(Minghui.org) Every practitioner of Falun Dafa has encountered tribulations at different points in their cultivation. These tribulations manifest in many ways and come from our strong attachments to sentimentality, pursuit of comfort, and material gain.
No matter what the tribulation is, we must pass the tests and pay back our debts to succeed in cultivation. To pass these tests, we must get rid of the human notion that we need troubles in our cultivation to return to our origin, our real home.
Master said,
“...in the course of cultivation you are given some tribulations at each different level. They all come from your own karma and are your own tribulations, which are placed at different levels for you to improve yourself. As long as you improve your xinxing, you will be able to overcome them.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)
Some cultivators may think, “I have obtained the Fa. Now Master is taking care of me, and I’ll have many blessings. Why do I still have so many problems? Nothing seems to go my way.”
Some cultivators don’t express it but secretly wonder, “Look at those ordinary people. They live a pretty good life.” These cultivators don't realize that their tribulations were meant to help them improve. Without troubles, how can one get rid of human attachments?
I have been demoted and fired from jobs, illegally detained several times, and have been put through brainwashing sessions. Whatever has happened, if it moves me or affected my self-interests, it was a test to see whether my human notions dominate or my righteous thoughts win out.
My husband told me, “Every time you're detained, I stay up all night every night. I think about how you suffer and try to think of ways to get you out.”
“One time,” he said, “I took really expensive gifts to the deputy mayor because you and his wife are friends, and I thought maybe he could help you. He was very distant during my visit and threw away my gifts. It was like a slap in the face.”
“Even if I have nice gifts and cash in my pocket, I wouldn't know who to give them to to help you. People told me there is wiggle room if you were anything but a Falun Gong practitioner. Please don't get into any more trouble.”
If I was affected by emotional attachments at that moment, it would have held me back in validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. In order to be safe, I probably wouldn't go out and tell people about Falun Gong anymore. I would just study the Fa and do the exercises at home, but that is not enough to ascend in cultivation and rise above the human level.
Master said,
“...a Buddha or a God can give up his life for living beings and for the interest of the universe; they can give up anything, and even remain unmoved by it.” (Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference)
Is the cultivation of a Buddha, Tao, or God supposed to be easy? Master told us,
“While the ordinary man mightlong for Immortaldom,Behind the unbelievable wonderslies wrenching sorrow;It takes cultivating the mind,severing desires,casting off attachments,Lest man be lost in his ordealsand gripped with deep regret.”(“Who Dares Renounce Human Attachments?” from Hong Yin)
When my son learned that I was going to be put through yet another brainwashing session in 2010, he sent me and my husband to Changsha to stay with my niece for a while.
The local authorities caused trouble at his workplace and didn't allow him to go to work if he didn't tell them where I was. My daughter-in-law was not happy about the situation.
When the persecution was at its peak, everything that happened to me affected everyone else at my workplace. My company lost government funding, and everybody, including the management team, lost their bonuses. Some people were very hostile toward me.
Instead of letting these things affect me, I reminded myself to look at everything from a cultivator's perspective and get rid of my human attachments.
Master said,
“...The entire cultivation process for a cultivator is one of constantly giving up human attachments.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Master also said,
“Maybe some of the things you encounter in your life, at work, or in society can help you improve with respect to certain attachments of yours. When you encounter something, maybe it’s to eliminate your attachments or to help you with something. Once a person steps onto the path of cultivation, there will be nothing coincidental in his life from then on. Since your cultivation has been arranged systematically and time isn’t that plentiful, there can’t possibly be anything that’s coincidental. Everything has been tightly arranged. Don’t treat those seemingly accidental and trivial things that you encounter in your daily life as accidental, because there can’t be many strange things happening to you and you can’t go to another dimension to practice cultivation—you wouldn’t be able to improve your heart and mind that way. You are still in a state where you’re amidst the worldly things, your problems are still ordinary human problems, your way of life is still that of an everyday person, and the things that you encounter aren’t much different from before. But if you think about it carefully, they aren’t the same. They all come about to enable you to improve in cultivation.” (“Teaching the Fa at a New York Meeting” from Lectures in the United States)
I came to understand that the tribulations are meant to pave the way for me to achieve high levels in cultivation. Once I became clear on the Fa principles, I was able to maintain righteous thoughts whenever I encountered problems. As my righteous thoughts were strong, I became bigger, and the problems became smaller.
As I improved my xinxing and enlightened to the Fa principles, I easily got over the tribulations and passed those tests. My realm elevated, and I had breakthroughs in my cultivation.