PureInsight | April 19, 2004
[PureInsight.org] Teacher said:
Clarifying the truth isn't a simple matter—it's not only a matter of exposing the evil. When we clarify the truth we are saving sentient beings, and at the same time it involves the matter of your own improvement and your elimination of attachments during your cultivation, and the matter of Dafa disciples being responsible to the Fa in their cultivation, as well as issues like how you fill and enrich that paradise of yours in your final Consummation.
(From "Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference" in Guiding the Voyage)
Please allow me to share my humble understanding of this passage of the Fa.
The biggest obstacle in my cultivation has been my search for a job. Before I started to cultivate in Falun Dafa, it was my lifetime dream to become a renowned scientist. As I became increasingly obsessed with my goal, I became less and less capable, and felt that my lifelong dream was fading away. My lack of physical strength, stamina and intelligence all made me feel that the chance of reaching my dream was becoming more and more remote, but this only made me become even more obsessed in trying to attain my dream. The situation had deteriorated to the point where I would doze off each time I read a scientific report or attended a scientific seminar. When I first started to cultivate in Falun Dafa, I thought cultivating in Falun Dafa might help restore my abilities to attain my lifelong dream and thus I became even more obsessed with it. Apparently the old forces from other dimensions saw my attachment and exploited it. My wife, who was not satisfied with my current job, started to put pressure on me to find a faculty position at a university and establish my own research laboratory. She even threatened to divorce me if I failed to do that. From my own perspective, I entertained high hopes of finding a faculty position at a university, too, since I have an excellent track record of publishing scientific papers. It seemed that I was practicing cultivation for the sake of finding a good job. Every time I upgraded a little in my cultivation and made a little progress in studying scientific publications, I would be overwhelmed with joy and pride. But when I couldn't focus on reading scientific publications or on doing scientific experiments, or when I was devoid of inspiration for my scientific work, I would feel defeated and embarrassed because I couldn't prove to my wife or the people around me that I had made the right decision to cultivate in Falun Dafa. I was afraid that my friends and family would have the false impression that the reason why I could not find a faculty position at the college was because I had begun cultivating in Falun Dafa. This psychological burden weighed heavier on my mind each day. (Of course one should not cultivate in Falun Dafa based on any precondition. Teacher said:
There is no precondition for practicing cultivation, and one should practice cultivation if one wants to.
(From "Genuinely Guiding People Toward High Levels" in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun)
In March 2003, I went to Chicago to attend an academic seminar and felt cloudy headed during the entire trip. I very much wanted to pay attention and understand other scientists' work, because otherwise I would have come to this seminar in vain. Besides, how was I going to explain to my boss or continue my scientific research when I returned to work? Moreover, Teacher has taught us:
Everyone has a job and must do it well.
(From "Cultivation of Speech" in Lecture Eight of Zhuan Falun)
The more anxious I became to do my work well, the more cloudy headed I seemed to have become. I tried to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate any interference there might be from other dimensions, but it didn't help much as I seemed to be "using" righteous thoughts for the purpose of comprehending the academic reports. Finally, I suddenly remembered that I should clarify the truth [about Falun Dafa and the persecution] in my cultivation, and perhaps I should pick up the phone and call people in China. Although I felt a heavy burden weighing on my mind, I managed to pick up the phone. As soon as I picked up the phone, a miracle happened. I suddenly became clear headed and energetic. After finishing the truth-clarification calls, I felt very lighthearted and all the psychological burdens that I was carrying disappeared into thin air. When I picked up other scientists' publications, I was no longer arrested by anxiety. I could now read them in peace and tranquility and understood them well.
Next, I faced a test in sentimentality. Because my wife and I hadn't really talked to each other for a long time and because we had some unresolved issues, my wife began to chat with other men on the Internet. She made friends with a man from China and spent a lot of time talking with him. Then they began to talk on the phone a lot. Each time I looked at our increasing phone bill, I felt hurt and very sad. My head was filled with a lot of interfering thoughts all day long. Nevertheless, I would call people in China at night (when it was daytime in China) and clarify the truth to them. Despite feeling sulky and muddle-headed, I felt refreshed and lighthearted as soon as I picked up the phone. After each round of truth-clarifying phone calls, I became clear-headed again.
Teacher said:
I am telling everyone that no matter how uncomfortable you are, you must continue to attend this class. Once you walk into the classroom, all of your symptoms will vanish and there will not be any danger.
(From "The Issue of Pursuit" in Lecture Two of Zhuan Falun)
So then I attained a new understanding of this passage of the Fa. That is, no matter how difficult it may be, I must follow Teacher's Fa. After I arrived at this understanding, I was suddenly able to face up to my marriage crisis calmly. I told my wife, "If you have found a better man and wish to divorce me, I won't pressure you to stay in this marriage." After witnessing my transformation, she stopped threatening to divorce me and stopped calling other men. This is despite the fact that I have not found a better job as she had hoped.
Trying to call the police in China [to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa,] my fears arose. I found it hard to pick up the phone. However, each time I picked up the phone, I lost that fear. Teacher said:
If you are not afraid, the factor that would make you afraid will cease to exist.
(From "Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" in Essentials for Further Advancement II) Then, I realized that they are the ones who are afraid because they have done evil deeds and fear our phone calls. Teacher said:
Every phone call from our students shocks them to the point that they can't sleep at night, they're that afraid.
(From "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference")
When I was on the phone, I felt my attachments and other bad matter being purged. I felt that my compassion increased and my righteous thoughts got stronger and stronger. Calling became more and more natural. Meanwhile, clarifying the truth through the telephone helped my cultivation surge and made me realize the urgency of offering all sentient beings Teacher's salvation. It also helped me understand the Fa better and catch up with the pace of Fa-rectification. Since clarifying the truth and our own cultivation are intertwined, only when we reach the pure, calm state of a practitioner and speak with compassion can we attain great results. If I do not make a phone call at least once a day, I feel that there is something missing in my life and my attachments and the notions of everyday people will easily surface.
Telephones can reach where the Internet cannot. Telephones are very standard. Almost every household [in China] has a telephone. If there were more people calling China, then it would be much faster for the Chinese people to learn the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution. Recently I found that there were still many people who did not know the truth. Telephones do not suffer from the restrictions of place and time. With a couple minutes of free time, you can pick up the phone and call China. I believe that our calls to China penetrate multiple space-time dimensions concurrently. The effects must be tremendous.
In "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference," Master said:
While you're clarifying here, layers upon layers of your bodies that have completed cultivation are also clarifying at cosmic bodies of different levels. You have to expose the persecution and the evil drama, and you have to let the world's people see it clearly, and this too suppresses it and eliminates it. Clarifying the facts is most powerful, and it's an act of grand compassion since this persecution is completely based on lies and deception.
There are also two small stories I would like to share. Once I called a phone number in Beijing. A girl answered the phone and told me that it was a public phone. I told her what a great coincidence it was that she answered, and then I started explaining [the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution.] She had been blinded by the slanderous lies about Falun Dafa, but she realized the truth after my clarification. She told me that she was from Tibet. "Tibet is a beautiful place," I said, "From movies that I have seen, Tibet is really a magnificent sight to see. Its great environment would really help people be kind and open hearted. The people there are all very compassionate and simple. I really want to visit Tibet if I get a chance." She told me that in the future I would be welcome to come over and be her guest in Tibet.
Another time, a young lady who answered the phone got envious when she heard that I had obtained a Ph.D. degree in America. I told her that these things are not important. Everywhere people are faced with tribulations. The most important thing is to be a good person because a good person will enjoy safety and peace throughout his entire life. I suggested to her that she treasure the time that she had, and encouraged her to conduct herself with morality. In the end, she told me that she had met a special high-level person.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/3/27/26442.html
