PureInsight | November 5, 2001
It was my great good fortune to join the Sydney to Brisbane “ SOS Urgent Rescue “ long-distance walk. Here, I would like to share some of my experiences.
In the first few days, my body was not accustomed to the long walk and all kinds of tribulations followed, some of which were caused by seemingly trivial things. Every day, it would be all right for the first several hours, but after 3 to 4 hours, I would feel uncomfortable. After 5 to 6 hours, I could only continue out of observation of forbearance. And in the last few hours, it would all be a battle between will and karma. When it was really hard to endure, I would murmur master’s poem: ' With a determined heart, lift the feet with legs weighing thousands of pounds, Forbearing hardships, striving forward, and discarding attachments;” (Hong Yin, 'Climbing Mount Tai '). For every word I recited, I was able to drag myself forward by one step. I very passively withstood all kinds of arrangements, endured one day after another. Inextricably caught in this kind of helpless mood for several days, I started to think: “how can I finish the upcoming 30-day long walk?” At that time I thought cultivation was to endure hardship and that it was a good opportunity to eliminate karma. No matter how difficult and painstaking it would be, I must withstand, also could withstand. It would be all right when my karma was eliminated. Wasn’t it a good thing to eliminate karma?
One week passed by and the situation had not changed. Walking had become a daily test I had to face. I felt it was very difficult to distribute flyers and to tell the truth. I could not do both at the same time. I started to realize that my own condition was not right. Why did I have this tribulation? It was because I had attachments that I needed to eliminate, and it was these attachments that gave the evil chances to test me.
I asked myself: aren’t weariness and misery also composed of particles from the Three Realms? They could only restrict humans but could not possibly restrict the sides of us that have cultivated well. Aren’t cultivators supposed to step out of humanness? The concern that I could not walk the entire journey was the result of the attachment of fear of hardships and the attachment of comfort. Isn’t this also contrary to my own true thoughts and beliefs? Didn’t this show that I did not firmly believe in Dafa? I asked myself: can I truly devote myself to Dafa? I found my buried attachment of fear. This showed that I had attachments. Evil was using all of our attachments to disturb and destroy our walk for Fa rectification. From the very beginning, the evil force had manipulated various kinds of tribulations to destroy our confidence in finishing this walk. The backup vehicle was right behind us, should I get on board or not? If I did, who would be happy?
I realized the fundamental differences between the tribulations and hardships of Fa rectification and those of an individual practitioner. If an individual practitioner did not do well in eliminating hardship and tribulation, he/she would possibly have another chance, but if we do not overcome the hardships and tribulations well during the period of Fa rectification, it will affect the whole process of Fa rectification. Cultivation practice is a serious matter. I should be responsible for my own cultivation. But even more importantly, I should also take more responsibility for Dafa. I also found hidden selfishness in my heart. Our goal was to tell the truth, assist our master to rectify Fa, and not limit ourselves to individual cultivation only. We could endure hardship, but it did not mean we should accept the hardship. As a particle, when a tribulation appears, we should first look at ourselves to make sure that we have achieved the standard. We cannot fail to pass the tests staged by the evil. Neither should we let the evil force use the test as an excuse to disturb Fa rectification. We should not accept any tests from the evil forces. If there are external interferences, we will use our righteous thoughts to eliminate them.
In the process of unceasingly purifying myself and studying the Fa, my entire body had made fast changes. It became much lighter. I felt as if the wind was pushing me forward while walking. Every day my condition became better and better, my body felt lighter and lighter. I felt that I had endless power. Walking was even like sitting in comfortable and wonderful meditation. I knew that how far the road would be was not an issue for me anymore.
In this walk process, I deeply realized the power of Dafa. When one can assimilate to Dafa, the power, sacredness, and majesty of Dafa will appear. They can rectify all that is not rectified. After reading Master’s article, ' Expounding on the Fa ' in Essentials for Further Advancement one more time, I now understand the underlying meanings of two sentences that I could not understand before, “Dafa is harmonizing all sentient beings, and all sentient beings are also harmonizing Dafa...'
I remember one day, while walking on a broad and straight street, I suddenly saw the road underneath my feet heading up to the sky. I knew then I had truly walked on the cultivation
'road' of Fa rectification.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/10/18/12089.html
