(Clearwisdom.net) In the past, I had a hard time understanding Master's words "Purging evil as if but whisking dust away." ("A Will that Ebbs Not") I felt that I did not have that capability and cultivation realm. However several recent incidents made me realize that it's actually very easy for me to have that kind of capability and cultivation realm. As long as I have faith in the Fa "from the depth of my mind," that is, as long as I assimilate myself to the Fa, Dafa will endow me with the boundless power of the Fa, and I will be all-powerful. In this way, I will be able to achieve the best impact validating the Fa.
1. Assimilate every thought to the FaOnce I went to install a satellite device that receives New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) signals. On the way, I felt a kind of mental pressure (burden), which was very heavy. I thought: "I have already installed the same satellite receiver several times and it was not difficult. It must be that evil in another dimensions is trying to stop me. This evil being able to interfere with me indicated that I needed improvement in my understanding of the Fa and I needed to use the Fa to eradicate it.
Looking back at what I had thought about during the prior installations, I had considered the "installations" as the same activities that ordinary people do in human society.
Through Fa study, I was reminded again: We are bringing a magical instrument to the sentient beings for their salvation, we are bringing blessings and hopes to them, and we are cooperating with fellow practitioners at NTDTV in clarifying the truth. In this dimension, it is a satellite receiver, while in other dimensions it is a powerful weapon that can eradicate the evil and give off enormous positive energy! With such a change in my mindset, I immediately felt that the mental stress was gone. During the subsequent installation, I also felt very relaxed and the installation went very smoothly.
What happened later made me even more clearheaded. One evening, my wife did not feel well. I told her to recite: "Falun Dafa is good." However, she reacted negatively, contrary to her previous understanding, saying, "It does not work at all!" I was puzzled and asked her, "Two days ago you said it really worked." She said angrily, "I did not say that!" (Several days ago, she said emotionally, "Reciting 'Dafa is good' really works.")
I initially wanted to argue with her, but I realized that I was moved by her reaction as I had already become a little irritated. I thus kept my mouth shut so as not to be misled by demonic interference, become irrational and fall into its trap. Usually when I think that I cannot control myself well, I adopt this approach of stepping back.
One day passed. I had carefully thought over this issue and found that I could be easily moved and could not jump out of the emotions that exist between a husband and wife. Additionally, what was most important was that my understanding of "Falun Dafa is good" was not very clear. In other words, I could not understand "Dafa is good" from the depth of my mind (This is also a common problem that many fellow practitioners have had, that is, their understanding of "Dafa is good" is only on a superficial level and it does not originate from the bottom of their hearts.)
After I found the root cause of the problem and upgraded my understanding, I said to my wife the next day, "You were not sincere enough. Reciting 'Dafa is good' certainly works." My wife, who usually likes arguing, was very agreeable this time. She nodded her head, "Yes, Yes, Yes, I was not very sincere." I was surprised at her change of attitude. After regaining my poise, I came to understand the following: My having understood that layer of the Fa means that I have assimilated myself to that layer of the Fa, so that Fa will manifest the power of Dafa; it is that level of the Fa that is restricting everything. If I had used my human notions to argue with her, no matter how correct my words had sounded, how many principles I had told her, and how meaningful my words had been, what I said was still something at the human level and could not restrain the factors behind her. Furthermore, I could still be easily moved by her emotions.
We should be clear that saving sentient beings is essentially done by Master Li. Our actions, only by being based on the Fa, can then manifest the power of the Fa. Otherwise, however varied our actions are in their formality and however huge our actions are in scale, we cannot save the sentient beings, but could also inflict much damage on other Dafa disciples.
In one region, the Dafa practitioners there are very determined in their cultivation. They have not surrendered, even under very cruel torture. The vicious people became frightened even when hearing the name of the region. The practitioners there are very "unified" in their validating the Fa. When they decided to post truth clarification materials, the materials were posted everywhere in the whole city overnight. They have earned the respect of practitioners from the surrounding regions. However, according to what I and several other practitioners have observed, the only shortcoming this region's practitioners have is in their understanding, from the aspect of the Fa, of saving sentient beings with compassion. This understanding is essential. Here are several examples about the practitioners in this region:
One older Dafa practitioner was tortured to death and his organs were removed in an autopsy, which had drawn sympathy from many local residents. CCP government branches all shunned the incident, as they were afraid of being held responsible. Dafa practitioners held a funeral. On the way to the burial, the practitioners passed by the CCP government branches that had committed the crime. The practitioners shouted: "Falun Dafa is good" and played Dafa music. The evil authorities did not dare to show up. The Minghui website reported the story. The practitioners in many regions were very encouraged by this and they became excited. Three months later, the CCP started to arrest Dafa practitioners on a large scale, and the loss that resulted was huge.
Actually the issue is not that the practitioners had done things incorrectly, but whether the practitioners, while they did it, had realized, from the bottom of their hearts, that this "formality" was neither for upholding an ordinary people's sense of righteousness, nor for an accounting of their own sufferings. This formality should solely be used for waking up sentient beings, including those who had committed the evil. It should be for their sake that the practitioners had done it that way. If the practitioners had this understanding and known this layer of the Fa (which was from the bottom of their hearts), the evil would have absolutely dared not to arrest the practitioners because the Fa is restricting everything and the Fa at this higher realm would have already eliminated these factors
"Cultivation is a solemn thing. I want you to cultivate into gods, and in that process you are able to validate the Fa. That is why I have imparted the Dafa to you, and why I have given you unprecedented, eternal glory. It is not to have you simply become a hero among everyday people in counteracting the persecution. Rather, it is to have you validate the Fa while negating the old forces' arrangements and opposing the persecution, and to, through this, progress towards godhood." ("Master's Fa Taught in the International Teleconference" on January 19, 2004)
Once many of the practitioners in that region cooperated with each other and posted Falun Dafa Association announcements everywhere in the city. The next day the police drove many vehicles around everywhere to tear down the announcements. Some practitioners became very excited, "The evil is overpowering us." The practitioners indeed had the righteous thoughts to carry out this task and they had cooperated very well, which was hardly the case in many of the other regions. However, as Dafa practitioners' understanding of the Fa should be in a constantly rising state, the practitioners' state in that region, if evaluated according to the principles of higher realms, was not right.
Let's think about what the true purpose of our posting those announcements was. Was it to make the evil busy in tearing down the announcements and then continue their wrongdoings? Of course, it was not. We wanted to save them and not let them continue their evil path, so as to let them avoid the terrible outcome that will come to them in the near future. Our doing that way reflects our being responsible for their lives' eternity. It absolutely did not mean that we were fighting with them. How many practitioners had the mentality of "venting" their hostility when they posted the announcements?
Because there was no Fa strengthening the practitioners, the evil was able to manipulate the bad people to do things. This is a problem that practitioners who are just busy for the sake of doing things need to think about.
For every matter, if we can filter it and see if we have understood it according to the Fa and if we understood the specific thing from the depths of our minds, we can then completely change our original state and become genuine Dafa disciples.
Master said,
2. Change the mindset of "doing things just for the sake of doing things""If every one of you can understand the Fa from the depths of your mind, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary--the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!" ("Cautionary Advice" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
For those practitioners who are accustomed to their previous understandings and cultivation states, if they want to change their states, based on my understanding, they need to pay attention to three aspects: First, they need to grasp the relationship between understanding the Fa and "doing" the work; they need to clearly understand that it is the Fa that actually does the work.
Some practitioners have said, "What you have said is too theoretical. It does not work if we do not do the work." There were some practitioners who were attached to just doing things, saying, "I feel it too bothersome and complicated to follow what you have said. It is nice to be simple." These practitioners are just busy doing things for the sake of doing things and they have not paid enough attention to upgrading themselves in their understanding of the Fa. This means that they still fundamentally think that it is they, rather than Dafa, who will actually accomplish the work; they have incorrectly inverted the relationship and they have put the cart before the horse.
Indeed, we must do the work, and it also takes time to understand the Fa principles, but the key is to clearly recognize which is fundamental. The correct relationship, based on my understanding, is that it is Master, and Dafa, that actually do the work, while our doing must be founded on our assimilation to the Fa. When we have assimilated ourselves to the Fa, the Fa will, of course, strengthen us and we will have the power of the Fa and be able to validate the Fa. Therefore, what the fellow practitioners meant by this being "theoretical" actually refers to the profoundness and broadness of the Fa. This is exactly the understanding that we Dafa practitioners need to have.
Of course, it is not wrong for us to be at different levels and have different realms during certain cultivation stages. However, to truly assimilate ourselves to the Fa, we need to have clear understandings of the Fa principles.
Second, we need to dare to give up our attachments to ego and our human notions. As the Fa is right there before us, the key is if we can let go of the attachments and human notions that are blocking our vision. After we let them go, we will then see all the brightness and glory of Dafa. Actually, that so-called ego is a false one. What is the use of getting attached to it?
Third, we need to rectify ourselves bit by bit and form a mechanism. We are already accustomed to our previous understandings. Once we want to change them, even when we have already had new understandings, we may not be able to change them immediately. We need to gradually form a new mechanism, just like the transformation of qi to gong.
I hope every practitioner, when doing anything, can think about or try to understand whether he or she has truly understood the issue from the depth of his or her mind. When giving out a flyer, having a conversation with others, or participating in a Fa activity, one needs to check if one has based oneself correctly or not. In this way, Dafa's mighty power will manifest. More strictly speaking, on every issue and every day, if we have gained new understandings of the Fa, we are then in the most correct state. If this is the case, the mechanism will get stronger and stronger and it will manifest a greater power of the Fa.
Overall, only by understanding things from the Fa can one get strengthened by the Fa and manifest the Fa's power. Only by doing this way can one genuinely validate the Fa.
November 13, 2006
