After Reflection, We Must Take Action

(Minghui.org) I do not consider myself to be a diligent practitioner, or should I say that although I have the wish to follow Master's teachings, I feel I’m too superficial. But when I read many articles on Minghui, the thought I had was that fellow practitioners only reflected, but did not take action. We cannot start to cultivate only after finding satisfactory answers for all our questions; otherwise, cultivation in the maze or enlightenment in the maze would not be an issue. Master told us: “Therefore, cultivation and enlightenment come first. Seeing comes later.” (“Lecture in Sydney”)

During my cultivation, the deepest feeling I had about visiting the Minghui website was that it always felt like attending an experience sharing conference. As practitioners, our individual understandings are at different levels. So, I used to be very perturbed by the fact that a number of practitioners seemed to not visit Minghui because they were only willing to share their experiences face-to-face. Later I realised that this was a reflection of myself. My visiting Minghui only made me a reader, but not a participant. By exchanging experiences with fellow practitioners, I had an opportunity to express myself directly.

I deeply understand that having someone to share your experiences with when you go through a tribulation is really very valuable. But it was not always this way. For example, I often wanted to only hear nice words and liked to take shortcuts. I wished that the practitioners who cultivated well would give me a helping hint to get over a tribulation. But cultivation requires us to walk our own paths while in the midst of everyday society. The crux of any tribulation is to reveal your attachments, and it will definitely involve being emotionally and physically uncomfortable. In fact, when we are feeling emotionally and physically exhausted, that is actually the time when Master is helping us to remove karma. Now I still frequently cry, but I know this continual heart wrenching is precisely cultivation.

During cultivation, Master enlightens us bit by bit. Recently, I was experiencing bodily elimination of karma with a high fever and persistent cough. When I was in a lot of discomfort and wondering how to overcome this tribulation, one of Master’s concepts came to mind: What I was experiencing was a false manifestation and a form of interference. I wondered what I should do. As I slowly studied the Fa, did the exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts, the high fever subsided. I could go outside, but still felt terrible.

Sometimes, Master was more obvious in his hints. It often takes a long time before I can understand these hints, but with Master and the Fa, I know I should cultivate diligently. Even if I don’t do well, I should persist. I had this thought: Many times I have felt lonely and helpless. But wasn’t this something that I should learn to overcome and face during cultivation? I was unable to overcome it all at once, but, as is often the case, I would feel helpless and hopeless for a certain period of time before the situation got better.

I then discovered my attachments to showing off, fame and gain, and jealousy. As I studied the Fa more and did the three things as required by Master, I viewed all the uncomfortable and unpleasant things I experienced as good things.

Actually everything is in the Fa. Gaining insight depends only on whether we choose to use our hearts. We do not need to think too much of the old evil forces, but rather we need to think of Master’s words. The first time I thought of looking inwards was when the printer I had just bought had a technical problem. I knew that the new printer should not behave this way, so I realised that I should look within for my shortcomings. With this thought, the technical problem disappeared. The next time it happened, I also had the thought of looking inwards, but it was not effective. The requirements for my xinxing had apparently increased. It was not good enough that I wanted to look inward, because I also needed to find my attachments.

After I was illegally detained and released, the people living on my street, at my work unit and the police all knew that I was still cultivating Falun Dafa. My home phone was being tapped. I would play the exercise music every morning, even though my attachment to fear was great. I had always wanted to be a Falun Dafa disciple in an aboveboard manner. I should not force this wish, but as I thought of Master’s words, I understood that it was because of our loopholes that the old evil forces had excuses to persecute us. We should be diligent and cultivate ourselves well. In this way, the evil forces will have no opportunities to instigate people to persecute us. Actually, in relation to this topic, there have been many good articles published on the Minghui website. Attachments are gradually gotten rid of during cultivation. If we do not solidly cultivate and experience the tribulations, there will not be opportunities for us to expose our attachments and get rid of them.

On the other hand, we should not take what everyday people say to heart. Cultivators will make mistakes. The part that we have cultivated will be separated and cannot be detected. Everyday people are providing an environment for our cultivation as well as waiting for us to save them. These are all opportunities that will expose our attachments. We should use the requirements of the Fa to measure our standards and walk our paths with dignity. Master will help guide us step by step towards a wonderful future!