Following Master’s Requirements: Cultivate as Diligently as in the Beginning

(Minghui.org) Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) told us a story in Zhuan Falun: Buddha Sakyamuni wanted to take a bath and asked one of his disciples to clean the bathtub. Every time I read this, it wasn’t much of an issue on my mind. One day, I suddenly understood some principles of the Fa, which arose from this story. This disciple failed to accomplish the task the first two times, but after he suddenly understood the Fa behind the issue, he completed it in a short time. I enlightened to three points about this:

First, his master asked him several times before the disciple finally understood and completed it. If he could have done it when his master said it once, it would have been great, and his master would not need to worry.

Recalling my years of cultivation, I’ve had similar experiences as mentioned above. I know that Master has said many things, some of which have been repeated over and over again, and I believed to understand, but I couldn’t always figure out what was meant by the teaching. For example, I had an attachment to my cell phone. Those practitioners who have good enlightenment quality and follow the teachings, after listening to what Master said, they immediately followed Master’s requirements. When doing Dafa work, they never bring their mobile phones. 

After being reminded by fellow practitioners, I slowly put down the phone. This is not to say that I did not have any accidents, but that I cultivated too slowly to follow Master’s requirements. Because what Master taught is the Fa, if you don’t follow the requirements of the Fa, are you a cultivator? On the other hand, I cultivated by holding onto a lot of human thoughts, and I got over issues by stumbling. But, I am also ashamed for not being diligent. I feel that I am really bad, and I feel unworthy of Master’s great compassion.

During these years of cultivation I realized that if I did things without my own thoughts, things were done well. I kept up with my practice and got better results with half the effort when doing the three things. My practice was as diligent as it was at the beginning.

Second, I enlightened from this story that the three behaviors of Sakyamuni’s disciple also revealed three kinds of people. The first kind of person follows Master’s teaching right away because what Master taught is the Fa. The second type of person might not have enlightened at the time, but understood it after some stumbling. The third type of person only enlightens after Master has emphasized something repeatedly.

 Here I also enlightened about Master’s great mercy. As long as you cultivate, Master will take care of you and save you. Master never dislikes a single disciple. Because you have come here for Dafa life after life, and you also came across it when Dafa is spreading in the world, what a fate!

Looking back over my cultivation path, what kind of person am I? I thought I was working hard to do the three things, but I still didn’t have the guts to put myself in the right place, and what I did was terrible. Many things have not been done according to Master’s requirements, and I have committed them again and again. For example, the problem of drinking, cultivation of speech, showing off, jealousy, resentment, and so on, should be eliminated during the final Fa-rectification time. We should enrich ourselves, and help save sentient beings compassionately.

Third, given the story of Sakyamuni, I realized that during the final Fa-rectification time when the Fa rectification of the human world is transitioning, if Dafa disciples want to regain the feeling of cultivating as diligently as before, they must be the first type of person. As soon as Master says something, we should do it right away without any personal notions. Because Master’s Dafa has already been explained very clearly, don’t add in any personal things.

As the cultivation time during Fa-rectification is limited, practitioners who are as sloppy as I am when studying the Fa, practitioners who do not know how to concentrate when sending forth righteous thoughts, practitioners who are lax and lazy in saving sentient beings, or practitioners who are not diligent, must get rid of their personal notions and complete their historical mission. 

Something that you think is big on the path of cultivation is not necessarily a big thing, and what you think is a small thing is not necessarily a small thing, because there are no small things in cultivation. Behind every fellow practitioner is a huge cosmic body and countless sentient beings. We must fulfill our prehistorical vows. Thank you, Master, for enlightening me to these major Fa truths.