My Understanding of Improving Xinxing and Elevating Realms

(Minghui.org) Several things that have happened lately have made me more aware that cultivators should pay more attention to improving our xinxing and not just go through the motions when we read the Fa.

Something happened when I was studying the Fa with several practitioners. One of them said that we should hold our Dafa books upright, not just lay them flat. I thought to myself, “Why not pay attention to xinxing improvement? Why focus one’s attention on such trivial things?”

Then I realized I had a problem. When fellow practitioners do not know how to cultivate xinxing, I should help them instead of ridicule them. I am a cultivator. I should have compassion. I realized that I am the one who should cultivate my xinxing and improve my realm.

The second incident happened at home. I got home from work and made dinner right away, even though my husband had a day off. He works hard at his job and is always tired, so I let him catch up on his rest on his off days.

I woke him up after I made dinner that night, but he complained that nothing I made tasted good.

My daughter was taking a nap too and told me to wake her up before dinner. But every time I tried to wake her, she got upset and still wanted to sleep. But when she finally did wake up and missed dinner, she got upset again and began yelling at me.

Both my husband and daughter attacked me, but I was not upset at all, since I had made up my mind to improve my xinxing. I took it as a test. I was calm and felt at ease within. “All right, if this made them feel better, so be it.” Then they both stopped complaining.

I encountered similar situations in the past. While I did manage to not fight back, I always had a hard time getting rid of my resentment. This time around, however, I held no grudges against my husband or my daughter. I realized that only by changing one’s notion can a cultivator elevate and improve one’s level and realm. If we forbear with resentment, no matter how little resentment that might be, we are still stuck at the level of ordinary people.

With the decline of moral standards, people will do anything for their personal gain—just like my coworkers, who often fought for things that our company said should belong to me. I tried my best to tolerate them, but I truly looked down on them.

Now, after the two incidents I just described, I have changed my mindset. I feel so bad for my coworkers that they fight and struggle for petty gains. They cannot sleep or eat well. They look so worn out. They’ve gained so much karma along the way. Witnessing them struggle in the bitter sea of the human world, I no longer look down on them. I feel sorry for them and a sense of compassion arose within me.

Master told us: “When our compassion emerges, we will probably find all living beings and every person suffering.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)

I realized that when we see that others are all suffering, we have developed compassion. If we only do things for the sake of personal improvement and consummation, no matter how much or how little we do, we are still in the realm of ordinary people. Only when we have a compassionate heart can we develop the wish to provide salvation to others, not just for our own consummation. It is the realm of a cultivator.

This is my understanding at my level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating,” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)