PureInsight | August 26, 2002
On July 4, 2002, as a team representing local American Chinese, Falun Gong practitioners in Washington DC were successfully accepted to participate in the celebration parade on American Independence Day. It was a rare chance to present Dafa to common people. The organizers of the parade estimated there would be about four hundred thousand people watching the parade. The major three TV stations in America were also expected to do live telecasting like they did in the years before.
DC Dafa disciples spent two weeks undergoing intensive training in dragon dancing and fairy dancing, in hopes of doing their best at the celebration parade on Independence Day. However, I personally don't think we fully accomplished what we set out to do. It was unusually hot that day and the audience was not the four hundred thousand estimated. In addition, it was almost at the same time when the parade began that a shooting case happened at the Los Angels Airport. Soon after that, all the major network TV stopped broadcasting all other programs right away and focused on reporting the L.A. incident for the following several hours. There was also a little chaos happening among our parade formation in a couple of sections along the road. Some practitioners were feeling bad about certain parts of the performance, and others were somehow upset for no reason.
On the following days, we began summarizing the activity on different occasions. Quite a few practitioners believed it had not gone as well as expected due to some practitioners' improper behaviors in the parade and the omission of our group as a whole. Some discussions became fierce. Some people were confused by others' sharp opinions.
I remembered before the parade that some practitioners were late for the rehearsal, while others were absent-minded or criticizing each other. At that point I became worried that it would affect the whole activity and further damage Dafa's image. Then it really happened. One day after the parade at group study, I was suddenly aware that it was those thoughts of mine that actually helped to bring the negative result. Looking at all the interference happening during the celebration parade, I realized that the interference was not caused by the remaining attachments that fellow practitioners had not removed during cultivation, but the thoughts that were aroused when seeing others' insufficiency, along with the principles of the old cosmos and old forces.
I did not verbally express my thoughts out loud, yet a cultivator's thinking determines how things manifest in our physical world, and what we cultivate is that piece of thinking. Because of a benevolent thought for us, Master came to save us. Master mentioned in the Fa a story of a person who had cultivated to Arhat status, but then dropped down twice with a momentary slip because of his thoughts. The thoughts of our Fa-rectification disciples are powerful and can create miracles. Equally, a not-righteous thought may bring damage to Dafa.
When we considered from another perspective that the interference at the parade was caused by our fellow practitioners' attachments and not doing our best at the parade, it becomes the same as us recognizing and accepting these attachments as still remaining in us. Because of that, our significant and magnificent Fa-rectification activity could be interfered with.
Master said, "Dafa disciples are magnificent, because what you are cultivating is the ultimate Great Fa of the cosmos, because you have validated Dafa with righteous thoughts, and because you have not fallen during the massive tribulation. Dafa disciples' doing Fa-rectification has no precedent in history (From "The Disciples Magnificence" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)." We participate in Fa-rectification and catch up firmly in the process of Fa-rectification. Our personal attachments are just like a wood chip dropping into a blast furnace of molten steel and instantly being lost from sight. Fa-rectification cultivation transcends the Fa principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition. We do not have to sustain the tribulation evolved by our corresponding karma. Steadfastly cultivate Dafa, and we are able to solve everything with benevolence.
With such a righteous faith, we can be confident in our fellow practitioners and our Fa-rectification cultivation. We can be good to our fellow practitioners and common people with our mercy and tolerant heart. When coming across problems, we will not fall into the kind of "searching inward" that stays at a low-level and is more of a formality than anything else. When the "searching inward" that we do is deviated from the essential Fa-principles of Fa-rectification cultivation, it is easy for the old forces to take advantage of gaps and it is easy for us to be unconsciously involved in the concept of traditional personal cultivation. Therefore, we then fall into an endless tribulation, and are not able to finish Hongfa and clarifying the truth well. If we proceed in this way, interference will always come out.
We always say we should "completely oppose all the arrangements of the old forces," but for most of the time we just emphasize opposing the specific tribulation brought by the old forces. How could we oppose it "completely?"
Master has talked about his relationship with the old forces. One day, I suddenly asked myself, "Then, how am I related to the old forces?"
Who are the old forces? They are the Gods of the cosmos. They do things according to the Fa principles of the old cosmos. Those beings like us are part of the old cosmos. No matter how high of a level we came from, we are part of the old cosmos. Just Master alone came from outside the colossal firmament.
I became suddenly enlightened that actually from this perspective I am part of the old forces. We unconsciously measure our fellow practitioners and the things happening during Fa-rectification with the principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition. To oppose the arrangement of the old forces thoroughly, we should first of all thoroughly oppose all the principles held in our mind that do not comply with the requirement of Fa-rectification. If we especially oppose the arrangement of the old forces outside of ourselves, we are also going astray of searching outside ourselves. Moreover, for most of the time, the thought we send out of our mind according to the old principles has actually fallen into the old forces' arrangement.
The warping of the cosmos can be reflected in realms of our beings at each of the various layers. The old forces have arranged our cultivation, so that our thinking is hard to be extricated from the old Fa principles which have been standardized for millions of years. When coming across problems, we respond unconsciously according to the old principles. Today, while being arranged by the principles of the old cosmos, we are also being rectified by the most original and righteous Fa-principles in the cosmos. The process is most magnificent and the greatest privilege, involved with the beings layer upon layer in the universe. On this scale, I came to understand the Fa-principles of the importance of studying the Fa a lot.
One day, while summarizing a project that we had completed, a fellow practitioner said bluntly, "Your job was confusing and in a complete mess." Another time, while I was in charge of coordinating some other Dafa work, a practitioner also pointed the finger at me. I felt very bad at that time, and then was wondering how we could be so harsh with our fellow practitioners while we are able to be so merciful in clarifying the truth to ordinary people. I began asking myself, "Can we achieve consummation by cultivating like this? Can fellow practitioners like those consummate to be Great Enlightened Beings?" I felt tired and disappointed especially when hearing some practitioners' extreme censure and emotional words. I always felt worn out and exhausted. It seemed like my strength was never enough. Why? I was still confused.
The answer for all the questions can be found in "Fa-rectification cultivation". Why did I feel exhausted? It was because I didn't possess righteous faith in Fa-rectification cultivation. When I got back to the word "Fa-rectification," I realized the massive compassion and endless mercy coming from the righteous faith in Fa-rectification cultivation. "Falun rotates continually, saving all beings."(From "Saving Again" in Hong Yin). Master has planted into our body over ten thousand mechanisms that can automatically direct us to ascend. "Cultivation is one's own business, while the evolution of cultivation energy is done by one's master" (from Zhuan Falun). Master said, "The principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition will change in the future."(From "For Whom do You Practice Cultivation" in Essentials for Further Advancement.) I understood if "the principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition" goes to the other extreme, it would bring Dafa irretrievable losses, and would never make beings return back to their original places. "Dafa is all-encompassing" (from "Dafa is all-encompassing in Essentials for Further Advancement II). "Falun can save oneself by turning inwards and save others by turning outwards," (from Zhuan Falun), "rotates constantly and incessantly" (from Zhuan Falun) and contains endless Law potency. Every one of us should establish righteous faith in Dafa from the bottom of our hearts, so that we are able to harbor immense mercy and faith toward our practitioners and all human beings. With such a righteous faith, our practitioners' shortness and attachments, and the human beings' indifference and warping would be melted and saluted with benevolence. Furthermore, the change of every person or thing that you come across directly relates to the rectification of cosmic bodies corresponding to us, and to the elimination of the degenerate.
I heard a cultivation story before. A master asked his students, "Do you want to go to the moon?" His students said yes. Then the master said, "Climb up the high mountain behind and you can be closer and closer to the moon. All of his students became very confused and doubtful. Only one of them firmly believed it and persisted in climbing up.
I like this story. With our footsteps, every step we make toward the mountain, theoretically speaking, we go one step closer to the moon. People with a little cleverness therefore figured it out that the way was workable. But those with a lot of cleverness knew that even though they climbed up to the top of the mountain, they would never be able to reach the moon. At the end of the story, the master found the firm faith of the student and "took" him to the moon. Here all the cleverness and logical calculating have lost their effectiveness. The only thing that remained is righteous faith. With righteous faith, there are righteous thoughts.
Even up to the very we are still tested in our steadiness in the Fa. Today, it is through the righteous enlightenment of the unprecedented cultivation style on Fa-rectificaiton, that we will fundamentally oppose the old forces' arrangement on us. It is only like this that we can come through the massive tribulation thoroughly.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/7/24/16847.html
