(Clearwisdom.net)
From time to time, we meet fellow practitioners who are stagnated in a state of indifference in their cultivation practice. Most of them know that they are not in the right cultivation state but do not know how to strive forward. I would like to talk about this from my own understanding.
Is the basis of one's cultivation "selfishness" or "selflessness?"
At the "Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America," Teacher said, "... There's another very serious problem. I told them as early as when I started this undertaking that no beings could save today's people, that no Fa could save today's beings, and that no one could change today's people. What did I mean by that? I'll tell you. Today's people can't perceive their own warped thinking because the very nature of people has changed. No matter what cultivation way is adopted, you can only change what they can be aware of, but not what's warped in their very nature."
How does the human nature become warped?
Zhuan Falun says:
"...a person's earliest life comes from the universe. The space of the universe is benevolent to begin with and embodies the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. At birth, one is assimilated to the characteristic of the universe. Yet as the number of lives increases, a collective form of social relations develops in which some people may develop selfishness and gradually their level will be lowered. If they cannot stay at this level, they must drop down further. At that level, however, they may again become not so good and not be able to stay there, either. They will continue to descend further until, in the end, they reach this level of human beings."
Selfishness is one factor causing deviations at the very nature of beings. I would like to ask our fellow practitioners who are still stagnated in a state of indifference: Is the basis of your cultivation practice selfishness or selflessness? When we are not striving forward, are we not being irresponsible for all the living beings we are helping to save?" The deviations and selfishness at the fundamental level must be removed.
I have come to realize that a particle of Fa-Rectification should always be proactive and take initiative. For example, if we pay no attention to the deviated beings (demons) hidden in our own dimensional field, show no concern about their existence, and take no action to clean them out, not only will these deviated beings cause harm to other people, they can also persecute and suppress us as well. The deviated beings are bad and evil in themselves. If we do not use our true nature to understand this issue, the evil will restrain our divine side and the part of us that strives forward. When we see the evils but do not clear them up, we are as good as indulging them. We are responsible for all righteous elements. Let us be clear-minded!
Looking at it from another perspective, the aim of Dafa cultivation is to assimilate to the characteristics of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance). With respect to our cultivation up to today, we should ask ourselves, "Are the things that we want to keep within Dafa?" If not, it is very likely that the evils will exploit our loopholes and manifest their own arrangements, which are deviated from the principles of Dafa. Dafa can save people and allow people to reach Consummation. However, the old forces make people apathetic and muddle-headed, so that their arrangements can materialize. It's time for us to wake up!
Being stagnated in a state of indifference and not striving forward in one's practice is also due to a lack of in depth understanding of the Fa. Teacher said at the Florida Conference,
"When a cultivator's mind departs from the Fa, the evil will find its way in. Seen with the human eye, people and everything else in the human world are three-dimensional. But in reality, all matter in humankind's entire dimension--be it flowers, grass, trees, human beings, the air, etc.--everything is made up of particles of that size (molecules). And in this layer of particles, everything, including the human body, is connected. When a person himself doesn't have righteous thoughts, all the bad things in the cosmos, or in the Three Realms, will flow around continually in the human body, and even when they stay there the person doesn't realize it. That's how people are manipulated; in other words, they manipulate people when these particles are able to connect with each other."
There is also the issue concerning one's righteous faith in Dafa. One choice results in Dafa taking us towards Consummation, and allowing us to fulfill our ancient, magnificent wish to offer salvation to sentient beings. The other choice results in our being passive, indifferent and unable to strive forward diligently that, intentionally or unintentionally, is a state of being manipulated by the old forces. At this critical moment in history, which choice will you make?
Fellow practitioners, please wake up! While cultivating among everyday people and before reaching completion, we all possess human mentalities and exist in the human state. However, we firmly believe that we can and are willing to do better. Let us all work together, progress together, and help Teacher with the Fa- Rectification.
