PureInsight | August 31, 2007
[PureInsight.org] During the
Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644 A.D.), there was a man who wanted to fly
like a bird. He climbed up a big mountain and found a master to teach
him how to fly. The master taught him a method and said, as long as he
followed what he had been taught and put his mind into it, he would be
able to fly soon. The man quickly grasped the method. However, during
the practice time, he spent most of his time observing birds flying and
acclaiming his fellow practitioners' achievements and remarkableness.
He often indulged himself in imaging how well he could fly like them.
Time flew by and the man still could not fly. He enjoyed teaching
newcomers what he had been taught by the master. When the newcomers
could all fly, he was still indulging his imagination as always. Seeing
them flying between the tips of the mountains at will, picking all
kinds of fresh fruits, tasting them in the air, and scattering fruits
and flowers from the sky, the man was very envious. He also wondered
why he couldn't fly.
In fact, the upper level of the flying method is run by a golden bird
in the Buddha's paradise. As long as the student can practice with
undivided attention, the golden bird will unlock the shackles on the
student and help him fly. However, the golden bird saw that man
spending time on things other than practicing the essence of the flying
method; therefore the bird did not unlock his shackles. The man felt so
ashamed when he saw all his disciples were able to fly but not him, so
he went down the mountain, bought a quiet piece of land and settled
down.
One day, the man saw others hulling rice. He became interested and
wanted to give it a try, too. He lifted the heavy pestle and worked
hard. He was sweating all over his body in no time. Although he
suffered a backache from this effort, he felt indescribable joy from
the depths of his heart he could hardly hold. Later on, he started
working in the fields and did everything himself from cultivating,
seeding, weeding, watering, harvesting and hulling. Every step was
hard, but he felt incomparable joy from doing it and became
high-spirited. A few years later, one day, while working in the field,
the man suddenly found himself elevating. He could walk on the tops of
the crops quickly and fly in the air freely. He felt wonderful. At the
very moment, he suddenly understood the reason why he couldn't fly
before.
Before long, he opened a school to teach the essence of flying. His
requirement for his students was very simple: working with him in the
field every day. When the Emperor heard about it, the Emperor called
him to the palace, awarded him 100 Liangs (unit of measuring gold and
silver) of gold and ordered him to teach the Emperor how to fly. The
man refused politely. He felt even a grain-sized piece of gold is
blaspheme against the essence of flying, because one can only obtain
things outside of this world by letting it go. The man told the Emperor
that he had been offering his teachings free of charge, but the Emperor
had to work with him in his cultivation field. The Emperor complied and
worked with the man in the field. After a period of time, the Emperor
said anxiously, "I am the King of the country. I cannot stay in the
field all the time. I have to take care of the country's business." He
hoped the man could teach him how to fly quickly. The man thought for a
moment and looked at the Emperor. He thrust some energy into the
Emperor's body and the Emperor elevated instantly. But as soon as the
man walked away, the Emperor became incapable of flying immediately.
The Emperor had to give up the idea of flying and sighed to himself,
"My fate is running the country. I'm afraid flying is not what the
heaven wants me to do." And he left.
The man was me in another lifetime. Comparing me in the story with me
in today's cultivation practice, I find great similarities. From the
beginning even till today, I have been especially "paying attention to"
others. My eyes and mind were focusing on others' cultivation practice,
I was blindly indulging in the imagination of my being a future Buddha,
Tao or God, forgetting about the true meaning of cultivation practice.
At the initial moment when we decided to follow the lord Buddha to
descend, our benevolent Master imprinted into our minds a substance
like a seed, finer than our life of origin, that will inspire our
wisdom and enlightenment. During our reincarnations in the world, this
substance has been connecting all Dafa disciples' thoughts together
sophistically in a level so micro that it cannot be touched by the old
forces' arrangements. As soon as I think of this, I have a new
understanding of the following teaching in Zhuan Falun,
"The cultivation practice in our Falun Dafa avoids using this method of
one energy channel bringing hundreds of energy channels into motion.
From the very beginning, we require that hundreds of energy channels be
opened up and make simultaneous rotations. All at once, we practice at
a very high level and avoid the low-level things." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Eight)
During the course of cultivation practice, Dafa disciples' righteous
faith to Dafa can walk around the ultimate fetter by the dial. The dial
can only lock human's hearts but not a righteous god.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2007/8/22/47904.html
