On the Maturity of Cultivation

[PureInsight.org] The maturity of cultivation does not lie in the length of the cultivation, but more in the transformation of the basic point of cultivation. This transformation takes long, so some people can cultivate themselves, but others may not have this capability. My understanding of "cultivation" at a certain level can also be seen as an amendment to the basic point of cultivation. Whether the basic point can be altered at the extent of 10% or 100% corresponds to the level of cultivation and the realm of life, and completing this basic point correction is a process of "practice".

Because cultivation starts from the living environment of mankind, there is no doubt that the starting point of everyone's cultivation will naturally fall on the "human". It is related to human desires, such as "good health", "family harmony", "moral improvement", "exploring mysteries", "developing supernormal capabilities", etc. We may seek to solve all kinds of difficulties in human society. Even if a person who has a higher starting point enters cultivation because of his determination to seek the truth, he is actually wanting to free himself from the suffering of reincarnation. The ultimate foundation lies in human beings to solve various issues in human world.

It’s not surprising that the starting point of cultivation falls on “human”, which is a fundamental attachment. Cultivation in the Fa-rectification period really suits the main consciousness of predestined people, assisting cultivators to break away from the old universe and assimilate to the new universe. In addition, cultivating one’s main consciousness is the only way that living beings can be saved. In such a system, the beginning stage of cultivation is like solving a kind of hardship.

The human world is a dimension of delusion, which is a gigantic barrier for cultivation. As we are too familiar with our living environment, nearly every issue that we want to solve looks tangible. A genuine cultivator will set up an achievable goal, and compare how you study and how you cultivate. All of us are aware of this cultivation process.

The problem is that such a real feeling did play a leading role in the initial and subsequent cultivation process. However, the real feelings might turn out to be a bottleneck when cultivators need to ascend to higher levels and get rid of fundamental attachment. It seems that three things are also being done, and many efforts have been made, but we always feel that we are unable to let go of human thinking.

What exactly is the maturity of cultivation? What is the complete alteration of the basic point of cultivation? The following is a very good answer.

I was touched by sharing articles written by two fellow practitioners in China. These articles were published on Dafa website. Although the story told by the articles happened to individuals, the connotations of Dafa contained are profound. The purpose is to not let everyone imitate each other, because the realm cannot be imitated. But a genuine alteration of the starting point of cultivation has close links with the success or failure of cultivation.

The articles told about true stories of authors. Though details were different, both articles outlined how they overcame sickness karma. Most practitioners may notice the difference in the way they paid off karma.

The two veteran disciples had done their best after a long period of enduring sickness-karma. But they could not see any sign of being treated. They felt that they would lose their human bodies. They calmed down and were prepared to accept this. Both of them asked their households to sit in front of their beds, and explained the funerals while their brains were awake.

You will feel that this scenario is different from our normal communication. Generally speaking, it is a taboo for cultivators to talk about physical death. Once we’ve talked about this topic, we may acknowledge the old forces’ arrangement.  But in the Fa, we know that the Fa has different requirements at different levels. At that moment, they chose to rationally explain the funeral to their family members.

His will is: I may be leaving. It is because my cultivation is not good. Dafa is here to save people, but I’m sorry for Dafa’s compassionate salvation. I have no regrets about my choice of practicing Dafa, and I am willing to bear the result. He also said seriously to his relatives and friends, “After I left, you must not have any complaints about Dafa and Dafa cultivators, and you must not blame Dafa for my passing away.” This is what he asked his relatives to achieve. His relatives immediately expressed that they would respect his request.

Upon finishing explaining the will, the two practitioners felt greatly relaxed. But that night was unforgettable indeed. On the following a day, they had their illness healed, which was a miracle!

It must be reiterated that though this was a real cultivation experience, but it’s by no means to be used to imitate when we encounter sickness karma.

Why were they ready to accept the death of their bodies, but they unexpectedly got Dafa's help to bring them back to life? It is necessary to know how complicated everybody’s experience of obtaining the Fa from lifetime after lifetime. Due to karma or interference, Dafa cultivators who have wandered at a level for a long time, especially in the later stages of cultivation, eventually lost their human bodies. This is just a manifestation of the complexity of this kind of cultivation. Some practitioners passed sickness karma test with righteous thoughts, whilst some cultivators failed the test.

How did the above-mentioned practitioners differ from others? Briefly speaking, they came up with a big issue without negotiation when they nearly approached the physical death. They reckoned that they should not pose any negative factors to Dafa even if they pass away.

Both of the practitioners had made every effort to safeguard Dafa, even when they were about to leave the human world. They consider Dafa a top priority, which would be considered a sacred notion by divine beings of higher levels. Meanwhile, they tried to prevent their relatives responding to Dafa negatively.

They truly ascended to a divine realm in the last minute of their lives, with their starting point of cultivation completely changed. In fact, they became genuine particles in the Fa and showed their maturity in the course of cultivation. No wonder their illnesses disappeared.

In contrast, some practitioners’ households made a complaint to Dafa when they passed away. They would be unable to pay off such karma. During the later period of cultivation, even veteran practitioners kept updating Xinxing in a range of conflicts. To a great extent, their starting point of cultivation was not changed, which was quite human. For this reason, they don’t want to be wronged or to lose any personal gain when conflicts arise. Neither were they able to endure the so-called unfairness.

In the past, there was always a plan to cultivate, to see how far one was from reaching Consummation, whether the virtue was accrued enough and sorting out attachments which still had to be cleared. But now the basic point of cultivation is expected to be totally different. I can really feel the seriousness of Dafa cultivation.

My understanding is that personal consummation is not worth mentioning, from a macro point of view. In Fa-rectification period, a great number of cosmos were purged. Meanwhile, a huge number of cosmos and living beings have assimilated to Dafa and have been saved. Therefore your personal consummation looks insignificant, even if you are originally from a huge celestial body. The personal consummation, to some extent, is like a drop of cosmic dust.

But cultivation is sacred. In what ways can this be viewed? It is Falun Dafa instead of consummation that has made cultivation sacred. The Fa is extremely precious, while in the past, none of the living beings were able to approach Dafa. Whether you can succeed in Dafa cultivation has clear links with the salvation of living beings. At this historical stage, cultivators’ glory come from their validating Dafa and saving sentient beings. Likewise, once practitioners have lost their opportunity to cultivate and validate Dafa, they would feel most sorrowful. This was because they were unwilling to alter their starting point of cultivation.

That is to say, in the final stage of cultivation, whether Dafa disciples can take the Fa as the greatest and the most important determines if we can achieve genuine maturity.

Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/269490