PureInsight | November 26, 2001
A fellow practitioner paid a visit to me recently. She distributes truth-clarifying flyers every day. But every time she tries to read the book, she gets a terrible headache and is unable to overcome it. She is very worried. In reality, there are a good many practitioners like her. Since they had not laid a solid foundation in cultivation practice and had not made a substantial effort to study the Fa in the past, in such a severe situation as now exists, it becomes more difficult to resolve this “historical' problem.
Actually, I think the reason that many people stay in such a state for a long period of time is that they have not realized the real meaning of studying the Fa. They think it is the same as studying some of the theories of everyday people. On the surface, they seem to have comprehended the Fa. Actually, their understanding stays the same, though they study the Fa over and over again. Therefore, despite knowing that it is a must to strengthen the study of the Fa, they just have no determination in their hearts to overcome the difficulties. In fact, the power of studying the Fa is greater than anything else. Anytime I was not able to get over a tribulation, I complied with Master’s teaching: “Read the book more.”
Fa is actually everything. The manifestation of the real truth of the universe at the different levels a cultivator reaches through the Fa would suddenly enlighten that cultivator to the underlying roots of many problems. Whether one can grasp the underlying root causes from seemingly complicated external phenomena is a severe test, especially in such a difficult environment. To my understanding, it is actually the most severe test. If we are enlightened to the Fa, we will be able to understand anything, and the arrangement of the old forces will look like child's play. We will then be obtaining Dao continuously, and we are bound to win.
Many times, fellow practitioners came to me and wanted me to cooperate with them on something. However, because their request was not well timed, the cooperation was not carried out successfully. After that, I realized that such matters as who works with whom and at what time are actually carefully pre-arranged. Sometimes, you just cannot find anyone to help you. If you insist on carrying out your task, you will surely run into problems.
Actually, cooperation on work is dependent upon the cultivation state and progress of the practitioners. To think how well things should go by using human ways of thinking, such as 'he is better at this; she is better at that; he has to cooperate with me' is bound to fail in the end. Conversely, when there is no attachment, everything happens naturally, and success comes when conditions are ripe -- you will be automatically assisted, at the right time and by the right people.
I have tried, in vain, to do many things when the conditions were not ripe. As a result, I learned a lot of painful lessons, and I found that we must be understanding toward other practitioners when their state of cultivation is not good. We should be strict with ourselves; it's better to sacrifice ourselves more rather than ask others to do it -- they must act of their own will. We must tolerate other practitioners, since people have their own states of 'low tide,' which is a stage of cultivation.
If practitioners have not solved their xinxing problem, they will not be able to make any further progress until they do, and they must do it themselves. Once the problem is solved, they will surely do their work actively. We must also be considerate and tolerant, and we must do our best to help others figure out their root problems instead of telling them how they should be.
So long as the comprehension of Fa is improved, everything will be smooth and easy, and we can accomplish anything that we set our hearts on. Therefore, I think we cannot slack off at all in improving our xinxing and comprehending the principles of the Fa. No matter how hard it is, we must guide everyone to cultivate solidly.
As for doing actual work, practitioners should understand, tolerate and cooperate with each other. The safety of the elderly and weak-bodied should be considered, as should the level and realm of everyone. Let those who are not yet very capable should start doing small things first. When their innermost selves become stronger, then they can do more significant things. Previously, I used to ask others to conform to my own state and always think that if I could do it, so could they. That was itself a problem of my xinxing, a reflection of my jealousy and competitiveness. It caused damage to the work.
There are also some practitioners who care about their reputations. They are too embarrassed to say that their mind is not strong enough yet. But when something goes wrong, they are not able to maintain their xinxing. Actually, all practitioners are cultivated bit by bit. If they have any unsteadiness of mind, fear, or unstudied issues, they can ask veteran practitioners and communicate with them. As long as their comprehension of the Fa improves, any problem will disappear. The problem of xinxing is unavoidable. If practitioners have attachments, they will run into problems.
There is a very good veteran practitioner that was released from a labor camp recently. She is only the second practitioner I know of who got released without being “transformed.” But she thinks that a hunger strike is an overzealous deed. She cannot fully understand why some disciples would do it this way.
Actually, I think the view “a hunger strike is an overzealous deed” is based on preconceived human notions, because when everyday human beings conduct hunger strikes, they always carry with them an overzealous mentality. But all the things done by cultivators to safeguard the truth of the universe and be compassionate to ignorant living beings have given brand-new meaning to their seemingly human behavior.
From the perspective of human beings, people are regarded as good if they are mild-tempered, submissive, and peaceful. In ordinary human society, if people defy your will, regardless of whether they are correct, you will be unable to understand and accept them. This is considered a bad character trait in a human being. Hence, when a Dafa disciple does not cooperate with evil, villains ask why that disciple does not practice forbearance. Actually, it is human notions and selfishness that are at play here. I feel that even the notions formed during the best period of time of the old universe cannot be used to play a part in the Fa-rectification process, because Fa-rectification will create such purity as has not existed since the beginning of time.
All the things that Dafa practitioners have done are based on the most righteous aspects of human behavior. The meaning of their actions has surpassed the understanding of “goodness” that the old living beings could understand. It is a “goodness” which has never been heard of before. Therefore, it is not subject to the restrictions of human behavior and notions. It is not even subject to the notions of deities of the past. It is the goodness of a new world. So, I think the hunger strikes of Dafa disciples and their refusal to cooperate with the evil are not aggressive, but “peaceful” deeds that exceed the scope of what human beings can understand. They are a manifestation of higher realms in the human world.
I have recently gained a deeper understanding of the “fear” issue and would like to bring it forth so I can discuss it with everyone. Previously, I only knew that “fear” must be abandoned during the cultivation practice, but could not understand why such was the case. Sometimes, when I was in real danger, I did not have the feeling of being afraid. However, sometimes “fear” unconsciously emerged from my heart without any warning or cause. It seemed to have no fully direct relationship with the external environment I was in.
Sometimes, fellow practitioners felt unsure about something, but in order to abandon 'the attachment of fear,” they resolutely headed for it. As a result, not unexpectedly, they ran into problems. In the past, I simply could not understand why we experienced this kind of precognition. Going forward seemed to be the same as asking for trouble, while falling back made me feel as if I was a coward. From recent Fa study, I came to understand the principle that “fear” is not an independent factor. It is usually due to those bad things that hide in the uncultivated or unevolved parts of our body, which are, in turn, connected with the corresponding dimensions of the cosmos, since “The human body corresponds to external dimensions” (Zhuan Falun). This indicates that in the corresponding dimensional spaces of the cosmos, evils are hidden.
In the Fa-rectification process, even if we seem to be in real danger in the dimension of human existence but do not touch those bad things, we usually look calm from the outside. But when the bad things are touched, we will feel unsafe. Sometimes, we cannot discern from Fa which part of our body has not been cultivated and has thus provided living space for the evil. We then limit ourselves to taking human action to “eradicate” the so-called “fear” from the surface dimension. We are then unable to play a part in eradicating evil, but run into danger, since “in qigong practice, it’s that body which is acted upon” (Zhuan Falun). Therefore, I realize that when we have the feeling of being unsafe or even being fearful, we must examine ourselves thoroughly to figure out which factors in ourselves are nourishing evils.
When we remove the defects from ourselves with our righteous thought, the evils in the corresponding external spaces will have been eliminated accordingly. If we cannot face up to the root cause of the problem, but only “send forth righteous thought” from the surface, we would still have flaws, because the problem of ourselves would not be resolved yet. If the field of righteous thought has flaws, evil would be able to exploit it and take advantage of it, if not today, then tomorrow.
These are my views on the various issues presented here. I decided to write them down so I can share them and discuss them with everyone.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/11/11/12406.html
