A Reminder to Cultivate by Following the Fa

(Minghui.org) Recently, a Falun Dafa practitioner named Lin (alias) talked to me about a cultivation issue that I think is worthy of discussion among our practitioners.

While telling people about Falun Dafa, Lin met a woman who sold groceries in the market. The woman accepted Lin’s information quite well and then began to talk about a recent situation which bothered her. Lin told her that sincerely reciting “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” would bring blessings and resolve hardships. 

The woman recited these words and her situation improved significantly. She believed in Dafa and expressed that she also wanted to practice Falun Dafa. Whenever Lin went to the market to tell people about Falun Dafa, she visited the woman’s booth to chat with her. The woman sometimes gave Lin a few names of people that wanted to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.

One day, this practitioner went to the market to see the woman again. The woman told her that a person who also practiced Falun Dafa had recently sold her some red beans. Unfortunately the red beans were not good quality, and as a result she lost money selling them. The person never showed up at her booth again. The woman said that she could not understand it because she believed Falun Dafa practitioners were all good people.

I was very disturbed after hearing this story and wanted to share and discuss it with fellow practitioners. While writing this article, I suddenly recalled Master’s teaching of looking inside. I thought, “There must be a reason for me to hear this story. What attachment do I have that this story was trying to remind me of? Do I have an attachment to personal gain?” I looked inside immediately and found that I did have an attachment to personal gain. 

I also discovered other attachments related to this story, for example, “not considering others first.” An ordinary person might be selfish but there is still morality in human society. As a Dafa practitioner cultivating the Law of the Universe, we should consider others first, and realize that we exist for all living beings. How could one harm others for his own personal gain? The practitioner who sold the beans to the woman at the market negatively impacted the reputation of others that practiced Falun Dafa cultivation. 

It is very difficult to save a person. The woman had developed a positive understanding of Dafa and received blessings. Furthermore, she wanted to cultivate Dafa. However, she did not yet have a deep understanding of the Fa and the red beans event interfered with her progress. We don’t want anyone to develop negative thoughts about Dafa because someone did something which did not follow Fa principles. I decided to ask Lin to find out how much money the woman lost selling the red beans and I would make it up for her. I wanted to work with Lin to harmonize this situation.

I recalled that when I first started to cultivate Falun Dafa, I tended to learn from what I observed other practitioners doing. I watched the practitioners who started cultivating earlier and did what they did. When I was with people who were not diligently cultivating Dafa, I followed them; when I was with practitioners who were diligent, I was in a different state. Gradually, I realized through reading the Fa that we should not simply follow other practitioners in cultivation. We must follow Dafa, the truth of this vast universe. This story reminded me again that cultivation in Falun Dafa requires that we closely follow the teachings of Dafa.

The above is my superficial understanding, please correct me if I have any misunderstandings! 

Heshi!