(Minghui.org) I read an article on Minghui.org a few days ago. It said that one day, after several years of practice, an elderly practitioner suddenly told her spouse that she wanted to give up practicing Falun Dafa. She eventually died of uremia.
We all know that one is free to choose whether to practice Dafa or not. Yet I still felt very sorry for that practitioner. We have made it through the harshest time, and it is sure that the Golden Age of Dafa is about to come. So I couldn’t understand why that practitioner would give up on herself, given our bright future. Below are some of my understandings.
Tang Monk suffered 81 trials and tribulations in search of the Buddhist scriptures. His will to seek the scriptures was most sincere. He never swayed, regardless of what the tribulation was. On his journey to the West, he encountered monsters, beauties, the Burning Mountain, the Tongtian River, the Nation of Girls, and so on. He was once trapped in a bottomless pit with no way out; he was also tested by one disciple's retreat. While facing tests of life and death, he never wavered in his faith. Only with this righteous faith could he overcome all the obstacles and witness the many miracles on his journey to obtain the Buddhist scriptures.
Actually, none of the monsters appeared by chance. Some were arranged by the Goddess of Mercy. For example, the Golden Horn senior demon king and the Silver Horn junior demon king who appeared at Pingding Mountain were actually two servant boys of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord. The Goddess of Mercy arranged them purposefully to test Tang Monk and his disciples.
All 81 trials and tribulations that Tang Monk and his disciples went through were tests arranged by the Buddha to remove their human attachments. There is a poem that states: “The world is like a furnace and all beings are like copper.” In my opinion, all the trials and tribulations are just like firewood in the dan-tempering furnace to forge true gold.
It is my experience that tribulations from external factors are typically easier to identify, such as the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the slanderous information spread by the CCP about Dafa, and the misunderstandings of ordinary people. As cultivators, we should cultivate ourselves and not care about others’ opinions.
Whereas, tribulations from internal factors are much harder to deal with, especially the demonic interference from one’s own mind. What do you really want to achieve? Which thoughts are from your true self? Who is the real Monkey King, and who is the fake one? Sometimes it is very difficult to identify. Since Master has explained how to deal with this in his teachings, my experience is that studying the Fa more diligently is the way to resolve all these problems.
I encountered similar problems a few times. Once, I doubted whether Dafa was true (my daughter also experienced this). Another time I saw a terrible scene, with the following sentence repeating in my mind, “Am I practicing evil cultivation?” I realized that this was demonic interference; so we should not believe these weird thoughts or scenes. To address situations like this, we should study the Fa, and we will be alright.
I have had a wish to practice cultivation since I was young. At that time, I thought I would become a nun in the future, and I experienced the bitterness of waiting in search of the Buddhist scriptures. When I first heard about Falun Dafa, I didn't know the truth about Dafa. I have regretted the several years I wasted until I began to practice.
People have had misunderstandings about Dafa due to the wicked CCP’s slanderous defamation. It is the wicked CCP’s true nature to lie. So, everyone, please learn the truth about Falun Dafa yourself. Even people who have been practicing Dafa for more than 20 years dare not say that they have a thorough understanding of Dafa.
More than 2,000 years ago, Christianity was persecuted by the Roman Empire, and Jesus was crucified on the cross. With solid faith in their God, Christians condemned the persecution for more than 300 years until Christianity became widely acknowledged. Some Christians, such as St. Peter and St. Paul, never swayed when facing tests of life and death and achieved great success. While some bargained with the devil and betrayed their faith and their God. All Christians were studying the same Bible, then why did they behave and accomplish differently?
In my opinion, it is because, “The master takes you through the entrance, and cultivation is up to you, yourself.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Category: Improving Oneself
