(Clearwisdom.net)
I. Letting Go of Life and Death
He has no fear even if Tai Mountain slid down right in front of him, and he stays calm even if killers come to his door. The sages have said, “Having heard the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening.” The dangerous situations in this world are all illusions. If one's mind is disturbed, even a small stream can become a dangerous obstacle, but if one has righteous thoughts, even oceans can turn into land.
Everything that Dafa disciples are doing today, and whether one can let go of life and death, are extremely crucial. If one cannot do this while remembering to emphasize security on the surface, then he cannot obtain real safety. If one ignores security, then he is damaging the principles at this level. "The higher a great enlightened person's level is, the less he or she would bother to interfere with the principles of everyday people, not even a bit." (“Lecture Five” in Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
A Dafa disciple who can let go of life and death would not compromise with the evil whatsoever, and moreover, he would not even run into situations such as the evil forcing him to write or sign a “guarantee statement” to not practice Falun Gong to begin with.
Of course, just because one cannot let go of life and death, it doesn't mean that this person is not worthy of being a Dafa disciple. He is allowed to reach this state gradually. If he cannot do it in the beginning, he must be able to do it in the end.
II. Humility, Tolerance, and Compassion
Being humble, tolerant and compassionate is the good state that a Dafa disciple, having reached a certain realm, is supposed to be in. As a Dafa disciple, he should not show off even when he has the advantage or nitpick with others even when he perceives everything. He should be tolerant enough that he can accept a hundred different opinions and so noble that he can forget and forgive with a smile. He should accommodate the universe in his chest, take sentient beings into his heart, and be selfless and melt into the Fa.
Displaying, showing off, validating, being attached to, or emphasizing oneself—all of this shows exactly that one is sealing oneself up and is failing to remove one’s most fundamental and stubborn attachment. It's a wall that blocks one’s path toward tolerance and compassion.
The universe is truly immense; there are heavens beyond heavens. The Buddha Fa is truly profound; there is a higher Fa in higher levels. No matter how gigantic the cosmic body is, looking from higher and farther realms, it's nothing but a speck of dust in the cosmos, not to mention the tiny beings within this dust.
III. Soberness and Steadiness
If a Dafa disciple has been walking his path steadily these years and has been righteous in everything he does, then of course he is cultivating well. These are all because he has been studying the Fa well.
During the past several years of cultivation practice in the Fa-rectification, if we had done well, then there should not have been many tribulations. Even though we have many shortcomings and omissions in different aspects, as long as we are strict with ourselves, we will not have enormous tribulations arranged by the old forces; they will be reduced to be very small, or the small tribulations will be removed, so that we can walk our paths calmly and fearlessly.
The reason why these enormous tribulations and big tests exist is because we have failed to be strict with ourselves at every moment. Also, we were too indulgent with our attachments, so that our omissions have grown larger and larger. We ignored Master's hints and refused to heed our fellow practitioners' criticism. We didn't look inside and negate the evil persecution until tribulations arrived. But no matter how well we did, did we make amends completely? If we had been able to maintain a sober mind at every moment and rectify ourselves as soon as our omission was detected, then would the enormous tribulation have ever existed?
Whether one can maintain a sober mind at every moment or not is, in the end, the old question of whether one can study the Fa well or not. If one can be in the Fa and melt into the Fa at every moment, check his or her actions against the standards set by the Fa as soon as a problem arises, then won't his or her mind be sober at every moment?
The ones who can maintain a sober mind at every moment can walk steadily and pass through this enormous tribulation in the history of the cosmos.
