Assimilating to Dafa and Transcending Fear

(Minghui.org) After I was arrested twice in the past three years, I began to have frequent dreams about being reported to the police for talking to people about Falun Dafa and then being arrested. I always felt very frustrated when I woke up and couldn’t work out why I kept having such dreams. 

Where Does the Fear Come From?

After sharing my thoughts with another practitioner, she said that the old forces forced the substance of fear into my field. She asked, “Is the fear you?” I said nothing. From the Fa principles, I knew that the fear wasn’t me, but I couldn’t figure out why, at critical moments, I would feel such strong fear controlling me.

The feeling of fear seemed to be a natural reaction—just like feeling cold, hungry or thirsty, or like other emotions such as joy, anger, worry and sadness. 

Master said,

“The Three Realms were established at the outermost perimeter of the cosmic body, and everything here is made up of the lowest, crudest, and filthiest of particles—molecules, atoms, and the like. In the eyes of higher beings this is where the trash of the universe is cast away. They thus regard this plane of molecules as dust or “clay,” and see it as the lowliest of places. This is the origin of the belief held in some religions that man was made by the divine out of clay. Man was indeed formed out of matter at the molecular plane.” (“How Humankind Came To Be”)

I understood that our human emotions and the need to eat, drink, feel tired and sleep are the natural reactions of our bodies at the molecular plane, but how could I overcome it?

Let Our True Selves Take the Lead

Master also taught us:

“Supernormal abilities are in fact beings’ innate abilities. The higher a being’s level, the more fully his innate abilities can take effect; conversely, the lower a being’s level, the harder it is for his innate abilities to take effect, or to take full effect. The fundamental reason is that in this cosmos, from the highest level to the lowest level, the lower it gets, the greater its specific gravity relative to everything in that realm that has matter, the larger the grains of the particles are, and the more weight beings have to carry; the lower it gets, the more the beings’ innate abilities (supernormal abilities) are restrained by matter itself, and the more heavy this restraint, the less effective the abilities are. That is why the lower the level, the lesser the abilities. In the human dimension, all the innate abilities of beings have been buried; thus their innate abilities (supernormal abilities) cannot work. So if humans do something or want to get something, they have to rely solely on working their matter-comprised bodies. Man cannot see the true state of the cosmos because he is completely buried in matter. That is why it’s said that the human dimension is one of delusion.” (“What Are Supernormal Abilities,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)

After I read this, I suddenly understood that for a cultivator, our innate abilities are supernormal abilities and the substance of fear isn’t my innate ability. Human beings don’t know about the illusory world we live in, so they are strictly restrained on the lower level and think their feelings are their true selves. But for cultivators, our realms transcend the limitations of the low-level physical world and we should break free from the restraints of lower-level principles.

I understood that through studying and assimilating to the Fa, we will return to our original, true selves and reconnect with the true characteristic of the universe. If we can do that, the power of Dafa will manifest in us.

When I thought back to my two arrests, I realized that I was very passive at the time and allowed the police to determine my fate. This was because I didn’t have righteous thoughts and didn’t look at the matter from higher-level principles. 

Now I have started paying attention to distinguishing between my true, righteous thoughts and my postnatal notions. Whenever I identify notions and thought karma, I send righteous thoughts to eliminate them and break free from their hold on me. 

Looking at the substance of fear, it’s only on our lower-level body. If we let such a substance act in us, it means we haven’t fully broken free from that low-level restraint and haven’t completely assimilated to the Fa at higher levels. The best way to handle this is learning to let our true selves take the lead, to evaluate things based on the Fa and not limit ourselves to the lowest level of the human realm.

Please point out anything improper in my understanding.

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)