PureInsight | June 18, 2007
[PureInsight.org] I read "Towards Consummation" often and I gain new understanding every time I read it.
In the beginning, when I read it, I did not know the Fa principles too
well, but I knew that I was determined to cultivate Dafa. Whatever
Master said was right and was good for us, as well as the sentient
beings. Even though, I might not have understood the teachings well, I
should not have bad thoughts. Occasionally, when I became disrespectful
toward Master and Dafa, I knew that was not the real me but the
manifestation of my thought karma. Master's teachings are so profound
that whatever I can understand is only a little bit from my level. If I
want to improve myself, I must continue to study the Fa and cultivate
solidly in order to gain deeper understandings.
This very notion actually comes from studying the Fa. I started to
cultivate quite early and I knew that Dafa was good. However, I did not
make a great effort to cultivate and sometimes I stopped cultivating.
Nonetheless, Master has been so compassionate that he let me slowly
understand and strengthen my heart to persistently cultivate
Master said in "Towards Consummation", "Studying the Fa with
attachments is not true cultivation. Yet during the course of
cultivation a person may gradually become aware of his fundamental
attachments, rid himself of them, and thus meet the standard for a
cultivator. What's a fundamental attachment, then? Human beings acquire
many notions in this world and are, as a consequence, driven by these
notions to pursue what they yearn for. But when a person comes to this
world, it is karmic arrangements that determine his course of life and
what will be gained and lost in it. How could a person's notions
determine each stage of his life? So those so-called "beautiful dreams
and wishes" become pursuits that can never be realized, despite painful
attachments.
After many years of cultivation, I have gained a deeper understanding of this paragraph.
I did not think much about cultivating to be a great immortal before
the persecution started. However, I was very grateful toward Master for
the miraculous changes in me, which no other qigong practices could
offer.
After the persecution started, I read many books about cultivation and
thought that true cultivation came with great tribulations. I also
learned about the evil of the CCP and the magnificence of Dafa and
Master. I decided that human beings could cultivate to be real divine
beings by following Dafa.
Actually there are loopholes in my belief: my notion of true
cultivation associated with great tribulations is an acquired notion.
It complies with the principle of mutual generation and mutual
inhibition. It is also a warped notion of pursuing the persecution. I
did not understand the Fa principles that Master tried to teach us in
"Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference": "But as to our
Dafa, let me tell you that nobody is worthy of testing It. Because all
beings--and this includes every being in the cosmos--are created, made,
and shaped by It, no one is worthy of testing It."
I wanted to elevate myself in the midst of the persecution and that was
one of my main fundamental attachments from 1999-2001. In addition to
that, I also had other attachments. As a result, I was persecuted in
the forced labor camp for two years. During my detention in the camp, I
persisted in studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts, and
clarifying the truth. I slowly understood what my fundamental
attachments were and eliminated them continuously. Now I can say that
they have all disappeared.
When I escaped from the forced labor camp, I thought that I had passed
the tests of life and death many times and had no more fear or
fundamental attachments. But my thinking was wrong. The beings in the
old universe are self-centered, which is the root cause of the
fundamental attachments. For that reason, if the old forces have not
been completely eliminated, the fundamental attachments should still
remain: Some times they are big and other times small. Sometimes they
are obvious and other times obscure. They are the tests during our
cultivation and also something we need to eliminate. Master also said,
"Probably nothing is coincidental, because for you, a cultivator, in
the process of your cultivation you have fundamental tests all the way
to the very end."
Master also said in "Explaining the Fa during the 2003 Lantern
Festival", "The people of the future won't have as much mighty virtue
as today's Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, because they won't
go through a tribulation like the one today's Fa-rectification period
Dafa disciples are facing, and there are historic reasons too of
course. So the Fa's manifestation won't be as grand as today's. There
are endless Buddhas, Daos and Gods behind every word of Zhuan Falun.
Maybe in the future it won't manifest like that. That doesn't mean the
Fa won't be good anymore, just that not as much will be shown. Dafa
disciples, I won't set a ceiling for you, as you're now in the midst of
establishing mighty virtue." Official Translation)
While we are elevating during the cultivation, we need to understand
clearly that all the fundamental attachments are based on selfishness.
Once we understand that, we can recognize our own fundamental
attachments and then we can eliminate them. In order to reach
consummation, we need to study the Fa, do the three things well, and
cultivate solidly.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2007/6/16/44414.html
