Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- A Practitioner Must Do the Exercises
- How I Understand "Fit In Among Everyday People As Much As Possible"
- Let Go of Human Notions and Follow the Fa
- Improving Xinxing in the Work Environment
- Cultivate the Primordial True Self
- Recognizing My Resentment
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the April 2012 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Pureinsight and 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?
Practitioners in Bangalore introduced Falun Dafa through an audio visual Presentation at the Pre-parliament seminar of World Spiritual Parliament.
It was a well attended seminar and all participants got a true picture of Falun Dafa practice and the persecution.
At a function in Hyderabad on 23 March practitioners distributed fliers to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Tourism Minster, Finance Minister and other cabinet ministers and MLAs and other police personnel. To some visitors, truth was clarified.
Practitioners introduced Falun Dafa to 60 trainee nurses working in Nilofer Hospital. Every one appreciated the practice.
Falun Dafa was introduced to the students in a school run by Red Cross Society, Masab Tank, Hyderabad.
A TV channel called Z24 hours shot on video exercises done by the girl students of Shankarji Memorial Girls High School and telecast the same on the channel.
Fliers were distributed to parents, students and educational experts, who attended the merit excellence awards function organized by Suchir India Foundation.
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- 3. A Practitioner Must Do the Exercises
By Xiao Zhen
(PureInsight.org)
Master taught us five sets of exercises, “The Great Consummation Way.” Although we consider ourselves practitioners who meet the requirements, are we still practitioners if we slack off in doing the exercises? In my understanding, one cannot reach consummation if he or she is unable to keep up with the exercises. This is because if a practitioner does not exercise as required, one’s body cannot be transformed into high-energy substance. It may take hundreds or thousands of years for one to obtain a human body. Shouldn’t we cherish it? What if others reach consummation with their physical bodies transformed, while we cannot due to our slacking off in doing the exercises? We are cultivating in the maze and we have to cultivate following Master’s arrangements unconditionally. Counting on luck, or finding excuses for not doing the exercises, will lead us down an evil path.
I did not pay attention to doing the exercises in the past. I knew it was not right, but my laziness and attachment to comfort stopped me from doing the exercises more. This laid back attitude gave the old forces an excuse to take advantage of me and I often had symptoms of illness karma.
Since I began practicing10 years or so ago, I have not needed medicine. Whenever I had illness karma, I first looked inward to examine myself, and then spent more time studying the Fa and strengthening my righteous thoughts. Over the last few years, however, the illness tribulations lasted longer and longer. It would continue for one or two weeks and the symptoms were always the same: runny nose, sore throat, coughing, and fever. The fever was as high as 39 ºC (102.2 ºF). Although I was uncomfortable, it usually lasted only two or three days. A bigger nuisance was the coughing, often followed by a sore throat. One time, the illness karma lasted two weeks and I coughed the whole night and developed chest pain. When looking inward, I realized the time I spent exercising was inadequate. However, I still did not take it seriously until I repeatedly suffered sickness karma; I finally enlightened and decided to catch up. When reading experience-sharing stories in the past, I found a number of examples where practitioners had endured illness karma and kept doing the exercises in spite of pain.
So, after enduring sickness for a long time, I decided to do the exercises. With that thought, Master helped me. One night, I had a fever, accompanied by a sore throat because of a hacking cough. I did the exercises for one hour and felt more energetic. My family also saw the improvement. That evening, I did the sitting meditation and continued like this for a few days. The illness symptoms disappeared and I deeply felt the benefits of the exercises.
In the past, some practitioners would remind me to do the exercises, but I had no perseverance thinking I could always catch up later. This led to a vicious cycle of me doing the exercises less and less frequently. I knew some practitioners exercised every day and some even joined group exercises twice daily. By contrast, I always found excuses not to exercise, even thinking I was too tired.
Without righteous thoughts, I tend to think with human notions. But, doing so was actually deceiving others and at the same time, deceiving myself. In ancient times, cultivators were able to keep up doing the exercises, regardless whether there were hot summers or freezing winters. How can we Dafa disciples do so poorly? In “Lecture at the First Conference in North America,” Master said, “Have you ever thought of the fact that practicing cultivation is the best form of rest? You can obtain the kind of rest that can’t be obtained through sleeping.”
We know that in each particle of our body, there is a countless number of sentient beings. They are counting on me, since I can help them assimilate to the Fa and thus ascend to higher levels. However, because of my attachments and laziness, I wasted lots of time and did not do the exercises as I needed to, totally ruining their hopes of a good future. I need to strengthen my righteous thoughts and do more exercises, so that these sentient beings can be saved.
In “Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Master said, “The Gods of the past have a correspondence with the surface planets, and they all have a life-circulation system. The Gods make sure that the rocks don't decay, and the existence of the rocks guarantees the life of the Gods; once the rocks decay, the divine bodies will dissolve, and some Gods would then fall down. That's their relationship.” “As I see it, the Gods of the future will truly be like Gods--they won't need to correspond to the rocks on Earth anymore. And Gods of other systems won't need to correspond to rocks and matter on the surface particles in their own systems. The reason is, in the past, if Gods didn't have the lowest and largest matter to correspond to, they would lose the circulation system of matter, and their lives wouldn't be assured. There was that kind of relationship. Then have you thought about this: rocks are made of molecules, and that's to say, so are human bodies, so when you've succeeded in cultivating the most surface, material body a human has, won't you be bringing with you this fundamental assurance? Wherever you go you won't be limited by that. But you have to achieve the purity and sacredness required by that level.”
Master has rectified many shortcomings in the old cosmos. The standard of lives’ existence in the past is no longer applicable for our cultivation today. Therefore, we cannot limit ourselves with human notions, such as finding excuses for not doing the exercises. The wisdom of the old cosmos was limited and cultivators could not transcend the Three Realms no matter how hard they tried. Dafa practitioners, on the other hand, could transform their bodies into a high-energy substance by following Master’s instructions. This way, there will be corresponding particles of our bodies at each level, thus ensuring the eternal heavenly circuit of our existence. I think this is the most benevolent blessing a being can receive through which we can also see the boundless compassion and wisdom of Master.
Above are my personal understandings. Please point out any place that may be inappropriate.
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- 4. How I Understand "Fit In Among Everyday People As Much As Possible"
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
Falun Dafa practitioners are cultivating amid human
society, undertaking the mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification and
rescuing sentient beings. Master said,
"In our school of practice, those who practice cultivation among
everyday people are required to practice cultivation precisely in ordinary
human society, and to fit in among everyday people as much as possible. "
("Lecture Four" in Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
In the course of the cultivation, many practitioners are cultivating
themselves solidly and diligently in accordance with Master's requirements. They
maintain righteous thoughts and righteous actions; they are indeed in the state
of being a god-like being in the human world.
There are some practitioners who often mention this requirement from Master;
however, I do not agree with their understanding of this requirement. Some
practitioners wanted to step forward to clarify the facts, but felt
it was very difficult to do. Whenever they encountered troubles or difficulties
they became afraid and decided to hide at home to study the Fa and
practice the exercises on their own. They would only clarify the truth when an
opportunity was right in front of them and there was not much risk. They would
then feel content as they thought they have at least done the three
things. These practitioners would use the Fa teaching that each
practitioner's cultivation path is different, and that they are "to fit in
among everyday people as much as possible" to justify themselves.
Some other practitioners are attached to comfort and cannot let go of their
personal life among everyday people. They do not have time for Fa study and
exercises every day; still, they would justify their slacking off with the same
excuse. Some practitioners watch TV, play chess and have hobbies, which severely
interfered with them doing the three things well. They defend themselves by
quoting Master's words, "to fit in among everyday people as much as
possible."
Practitioners who have non-practitioner family members would also use this
excuse when their family members asked them to do something not in accordance
with Dafa. Actually, what they have been doing is not "to fit in among
everyday people as much as possible," instead, they are confusing
themselves with everyday people.
I would keep silent if they were new practitioners. However, many of them are
veteran practitioners; they do not want to give up Dafa cultivation. Because
they do not have a solid understanding of Dafa, they fail to realize that they
have intentionally or unintentionally ignored or indulged their human
mentalities, which in turn led them to their current state. In addition, the
evil persecutory environment in China is related to the poor cultivation states
of these practitioners. If this group of practitioners is able to catch up in
cultivation, how many more beings can be saved! I hope other practitioners will
spare no effort to help this group of practitioners. They themselves are anxious
to get help from fellow practitioners as well.
Master taught us,
"The majority of people in our school will practice cultivation in
ordinary human society, so you should not distance yourself from ordinary
human society and you must practice cultivation with a clear mind. The
relationships among one another should remain normal. Of course, you have a
very high xinxing level and an upright mind. You will upgrade your own xinxing
and your own level; you do not commit wrongdoing and only do good deeds--these
are only such a manifestation." ("Lecture Eight" in Zhuan
Falun)
My understanding of "fit in among everyday people as much as
possible" is as follows: Dafa disciples are, first of all, cultivators. We
are not everyday people. At the same time, the way we appear among everyday
people is very important. It is a direct manifestation of our cultivation. We
cannot behave abnormally in society, nor are we allowed to relax the requirement
on our xinxing and actions to the extent that we confuse
ourselves with everyday people. Both are indications that we are going to
extremes. I have had a hard-learned lesson in these two respects. I had caused
misunderstanding from family and colleagues due to my attachment of zealotry. I
also had conducted myself like an everyday person, or even worse than an
everyday person, because I was unwilling to get rid of certain attachments.
I was very happy when others recognized Dafa's goodness because I conducted
myself well; I felt extremely sorrowful when others had misunderstandings about
Dafa or even attacked Dafa because I failed to do well. That kind of sorrow was
indeed indescribable. I then grew more determined to cultivate myself well, and
truly improve my inner self. At the same time I conduct myself well and give
everyday people the impression that I am a very kind, upright person.
In the course of Fa study and reading experience articles on the Clearwisdom
website we constantly rectify ourselves. My understanding is that the two
extremes I just mentioned above are caused by attachment to one's ego and being
unable to let go of human mentalities. When we are able to truly improve
ourselves based on the Fa we will become determined and steadfast; we will have
strong righteous minds, and not being swayed by any interference. We will be
indestructible, like diamond.
For example: I have many relatives, and there are numerous conflicts among
the members of our extended family. As I eventually let go of my human thoughts,
let go of personal interest and remained unmoved, no matter what someone said to
me, I simply followed the requirements of Dafa and Master. Under all
circumstances I put myself in others' shoes to consider their feelings and
situation; as a result, I gradually changed my temperament. Now, all my
relatives say Falun Dafa is good. In the past, my sister-in-law used to pick on
me. Oftentimes, she scolded me or even humiliated me for no good reason. I
forgave my relatives' past behavior and treated them with Dafa disciple's
compassion. They used to bypass me to communicate with my husband whenever they
needed to discuss certain issues. Now they openly invite me to join the
discussion and consult me instead of my husband when they encounter conflicts.
They feel Dafa disciples are trustworthy, and the way we handle things are truly
for their benefit.
One of my neighbors did some yard extension and was reported to the
authorities by another neighbor. Because my husband is their colleague and had
small conflicts with their family before, they suspected that it was our family
who reported them. The wife in their family liked to gossip and was not tolerant
of others' mistakes. She said many bad things about us behind our backs. Each
time I saw her she looked at me with hatred. Most of the other neighbors did not
believe her, because they knew we were most tolerant toward others. They felt it
was unfair for us to bear the blame. I thought it would serve no use if I tried
to clarify the issue to others, because our neighbor was reported by an
anonymous letter. I was not perturbed at all. I always maintained a serene and
open mind. Before too long, no one made trouble for us any more.
Our neighbors like to gather to chat. They speak of many household topics; it
was really a huge waste of time. I usually stay away from their conversation
unless there is something related to truth-clarification issues, or someone asks
me for help. My neighbors described me as being different from others, the
implication being I was "abnormal." I was not moved and simply smiled
as a response. I conducted myself with good manners to show my respect for them
and tried to be tolerant toward them. Now they all feel I am very
"normal."
Now all my relatives have withdrawn from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)
and its related organizations. Some of my neighbors and colleagues also
renounced the CCP and communist affiliated organizations.
When diligent practitioners and I discuss things we have a feeling in common:
When we truly improve ourselves based on the Fa and let go of human attachments
we no longer have fear. Then the effect of truth clarification is usually
exceptionally good, as if gods are helping us.
Whenever it occurs to me that Master changed me from a person with tremendous
karma into a sacred Dafa disciple I am moved to tears. I am unable to describe
my gratitude to Master. I will be more diligent and strictly follow Master's
requirements. It is my genuine wish to let everyone who comes into contact with
me to see the beauty of Dafa.
I realize that "fit in among everyday people as much as possible"
as required from us by Master is not just Dafa's requirement for Dafa disciples
to cultivate among human society; it is also closely related to our mission of
rescuing sentient beings. It is a manifestation of Master's compassion to all
beings. I hope all Dafa disciples can let go of their egos and improve their
understanding in the Fa. Let's cultivate diligently and solidly, and do the
three things well.
Please kindly point it out to me if there is anything inappropriate.
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- 5. Let Go of Human Notions and Follow the Fa
Tong Zhen
(PureInsight.org)
In Lunyu, Master said: “The Buddha Fa is most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science. In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking. Otherwise, the truth of the universe will forever remain a mystery to humankind, and everyday people will forever crawl within the boundary delimited by their own ignorance.”
Through cultivation, I know only Fa-principles are the right way, but human notions have been very strong after numerous generations of reincarnation. Very often when encountering problems, I tended to react with human notions.
For example, when seeing physical discomfort in other practitioners, such as a headache, coughing, or nasal congestion, I often thought they had caught a cold. I knew it was not illness, but I did not say that out loud. Instead, I had a deep notion that catching a cold would lead to nasal congestion or headache. From the Fa we know that all the discomfort is due to karma. Then, how can the cold weather “produce” more karma? In fact, many of these thoughts came from human notions, not the Fa.
When looking deeper, I found more examples like this.
For instance, when seeing some practitioners dozing while sending forth righteous thoughts or when their hands were not straight, I would think they had not slept well. These practitioners also agreed. An everyday person is often sleepy when lacking sleep, but these are just principles in everyday society, while our cultivation is guided by the Fa, which is beyond the level of ordinary society. If we are able to strengthen our main consciousness and focus our attention, we will not feel sleepy, even if we did not sleep well. Plus, sending forth righteous thoughts is a sacred war between the righteous and evil, and it is an honor to participate and eliminate the evil. Even if we did not sleep well, our hands would still be straight.
I remember after my release from detention, I sometimes experienced physical discomfort. My family attributed this to the poor diet while in detention for a long time, since there were hardly any vegetables or fruit. In the beginning, I did not think much about it, but later on I thought about adding dietary supplements. But the more I thought about it, the worse my health became. Then I realized that physical discomfort was caused by karma, so how could supplements reduce my karma?
Master said: “With every bit of improvement in your state of mind, some bad things will be eliminated from your body,” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture One) and, “This directly involves our own minds. In order to eliminate this negative thing, you must first change your mind” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Four). When my xinxing dropped to the level of an everyday person, my physical body also dropped. How could dietary supplements in everyday society remedy our gong? I remember reading a story in the past that when Milarepa was cultivating, he sometimes only consumed about 30 pounds of grain per year and yet his gong potency still increased.
In Essentials for Further Advancement II, “Also in a Few Words,” Master said, “Indestructible righteous faith in the cosmos’s Truth forms benevolent Dafa disciples rock-solid, Diamond-Like Bodies, it frightens all evil, and the light of Truth it emanates makes the unrighteous elements in all beings’ thoughts disintegrate.” But, as we are sometimes influenced by human notions and unable to see with the flesh eyes, we question the effects of our righteous thoughts. In “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” Master said, “Do you realize that with all that being sent out, all around the world it formed into a sticky, glue-like substance, and it took just a very few evil beings to be able to interfere with you. It was not something that you could clear out, and it directly blocked our Dafa disciples’ ticket sales and blocked the Dafa disciples who were sending out true righteous thoughts. It was not something that could be cleared out.” All these human notions were formed in everyday society and they have interfered with our cultivation. During the final steps of Fa-rectification, we have to align ourselves with the Fa so that we can catch up with the Fa-rectification process and do well in saving the sentient beings.
The above are my own personal understandings. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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- 6. Improving Xinxing in the Work Environment
By a practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
I work at a private company. Everyone in the company knows that I practice Falun Gong, and that I am honest and a hard worker. I have thus earned my bosses' and colleagues' trust. Within two years of working at the company, I was promoted to be part of the senior management team. In addition, my bosses are supportive and protective of me, and have shielded me from the persecution. They know that Falun Gong is good, as they have read , and one of them has a relative who is a practitioner. Even in such a good environment, I still come across opportunities to improve as a cultivator.
The company has two co-owners, whose management styles and interests differ greatly. As such, they disagree on many things. However, they trust me very much. They don't often talk to each other, and when they do, they often get into arguments because of their short tempers. I have to resolve many of their arguments. I am often caught in the middle and have found it difficult to resolve the issues. I have looked within myself repeatedly and realized that it was because of my attachments.
I still had the attachments to egotism and human emotion since I thought highly of my coordinating skills, how I got along well with people and how I earned the trust of my bosses. I was also afraid of offending my bosses in order to hold onto fame and personal gain. I would try to persuade them to resolve their issues whenever they had a conflict, without considering if I may have done something wrong since I didn't understand our predestined relationship. After going through many tribulations, I am much calmer now. For cultivators, the most important thing in life is to improve our without being attached to anything, including our careers. I always have the thought that if I have to leave the company today, I should be able to pack up and go without any attachment.
Private companies pay close attention to their finances. My bosses trust me to handle most of the company's commercial activities. However, I got into trouble when I didn't negotiate for the best deal for the company. At first, I didn't want to change and many of my human mentalities surfaced such as laziness, resentment and fear. I now realize that everything has a predestined relationship, including if companies do business with each other. What I can do is try my best to fulfill my responsibility, according to the policies of the company. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen.
I do my best to treat the employees with compassion. When they make a mistake, I point it out and handle it according to the company's policy. I don't yell at them or rashly fire them.
My business contacts are mostly affluent people. Although many senior managers and government officials take bribes, I don't. I have made it clear to those around me that I don't drink, play mah-jong, or bribe anyone. I would rather lose my job than take part in those activities. My bosses respect my values. Furthermore, I have never had problems in these areas. I think it was because my xinxing met the requirements, therefore no tests were necessary.
I live a frugal lifestyle. I continue to use or wear something if it still works or is usable. I have used the same briefcase for over ten years. Once, I had to speak at an event with VIPs from multinational corporations. My bosses insisted that I buy a new suit and get my driver's license for the image of the company. I bought a car after I got my license. I believe that being overly frugal is also an attachment to money. If conditions allow, we should conform to the state of ordinary society and keep a positive image of cultivators. This will also help with . It's not the material things themselves, but whether or not we are attached to them.
I find that at work, as long as I can eliminate my attachments, the tribulations and difficulties will be much fewer. If I fail to eliminate them, they will become a burden. Whenever there are conflicts, if we can examine ourselves, then we can reach that milestone. In the future, I will continue to look within whenever I come across any problems and improve myself.
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- 7. Cultivate the Primordial True Self
A Dafa Disciple in Da Qing, China
(PureInsight.org)
Today a fellow practitioner told me that in his area some practitioners were so puzzled that they didn’t know how to cultivate. Some practitioners had been cultivating for over ten years but some attachments and human notions still existed. When the outside environment was tense, some practitioners got frightened and stayed at home. Some practitioners were interfered with by sickness karma; their symptoms still existed even after sending righteous thoughts. In the end they passed away.
How could this happen? Why did some practitioners see less and less of a future for themselves as they cultivated along? Why couldn’t other practitioners’ divine states help him or her?
Many practitioners have been going through tribulations since July 20, 1999. How well have we cultivated during this time? Only the person himself or herself knows. We all know that in conflicts, we need to look within and completely negate the arrangements of the old forces. But when the conflicts really happen, the standpoints of some practitioners are to protect themselves. At the very beginning they protected their personal interests; after a while, they protected their notions or opinions. They didn’t allow fellow practitioners to criticize them. Just like Master taught in “Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”: “Many gods are whispering in my ear, ‘Your Dafa disciples won’t stand for anyone being critical of them. Just one word and they explode. Could it work if others aren’t allowed to criticize them? How are they supposed to cultivate if they can’t take criticism? What kind of cultivator does that amount to?’ and similar things to that effect.” When facing some complicated things, some practitioners like to use their own understandings to point fingers, such as “he is right,” “he is wrong,” etc. They don’t cultivate their speech. On the surface they also do the three things and sometimes the results are good, but they don’t do it whole-heartedly. They don’t validate the Fa using their original nature. They therefore didn’t cultivate their “true self.”
Cultivating the true self is a manifestation of maturity in the Fa. It is a manifestation of pureness; from a cultivator’s behavior, to his speech, and to his thoughts. Both Minghui and Zhengjian websites have been calling for papers under the category, “Divine Occurrences in the Human World.” This is the current state of the Fa-rectification process. When Dafa disciples cultivate their true selves, in the human world they don’t pursue fame or self-interest; and they don’t have the puzzle of emotions. They are strict with themselves by following the requirements of Dafa. Although some cannot see other dimensions, in any social situations or natural disasters, they can find the answers in Dafa.
In Zhuan Falun, Lecture One, Master said: “As a person sits there, without moving his hands or feet, he is able to do what others cannot do even with their hands and feet, and he can see the actual truth of each dimension in the universe. This person can see the truth of the universe and things that an everyday person cannot. Isn’t he a person who has attained the Tao through practicing cultivation? Isn’t he a great enlightened person? How can he be considered the same as an everyday person? Isn’t he an enlightened person through cultivation practice? Isn’t it correct to call him an enlightened person?” Many Dafa practitioners can eliminate a lot of evil elements when their righteous thoughts are strong, which ordinary people cannot do no matter how they move their hands and feet. During the solid cultivation process, looking within has become part of them. Although they can’t see the principles in other dimensions, their pureness toward Master and Dafa touch a lot of practitioners. Isn’t this a manifestation of divine occurrences in the human world?
Several days ago I attended a small experience sharing. Fellow practitioners spoke their minds freely. They all looked within. I was very glad to see their purity and honesty. Besides conforming to everyday people as much as possible, they cultivated while doing the three things, and gave full play to their capabilities. For example, during the twelve years since 1999, I have encountered being arrested by the CCP and tribulations in my family. When facing my attachments, I had regret, criticized myself, cried, and slapped my face. Five or six years ago, I found my biggest attachments were lust and jealousy. Especially, the attachment of jealousy tested me every day. I was either angry about my father’s way of doing things, or indignant and disturbed about the tribulations my wife caused me, or resentful about the policemen who beat Dafa disciples to death. But one or two seconds later, I immediately realized that this mindset was wrong. Dafa disciples shouldn’t hold those thoughts. I recited “The Fa rectifies the Cosmos, the Evil is completely eliminated,” to clean it up. The situation gradually became better. My jealousy is now much less than before. As I studied the Fa deeper, I could also resist the interference of lust more and more. It manifested that I didn’t make mistakes as easily as before. On the way to the office and back home I always recite “Lunyu,” Hong Yin, etc. After work, I devote myself to studying the Fa. Each day, except for the necessary time to make a living, I dedicate all other time to doing the three things. However, the attachments of lust and jealousy are still not completely discarded. Here I expose them, so as to completely clean them up.
Moreover, Master has asked us to save more sentient beings, so we need to make greater efforts to clarify the truth and find our own appropriate ways to do it. For example, if one has strong presentation skills, then he or she can clarify the truth face to face; if one is good with computers, he or she can make truth clarification materials; if one cultivates purely and has few human notions, he or she can send righteous thoughts at close proximity. Of course many Dafa disciples assume multiple roles. They not only clarify the truth, but also send righteous thoughts at close proximity. They are busy every day. After their family members and friends understood the truth, these Dafa disciples went to remote areas to clarify the truth. As people today are lost in delusion, we have to clarify the truth to them according to their attachments. When a practitioner can melt into the Fa, he or she will feel happy and relaxed; he or she will have a stronger feeling of Master’s compassion and how fast the Fa-rectification goes. How could you feel puzzled?
Master said in “Greetings to the Canada Fa Conference:” “Walk the last steps of your path well and with determination, study the Fa well, and, with a foundation laid by your having cultivated well, your righteous thoughts will naturally grow stronger and you will surely do well with what Dafa disciples are supposed to do. The evil is finished and the environment has changed, so it is even more imperative that you not let up in cultivation. Go forth and forge your mighty virtue and glory by carrying out the sacred mission of saving sentient beings!” It is close to the end. We need to have more urgency. Only by doing that, are we worthy of being saved by Dafa; only by doing that we are worthy of the number one title in the universe, “Dafa Disciples of the Fa rectification period,” and only by doing that we are worthy of the sentient beings who are longing for us to save them. The chance of encountering this is extremely difficult in any countless number of years.
The more you melt yourself into the Fa, the bigger the change your original side has, and the less bad material and elements can control you. Thus, your divine side reveals itself naturally. Whatever things you do, you follow the requirements of Dafa instead of being forced to do it or being attached to pursuit. In such a state of mind, is there any fear of the evil? Is there any attachment to doing things? When those attachments emerge, the powerful gong in your body will eliminate them. That state is: “One’s purity is seen, After the adamantine will is fully tempered” (“Stirred by Reflection”).
I often encourage myself by using Masters poem, “Abiding in the Tao” from Hong Yin,
“Present, but the heart elsewhere—
Perfectly reconciled with the world.
Looking, but caring not to see—
Free of delusion and doubt.
Listening, but caring not to hear—
A mind so hard to disturb.
Eating, but caring not to taste—
The palate’s attachments severed.
Doing, but without pursuit—
So constant, abiding in the Dao.
Calm, but without strain of thought—
The truly wondrous can be seen.”
In comparing myself to the six states in “Abiding in the Tao,” I often look within to find the areas in my xinxing that I haven’t done well with. I continuously look within and do the three things solidly instead of superficially. There is no puzzle. Of course, Dafa practitioners at different levels have different opinions. If I am not in line with the Fa, please kindly point it out.
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- 8. Recognizing My Resentment
By practitioner Xiao Bo in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
I shared with fellow practitioners my personal understanding on how to provide aliases for people who wish to quit the Chinese Communist Party. My fellow practitioners seemed to be in agreement, but yet, when one of the practitioners submitted a list of names, it was rejected due to my suggestions. When I was told about this, I was upset, and I thought to myself: "In the future, I will learn to submit the lists of names myself." I wanted to do that not because I wanted to alleviate troubles for others, but because I was upset with the other practitioner.
Why was I upset? Upon looking inward, I realized that I was attached to my own understanding and having others be in agreement with my understanding. When my understanding was challenged, instead of reflecting on myself to truly elevate on the Fa principles, I rejected the opportunity to improve.
This reminded me of another incident. At a coordinators' meeting, I made a suggestion which everyone approved and thought was a great idea. However, even after several rounds of discussions, it was not implemented. I became so upset and emotional that I even surprised myself. I was full of resentment.
Looking back, I was upset because my idea was not implemented and I was too attached to my own understanding and the approval and acceptance of others. My resentment came from my attachment to self, and self-validation. Why did I put so much emphasis on my own understanding and ways of doing things? The way to improve is to let go. Only when we can let go of our own points of view, look at things from others' perspectives, and try to understand and tolerate others, can we truly improve.
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