't live without pursuit, he will not achieve his goal. If one doesn't maintain tranquility, he will not travel far." When it comes to any matter in the human world, only with a calm heart can one achieve the optimal state.
Modest living is a kind of sublime, profound wisdom. There is a publication called "Cartoon Weekly." In order to quickly increase interest in the publication and to increase circulation, the publication held a contest. They called for submissions depicting "the World's Last Moment," asking the artist to depict what the artist or the artist's family would be doing at the last moment before the end of the world. Within a short time, submissions were sent in from across the globe and piled up like a mountain. In hopes of winning the prize money, readers used their imagination and energy to produce works of excellent quality. Some pictures were of lovers holding close with an emptied beer bottle on the side, some pictures were of people burning a big pile of money in the street, and then there were some pictures that were of people riding in a spacecraft hurriedly fleeing Earth...
But in the end it was a housewife who won the $100,000 prize. Her entry was drawn with a pencil on a piece of wrapping paper. She drew herself at the kitchen sink just about to turn off the water after washing the dishes; her husband sits on the floor next to the table, there are also two little boys playing with building blocks. The committee of judges praised this picture that appeared ordinary: "we are astonished with the serenity of this family. They are not tempted by things around them, nor are they terrified by the imminent danger. They understand the meaning of the world and life's highest aspirations."
When wonder and brilliance reach the very end, they become ordinary. After taking up the path of cultivation I have encountered many kind and compassionate faces around me. As cultivators put down worldly concerns for reputation, gain, and sentimentality and thereafter strictly require themselves to improve according to the "Zhen, Shan, Ren" standard, their hearts become clear like water. On encountering danger they fear not, when praised they do not become excited, when humiliated they remain calm, they are free of anger and free of worries, in everything they are conciliatory. They don't compete with others, they don't pursue worldly fame or gains, with this detached manner and character they earn other people's admiration, but this magnanimity and strength of character come only through cultivation. It is their lofty spiritual realms that create their tranquil fields one by one. They are the light of the universe, and wherever they are they illuminate people's hearts.
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- 6. When Compassion is Lacking, Complaints Often Fill the Gap
By a Practitioner in Russia
(Clearwisdom.net)
From time to time we all had noticed that some practitioners tend to complain about things during our group discussions. I have also experienced such conditions myself. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to share my understanding of the attachment to "complaining."
Since I was an assistant at our practice site, I often spent a lot of time and effort working on Fa promotion and local organizational issues at the expense of my Fa study. Towards the end of my third year of practicing cultivation, I started to notice that I often got into arguments with my fellow practitioners on issues waiting to be resolved, and I often insisted that my point of view was correct. After a while, I also noticed that some other practitioners also had similar experiences. Whenever we had conflicting opinions at our practice site, some practitioners tended to hastily seek solutions to problems by looking externally. For example, they would call practitioners in another city and ask for help to resolve conflicts, complaining that others were failing to look within. They would wonder why no one wanted to discuss with them, or why others didn't understand their point of view. We must realize that other practitioners cannot serve as "conflict moderators" for us in helping to resolve the problems we come across during our cultivation. How could we ever enlighten to the Fa and raise our levels in cultivation if this was the case?
I realized that Teacher has already taught us in the Fa that we must enlighten to things ourselves in our cultivation and not look externally. We must devote large amounts of time to Fa study and treat Fa study seriously since all the answers to our questions are within the Fa. Cultivation means always raising one's own Xinxing (mind nature), conducting oneself with the high standard of a practitioner, and never deliberately seeking out the shortcomings of fellow practitioners.
The manifestation of the argumentative mind is largely caused by the attachment of fame and the attachment of wanting others to listen to and adopt our own ideas. We are Dafa practitioners and our energy field of compassion should radiate in all directions. People should be happy to be around us and Dafa under the influence of such a compassionate energy field. If our compassion is replaced with "complaining about others," then the opposite will occur and people will not enjoy being near us. Teacher said in Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore : "I’ll point them out to you. My only concern is that you won’t abandon them at the time. I’ll definitely point them out to you. All of your attachments will be exposed for you. Even if I don’t point them out to you myself, I’ll have others do so."
I realized that "complaining" is a deeply hidden attachment. Those evil forces that had escaped from the cosmic space cleansed by the Fa-rectification are using this attachment to interfere with Fa-rectification.
Once I noticed such a state of mind in myself, I felt I was no longer qualified to promote the Fa of "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" because I was unable to demonstrate the compassion that all Dafa practitioners should possess. I felt my unfriendly attitude could only push people away from Dafa so I voluntarily resigned from the position of assistant so that I could devote more time to Fa study, raise my Xinxing and purify myself.
I feel that there are many different ways to get rid of our attachments through Fa study. We can study the Fa in a group at our practice sites, or can study the Fa by ourselves on a daily basis. What's most important to realize is that only by studying the Fa well can we get rid of our attachments. Back then it was not only I who had "complaints" about other practitioners; several other veteran practitioners at our practice site also had "complaints" as well. Thus it became impossible for us to work together to eradicate our attachments since we did not even have a common language. So I left the practice site temporarily and practiced by myself. This way I could only complain to myself. Since I could not complain to others, I had more time to study the Fa. This way the problem was gradually resolved after a while.
The only way to resolve the problem was to intensify Fa study. Regardless if I was at home or at work, I would study the Fa whenever I had time. Each day I would study 2 --3 chapters of Zhuan Falun, and some days I would study 4 chapters. After two months, I noticed that I had become more compassionate. I no longer had the urge to insist on my own opinions and it became much simpler when I tried to convey my own ideas with others. Half a year later, I noticed that whenever I tried to talk to my fellow practitioners, there was one thought that came first, "Do not force your ideas upon others; let them decide what to do based on their own understanding and enlightenment level." Thus after a whole year of intensified Fa study, compassion replaced enmity. Now I feel that I am again fit to promote the Fa to others.
I decided to share my own experience in this regard because I noticed that some of the practitioners who first demonstrated such attachments to "complaint" have still not made improvements and have not elevated their levels in this regard. Even though they work hard in clarifying the truth and promoting the Fa, they spend very little time studying the Fa. This has caused them to linger in the same cultivation level for a long time without being able to see this attachment, which can only cause damage to Dafa. I have realized that how much a practitioner does is not as important as having the heart of "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" when he does it. Furthermore, whether we have learned how to look inwards throughout our cultivation, whether we rid ourselves of our attachments of "complaint" as well as our impatience with fellow practitioners and our arrogance, selfishness and tendency to argue as soon as possible is also very important.
I hope my own experience can be of help to those practitioners who have exhibited this similar attachment to complaining. On the other hand, I believe that we must never forget one important point: all practitioners have their own levels of enlightenment and Xinxing. We all hope other practitioners can enlighten as quickly as possible and improve, so sometimes we try to force them to understand and want them to understand what we have enlightened to. This is exactly the excuse used by the attachment to complaining. We often like to force other practitioners to enlighten to what we think is correct, but perhaps others would need some time to enlighten the way we did because of their karma and other attachments.
Personally, I believe that whenever we discover that we do not meet the requirement of "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance," we must be sure not to let our human sentimentality get in the way and not seek externally. The causes of conflicts (though the old forces also interfere with us) are right here within us. Teacher has constantly imparted to us that we must learn to look within. So whenever we encounter conflicts amongst ourselves, we must really settle down and study the Fa, and seriously strive to fill our hearts and surroundings with the radiance of compassion, even if we have to temporarily drop some of the tasks at hand.
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- 7. We Must Approach Our Jobs in Society from the Right Standpoint
By a practitioner in Dalian City, Liaoning Province
(Clearwisdom.net)
As Falun Dafa practitioners who practice cultivation among everyday society, we all have jobs and families, and whatever we do is related to everyday people. How to always act like a practitioner in our daily lives by following the requirements of the Fa is a matter of great importance. Whether we do it correctly or not directly affects our righteous thoughts and actions in the process of Fa-rectification.
Over the past two years, the workload at my job has become heavier and heavier. At the beginning, I accepted it and tried to finish whatever I was assigned. In fact, I was able to manage the workload pretty well. Soon afterward, more and more state-funded projects landed at my institution. The workload fell mostly on the shoulders of a couple of people, with me as the key person. Naturally, in the eyes of everyday people, this is considered an honor. I was still trying my best on the job, although I did feel tremendous pressure from my work. On the other hand, I was aware that I was not as diligent in cultivation practice. I was really concerned.
Once I started to examine if my heavy workload was normal, I realized that the starting point for my thinking was incorrect and had a lot of everyday people's attachments. In the eyes of my colleagues, I am very capable. They all admire how well regarded I am at my age. As time passed, however, I realized that I had become too engrossed in my work, believing that I was indeed very capable. As a result, the old forces began to use my everyday job to deplete my time and energy, keeping me from proceeding down the path of cultivation. Their manifestation in ordinary life was that I was assigned more and more projects and the workload became heavier and heavier.
With this new understanding, I began to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the attachment of being too engrossed. The situation started to change.
Nevertheless, my supervisors did not stop assigning new projects to me. I thought, "I must have some misunderstanding of the Fa." By reading the Fa, I learned that I was actually trapped in the old forces' plot, which made me believe that this tribulation was the result of my attachments. As a result, I was constrained by the thought of letting go of the attachments without thinking of the more profound meaning of cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. It was my wrong starting point that led me to believe that the problems I was encountering were simply part of my own cultivation practice. I forgot that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner in the era of Fa-rectification. As a practitioner in Fa-rectification, my true responsibility is to assist Master to rectify the Fa and not to get stuck in a routine job of everyday people. With a clearer understanding, I felt I was able to jump out of the trap and walk out of illusions. In fact, with the help of two other Ph.D.s, my load was considerably reduced.
While Master has taught us many times how to deny the arrangements of the old forces, it is still challenging for us to actually do so when facing problems in our practice. This is especially the case when we encounter some non-obvious tribulations that last a long time. In such cases, we tend to forget that we are practitioners in the Fa-rectification, and that Fa-rectification practice and ordinary personal cultivation are fundamentally different. Without a good understanding of Fa-rectification period cultivation, we will be unable to shake off our tribulations.
Our capabilities in everyday life can be attributed to Dafa. Such capabilities should be used to validate the Fa rather than to solve the problems of everyday people. If I apply such capabilities solely to the job of everyday life without realizing my mission as a practitioner, the capabilities will gradually weaken. On the contrary, once my starting point is the validation of the Fa, such abilities continually flow forth as if they were endless, something that really amazes me sometimes
In face of problems in cultivation practice, things often turn out very differently when my starting point is right. Master taught us in "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference,"
"The path Dafa disciples are taking today is unprecedented. A fixed notion has formed in the minds of many people in the world, which is that when someone is devoted to a religious faith or is a cultivator, it won't work out unless he withdraws from society and leaves the secular world. The Dafa disciples' way of cultivation, then, has no predecessor and no model. I have always said that in cultivation Dafa disciples have no role models. And it's not just that in your personal cultivation you have to walk your own path--even the form of cultivation I have imparted to you has no example to follow. So you just have to blaze this path yourselves. And why is that? You might have realized it already through your experiences in cultivation, and I have spoken before in different settings about this Fa: it is because the historic responsibility that has been bestowed upon Dafa disciples is tremendous, an enormous number of sentient beings are involved, and the requirements for Dafa disciples are extremely high. In addition, in today's world the innate foundation of the sentient beings' souls is substantial. As you know, you are Dafa disciples, and you are part of the Dafa disciples of the Fa-rectification period. Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples have enormous responsibilities, and the meaning of that title is extremely vast."
Let us constantly regard ourselves as practitioners in the Fa-rectification period who have come for the Fa and who are remade in the Fa-rectification. Let us walk well and steadily on the final path to Fa-rectification.
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- 8. A Xinxing Test: From "Knowing" to "Putting It into Action"
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Mainland China
(Clearwisdom.net)
It has been four years since I began studying the Fa. It is really wonderful, and I feel fortunate to cultivate in Dafa. I encountered a xinxing test some days ago. Once again I felt Master's compassionate salvation and the divine power of Dafa.
It happened like this. After 10:00 p.m. one night, my non-practitioner husband came home drunk. He threw his clothes on the sofa and went to bed. I was sitting on the sofa memorizing the Fa at the time. My husband is a non-smoker. His clothes smelled strongly of alcohol and cigarettes. I had difficulty focusing on remembering the Fa. I picked up his clothes to throw them into the corner of the room. As I did, two ID cards and some bank statements fell out of his pocket. I took a curious look and saw a deposit slip. How dare he have a private account behind my back! My husband has never quarreled with me in the ten odd years since we have been married and has always listened to my opinions. I have long become used to his compliance. Also, I had stopped working quite a few years ago.
I immediately realized that this was a test for me. I reminded myself again and again to let go of things, but still felt immensely uneasy deep inside. When I was sending forth righteous thoughts at 11:00 p.m. I could not get that deposit slip off my mind. I could not send forth righteous thoughts, even when I erected my hand. I started to recite Master's poem,
"Although cultivation matters are discussed
Attachments of the heart must be discarded
What is given up is not one’s self
It’s all foolishness in the maze"
("Discarding Attachments" from Hong Yin II, translation version B)
I thought, "Am I assimilating myself to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance? It is not the real me that cannot let go of things. Let go and memorize the Fa."
Normally when I memorize the Fa with a calm mind, I can memorize three to five paragraphs an hour, but that time I could not manage to remember even one paragraph. After sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight I went to bed. I usually fall asleep straight away, but that night I was still awake after 1:00 am. I could not let go and wanted to find out why he did what he did.
The next morning I asked him about the deposit slip. He tried to avoid looking me in the eye and said, "I have a headache. I'll talk to you later." If I had not practiced Dafa, I would have made a big fuss by then. But now I'm a Dafa practitioner. I thought I should endure it, but I was still not happy. He came home at lunch and pretended as if nothing had happened. He said to me, "My dear, the money is my mother's money." "Your mother's money?" I blurted out. "You think I'm a fool? The money in question is not that much for us, but for my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law, they could not have saved that much even if they did not spend money on anything for years." I continued, "I'm warning you. If you don't want to tell me, then don't, but you should never lie to me, because lying can bring you more karma, and you have to suffer to pay back the karma. All the sufferings in life are due to karma!"
He nodded his head in thought after he heard me out. Then he said to me, "You are being too emotional. Let's talk when you calm down." When evening came, he was still trying to convince me of his lies. I had not let go of it in the first place. When I saw him still telling lies I got angry and said, "All right. Let's not talk about it anymore. But tomorrow you must get our house key back from your mother." Since my mother-in-law often visits us, we had given her a key. "Why?" he asked, "Can't you calm down." "I'm very calm," I replied. "Our house is not free for all. I give you one day to get the key back. If you don't, I will get it back, because I will feel even more agitated if I see her!"
I refused to take any notice of him on the third day when he tried to speak with me in the morning. Our 10-year-old son, a young practitioner, said to me, "Mom, you must maintain your xinxing. Don't get angry. You and dad should live in harmony."
I realized then that it was Master giving me a hint through our son. After I had sent him to school I went to see my parents, who are both practitioners, and told them what had happened. My parents said, " Judging from his character, he would not do anything like this. It is obviously a test for you and a test for us, too. Why do you want to get the key back from his mother? This has nothing to do with her. It is not appropriate to do that. You shouldn't do it. What he did is a test arranged by Master to test your xinxing. He might not even be sure himself why he did this." That was so right.
Didn't Master say,
"If you ask your spouse later, 'Why do you get so upset if I practice qigong?' he or she cannot explain it and will really be out of reasons. 'Really, why did I become so angry and worked up at that time?'" (Lecture Four in Zhuan Falun)
When I thought of this I felt better. When I left my parents' home, they told me to quickly tell my husband not to ask his mother for the key. It was not the right thing to do. I left and thought about what a loss of face it would mean if I took back what I had said. Did what I say not count anymore? Then I reminded myself: Isn't this the fighting mentality? I have been cultivating for a few years, and yet such obvious attachments are still so strong. I have really done badly. I must get rid of this fighting mentality through cultivation. I must endure. This should not be so hard for a genuine cultivator.
While I was thinking about this, divine thoughts and human notions kept balancing themselves on the scale. When I got home I was quite upset. I thought: Why is it that I cannot do well, even though I know clearly that it is a test for me? Why do I always feel it is my husband's fault instead of looking inward?
"Someone said to me: Teacher, it’s enough to be a good person among everyday people. Who can succeed in cultivation? After hearing that, I felt really disappointed!" (Lecture Eight in Zhuan Falun)
Wouldn't my current state make Master feel even more disappointed?
Master said,
"These are all your own tribulations that we use to improve your xinxing, and you will be able to overcome them. As long as you upgrade your xinxing, you can overcome them. Unless you, yourself do not want to do so, you can make it, provided you want to overcome them." "Thus, when you encounter a conflict, I would say that it is to transform your black substance into the white substance, de." "If you compete and fight like an ordinary person, you are an ordinary person. If you outdo him, you are even worse than that ordinary person." "As long as you have them, all of those attachments must be removed in different environments." (Lecture Four in Zhuan Falun)
Once I understood this Fa principle, I immediately felt relaxed and felt it was not really difficult to take back what I had said. My husband came home at lunch. I told him calmly, "There are a few things I would like to say to you. You don't have to get the key from your mother. What I did does not conform to the Fa. Also, in the future you only need to give me fixed living expenses every month; the rest of the money is yours. I won't ask you for it anymore, and you do not need to tell me how much you earn." After I finished I could see mixed feelings in his eyes: touch, regret, guilt, and, most of all, surprise. He sincerely said, "Dafa disciples are truly good!" Then he told me everything about the account and said he was not even sure why he did it.
After this I reflected upon what had happened: the whole process was changing, along with the changes in myself. When conflicts arise, we should not just look at them superficially. As long as we do things according to the Fa, the results will be the best.
Lastly, I would like to remind those practitioners who cannot do well during tests, even though they realize they are tests: You must not give up on passing those tests. You will do well if you keep encouraging yourself. This is definitely so, because we are Dafa disciples. We have Master and we have the Fa!
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