(Clearwisdom.net) I have followed Master and practiced cultivation for 12 years and made it through, despite the mistakes and hard lessons. I used to think that being able to study the Fa, do the exercises, and distribute flyers was cultivation. I did not know how to look inward when conflicts arose, and instead looked for the other person's faults. Now I know how important it is for a cultivator to look inward. This is the only way to test one's human notions, eliminate karma, and improve oneself. Sometimes I would fall into the trap of human notions, but now I know how to study the Fa and look inward. I have matured while melting into the Fa.
Master said,
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive Out Interference" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I realized that the Fa is omnipotent, can rectify everything that is not right, and can cultivate anything that is not pure and righteous. As long as I persevere in studying the Fa more, Dafa will certainly change me. So, I decided to memorize the Fa and let the Fa imprint itself on my every cell. I held this thought and set aside a certain time each day, which I dedicated to memorizing the Fa. The more I memorize the Fa, the more I love to do it and the more confidence I have.
Our righteous thoughts come from the Fa. As long as we study the Fa more, we can do the three things well. I have tried to seize every opportunity to offer salvation to people. I am not attached to the number of people I help, but only that I try my best. Each time before leaving home I stand before Master's portrait and say, "I will now go out and rescue people. Master, please protect me and guide predestined people to me." Then I will think, "What I am doing is the most righteous thing in the universe. The evil absolutely cannot interfere with me. I will eliminate any evil elements that interfere with my efforts to rescue sentient beings inside my dimension. I am afraid of nothing because Master is here, and Dafa is here. The Fa rectifies the cosmos, the evil is completely eliminated!" Then I walk out into the street and talk to people. I have no sense of fear when asking people to do "three withdrawals" (withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers). Just as Master said, "If you are not afraid, the factor that would make you afraid will cease to exist." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Of course we have to pay attention to safety. Because my mind is pure and I have powerful righteous thoughts, saving people and helping them withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) becomes an easy task.
One practitioner often angrily scolds me in a very loud voice. I used to get upset, and sometimes I would retort or defend myself. Another practitioner said lots of bad things about me in front of other practitioners while I was imprisoned. After my release, she spread many accusations and fabricated stories against me to prove her points and did all of this in front of me. At the time, I did not maintain my xinxing. When I calmed down and thought it over, I felt that something was wrong, so I studied the Fa and looked inward and realized that a practitioner should not get upset when faced with criticism from other practitioners. Why did I get upset? Because I did not consider myself a practitioner and did not conduct myself according to Dafa's standards. That was why when someone else treated me unkindly, it had an impact on my ego. I harbored vanity, a reluctance to accept criticism, an attachment to reputation and self interest, jealousy, hatred, competitiveness, an attachment to emotions, selfishness, ego, showing-off, and an attachment to food, among other undesirable thoughts. I did not base my thoughts on the Fa, but instead looked at fellow practitioners' accusations from a human perspective and thus felt wronged and angry. It was not a coincidence that that practitioner attacked me. Indeed, the incident specifically targeted my incorrect notions, yet I did not realize it.
Other practitioners had criticized me before about my ego. Master used their mouths to prompt me in order to help me remove those notions, but on numerous occasions I refused to recognize that. Master kindly reminded me again this time. I have finally realized what went wrong. I looked inward and identified my many attachments. When I truly realized it from the Fa principles, I suddenly felt light, and my mind opened up. My mind was serene, and the atmosphere was harmonious. Dafa is cultivating and tempering us.
Solid cultivation made me realize that Master arranges the conflicts among practitioners, that our cultivation form determines what happens, and that it is a good thing. As long as we look inward, we are improving ourselves.
Other practitioners' unkindness also reflects our own gaps. I was bitter about other practitioners' lack of compassion toward me, but I was the same way toward them and my family. Cultivation is cultivating oneself. A great enlightened being should be tolerant, understanding, and compassionate toward other practitioners.
My mind was calm when I recently learned of my son-in-law's promotion to a company manager's position. He called one day and asked my family to join him and his parents at a restaurant. It suddenly occurred to me that he might be using the company's money. I cannot get something for nothing. I called my daughter and said, "If you guys are using the company's money I will not go." My daughter said, "What do you care? You don't have to spend a single penny. You simply come and eat, and it will only cost about 2,000 yuan [the expense of the banquet]." I told her I would not go because I am a Dafa practitioner, "If you do this, it'll be bad for you, too." Later on I learned that none of them went to the restaurant.
Dafa made me aware that we must regard ourselves as cultivators at all times in this materialistic world. We must conduct ourselves and measure everything with Dafa's standards. In this way, we will not be lost in the world's maze, and we will walk a righteous path. We do not care for or pursue interests that ordinary people consider so important, because ours is the realm of great, enlightened beings.
I just wanted to share some understandings from true cultivation. I realized that only by truly practicing cultivation can we understand the wonders and supernatural powers of Falun Dafa and feel Master's infinite grace, and understand what Master meant by
"And with the passing of all adversity,
will come the sweetness of true joy."("Cultivating Amidst the Delusion" from Hong Yin)
