(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
We can easily fall prey to ordinary society’s temptations. So, it's important to strengthen our main consciousness, because it is our main consciousness that is saved by Master. When I was young, I became so attached to playing video games that it became an essential part of my life. After I started to practice Falun Dafa, with Master's help, I eliminated my attachment to gaming. But I would still play occasionally out of nostalgia, including recently during the pandemic. One evening, I watched online content related to some games I had played before.
Master said,
“If you develop an evil thought or go after something bad, they will come to give you a hand, and you will be following a demonic cultivation way. This problem can take place.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun)
I told myself that I was simply watching the videos without any intention of playing. In fact, I was unconsciously pursuing those games by watching the videos. The gaming factors entered my field in other dimensions. One day, I was determined to accomplish some important tasks, but I had a sudden urge to play video games as soon as I opened my computer. After I played the game for a few hours, I realized I had wasted precious time and deeply regretted it. In retrospect, this stumble left me with a deep impression to firmly reject these negative elements in the future.
My understanding is that our cultivation is cyclical. When we reach the standard for one level, the well-cultivated part is immediately partitioned from us and our uncultivated side takes control. Then, another layer of human attachments and batch of tests appear. It is precisely at this moment that we need to strengthen our Fa-study, instead of indulging our ordinary human desires.
I often encounter the test of lust and pass it successfully, but it comes back every now and then. It is important to reject this attachment firmly after each layer is eliminated, right down to its root.
Clarifying the Truth During the Pandemic
Master explained recently in “Stay Rational,”
“You are not here to change history, but rather, to save people at this most dangerous time in history, by raising awareness, persuading people to withdraw from China’s three major communist organizations, encouraging people to sincerely say the magic words, and so on. All of these are the best medicine possible, the best way to rescue people—when people’s morals change, things will change for the better.” (“Stay Rational,” Team Yellow Translation)
From this I understood that clarifying the truth is crucial; otherwise, people may not understand why it's important to quit the CCP and to remember that Falun Dafa is good. After a Chinese friend and I shared our understandings on the CCP virus, I suggested that she quit the CCP. She agreed. However, when I told her it was important for her relatives to quit the Party too, she told me she needed to know more about it. She jokingly said that I was very anti-communist. I felt this label had a political connotation, as if helping people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations had a political goal.
I realized it was important to emphasize the key points of truth-clarification before suggesting people quit the Party. The key points include the true nature of the CCP and the political campaigns launched by the CCP that has caused countless deaths. We should conclude by explaining the reason Chinese people need to withdraw their affiliations with the CCP in order to avoid being held accountable for its crimes.
When the pandemic started to affect our area, schools held classes online and students took final exams at home. The exam papers had to be photocopied and sent electronically to professors for evaluation. One of my classmates from mainland China asked if I could print one of his courses’ exam questions. He said he did not have a printer at home. I was skeptical and wondered why he couldn't answer the final exam on a blank sheet of paper.
I realized that he asked me to print the exam because he wanted me to clarify the truth to him. I printed his exam and gave him a flyer about quitting the CCP. I pointed out that he was very courageous because I asked him to come to my home instead of meeting outside. When he came to my house, I was surprised that he did not wear a mask. We were really happy to see each other. I had not interacted with anyone for more than a month. After I gave my friend the exam, I explained the importance of quitting the Party in the context of the pandemic. He accepted what I said and told me that the virus was closely linked to the CCP.
I had a dream in which I saw one of my winter semester’s professors. He was giving a lecture in class. At one point, he started to beg his students to give him advice regarding the coronavirus that was ruining his home country of Italy. I immediately raised my hand and told him to pray. When I woke up, I realized it was an opportunity to clarify the truth to this professor. I sent him an email to explain the virus, the gravity of the infection related to a country’s close ties to the CCP, and the importance of recognizing the CCP’s crimes and and holding it responsible for its lack of transparency when dealing with the virus.
Right after I sent the email, I started to worry whether I had said too much. I was surprised when he said he concurred completely with what I had said and was aware of the CCP's infiltration in the West. I felt reassured and explained in more depth. I said I hoped that he could tell his friends and relatives.
Participating in Shen Yun Promotion
When we help promote Shen Yun, it is crucial to maintain good Fa study. During winter break, I was often assigned to mall booths for two or three consecutive days. Last year, I was so tired after being there all day that I did not have the will to study the Fa. When I went back to sell tickets the next day, the effect was poor.
For instance, an elderly man passed by our booth. He was interested in Shen Yun, but he did not want to buy tickets. He told me he was too old to watch it. Despite my encouragement, he refused. I understood that the energy I emitted was not strong enough to eliminate his bad notions. Master said,
“But there’s one thing, which is, even though we haven’t set particular rules for you, you have to regard yourself as a cultivator! Be proactive about Fa study! How could you do what we’re doing without studying the Fa? You might say that you can. But if you’re relying on cunning, human thinking, and quick wits, I guarantee that you won’t be able to. How so? While it might work out for you to do things that way when running your own business or doing your job in an ordinary setting, it won’t work with our task, for the words you say won’t have energy or be on the Fa. How can you save a person if your words don’t have the power to reduce his karma or remove his attachments? If you’re to save him then you must be a cultivator yourself. And your words will have energy and be able to eliminate his biases and attachments. They can have that impact, and can suppress the bad things in his mind that would otherwise foul things up at the time. Only this way will you be able to save the person. This holds true in all kinds of settings in which you clarify the facts, doesn’t it?” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2016 New York Fa Conference,” Team Yellow Translation)
These are some of my experiences and understandings I enlightened to this year. Please point out anything inappropriate or not on the Fa.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
