PureInsight | July 5, 2004
[PureInsight.org] I have been a long time fan of the Star Wars movie series, a long, involved story about the battle between the forces of good and evil, freedom and dictatorship on a galactic level. My favorite scene remains the climatic episode in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (the first of the series). Recently, I have been thinking about the scene and how it relates to my cultivation.
In one of the most memorable moments in the movie, Luke Skywalker, a young Jedi Knight (Jedi Knights were peaceful sage-warriors who protected and restored order to the galaxy), has to destroy a "Death Star," a huge space vehicle used by a evil dictatorial regime to destroy planets that oppose its rule.
As Luke prepares to launch an attack on the Death Star using the rebel forces' (who are the good guys) advanced tracking devices, he is warned telepathically by his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, an elderly Jedi Knight, to not trust the tracking devices, but to trust his instinctive contact with the "Force," an all-pervading, invisible field that nourishes the Jedi and gives them their superpowers to safeguard the universe.
Luke wrestles with himself for a few seconds before launching his critical attack that determines the future of several worlds. Should he trust his flight skills, along with the advanced tracking mechanisms? Or should he trust in the Force, though he cannot see it and only barely feel it?
In the end, he does not use the tracking mechanism and trusts his connection with the Force, strikes the Death Star fatally, and gets rid of a powerful threat from evil forces.
Since I obtained the Fa towards the end of 2001, I have faced similar dilemmas at several stages of my cultivation. I know that I should just trust the Fa and Master's words and do some things; but they fly in the face of conventional wisdom and what I have been brought up to believe through all my 23 years of living in this world!
For instance, if there is a Fahui on a weekend, and I have some time-critical homework or research to finish, do I go to the Fahui and come back late Sunday night to finish it? Or would it be easier for me to just stay at home and complete my work?
More often than not, I have chosen to go the Fahuis (if finances permit), because I have an inherent trust that things work out. Till now, they always have.
Or I have an option to go to a small, local experience sharing meetings in other cities - I am now the only practitioner in my city - but I have a lot of truth-clarifying work to do over the weekend on the computer! Will I be able to finish it by the deadline if I go to another city?
Then again, I always finally decide to go the experience sharing, because it is a wonderful experience to see other practitioners. Somehow, I am able to come back and finish the computer work in time.
However, I still do question myself every so often - "Should I do this or that? I can do both, but it is so hard!" Even though I have experienced that:
When it seems impossible to do, or just hard to do, give it a try and see just what you can do. And when you can really do it, just like that worn and weary traveler, you'll see, "the shade of willows, the blooms of flowers, a place to rest my head"!
(From "A Person With Great Spiritual Inclination," The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I still often allow myself to doubt the supernormal powers of the Fa!
Sigh! Will there ever be a time when I will truly trust the Fa and allow Its supernormal capabilities to manifest through me strongly enough to truly fulfill my magnificent vow in the past?
