PureInsight | June 11, 2001
A few days ago, I was busy with Fa-spreading activities and pushed back some of my everyday work. In the days that followed, I was busy catching up with the work I had delayed, since the deadline was approaching. Time was very tight, so I had to squeeze out some time for sleep, meals, and rest. Sometimes I could only have one meal and sleep for about an hour a day. I spent the rest of my time doing my work.
In the course of this intense schedule, I enlightened to a few things:
I used to have a very strong attachment because I haven’t been jailed, so I was feeling somewhat uncertain. I thought to myself, “Other practitioners have suffered so much to protect Dafa (The Great Law). Amidst such a harsh environment, they’ve passed many critical tests, which have targeted their fundamental attachments to the human world. They have built up enormous merit. How can I improve myself? Should I follow what they’ve done?” I felt that, in my particular situation, I could contribute more if I used other methods to clarify the truth. I realized that Dafa is most important and accumulating merit should be something achieved without pursuit. I understood that I didn’t want to take advantage of Dafa’s tribulations as a chance to gain something or build up something for myself.
My recent busy schedule made me realize a lot of things. One thing was that working outside of the detention centers and labor camps can also be viewed as enduring hardships. I realized that the key point is whether you’ve put your all into it, whether you’re diligent enough to advance. A person who doesn’t run fast won’t have the experience of being exhausted. When I’ve been busy spreading Dafa and doing everyday work, spending time with practitioners and everyday people; when I’ve gone hungry all day and have still needed to ride my bike a great distance; when I’ve had no time to eat, sleep, or sit for a while, many times I’ve chosen to relax and retreat. In fact, every time, it’s a choice between being comfortable and contributing to Dafa. Every time, it’s a test to see whether you want to enjoy everyday life or fulfill your wish to return home.
These things are also like suffering, but from outside of the detention centers and labor camps. This is because there are lots of temptations: You can get comfortable if you want to, everything is in front of you, and you can enjoy it at will. And you will not feel any grief when you do not want to give them up: this is the scariest thing.
While practitioners are making appeals via hunger strikes inside, can you work to validate Dafa even if you’ve missed a meal? While practitioners are suffering from vicious torture inside, can you use a will just as strong to overcome your own physical limitations and mental exhaustion, and to overcome that laziness which is everywhere when you’re amidst comfortable conditions?
It’s the same whether you’re inside or outside. The bottom line is whether you’re diligent enough to advance.
The enemy they’re facing inside is pain, while the enemy we’re facing outside is comfort. The pain inside is pressing on people to destroy their will; the comfort outside is wearing down people’s will unnoticeably.
Cultivation to be steadfast in the expression of one's Buddha-nature can only be done in this maze. No matter the circumstances, whether it is to suffer or to have comfort in this human world, the most painful thing for a human being who vowed to go back up is to be bound here and unable to go back home.
Either return home, or drift away in the sea of bitterness.
The above are my personal experiences, just for your consideration.
(Translated on April 26, 2001 from an edited version of http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2001/4/25/10299.html)
