(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for almost 20 years. I try to weigh everything against Dafa’s requirements. In general, I am quite happy about my cultivation progress and thought that I had been doing what a cultivator is required to do.
Nevertheless, I felt I still had many stubborn human notions that were blocking my path. I realized that the root cause of this was selfishness.
I know the only way to make a breakthrough is to study the Fa more diligently, purify my every thought, and adjust the fundamental attitude in my role to save people, then, I can fulfill my historic mission.
Rising Above the Self to Embrace All Sentient Beings
When we practice in ordinary society, we come into contact with people. Our interactions with relatives and colleagues can be tests and are also instances that will temper our xinxing.
My mother-in-law loves to offer opinions, and is often extremely straightforward and blunt. In family gatherings, she would speak of my inadequacies in front of everybody. I used to feel frustration and resentment. Now, I can listen without reaction.
I strive to behave as a cultivator, be at peace with everything and everybody. I also stay away from all family squabbles and don’t get involved with the conflicts among my husband and his four siblings.
Consequently, I get along well with all members of my extended family. One by one, they have renounced the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and withdrawn from all its affiliated organizations.
At work, things are a lot different.
A colleague once spoke about me negatively with another colleague behind my back, and what was said was not in accordance with the truth.
The colleague later discovered I was in the same room and within earshot. She must have felt embarrassed that I had overheard everything. Her embarrassment turned to resentment, so she became very irritable and antagonistic toward me.
Her irritability and antagonism were unjustified and made me feel rather uncomfortable.
I remembered several years ago, I had already helped her renounce the CCP. I told myself I mustn’t let our recent conflict mar the positive feelings she had toward Dafa.
So, I tried my best to stay calm and ensure I continued to think and act in accordance with the xinxing standards required of a Dafa disciple.
One day, she showed me a picture someone took during a trip to Taiwan that depicted Dafa disciples doing exercises and wearing Dafa T-shirts with the words “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” on them.
She asked me what the words meant. I gave her an explanation.
She thought for a bit and remarked, repeating her words twice, “To practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the right thing to do.”
I was touched. “Isn’t this the reaction and attitude I’ve been working at and looking for? To have sentient beings think and feel positively toward Falun Dafa is to guarantee they can be saved.”
I was happy I did the right thing throughout.
I strive to remain calm and untouched by any hurtful words uttered intentionally or unintentionally by anybody. I also strive to do the same when I make truth-clarification phone calls with my cell phone.
I know words can’t hurt me. I just can’t help but feel sad that sentient beings are unknowingly hurting themselves.
Someone once answered my call and started swearing, using very obscene words. I spoke to him quietly. I told him the purpose of my call. Soon, my tone of voice and my attitude began to calm him down. His cursing stopped. He actually tried to cover up his discomfort by saying he was only kidding with me.
He told me at the end of my call, “I understand what you’re saying to me. Thank you.”
Another time, as soon as my call was answered, the other party started cursing. I asked him why, he answered, “You call me, I’ll curse you.”
I said, “Okay. Go ahead and curse away then.”
I just listened and didn’t speak another word. After a while, he stopped cursing.
I began to tell him why I called. In the end, although he didn’t renounce the Party or withdraw from its affiliated organizations, he politely waited for me to hang up first.
Those experiences helped me realize when we cultivate to improve our xinxing, it is so we can help Master save sentient beings. This is not a slogan, but we really have to cultivate to that level, then we can really save people.
Getting Rid of the Self Completely
A practitioner once made a blunt declaration that I couldn’t be regarded as a Dafa disciple. I felt very perturbed and unsettled. I thought to myself, “What right do you have to make that kind of statement about me?!”
But, I looked inward and examined the state of my cultivation.
Since entering into Dafa, I had hung onto the firm belief that since Falun Dafa is the Buddha Law, I could succeed to consummate in Dafa cultivation. The sentient beings that I saved could fill up my world, I could help Master rectify the Fa, and I could build my own mighty virtue. When Master purified my body, when I would elevate my xinxing, I could turn my karma into virtue.
I told myself, “To cultivate Dafa is the opportunity of 10,000 lifetimes. The benefits and blessings are immeasurable.” And so, it was the benefits and expectations that drew me to Dafa. I thought those were correct notions. I didn’t realize they were really selfishness and greed.
I had no awareness that, for Dafa disciples to attain consummation, it’s not the length of time we spend in the practice or the depth of our feelings toward Dafa that are the determinants. Everything rests on our xinxing level.
Since I had no consciousness of my fundamental attachments, I had the inclination to solve problems guided by those attachments.
I believed I was doing the right thing. But my objective was fundamentally to resolve interpersonal conflicts, improve life’s situations, eliminate physical discomfort, and improve health.
When issues were straightened out and problems removed, I would believe my xinxing had been raised, and my attachments had been gotten rid of.
That lasted for a very long time. As a result, I had been stagnated in the same state and didn’t get much understanding of the Fa despite diligence studying. I got rid of attachments but soon they popped up again. There was no clear xinxing elevation to speak of.
Things were similar regarding my attachment to a strong desire to persuade family members to go into Dafa. At first, I thought it was my attachment to sentimentality and I worked hard to rid myself of that.
I’ve now come to the realization that I was using Dafa to realize my dream of having my family embrace Dafa so they could be blessed as I had been. That is disrespecting Dafa, putting it in a secondary place and putting my wish in the first place
I was shocked at my terrible human notions. Unconsciously, I was making use of Dafa.
As soon a I realized what I had been doing, I began to rid myself of those obsessions and clean out from my field all the lives in another dimension that had imposed on me those thoughts and had led me astray for so long.
I used to feel drowsy when I studied the Fa. Now, whenever I read Zhuan Falun, I undergo dramatic changes and am able to understand some underlying meanings of the Fa that had eluded me before. Now, I truly feel Falun Dafa’s main text is a book that will guide us to heaven.
Master Protected Me When I Removed an Evil Display Board
I once went to a city and found a community panel displaying words with contents insulting Dafa. The panel was hanging on the courtyard wall near the entrance to a school campus on a busy street with shops around and with lots of pedestrians and vehicles passing by.
It’s a place where people also like to gather to exchange information, shoot the breeze, or take a rest.
When I first set eyes on it, I was a bit startled, “How could such a panel be allowed to hang there, with lies and insult aimed at Falun Dafa, exuding toxins and polluting people's hearts. How many sentient beings are poisoned by it each day?”
I at once sent righteous thoughts to clean out all evil beings in other dimensions and to bar them from manipulating the community department responsible for putting up the panel. I then thought, “Why am I the one confronted by such a thing? It must be for me to get rid of it!”
So, I set about to devise a plan.
When I took stock of the surrounding environment, I noticed surveillance cameras all around, one directly pointing at the panel.
I thought, “Wish that a truck could be parked in front of the display panel…”
But I knew there would be no possibility since the panel was on the wall with fences surrounding the campus, and vehicles basically didn’t park there.
Then, I thought, “Perhaps I can come back on a rainy night. There will be less traffic and my umbrella can act as a cover.”
I had a discussion with a practitioner to see if we could come up with a relatively foolproof plan to remove the display without damaging the panel.
The practitioner suggested, “We’re not damaging anything. We are trying to save sentient beings.”
Her remark gave me clarification, which led to my decision, “I’ll not only rid the panel of its poison, I’ll let people know who removed the poison and why it should be removed. I’ll use this opportunity to spread and validate Dafa.”
I put a variety of Minghui periodicals and Dafa materials into a plastic bag to hang on the fence pole conjoining the wall. Whoever would be the first to discover the changes in the display would be the first to learn the truth and come to understand the CCP's lies that deceive people.
If that was reported to the higher authorities, the content of the truth would be transmitted to all related personnel to even reach the core sector so that, through the understanding of Dafa’s truth, they would no longer commit crimes against Dafa. I solidified my plan.
Two days later, it rained. During the day, it rained off and on. When night fell, the rain came down steadily. I sent forth righteous thoughts, took my umbrella, and set off.
I strode along quickly, without any fear, knowing I was doing the most righteous thing. I asked Master to shut off the surveillance cameras or at least make sure the cameras and all passersby couldn’t see me.
When I got close, I was surprised to see a large, long truck parked right in front of the panel, effectively blocking the view from the surveillance camera.
I knew at once that was the manifestation of Master’s gracious compassion. As long as we are determined to do what is right, Master will arrange everything for us.
The poisonous display came off with a gentle cut, much easier than I had imagined. I hung my prepared Dafa materials on the adjacent fence. The whole thing was completed within no time at all.
The next few days, I continued sending righteous thoughts to stop the evil forces in other dimensions from putting ideas into the authorities to conduct an investigation, so they wouldn’t be committing further crimes against Dafa.
In a little over ten days, the display on the panel was replaced with health-related information. I was happy for the wise decision. I hoped that these people will have a good future.
I also believed the people who walked or drove by everyday, who had witnessed the transition from seeing a display that defamed Falun Dafa, to learning some basic facts about Falun Dafa, would now have the content beneficial to their well-being.
When I take a look back to my personal cultivation. I realize I made mistakes because I had not always weighed myself against the Fa, nor had I dug deep into my attachments and rooted them out, or looked at cultivation seriously enough.
I’m thankful for Master’s compassion. Master saw I failed to enlighten, so He sent people to point out my problems so I could realize the seriousness of my mistakes.
In my cultivation path going forward, I will not get attached to any human notion, including any idea about the loss of time and mistakes during cultivation. I will only follow everything Master says, let go of any human desire, and cultivate with the purest of hearts!
Thank you, Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
