(Clearwisdom.net)
1. Master has created the best cultivation environments for us
Looking back on my path of cultivation, I find that no matter how my environment has changed, Master has always guided me. As long as I can act according to the requirements of Dafa, I am all-capable and have the best cultivation environment.
I began my cultivation after the persecution of Falun Gong started. With the various changes in my work and life, I have encountered different kinds of interference. However, I have found that as long as I am steadfast in my righteous faith, that seemingly-powerful interference will dissipate like vanishing clouds.
My job responsibilities require me to travel frequently, so I need to spend a lot of time away from home. At the beginning, I was very worried because I did not know if I could get Dafa materials through the Internet. Later I found that during each of my business trips, I could always find a way to get onto the Internet and encountered no situation where I was unable to get access to Master's Fa lectures. Because of this, I am able to keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification. Most recently, I tried to get an Internet connection at the temporary lodging place where I stayed. But before I went to apply for the connection, one of my colleagues had already contacted the local communication company for Internet service. The response he received was that there were no available Internet connections in our area. I thought that I had to find a way to use the Internet because I would be unable to read Master's Fa lectures and help people withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its associated organizations. So I went to apply for an Internet connection on my own. The result was that everything went very smoothly. Within one week, I got the Internet connection. That same evening, I downloaded the latest version of software to break through CCP Internet blockage. I helped two people make announcements of their withdrawal from the CCP on the Epoch Times website, and I also sent a short article to Minghui/Clearwisdom website.
People often talk about CCP efforts to prevent certain types of information from being accessed on the Internet. I have been able to break through this blockade for the past five years using anti-web-blocking software ,or, proxy servers. When my mind was righteous, I have never encountered the problem of being unable to get onto the Internet. On the rare occasions when I could not get onto the Internet, it was usually because I had developed an attachment to surfing the Internet. On such occasions, as long as I could calm down, read the Fa and strengthen my righteous thoughts, I could get onto the Internet when I tried again. This has been the case for me even when the level of the CCP's Internet blockages was severe.
I understand that the success of these efforts is arranged by Master. Master will do everything for me when my thoughts are in accordance with Dafa's requirements. When my mindset is not very good, things do not go that smoothly. I have also noticed that when I felt the environment had become bad, it was usually due to the fact that my Fa study and truth-clarification efforts were not done well.
2. Various interferences and attachments are rooted in "selfishness"
Since quite a long time ago, I have realized that Master has made the Fa principles increasingly clearer in his lectures. Now it is the time to see how well Dafa practitioners can do during the Fa-rectification period. Although I have this understanding, I was often not diligent in my cultivation. The old forces' interference was, of course, one factor for my not being diligent, but I knew that I must still have some attachments that I had not let go of. The old forces had exploited these gaps to cause the interference.
A great attachment of mine was my being afraid of falling behind and worrying about passing tribulations. I understand that it is not a problem for me to have this concern, as every practitioner should have a sense of urgency. However, if I had taken solving the attachment as my objective, I would have positioned myself incorrectly. Like a student who will naturally receive good grades if he or she has studied well, I will naturally not fall behind if I can react to problems I encounter according to the requirements of Dafa. When I spend too much time thinking about what I should do to prevent myself from falling behind, I go astray.
Another problem I recognized was my attachment to "dreams." Although Master sometimes uses my dreams to give me hints, I feel that when I think too much about my dreams, the old forces use it as an excuse to cause interference. Dafa practitioners should cultivate themselves rationally and clearheadedly, and should never fall into the trap of "transformation follows mind-intent."
I had another hidden attachment of "not getting attached to something." By thinking this way, I seemed to have allowed things to go their own natural course, but what was actually hidden in this thinking was my numbness and even indifference, which is rooted in my selfishness. By reading Master's recent Fa lectures, I can sense the urgency of saving sentient beings, but I just did not have this urgency in my character. When I clarified the truth, if I found the result not satisfactory, I would stop without finishing. Worried about my situation, I would wonder if I had become too attached to it. This attachment of "not getting attached" often appears under the facade of not getting moved. It gave me the excuse of allowing me to become comfortable under any circumstances; what I lacked was diligence, some tenacity, and at the same time, compassion.
3. Truly believe in Master
Master has unequivocally told Dafa disciples what they should do. But why do we often fail to do well? Master told us,
"As I've said, everything that happens today in the ordinary society is the result of Dafa disciples' thoughts. Even though the old forces do exist, if you don't have those thoughts they can't do anything. When your righteous thoughts are strong enough the old forces can't do a thing." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A." November 30, 2002)
What will happen if I truly believe in Master? After thinking it over, I realized that I had taken the old force interference as an excuse for my failing to do well.
For example, I have never been late to work; but this is not something extraordinary even if judged by everyday people's criteria. But for such an important thing as sending righteous thoughts at the set times, I could not guarantee that I did it every time. What a big problem this is! Master has said,
"Then if every student is able to do that, I can tell you, with five minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts together, the evil in the Three Realms will never exist again--that's how important this is." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.," December 29, 2001)
If I had truly believed in Master, how could I have failed to do well on such an important matter?
What, after all, has prevented us from having a "genuine faith?" Master told us, "I think that as long as you read the Fa more, you will be able to resolve what is bothering you and definitely cultivate well. There is no special means." ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference," April 7, 2007)
When I read this before, I failed to notice these words. This incident reminded me that I have to study the Fa often. A genuine faith will not come to me suddenly; it relies on diligent and solid Fa study.
4. Use a benevolent mind to enlighten people and offer them salvation
The most important thing that I have learned during the process of truth-clarification is "compassion," which means not only having compassion in our hearts, but also letting people enlighten to their own compassion. I feel that only in this way can people be willing to accept the truth and be saved.
To be able to enlighten people to their compassion, we first need to have compassionate minds. If we truly have altruistic minds and always consider others, people can sense this heart. Based on my personal experience, one can often become argumentative during truth-clarification, which can hardly result in a good effect. When we talk about karmic retribution, disasters, or unconventional phenomena, we need to pay even more attention to our mindsets and tone of voice so as to prevent people from thinking that we are happy about others' mishaps. Otherwise, they would develop resistance to accepting our words. This was what my wife told me after I clarified the facts about the persecution to her. Many people may not tell us about this kind of reaction. When we fail to achieve a good result in our truth-clarification, the fundamental cause may still be that we have failed to truly use our compassion to save people. In this way, we will lose the power bestowed on us by Dafa.
5. Make good of available opportunities and hurry up in offering people salvation
Dafa practitioners are different from each other and face different conditions and environments. Master has arranged the cultivation path for each and every one of us. So each practitioner needs to figure out how he or she should cultivate. In my case, my working environment keeps changing. This was something that I initially was not used to. But later, I found that the changes allow me to go to different places and gain contact with different people, so this is the environment provided to me for truth-clarification.
With the progress of Fa-rectification and the coming of the 2008 Olympic Games, with more and more foreign visitors coming to China, I also realize that the practitioners inside and outside China should cooperate more closely when holding Fa-rectification activities. I feel that practitioners in China who have the opportunity to talk to foreigners should strengthen their efforts in clarifying the facts about the persecution to them. These visitors often come from more developed areas and they can only get to know some superficial things about the current China. So, those who do not know China well can easily believe what they see on the surface, and can be thus easily deceived by the superficial prosperity in China. If they all bring such an impression back to their countries, then overseas Dafa practitioners would face more obstacles in their truth-clarification.
I have met some foreign visitors and if I had not told them about the darker side behind the many new high-rise buildings, they would have all felt that China was in very good shape. For example, an Indian man compared what he saw in China with the situation in India, and said that China was much better off than he had imagined. I then told him why he could see plentiful products in the stores: It is because of the cheap labor: Citizens who do not have life insurance, medical coverage, and even basic human rights. Among them are many young persons from the countryside who cannot afford to go to school. Because the Chinese government does not need to return the money that it has taken away from its own people, it can use the money to improve the look of the cities through construction. Because of this, visitors often see some very beautiful big cities in China. As a foreigner, he could in no way see those who have no money to seek medical treatment, and he certainly could not see the Falun Gong practitioners who have been sent to forced labor camps. What was moving to me was that one friend from the U.S.A. thanked me for letting him know about a China that he had not known before. Although some of the foreigners kept silent after we told them the facts, I feel that they could at least put a memory, that was close to the reality of China, into their minds and then take it back to their countries.
6. Strengthen my "divine side"
Master said, "On this special, glorious day, may Dafa disciples' divine sides also be resurrected!" ("Teaching the Fa on Easter, 2004, at the New York Fa Conference," April 11, 2004) When I read this, I realized that Master has eliminated the separation that isolated us from our divine sides. It is now up to us whether we resurrect our divine sides. Clearwisdom.net has, in fact, reported many examples in this regard. It lies in whether we can truly believe in Master and Dafa.
If we cannot truly believe in Master and the Fa, we would not be able to melt ourselves into the Fa; our divine sides would still stay dormant, and this would give the old forces the excuse of interfering with Fa-rectification. The key to the resurrection of our divine sides is, in fact, in our hearts. Let us fully resurrect our "divine sides" by genuinely believing in Master
Because of my limited level in cultivation, please point out any understanding that is not correct.
October 11, 2007
