Cultivating in the Maze

The founder of Falun Dafa, Li Hongzhi, has taught that the third eye (tianmu) will be opened for all genuine practitioners of Falun Dafa, even very early on in their cultivation practice. For many attending a 9-day Falun Dafa lecture series, for example, I understand that many will have their third eyes opened on the second day! The same will happen for self-taught practitioners as they read the second chapter of the book Zhuan Falun.

Not all of us will have the same experience of “seeing” through our newly opened third eyes, however. Our Teacher tel1s us that perhaps one in 10,000 practitioners may be at the same level as we are. Judging from the experiences that some practitioners have, for example 9 year old Shanshan (whose experiences are told on the Clearwisdom website in the series of articles entitled “What Shanshan saw in other dimensions”), I would have to say that the range of capabilities of third eye vision is quite vast.

Shanshan sees into other dimensions and provides astounding reports of the beings and he has witnessed in vivid detail. Astounding, at least to me, because you see, I’m one of the practitioners at the other end of the scale who can’t see much of anything through their third eye.

Many people are like me, I understand. We are “locked up,” unable to use the many supernormal powers that we develop as a by-product of our cultivation. We’re not allowed to use them because we’d likely abuse them in the process. Such abuse would only complicate our own cultivation practice, leading to us committing wrong deeds based on our attachments to personal interest and showing off. Such powers must not be used to alter the course of everyday human society, yet people like me would probably not be able to resist the temptation to do so.

If I could walk through walls, for instance, I might be tempted to show my friends what a great trick I’d learned. If I could levitate, I might be tempted to fly to work instead of riding my bike. If I could heal people with the wave of my hand, I might start to think I’m pretty amazing, and charge people a fortune for my services. If looks could kill, what might happen to the next person that cuts me off on the highway? These are ordinary human fantasies, perhaps, but not permissible actions for a practitioner. Practitioners must hold themselves to a higher standard. Showing off such power to everyday people would lead to changes in human society and earn the responsible person lots of karma. The use of the powers would also lead many of us to become attached to the powers, which is exactly the opposite behavior to that required of practitioners. Cultivation practice is largely a process of letting go of attachments, not gaining them. Cultivation practice is very serious.

Significant advances must be made in our xinxing (heart-mind nature) before we will ever be allowed to use such powers. We must demonstrate our ability to remain unmoved by such powers, not becoming attached to them. We must develop the wisdom not to use them in ways that would disrupt ordinary society. Only then can these powers be made accessible to us.

Nevertheless, many practitioners, even those who have made such great strides forward in their xinxing, are kept locked up from using their supernormal abilities (at least in ways that we can see). Such people are therefore held “deep in the maze” of human living. Unable to see things in other dimensions, they persist nonetheless with their cultivation practice, having received little if any reason to believe that the things Shanshan speaks about are true. Knowing less of the truth of the universe from personal experience than others, each test that they pass in their cultivation practice earns them a greater portion of gong (cultivation energy) than someone who knows more of the truth of the universe. The more you know, the harder the test must be. Accordingly, those who are kept “deep in the maze” can make rapid progress to very high levels in cultivation.

Whatever the reason, I am one of those who is locked “deep in the maze” and is unable to see things with my third eye. Oh, I catch a glimmer of something every now and again. I have “feelings” about different things, too. I felt my third eye being opened, for instance, as our Teacher said I might. I felt the Falun spinning in my abdomen for the first couple of months after I learned the exercises. I get impressions of energy moving around and even get physically pushed around by the energy flow when I practice the exercises. Just enough for me to know that, gee whiz, something really is going on! Too bad I can’t see it, but just enough happens that I keep practicing anyway.

I keep reading the book. As I do so, I keep remarking to myself, “Wow, I never understood that sentence that way before!” enlightening to little bits of truth as my xinxing slowly but steadily rises. I often seem to forget it all just as soon as I’ve realized it, but Teacher tells us to expect that too. I understand that the part of me that has enlightened is quickly separated from the part of me that hasn’t, protecting the enlightened part from the silly things the unenlightened part of me might still be foolish enough to take part in. Try as I might, you see, I still make mistakes along the way. This too, our Teacher tells us to expect. While we mustn’t become complacent and slack off, the very process of making mistakes and realizing how to do better next time is in itself the essence of the process of cultivation. If we didn’t have room for improvement, we would already have reached our goal! Diligence is the key to success!

Falun Dafa is the most powerful cultivation practice available to the general public today. Teacher tells us that the moment we first obtain Falun (which can happen on the first day we are introduced to the practice) equates to reaching about half way down the path to Consummation. This compared to other schools of practice, where even in a whole lifetime one could not get this far! The mighty Falun turns forever, cultivating us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of what we’re up to, as long as we hold the desire to be practitioners. Unlike other schools of practice, Falun Dafa cultivation proceeds at a very rapid rate.

I remain deep in the maze. Yet my xinxing keeps rising. Bad habits have fallen by the wayside. No more drinking. No more smoking. No more drugs. Those desires have simply gone away. My heart is much calmer. I float on top of conflicts, now, rather than allowing myself to be drawn down into them as before. I do my best to treat everyone I meet kindly and compassionately. I never lie. I don’t even swear anymore!

I don’t care if I have the latest electronic toys and gadgets. I don’t feel the need to be hip or stylish, anymore. The old car gets me where I need to go. I don’t care if I eat in the best restaurants or stay in the finest hotels. I’m just happy wherever I go and whatever I do. I enjoy a tremendous sense of inner peace.

Yes…I’m deep in the maze. I’m not sure exactly where I’m headed, but I know I’m going back home. I don’t know if or when I’ll get there, but I know I’m on the right path. And for once in my life, I’m quite happy simply with that.

Zhen-Shan-Ren
Truth-Compassion-Tolerance
Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance

It doesn’t matter how you say it. Dafa is the great law of the universe. Through it we can all find our way out of the maze and return to our true homes.

This is my own very limited understanding. I encourage you to find out more yourself in the best book I’ve ever read in my life, Zhuan Falun, by Teacher Li Hongzhi.