(Clearwisdom.net)
Dear Master,
Dear fellow practitioners,
I began my cultivation in 1999. At the beginning, one particular sentence of Master Li's teachings made a profound impression on me. The sentence was, "It is extremely dangerous to add anything human to cultivation practice." ("Digging Out the Roots" from Essentials for Further Advancement) I felt that this sentence was very special, however I didn't fully understand its meaning. To me, it would be easier to understand if the words were "It is WRONG to add anything human to cultivation practice." The words "extremely dangerous" made me feel that there was something very important to take in to consideration. This would seem to have a direct impact on whether or not a practitioner would be able continue cultivation. Why was this so important? And why would "adding anything human to cultivation practice" endanger the cultivation path of a practitioner? At the beginning of cultivation practice, I did not fully understand this statement.
After years of cultivation, and especially these past few years of being a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period, I have developed a deeper understanding of this sentence. My current understanding of cultivation practice is that it is a process which continually requires us to choose which path we follow; the path of an enlightened being, or the path of ordinary people.
When it was obvious that I was facing such a choice, choosing was not difficult. Even if I made the wrong choice because of a strong attachment, I realized that I wasn't going to pass the test. The difficulties began when I didn't realize that I was facing such a choice. When I viewed things that happen during the Fa-rectification with notions that I established among ordinary people, I sometimes got confused. Without a solid understanding of the Fa, I would view things using my deeply-rooted human notions, including the standards I used to judge right from wrong. Master said in the first talk of Zhuan Falun,
"So to be a cultivator you have to take the nature of the universe as your guide for improving yourself. You can't go by ordinary people's standards. If you want to return to your original, true self, if you want to raise your level by cultivating, you have to live by this standard. For anybody here, only if you can follow the universe's nature, to be True, Good, and Endure, only then you can call yourself a good person. And a person who goes against this nature, now that's somebody who's truly bad. Maybe when you're at work or out and about, someone will say that you're bad. But maybe you aren't really bad. Or maybe someone says that you're good. But, turns out, maybe you aren't really good. And for a cultivator, if you assimilate to this nature you're someone who has attained the Dao. The truth is really just that simple." (Zhuan Falun)
Whenever I did not study the Fa enough, I was unable to live up to the standards of "truthfulness, compassion, tolerance." Instead of using these standards to measure things, I used my human notions. When I used human standards to measure things that happen during the Fa-rectification, I got confused, and I started to doubt Master's arrangements, thinking, "Why is it this way instead of that way?" Sometimes the doubt was so strong that I started to question Dafa and Master. Now I realize that the confusion was just one example of what Master refers to as, "It is extremely dangerous to add anything human to cultivation practice." ("Digging Out the Roots," from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Master told us, "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be." ("The Closer to the End the More Diligent You Should Be") The "Closer to the End," tells us that Dafa practitioners need to continually cultivate to higher and higher levels. Only when we cultivate to higher understandings, can we keep up with the Fa-rectification. Enlightenment does not come from a so-called intelligent mind, it comes from steadfastly doing the three things that Master has told us to do each and every day. When we struggled, on the surface it appeared that we were not keeping up with the standards of the Fa-rectification process. The fundamental problem was that our understanding of Dafa was lacking. This is similar to how ordinary people feel when they do Dafa projects. Practitioners might feel very tired by trying to "keep up" with the Fa-rectification process. When practitioners are not diligent, they will feel left behind.
Here is an example of using human notions to judge things in cultivation practice.
There were a variety of Dafa performances in the Chinese New Year Spectacular. At the beginning, many Dafa practitioners, including myself, felt a little unsure: "There are so many performances on the program with Dafa content. Will ordinary people in the audience accept our performances?"
This simple thought was actually a manifestation of the fact that our cultivation, in many ways, did not meet Dafa's requirements. First of all, we did not have full confidence and righteous thoughts about the image of Dafa. Subconsciously, we had mixed messages in our minds about how ordinary people would think about Dafa.
Think about it, some day in the future, the human race will come to know the truth about Dafa and truly respect and admire Dafa and Dafa disciples. Praising Dafa will be a major part of human culture. At that time, will there be anyone who feels that it is difficult to accept Dafa performances? As Dafa disciples, we know the truth in our hearts and we should give Dafa performances the proper recognition now. Dafa has unsurpassed glory, and as practitioners we should have solid confidence in Dafa. Our hearts and our thoughts will obviously have an affect on the audience. Master stated in Zhuan Falun, "We'd say that a good or bad outcome comes from one thought. The difference in one thought leads to different results." If practitioners are in doubt about some aspect of Dafa performances, it is very likely that the audience will have a similar reaction.
On the other hand, once practitioners comprehend the significance of the Spectacular, they will realize that the effect of the Spectacular is not just superficial. It has mighty powers in other dimensions. This performance is not simply a performance. Every aspect has been carefully selected and has purpose. For example, there were dances representing different dynasties and different ethnic backgrounds. I realized that the artistic arrangements combined with an orchestra from the West carried profound inner meaning.
The culture of each colossal firmament is represented here on earth. It could be that Master uses the culture from each firmament as a part of the Spectacular so that the beings from that cosmic system can be saved. The beings attending the Spectacular may include the kings or the lords of that system.
In observing the audience reactions to the Spectacular, many people appeared to be touched by a particular number in the Spectacular. It is as if something touched the deepest depths of their hearts. People were moved when the dancers were dancing, or during the singing of Dafa songs. The entire night's performance was as if Master was making large hand signs to these sentient beings. Truth and salvation are included in the Spectacular, although the audience may not realize this on the surface. Human notions cannot be used to measure the performances, because they are being performed at high levels. I think we must clearly understand that the ultimate goal of the Spectacular is to save sentient beings; it is not for entertainment. If it was strictly for entertainment, or for promoting traditional Chinese arts, I think they might as well perform popular pieces. However, while saving sentient beings, every performance must have a special function and mission.
I would also like to share my recent understanding of "believing and enlightening." Master mentioned in the second talk of Zhuan Falun,
"Nowadays some people think that this pair of eyes can see all matter, or all material things in our world. So some people have formed a rigid concept, and think that only the things they see through their eyes are tangible and real, and they don't believe in what they don't see. In the past people always took these people to have poor comprehension. Some people can't explain why that's poor comprehension." (Zhuan Falun)
Some people only believe in the things they see with their eyes, and they don't believe what they cannot see. These people have poor comprehension. This issue not only relates to the celestial eye, it also exists in many other aspects of cultivation. Some of our Dafa disciples care too much about what happens in human society, and they think that those things are real, while at the same time, the higher understandings brought about by studying Dafa do not appear solid. As a result, these disciples often become confused. They are moved by appearances, which will further block them from seeing the truth within the Spectacular.
At this stage of Fa-rectification, Dafa disciples should be in a state free from the attachments seen in the human world. We should treat as real only those things that we have become enlightened to during Fa study and through cultivation. This form of "real" surpasses what we see with the naked eye, and surpasses any attachment to material things in this material world.
In "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia (May 1999)", a student asked,
"In my dream, Master told me that if I could turn what's real into what's false and eliminate all that's false through my cultivation, then I would complete my cultivation."
Master answered,
"This needs to be looked at from two sides. First, in the eyes of gods, this reality of human society isn't real. In addition, this is a hint about the real things that you are attached to, and is a hint for that side of you that has specific attachments."
My understanding of being able to turn "what's real into what's false," is that we should treat this so-called reality of human society as an illusion and something which is unreal. Because it is an illusion, why would we be attached to it? We should give up these illusions.
If all the so-called reality in human society is an illusion, how will our believing in Dafa be acknowledged? I came to realize that believing does not result from logic and reason. True faith does not need to be explained with logic and reason before one believes. Faith is not determined by having logical reasons established or confirmed in human society before believing in it.
Master said in the "Ninth Talk" of Zhuan Falun,
"Because people with a good base have a lot of the white matter, the white matter is in perfect harmony with our universe, it's in harmony with the True, Good, Endure nature, and there's no gap. And that way the nature of the universe is directly displayed through his body and directly communicates with his body."
The part of me that is truly righteous is already part of Dafa. That part will become the being that meets Dafa's requirements at that level. That life will be in a state that is most natural and true for a being. An enlightened being will automatically know what is true. This is the best validation of Dafa. Likewise, believing in Dafa is the most natural state of a being. When we concentrate on reading Dafa, we wholeheartedly melt into the Fa and do not have any doubts about Master's teachings. This is a very natural state. In this state, we do not need anything else to compare or confirm our understanding of what we read in the Fa.
At this level, Dafa disciples will be able to reach the state that Master mentions, "...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" from Essentials for Further Advancement II) Then we will be unaffected by all the chaos in the human world. However, all this comes from solid Fa study, and from steadfastly doing well the three things Master has taught us to do.
Please point out with compassion anything that is incorrect.
Thank you Master!
Thank you everyone!
