(Clearwisdom.net) When I study Master's lectures, I am most impressed by a principle that Master has often talked about and has stressed again and again--cultivation is about looking inward. In other words, I think, not looking inward means not cultivating.
However, many practitioners tend to look outward and search for external causes when they run into problems. They even get angry, just as Master points out in the "Fa:
"Yet when we run into problems, we often look outwards--'Why are you treating me like that?'--and feel that we've been treated unfairly, instead of examining ourselves. That's the greatest and most fatal obstacle for all living beings." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore")
For instance, some practitioners went to the hospital to seek temporary comfort. Instead, they suffered from long-term discomfort. Isn't cultivation about eliminating karma and enduring hardship? If we don't measure things against the Fa, we are restricted by human laws. We will not be able to regard problems as tests of our faith in Master and Fa or as tests of our firmness in the Fa. If we don't hold ourselves to the standard of the Fa, the evil will take advantage of our gaps and even Master cannot help us under such circumstances. So we will suffer ordeals until someday we understand the Fa.
Some practitioners complain about their family situations, such as their family members creating problems in their cultivation and not allowing them to do this or that, or even destroying Dafa books. They didn't look inward to see whether they have behaved as cultivators, whether they have created positive images for Dafa practitioners in their environment, or whether they have truly been validating Dafa. When we do not cultivate ourselves well, our gaps may be taken advantage of by the old evil forces. We may get arrested, causing our family members to suffer mentally and physically, and thus they may become more fearful. Have we thought about our family members as sentient beings to be saved? Although the CCP is evil, Master told us:
"if you don't have those thoughts they can't do anything." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
Why can't we look inward to search for our fundamental attachments and stand up from where we fall?
I think the only way to solve these problems and overcome these ordeals is to study the Fa more. We should study the Fa with our hearts and recite the Fa, so that we can truly assimilate to Dafa and transcend the selfishness of the old cosmos. We should break away from human notions, hold ourselves to the standard of selflessness and altruism, always consider others first, and consider issues from others' points of view. I realize the process of searching inside is a process of enduring, a process of eliminating karma, a process of cultivating, and a process of improving ourselves. Isn't cultivation about enduring hardship? Getting rid of all human notions is the hardest process.
Finally, I would like to suggest that every practitioner recite this quote from Master's "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe:"
"Whenever you encounter problems you should each look inward to search for the cause within, regardless of whether you're to blame or not. Remember my words: Regardless of whether the problem is your fault or not, you should look inside yourself, and you will find a problem. If the matter has absolutely nothing to do with you or doesn't involve any of the attachments you should break, then that thing would rarely happen to you. If you didn't have an attachment the problem wouldn't have come about. I have to be responsible for your cultivation. Any problem that happens to you, around you, or among you is most likely related to you, and there is something for you to get rid of. No matter whether it's your fault or not, when my Law Bodies are having you remove your attachment, they don't care whether it's your fault or another person's."
