(Minghui.org) A person’s heart is a platform to show his overall composure, and a cultivator’s heart is a touchstone for testing his cultivation state. I would like to share some of my recent understandings on this issue.
When an object is left in one place for a long time, it may gradually decay and go rotten. We may consider our heart as a place to store things. Cultivators are expected to constantly relinquish human attachments and let go of things we tend to hold on to. However, in cultivation practice, if one stops moving forward, he/she would inevitably slide backward.
When we find it hard to let go of something in our heart (mind), it would contaminate our dimensional field over time. When reflected in our cultivation, our surroundings would appear chaotic with troubles and conflicts, making us feel anxious and tired.
When we fail to realize that all this has resulted from the degeneration of our heart, we may end up keeping the dust around our body. We appear to be cultivating and clearing away bad substances, when in fact we have overlooked what Master has told us in “Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal” (“Essentials for Further Advancement”) and that “For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IX)
My understanding is that when a cultivator attaches too much importance to material things in the human world, he/she would add weight to his heart on a scale. A cultivator’s xinxing (heart/mind nature) directly determines his level in cultivation. Therefore, the more one can let go of things, the better; the less one cares about material things, the better. If we take material interests too seriously, we would add more weight to the heart on a scale, and it would feel heavier and heavier. One’s gong potency would be affected and one would not be able to see any progress. Consequently, one cannot see or feel any improvement and may decline in cultivation.
Some days ago, I was confronted with the issue of making a choice in my heart. I was totally confused as I could not see any solutions to the problem I was experiencing, so I just helplessly endured it.
Then I thought of Master and the Fa teachings. I began to balance my heart and tried to take what was happening lightly so that I would not add more weight to my heart. I kept reciting Master’s teachings, reminding myself that I would not store these sundries in my heart, nor would I allow them to pollute my dimensional field.
Still, I felt pretty bad at the time and rather slow in enlightening to the Fa principles. Sometimes, I even felt hopeless and helpless.
One morning, my son told me that he saw Master in his dream: “Master was holding my hand and leading me forward. There were many people following behind us,” my son told me happily.
I burst into tears upon hearing what he was saying. My son was puzzled and asked why I was crying.
“Master knew it was very hard for us to get over this hurdle, so Master encouraged us by letting us know, ‘Master is with you, so don’t be afraid.’”
“It’s true, mom,” my son said, “I was miserable last night, and my mind was filled with troubling thoughts, but I feel so much better today.”
“Master is right beside us,” I said to my son, “Master knows how we feel at the moment.”
We both felt extremely grateful for Master’s immense compassion and caring kindness.
All of a sudden, I felt I could see light at the end of the tunnel, and I seemed to have gained some in-depth understanding about what Master taught us.
I realized that Master’s teachings are the guiding beacon in our cultivation, and the so-called problems we were experiencing are in fact just a test of our faith in the Fa.
I understand from Master’s teachings that all Dafa disciples have a historic obligation to perfect and fulfill ourselves through cultivation, and each one of us and all the sentient beings we represent need to assimilate to the great law of the universe in order to have a bright future. Therefore, our cultivation state also impacts the future of the sentient beings we represent.
As I thought of Master’s teachings, I felt better and better and was no longer as tired. I began to take the “formidable challenge” I was facing more lightly and felt that the human notions on my mind were actually so trivial and rootless, so incapable and redundant, and they were in complete contradiction to the Fa principles Master has taught us.
When our mind (xinxing) reaches the standard the Fa requires, miracles will happen, as they are the manifestations of the Fa at different levels.
As I wrote this sharing, I could not help feeling strongly in my heart: It’s so wonderful to have Master guiding us! We are so fortunate to have obtained the Fa!