My Understanding of the Enlightenment of a Falun Dafa Disciple By a Practitioner from China (Clearwisdom.net)
Teacher said, "What is 'enlightenment?' 'Enlightenment' is a term from
religion. In Buddhism, it refers to a practitioner's understanding of the
Buddhist Dharma, the enlightenment in terms of understanding, and the ultimate
enlightenment. It means the enlightenment of wisdom." (From Zhuan Falun,
Lecture Nine: Enlightenment)
"The enlightenment that we actually refer to is a matter of whether in
the course of cultivation practice one can enlighten to and accept the Fa taught
by the master or the Tao taught by the Taoist master, whether one can treat
oneself as a practitioner upon encountering tribulations, and whether one can
adhere to the Fa while practicing cultivation." (From Zhuan Falun,
Lecture Nine: Enlightenment)
"The fundamental enlightenment that we talk about refers to this: In
one's lifetime, from the outset of cultivation practice one will constantly move
up and let go of human attachments and various desires, and one's gong will also
constantly grow until the final step in cultivation practice. When this de
substance has completely transformed into gong and this person's cultivation
journey designed by the master has come to an end, "Boom!" all locks
will be exploded open at that very second. His Celestial Eye will reach the
highest point of his level, and he can see at his level the truth of different
dimensions, the forms of existence for different lives and matter in different
time-spaces, and the truth of our universe. All of his divine powers will
emerge, and he will be able to contact different kinds of lives. By this time,
isn't this person a great enlightened person or a person enlightened through
cultivation practice? When translated into ancient Indian language, he is a
Buddha." (From Zhuan Falun, Lecture Nine: Enlightenment)
For a long period of time, I have always considered myself a person with good
enlightenment quality. I have always thought that, compared to other
practitioners, I was able to enlighten to things more quickly and more
extensively, and able to enlighten correctly and righteously. I often indulged
myself in this kind of self-aggrandizement. In fact, the
"enlightenment" that I indulged in had merely remained at the level of
"the enlightenment in terms of understanding," and I considered my
cultivation to be equivalent to the amount of knowledge that I had acquired.
Teacher said, "Study the Fa and obtain the Fa,
Learning and cultivating under guidance,
Referring to the Fa in doing everything,
Compliance is cultivation." (From Hong Yin, "Solid
Cultivation").
Through Fa-study, I've been enlightened to a lot, but it was very difficult
for me to be "referring to the Fa in doing everything," or to
constantly be "complying with" the Fa. Sometimes, it was because I
"forgot" that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner. Other times I was
clearly aware of it but simply couldn't do it. A huge gap always seemed to exist
between the so-called "enlightenment in terms of understanding"
(knowledge and agreement based on theories and feelings) and "the ultimate
enlightenment" (being able to consciously adhere to the Fa when
encountering conflicts and tribulations). This gap is actually due to my
inability to let go of ordinary people's attachments and my inability to
understand the Fa with the side of my original nature.
Especially during the Fa-rectification period, when the old
forces are magnifying our attachments and taking advantage of our loopholes, it
has become even more difficult for us to attain "the ultimate
enlightenment." Sometimes, it seemed as though we were busy doing
Fa-rectification work, but in fact, it was not really Fa-rectification period
disciples doing Fa-rectification work, and because of this, we failed to
manifest Falun Dafa's magnificence and greatness. Under the evil persecution,
even "the enlightenment in terms of understanding" was nowhere to be
found. As a result, the evil persecution became more severe. This situation is
what Teacher described in "Expounding the Fa" (Essentials for
Further Advancement) "Whenever
a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but
view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this
point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term
tribulations. As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding
of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in
other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully
cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification. How can the
uncultivated side restrain your main thoughts or the side that has already
attained the Fa? Having humanly fostered the evil demons, you allow them to
capitalize on the loopholes in the Fa. When a tribulation arrives, if you, a
disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet
different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to
pass the test. If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other
problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are
capitalizing on the weak spots caused by your lack of control. After all, a
cultivator is not an ordinary human. So why doesn't the side of you that is your
original nature rectify the Fa?"
Teacher could not have stated it more clearly. Then, why is
it still so difficult for us to attain "the ultimate enlightenment?"
In the end, it is actually a question of whether or not one firmly believes in
Teacher and in Falun Dafa.
Teacher said, "Indestructible righteous faith in the
cosmos's Truth forms benevolent Dafa disciples' rock-solid, Diamond-Like Bodies,
it frightens all evil, and the light of Truth it emanates makes the unrighteous
elements in all beings' thoughts disintegrate. However strong the righteous
thoughts are, that's how great the power is." (From "Also in a Few
Words" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
As a matter of fact, cultivation practice is a very simple
matter. By firmly believing in Teacher and firmly believing in Falun Dafa, one
can thus develop "indestructible righteous faith." One can thus
"frighten all evil." One can thus "make the unrighteous elements
in all beings' thoughts disintegrate." One can thus attain "the
ultimate enlightement" and, in the end, reach the highest level of
consummation.
Then, how do we constantly elevate from "enlighenment in
terms of understanding" to "the ultimate enlightenment"? In fact,
this is a matter of with which perspective we choose to view Falun Dafa, and a
matter of how we study the Fa.
Teacher said, "'The Buddha Fa' is most profound; among
all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary
science. In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change
its conventional thinking. Otherwise, the truth of the universe will forever
remain a mystery to humankind, and everyday people will forever crawl within the
boundary delimited by their own ignorance." (From "Lunyu", in
Zhuan Falun)
It is precisely because we have failed to "fundamentally
change [our] conventional thinking," and have "forever crawl[ed]
within the boundary delimited by [our] own ignorance," that we have failed
to transcend from "the enlightenment in terms of understanding" to
"the ultimate enlightenment."
Teacher has repeatedly told us to "understand the Fa from the Fa."
(From Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.) He is, in fact,
telling us to understand the Fa from our divine state, from the side of our
original nature. Yet we often regard ourselves as everyday people, and will
everyday people not "forever crawl within the boundary delimited by their
own ignorance?"
I know that a few students, although they are always studying
the Fa, still view Teacher and Falun Dafa from the perspective of an everyday
person. Whenever a conflict arises between their own understandings and the Fa
that Teacher has taught us, they question and even doubt Teacher. Actually, they
have considered those notions to be a part of themselves, and they have not
really studied the Fa deeply enough. Those notions are selfish and are to be
eliminated in cultivation. If one attempts to cultivate Falun Dafa while
stubbornly adhering to these notions, then how can one ever expect to attain
righteous enlightenment?
There are yet some other students who seem to know a lot on
the surface, and seem to think that they know everything. But they have remained
at the same level for a long period of time. Also, a few students carry a very
strong everyday people's notion of hierarchy and cannot let go of it. When
encountering conflicts, they tend to make their decisions based on others'
thinking and their own judgment based on the everyday people's concept of
hierarchy. They have incorrectly put what Falun Dafa requires of us, and what
Teacher has said, at a less important position. Some students care very little
about everyday people's fame and fortune, yet when they are with other fellow
practitioners, they unconsciously want to compare and fight to prove they are
better and at a higher level. Accordingly, a lot of their behavior has not been
benevolent. Can such a state of cultivation qualify as being enlightened
clearly, well, and at a high level?
I know one practitioner in particular, whose human side did
not seem to be very clever on the surface. It would take him a long time to
enlighten to the Fa that could be easily understood by others. It would take him
a few days to memorize Teacher's articles that could be memorized by others in
no time. Later on, however, he remained very steadfast when repeatedly facing
the evil's brutal persecution. He once told me, "I just firmly believe in
Teacher and Dafa." His words were so plain and simple, and his action so
pure and righteous, that I was greatly inspired by him. Regardless of whether it
was quick or slow, he had actually solidly enlightened to the Fa principles
through his solid cultivation. He has truly enlightened to these Fa principles,
so he was able to do so well.
Through Fa-study, observation and contemplation, I gradually
understood: to reach the understanding and to act accordingly is true, righteous
enlightenment and is truly assimilating with Falun Dafa. To be able to
constantly elevate from "the enlightenment in terms of understanding"
to "the ultimate enlightenment," we must "fundamentally change
our conventional thinking." We must abandon all self-righteous human
mentalities and notions, solidly study the Fa, and consciously hold ourselves to
requirements that are clearly and strictly based upon Fa principles. Only by
doing so can we show the fundamental difference between Falun Dafa disciples'
solidly validating Fa principles and clever everyday people's accumulating
knowledge.
Posting date: 7/23/2002 |