(Clearwisdom.net) (Continued from Part 1)
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/9/2/185133.html
Chinese version of Part I
2. Cultivation Problems I Have Observed at Material Production Sites
Loneliness
Fellow practitioners working at truth-clarification material sites may face many xinxing tests and trials, but the most common test is the feeling of loneliness. Tormented by the feeling of solitude at the material production sites, some practitioners, instead of eliminating the attachment to the warmth of a human companion, choose to find opportunities to leave the sites and call on fellow practitioners, using the coordination of other Dafa projects as an excuse to do so. As a result, they fail to do the coordination work well and run a higher risk of arrest.
At the material sites, we practice the Falun Gong exercises for two hours every morning and then study the Fa for two hours. We produce truth-clarification materials in the afternoon and read fellow practitioners' cultivation experiences in the evening. When we come across a good article, we analyze it and exchange our insights. If a situation comes up that requires coordination work, we would communicate what needs to be done first and make the necessary arrangements. If something urgent comes up that interrupts our schedule, we would remind each other to study the Fa and practice the exercises after we return.
However, the schedule can be easily disrupted. The most common excuse is to deliver a large quantity of materials to an area where its local material site was destroyed by the local authorities, or where there is no material production site. Some fellow practitioners talk about saving sentient beings, but they seem to fail to understand its true meaning. Some can be muddle-headed and fail to take control of the situation. They are susceptible to external changes that disrupt their orderly and stable arrangements and operations at the material site. In the long run, they are likely to develop loopholes in their xinxing; loopholes that can be taken advantage of.
I believe that many of the urgent situations we face are arranged by the old forces to see how we will respond. Will we persevere in our faith in the Fa, persevere in our understanding of the Fa, and analyze the situation based on the Fa? Perseverance requires more than just prevailing over torture in prison; it also means persevering in cultivation. The old forces regard personal cultivation as the top priority, so they will find all possible excuses to arrange tests of personal cultivation.
Self
There is another form of xinxing test that may be very difficult to pass. Conceit arises when a practitioner has spent a long time producing truth-clarification materials, upgraded his xinxing a little and enlightened to the Fa somewhat.
A conceited practitioner may think that he has contributed to Dafa work more than anyone else and that his capabilities and understanding of the Fa are greater than other's. Naturally, his ideas or suggestions on the Dafa work he is involved in are far better than other's, and others should take orders from him. However, the conceited practitioner often face more criticism than approvals from fellow practitioners.
Sometimes fellow practitioners no longer care to point out his problems because he has become so conceited that he rejects all criticism. He thinks that others are at fault and that he is simply misunderstood.
This it is high time for the conceited practitioner to identify his xinxing problems. It is fundamental to upgrade a cultivator's xinxing. If a cultivator always refuses to acknowledge his problems, or believes he is always right, he is actually wrong from the perspective of cultivation.
Of course, if those who are in the argument with the conceited practitioner make an effort to search inward, they will upgrade their xinxing in many ways. Think about it. If the conceited practitioner really has come up with a good solution, why do I fail to recognize or approve it? Is it time for me to upgrade my understanding of the Fa? If the solution proposed by the conceited practitioner will work, why do I have to insist on adopting my solution? Generally speaking, both sides involved in the debate have the opportunity to upgrade their xinxing.
This is but a very simple scenario. The situation becomes complicated when attachments to a wonderful secular life get in the way, e.g. attachments to or nostalgia of career, social status, fame or sentimentality. When many secular attachments interweave in a test, a genuine cultivator will identify these attachments from the depth of his heart. But if he detects it and feels it is difficult to sever these attachments once he has identified them, I think it's the old forces that are hard at work to separate a cultivator's true nature from the surface. This is a dangerous situation that can lead a cultivator to persecution.
We Must Cultivate Inward Genuinely
Many practitioners claim they are not attached to themselves, but I find such practitioners have escaped from cultivation for a long time. By claiming that they are not attached to themselves, these practitioners have deftly fled from all comments or criticisms made by fellow practitioners. Why is this happening? It may be caused by the complicated and challenging environment. Based on my personal speculation, a cultivator might be able to protect himself from the Chinese authorities' forced brainwashing by being attached to himself under certain special circumstances. But it is the most fundamental requirement for a cultivator to cultivate inward. When a cultivator attains a certain level, he will enlighten to higher level of the Fa and will be able to protect himself from harm without using the attachment to self.
Cultivating inward is not just about searching inward when we face an obstacle. It is about dissolving ourselves completely in the Fa without the slightest wish to guard or protect our own notions. We should have a clear understanding of the Fa and check ourselves against our understanding of the Fa. If we are right, we are right. If we are wrong, we should admit we are wrong. There is no self. We should measure ourselves according to the Fa.
Many years ago when we first established a truth-clarification material site, we met fellow practitioners from all over China. We chatted and we laughed. A practitioner once said something that impressed me immensely. She said, "When I saw other people's attachments, I will treat them as my own attachments and try to eliminate them in my cultivation." Later we learned from our experiences that when others point out our problems, we should grasp the opportunities to search inward regardless of their attitude or approach. While searching inward, we might actually identify the real problem and make a breakthrough in our cultivation.
Those days made a profound impact on me. In the days that followed, I would drop everything at hand, take a bath, relax and search inward in tranquility whenever I faced danger, when I heard that local authorities were spying on me or when things were not going well. It may be belligerence, zealotry, show-off, jealousy, self-conceit or fame. I would try to expose one attachment another. If I don't think I have these attachments, I would continue to search inward and measure myself according to the Fa to see if I have formed any notion or improper way of thinking.
Here is a classic example. A fellow practitioner once exposed me to the police, who then began to spy on me secretly. I knew the fellow practitioner who exposed me to the police was an irrational kind of person. I often reminded her to pay attention to her personal safety, as well as fellow practitioners' safety.
When I heard the news, I immediately dropped everything at hand. I sent forth righteous thoughts more frequently while searching inward. However, I was puzzled to find no attachment or notion. I was indeed very puzzled. Next I remembered I perpetually complained that she paid no attention to safety. Could this mean I had become attached to safety? Suddenly everything became clear to me. It is true that I have identified her lack of sense of security, but I have made the mistake of being attached to my own experiences and knowledge of safety. Although my understanding of safety is right, my attachment to my existing knowledge has hampered me from advancing to higher levels. That is where I have erred. Once I identified the problem, I instantly felt I had let go of my knowledge. Meanwhile, I felt myself filled with righteous thoughts. Enveloped in the powerful field of righteous thoughts, I felt the evil beings disappear.
For years, I have encountered many dangers and difficulties. For many years, I have relied on the Fa attained by cultivating inward to turn tides in the midst of danger. Cultivating inward is about letting go of self, not about giving up our main consciousness or righteous thoughts. Cultivating inward requires a cultivator to have a very clear main consciousness and powerful righteous thoughts.
3. Thoughts on the Problems I Have Witnessed
Respecting Teacher and the Fa
Many fellow practitioners dismiss it when I speak of respecting Teacher and the Fa. They claim that every practitioner has a clear understanding on the subject now we have come to the final stage of the Fa-rectification period. It is not necessarily so. The Chinese Communist Party arranged by the old forces and the many political movements, especially the Cultural Revolution, have severed the Chinese people from their traditional Chinese culture. Many people in China, including Falun Gong practitioners, may not understand the meaning of respect or what one does to respect someone.
Ancient Chinese Buddhists would keep Buddhist scriptures in a Buddhist shrine or in a study to show their respect for Buddha and the Buddha Fa. This is a way to thank Buddha and the Buddha Fa that help him return to his true self. But many Falun Gong practitioners, including those at the material sites, scatter Falun Gong books around the room or put them together with other books in the same book shelf. Many practitioners even place Teacher's photos together with other stuff in a messy place. An ancient shrine must be free of dust, but these practitioners don't even bother to keep Teacher's photos or Falun Gong books in a neat or clean place.
From ancient Chinese stories, we have learned that people used to offer incense, bathe themselves and refrain from meat dishes before they study the scriptures to show their sincerity and respect. As for today's Falun Gong practitioners, we don't even bother to wash our hands before we pick up a Falun Gong book, not to mention bathing first. Before we print truth-clarification materials or clarify the truth to people, have we tried to enter tranquility or rectify our mind? Do we treat it as a work or habit, or do we have the righteous thoughts to save sentient beings with a sacred heart?
We are living in a very special period of time and in a special environment. For the convenience of assisting Teacher in the Fa-rectification and in saving sentient beings, we have been given a more relaxed standard of respecting Teacher and the Fa. But I believe that we must attend to etiquette while we carry out the important mission. We should know the importance of Teacher and the Fa that allows our main consciousness to return home so as to understand what respect means.
Of course, I am not suggesting everyone to stick to certain forms of respect. The great way has no form. We need not follow religious rituals, but we must understand what respect means and we must respect the Fa and Teacher at heart.
About Lust
The old forces are infinitely jealous of Falun Gong practitioners. Many fellow practitioners working at truth-clarification material sites may be young, but after a few years of cultivation they are able to let go the thought of life and death, as well as fame and self-interest. That is why they have accumulated a lot of mighty virtue by prevailing over deadly tests. Driven by their jealousy and degenerated notions, the old forces have arranged tests on lust in the excuse of "helping" Falun Gong practitioners to upgrade their levels of cultivation. Yet the old forces' arrangements are extremely wicked, complicated and meticulous. Even when it is almost impossible for many practitioners to prevail over, the old forces think there is nothing wrong with forcing these arrangements upon practitioners. In the eye of the old forces, only the most difficult tests will validate the greatness of Falun Gong practitioners. The old forces don't think it's fair unless practitioners pass the extremely difficult tests. If practitioners are ruined because they fail to pass the tests or if their will of cultivation wears out during the tests, the old forces don't think it's a pity at all.
In my humble opinion, it is more important for a cultivator who has erred to repent wholeheartedly and make up by doing the three things well to save sentient beings. Such practitioners will, at most, face tribulations resulting from their karma, and will not face arrest or incarceration. After all, nothing is more important than saving sentient beings.
The best and fastest way to eliminate the attachment to lust is to confess to fellow practitioners to expose the wicked thought of lust because lust is not part of their true selves. There is no need to hide the existence of lust and to drag down their cultivation. In addition, they should memorize the Fa as well. When a cultivator's head is filled with Fa, degenerated notions will find no room to make their homes.
(To Be Continued)
