(Minghui.org) Master mentioned “Cultivating as if you were just starting” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume IX) in his previous articles many times. But I didn’t really understand. In his latest article “Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious,” the first sentence is, “Cultivate as you did in the beginning, and you are sure to succeed.” I repeatedly read this article and gained new insights.
When I started practicing I felt Falun Dafa was beautiful and I treasured it. I read the Fa diligently and with respect. Because I followed the teachings and maintained my xinxing, I saw the deeper meanings of each word when I read, and I felt myself assimilating to the Fa (teachings). My understanding of the Fa improved quickly. As time went by, because I read the Fa many times and knew the contents well, I sometimes didn’t know what I was reading even though my eyes read the words. Sometimes my mind wandered while I read. The Divine beings behind the words clearly saw my situation and did not allow me to see the inner meanings. Even though I kept reading the Fa, I didn’t have any insights. If I couldn’t correct my situation I felt I would end up in a vicious cycle, and my cultivation would be affected.
When I just started cultivation, I put myself low and I was humble. I constantly examined myself for my shortcomings. I looked within according to the Fa principles. My cultivation improved quickly. As time went by and I understood more of the Fa principles and experienced various issues, I developed complacency and self-satisfaction. I thought I was better than others and looked outward at others when I had issues. I didn’t really look within. My cultivation stagnated.
At the beginning of my cultivation, I felt Falun Dafa was wonderful. I told everyone about Falun Dafa and I wanted them to benefit. When Falun Dafa was slandered and persecuted, I told people the facts about Dafa and safeguarded the Fa. In the hearts of Dafa disciples, Master and Dafa is sacred and not to be tarnished. It is Dafa disciples’ responsibility and mission to safeguard Dafa and Master. Practitioners have done what they should do during the Fa-rectification period. But some practitioners didn’t study the Fa frequently or well, so they still had many notions and attachments. Some felt that they did so much for Dafa. They did not realize that this mindset deviated from the Fa.
My understanding was shallow when I began practicing. I was humble and cultivated diligently, so my xinxing quickly improved. My understanding is that Master said, “Cultivate as you did in the beginning.” As we keep practicing, our mentalities change if we don’t cultivate well. We may develop complacency and become arrogant. This is not the state of, “cultivate as you did in the beginning.”
My wife and I only practiced for six months when the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) began persecuting Falun Dafa. My wife planned to go to Beijing to stand up for the Fa with other practitioners. She asked me if I would like to go with them. I didn’t understand the Fa principles clearly at that time and had some concerns—such as my child was only a few years old and I didn’t want trouble if my company found out I practiced Falun Dafa.
But I felt that Master and Dafa shouldn’t be slandered and I shouldn’t stand by and do nothing. I felt my concerns were attachments. I should go to Beijing to validate the Fa immediately. I asked my parents to look after our child. I went to Tiananmen Square with my wife. During the process, my cultivation was improved and laid a good foundation for my future cultivation. My mind was simple and pure. My mentality was that as a Dafa disciple, I should do my part.
Pulled Back From Danger
My business had some problems. On the surface the old forces persecuted me because I went to Beijing to validate the Fa. But actually it was because of my attachments to fame and personal interests. My company wasn’t given any projects. I looked at the issues from a human perspective due to my attachments. I thought it was caused by my cultivation because I didn’t act like an everyday person who gave bribes and gifts. I felt sad and complained to my wife one day, “Cultivation is too hard. Who could complete this path?” She asked me immediately, “Do you have doubts about Dafa? Are you complaining that Master doesn’t look after you?” I was stunned.
My words indicated that I had long-term resentment. I felt that I did many things after practicing for so many years. I became courageous and arrogant. I felt that everything should be easy when I did things to validate the Fa. There shouldn’t be any troubles. If anything happened, it must be interference. Superficially I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the old forces. In reality I wanted Master to solve the problems. Doing the things to validate the Fa must make me happy. Otherwise I would stop and leave as if I did it for Master. Thanks to my wife’s reminder, I realized my problem so that I didn’t head further into danger.
Reflecting on myself, I was surprised that I had gone so far. When I saw my attachment to myself, the old force did the most evil thing to reinforce my human heart—it prevented me from remembering the Fa and separated me from the Fa.
The other practitioners kindly reminded me and my righteous thoughts surfaced. My heart became humble and calm and I remembered to cultivate as I did in the beginning, Master and other righteous Gods strengthened me and my righteous thoughts returned.
When I look back now and see how dangerous my cultivation state was at that time, it’s inconceivable! When we come across tribulations in cultivation, it is crucial that our righteous thoughts replace our human notions. In order to achieve this, we should establish a good cultivation environment as a whole and practitioners should cultivate solidly.
As we all know from Master’s recent article, “that person” (the Minghui website refers to) appeared and other practitioners catered to him because some practitioners had all sorts of human attachments and the old forces manipulated “that person” to stir up and destroy those who pandered to him.
I found my problem in cultivation via this incident and the root cause of it. Each of us must seriously consider how we should make sure we cultivate as steadfastly as we did in the beginning.
My wife and I often submit articles to the Minghui website. When they are published, we feel reassured that our insights were recognized by Minghui. If they are not published, we discuss the situation and see if any of our insights are wrong. Sometimes we’re emotionally moved. We wonder why it wasn’t published because we felt there wasn’t a problem with the article, and it would be beneficial for other practitioners.
Whenever we have these thoughts, we remind each other and rectify ourselves. We let go of our attachment to self-importance. The Minghui editors must have a certain standard for selecting articles. We should not wonder why certain articles are selected, because Master is looking after the practitioners who work for the website.
We realized that the articles that we submitted and were published were those we wrote when we had pure hearts and were in a good cultivation state, while those that were not published were those we wrote when we had strong human hearts, we were not assimilated to the Fa, or we only talked about the Fa principles at a shallow level.
How profound and immense Dafa is, is beyond any being’s imagination. During the process of cultivation, no matter how well you have cultivated, how much work you have done to validate Dafa, how big a role you have played, or which level you have reached, as long as your cultivation hasn’t been completed and as long as you still have further to go on your cultivation path, you are at the starting point compared to the certain point in the future, and you must “cultivate as you did at the beginning.”
Practitioners have the mission of assisting Master to rectify the Fa and saving sentient beings during Fa-rectification. Master has made extensive arrangements for us. Since Master requires us to “cultivate as we did at the beginning,” we must constantly remind ourselves of this and be humble. We must “cultivate as we did in the beginning,” walk this path righteously and fulfill our vows. Otherwise we would be like “that person” and those people who catered to him, deviated from the cultivation path and sadly missed this precious cultivation opportunity.
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