(Minghui.org) From the moment someone starts practicing Falun Dafa, every aspect of their lives becomes inseparable from cultivation.
As employers or employees, parents or children, we must play our respective roles by following Dafa’s requirements, and cultivate ourselves to become selfless and compassionate people.
Master said,
“Everything you’re doing today is the actual practice that will be used as examples in the future, [including the aspect] of being able to cultivate while doing ordinary people’s work. If you go to extremes you’ll wreck this path, so you cannot go to extremes. You should just openly and nobly do well in what you should do in society, and then cultivate. Then you’ll definitely be able to meet the standard that cultivators should meet, the standard for Consummation, because this is the path that the people of the future will take.” (“Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
Fulfilling Responsibilities at Work
I have worked as a manager in a clothing company for nearly four and a half years. During that time I've only taken 13 days vacation. I cycle to work, and usually leave home early enough to arrive at the office 20 minutes before the start of the day.
I had to go into work earlier than usual one time, and I got a puncture in my bike on the way home the night before. The repair shop wasn't open, and I thought about not going in that day, as I wasn't keen on walking to work.
I realized that this was a cultivation opportunity. If I excused myself today, then I might excuse myself on another issue tomorrow. So I decided to leave home two hours earlier that morning to walk to work, and arrived on time.
Reciting the Fa
I decided to memorize two pages of Zhuan Falun each day. If I couldn't do it one day, then I would memorize four pages the next day.
However, I encountered interference: Sometimes my thoughts weren’t clear; sometimes I felt dizzy and nauseous; other times I felt a force dragging me down. I really wanted to give up.
I tried to strengthen my willpower and continue reciting. In the process I’ve overcome fatigue, sleepiness and other interference. By reading and reciting the Fa, my thoughts became increasingly clear, and my entire body was surrounded by a positive energy.
When we feel lazy or are not diligent in studying the Fa or doing the exercises,this must be due to interference. If we strengthen our willpower we can dissolve all interference.
As long as we have a strong desire to cultivate and save people, we’ll be able to overcome any difficulties and fulfill our historic mission.
Being Mindful Not to Go Down a Slippery Slope
We all know that prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing centers are places where practitioners are persecuted. However, the persecution has other forms too.
Our attachments can weaken our willpower and make us slack off in studying the Fa or doing the exercises, eventually destroying our resolve to cultivate.
We must always maintain righteous thoughts, resist temptations, and be ever more vigilant in a relaxed environment. One thought or our relaxing slightly can cause our cultivation to go down a slippery slope.
Master once told a story about a Brahmin disciple who cultivated alone in the mountains. In the beginning, he was very diligent. One day, a hunter shot a deer and the monk looked after it, nursing it back to health.
Because the monk was lonely, he kept the deer, and they became companions. He began to pay attention to the deer and less on cultivation. After the deer died, he still thought about the deer. At the end of his life, his last thought was about the deer rather than the Dharma. After he died, he reincarnated into a deer, and many years of his cultivation were ruined.
There have been too many lessons in this regard. Many Dafa disciples have lost their lives because of seemingly trivial matters.
We must clearly understand the Fa, become more mature by learning from these lessons, and walk upright every step we take on the path of Fa-rectification.
Category: Improving Oneself
