PureInsight | August 18, 2008
[PureInsight.org] I read an
article on Minghui.net today. The article says, "Get rid of our
selfishness, completely and without omission, and then we will not be
afraid of death." My understanding is that this notion about life and
death belongs to ordinary people, and it is a test to determine whether
one will become just a good person or become a hero.
All cultivators have to pass the test of "life and death." Master said,
"If you can let go of life and death, you're a God; if you can't let go
of life and death, you're a human - this is the difference" (Lectures in the United States, "Teaching the Fa in New York City").
No one can avoid this test. Some practitioners think that this test is
only for practitioners in Mainland China. That is not true. My
understanding is that as long as you are a cultivator, you will have to
pass this test no matter where you are. This test, however, may come in
different forms.
In reality, through Fa study, we are all quite clear that life and
death is a notion of ordinary people. Birth, old age, illness, and
death are ordinary people's affairs, which are determined by
predestined relationships. Actually, the soul will never die even for
an ordinary person. For that reason, the so-called death in ordinary
people's minds is nothing but the soul leaving this dimension and the
human body. The soul has not died. Only after one has done too many bad
deeds, will it result in the extinction of body and soul. That, then,
is considered to be true death.
We cultivators will not be ill or aged if we truly follow Master's Fa
principles. Death does not exist for us. After we cultivate our xinxing,
we should return to our True Selves, no longer have a human flesh body
and never reincarnate again. Death, in the eyes of ordinary people, in
our view is actually a rebirth.
To make things perfectly clear, once we understand the Fa principles,
we will know that life and death do not exist for cultivators. We still
have a physical body, for only with a physical body can we help Master
in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. Without life and death,
what is there to fear? It is quite clear that those who fear death have
not studied the Fa well, or have studied the Fa but taken it as a
theory, indicating they do not have faith from the bottom of their
hearts.
This is a matter of believing in Master and the Fa instead of a matter
of theories. In fact, we encounter the test of life and death almost
every day. Some people have been afraid of driving a car for years.
What are they afraid of? The other day, a friend of mine just passed
her driver's test, and afterward, she drove right onto the highway. I
asked her, "Aren't you afraid of having a car accident?"
"Afraid?," she said, "We cannot escape bad luck and everything is
predestined." Even an ordinary person can think this way, let alone us
cultivators. Regarding the incident in Flushing, let's examine what was
in our hearts. Was there fear in our hearts and what were we afraid of?
For various reasons, one practitioner left the group in the middle of
the incident. He felt terrible afterwards and regretted it very much.
What kind of human notion was it that made him leave?
A while back, an elderly practitioner was going through a test of
sickness karma, and we did some sharing over the telephone. She said,
"This is the same old illness, and I have to take medicine and
injections, otherwise I cannot make it. I'll pass out and have to stay
in the hospital with an IV, and then I'll be fine again. What do you
think about that?" She asked me sincerely, but I kept silent. I almost
said, "Let go of life and death, put yourself in Master's hands, and
follow Master's wish." Yes, that's my message, but I could not make a
decision for her. It's up to her to enlighten to it and then make that
decision herself. Cultivation is a personal affair.
Nobody can do it for you. The points other practitioners enlighten to
belong to them but not to you. For that reason, we can share and
exchange our viewpoints. Enlightenment is truly for us to obtain
individually, otherwise, gods would not even honor us, and the
principles of the universe will restrain us from ascending to heaven.
Cultivators have no fear of life and death. Then what else should they be afraid of?
Translation from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2008/7/6/53688.html
