(Minghui.org) Master said in Zhuan Falun:

“The above are the two reasons for not being able to increase gong. Without knowing the Fa at high levels, one cannot practice cultivation. Without cultivating one’s inner self and one’s xinxing, one cannot increase gong. These are the two reasons.”

In order to improve myself, I should adhere to two things. One is to not only increase the amount of time I spend on Fa study, but also to study with a focused mind. I need to make sure I comprehend everything I read on the surface instead of trying to figure out the deeper meaning behind each character or sentence. When we arrive at a higher level, the Gods, Buddhas, and Daos behind the Fa will reveal deeper inner meanings for us. It's not something that we can just come to comprehend by intentionally digging into the surface meaning of the words.

The other thing is to look within in our daily lives. When I examine myself for whatever problems I run into, Master knows that I have the will to practice and will given me a hint.

I should look within when I am agitated. There is a certain attachment that remains unknown to me, but it causes me to get agitated. It's something that I really need to find and eliminate. Only by being unmoved will I be able to pass tests. Also, when thought karma emerges, we should try to eliminate it by resisting it and changing our notions instead of blindly looking within.

Examples

One morning when I made breakfast, my husband was upset with me because what I cooked was too simple and boring. He left without eating. He often bought me cookbooks, indicating that I needed to improve my cooking skills. A practitioner once told me that I should care more about my husband and cook better dishes. However, I did not see it that way after looking within. My family is not wealthy, and my cooking is just as good as any ordinary housewife's. My husband's attitude was a reflection of my attachment and a test for me. I got upset, which meant that I should look within to find out what attachment caused me to be upset. I should not intentionally try to please or be kind to someone. After I let go of my attachment, my husband stopped caring about what I cooked.

A practitioner should not be picky about food. I believe I shouldn't be overly concerned about cooking certain dishes, but rather just cook what's available. After I let go of my attachment to food, I saw the mighty power of the Fa. My husband would eat whatever I cooked. If I didn't feel like meat, my family would tell me that they were disgusted by meat, and I did not have to cook it. When I began to be attached to food again, my family got picky again. They would tell me that meat tasted good. For practitioners it is most important that we constantly progress in the practice. If I do well, my environment will change.

Similarly, if I can truly let go of my attachment to my family and stop worrying about my parents and children, I am kind to everyone around me. My family will not focus their attention on me or blame me for not caring enough about them. The Fa is almighty and can solve all problems as long as we improve ourselves.

Not an ordinary skill

I feel that some practitioners treat looking within as an ordinary skill and often fall into a habit of non-stop looking within. For example, Practitioner A's family said that he did not care about them, so he began to look within and decided that he should care more about them. In the end, he spent so much energy on them that his attachment to his family got larger. I am not saying that we shouldn't care about our families, because the Fa requires us to be good people. If we didn't do anything wrong, we should look within and see if we were moved by ordinary people's comments. We shouldn't be doing absolutely everything they tell us to.

We must not take Teacher's words out of context. For example, Practitioner B became ill and practitioners C and D went to see B. Afterward, C and D began to look within and saw many of their mistakes and found a lot of their attachments. Somehow I think they were confused on when to look within and when not to. On the surface they seemed to have found many shortcomings. However, when we look within, we should be doing so based on the Fa instead of just doing so for the sake of it. If we are constantly occupied by something, that is an attachment too and we have gone from one extreme to another.

There is one other problem. When a practitioner suffers from a tribulation, others tend to accuse him/her of not doing well. It might be true that the evil is exploiting the practitioner's gap. However, it could also be true that a diligent practitioner is undergoing a test. Having tribulations does not mean a practitioner is not doing well. Casually commenting on other practitioners is both irresponsible and interfering with the practitioner. Everyone walks a different path, and we can never pass judgment on what is really happening, nor can we determine the true nature of things. We should never make irresponsible comments.

When we study the Fa well, we are able to look within based on the Fa and do the three things well to save more beings.

The above is my personal experience. Please point out anything incorrect.