PureInsight | August 29, 2012
[PureInsight.org] A couple of days ago when reading “Upgrading Xinxing” in Lecture Four of Zhuan Falun, Master Li said, “One volunteer director at a city’s Dafa instruction center went to a factory to see how Falun Dafa practitioners were doing with their practice. The factory manager came out to meet him in person: ‘Since studying Falun Dafa, these workers have been coming to work early and going home late. They work very diligently and will do any assignment the boss gives. They also no longer compete for personal gain. By doing so, they’ve made the whole factory take on a new look, and the factory’s economic returns have also improved. Your practice is so powerful. When is your teacher coming? I’d also like to attend His lectures.’”
It somehow reminds me of the early times, when I had just become a Falun Dafa practitioner. Although I had a very limited understanding of the Fa, I tried very hard to portray a good image in public as a cultivator, at least in my heart I told myself to do the best I can. But in recent years, I am not as diligent as before and even find all kinds of excuses to hide my ordinary human attachments. I could only imagine if someone did an evaluation on my cultivation by interviewing my family members, colleagues, neighbors, and friends of mine; how would the evaluation turn out? What would they say about me? And what would they think of Dafa through me? Would there be more positive comments than negative ones? Or would it be the other way around? It scares me when I think about it. We cultivate in ordinary human society, therefore what we say and do impacts the people around us on how they see Dafa and are able to be saved through us in our everyday behavior. No one, including me as a cultivator, should treat this lightly.
There are times when my wife has told me that when I wash the dishes, I only clean the inside but not the outside. I didn’t think it related to my cultivation until she complained about it consistently. My cultivation loophole manifested in the way that I did the dishes. In my mind, I try to do everything right according to the Fa’s requirements, but when it comes to actions that associate with everyday people, oftentimes I find myself doing or saying things without much consideration. And I thought being inconsiderate was just part of being normal in everyday life, or just being too busy to pay attention to all the details. But deep down inside me, I know that a true cultivator would not behave this way. I began to wonder: “How am I able to be compassionate toward others even in difficult situations? How can I divinely achieve that, and have that kind of righteous thought based on the Fa’s requirements?” To translate that to an ordinary level is to have a peaceful and understanding mindset, and being positive.
Oftentimes I feel so blessed to be able to cultivate, but when I think about the people I have been in contact with, day to day over the 10 years of my cultivation, how many of those people have seen the greatness of the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance manifest in me? I do have a good understanding of the Fa and when doing Dafa projects, I also sense the great urgency for saving people. Moreover, I still question myself why I don’t do well on many different levels in my everyday life for cultivation? If a person does not do well in life, it might be because of his/her accumulated karma and human notions, but he/she could be the representative of a large group of beings from a universe waiting to be saved. Dafa has been spreading for 20 years now and the persecution has been going on for 13 years. If we don’t take our great mission seriously, what other chances do we still have?
I gained some understanding after attending a recent local Falun Dafa celebration activity. Since it was a local activity, most attendees were local practitioners and I have known most of them for years. Strangely, when I see practitioners from my local area, I often think of their attachments or the poor impression of them from the past that I have remaining in my mind. I know all these thoughts are unrighteous and relate to Thought Karma, and although I tried to eliminate it, I still could not clear it away completely. Then one day, I was watching a quite magnificent performance of the Celestial Marching Band. Instead of seeing the attachments of the local practitioners that were in the band, and the negative impressions I had toward them, I saw that the practitioners in the band have changed so much; everyone has become a Dafa particle, validating Dafa like shining gold. Then I realized that although we originally came from different places and have our differences, we are here to attain the Fa and more importantly assist Master with Fa Rectification. Along the way, through cultivation, we are to elevate to a divine level by getting rid of all human attachments, and by doing our best to save sentient beings in all ways. If we care too much for other’s flaws or imperfections and if we don’t look within unconditionally, it can cause interference among practitioners.
Through Fa study I came to an understanding that the old forces never think Dafa disciples are good enough, so they create interference and troubles at different levels for Fa rectification. As Dafa disciples, we should not only see our fellow practitioners with the most positive attitude, but also cherish what we have come so far for in this time. We should support each other as much as we can with righteous thoughts; together we do our best to assist Master and His Fa Rectification. We are the only hope for sentient beings and it is the Fa’s requirement for us to fulfill our missions. Every time when I watch Shen Yun’s dancers perform on stage with the most pure smiles, saving beings through the great powerful energy, it touches my heart deeply. We are the new lives that are created by Dafa, therefore we are able to most righteously support each other as practitioners and compassionately offer salvation to sentient beings.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/110710
