PureInsight | August 24, 2025
[PureInsight.org] In Journey to the West, the story of Tang Monk and his disciples enduring 81 trials to obtain the scriptures from the West illustrates the path of spiritual cultivation—how one attains true enlightenment through enduring tribulations. But today, how many people truly understand what the word “cultivation” means in their hearts? And how many people feel a deep stirring when they hear these two characters?
Recently, I read an article online, a short yet deeply genuine piece in which the author shares her personal experience. Despite its brevity, the story left a strong impression on me. It begins with the author being unexpectedly imprisoned due to a criminal case. This sudden and dramatic turning point in her life caused her tremendous pain and forced her to reexamine both her life and the society she lived in. She suffered because this incident cut off the bright and promising life she once had. She felt fear because she didn’t know where her path would go from there. At that crossroad, she could no longer accept the materialistic, profit-driven world around her as “normal.” She no longer wanted to go with the flow.
That part resonated with me deeply. Everyone desires a good life. When things go well, we feel hopeful and motivated; when they don’t, we become discouraged and just try to get through each day, finding something to hold on to. We go to school, strive for top universities, work hard to land good jobs—all in pursuit of a better life. There’s endless competition, comparison, and chasing after things, a life full of rushing around and exhaustion, trapped in a cycle. Everyone’s chasing, and I am among them too. It never felt wrong. But whenever I calmed down, there was always a faint question in my heart: What is the meaning of life? Where am I headed?
I remember a passage in Journey to the West about “Tang Monk sweeping the pagoda.” The section is titled “Sweep the Tower to Cleanse the Heart; Subdue the Demon to Cultivate Oneself.” Before leaving Chang’an, Tang Monk had made a vow at Famen Temple: Whenever he came upon a temple or shrine, he would light incense and worship; when he saw a pagoda, he would sweep it. When they reached the Kingdom of Sacrifice, they encountered a pagoda that had been defiled by demons. It had lost the sacred relic it once housed, and thus the originally radiant pagoda—“shrouded in auspicious clouds, with divine mist rising; glowing at night and visible from miles away”—had lost its brilliance.
Tang Monk and Sun Wukong began sweeping the tower. It had become filthy: “The glazed lamps on each level were covered in dust, no longer lit; the white jade railings were coated in grime and flying insects. Inside the pagoda, the incense before the Buddha had long burned out; the windows and statues were veiled in spiderwebs. Mouse droppings filled the incense burners, and the oil cups were nearly dry.” Seeing this, Tang Monk resolved to restore the tower’s former glory. The tower had thirteen levels. By the seventh level, he “began to feel weary”; by the tenth, he was “aching all over and unable to continue,” so he asked Wukong to finish the last three levels. The Monkey King, full of vigor, swept up to the twelfth level and overheard two demons speaking. He climbed to the final floor and captured them—finally locating the true source of the pagoda’s defilement and eliminating it.
Why do I mention this? I believe each of us has a radiant golden pagoda in our hearts. But it has been hidden and tainted by demons, transforming that sacred tower into just another normal building. And so, we lose ourselves. Tang Monk swept the pagoda because he had the heart and the vow to do so—because he walked a path of cultivation. That’s why he encountered the pagoda, saw its lost brilliance, and was moved to cleanse it, ultimately making the “pagoda reflect light and illuminate the earth once more.” In reality, when dust from daily life accumulates without timely self-reflection and correction, the “pagoda within” becomes polluted. Yet conversely, by clearing away the “dust” little by little—wherever our eyes and thoughts reach—we can make the pagoda within our hearts shine once again.
Returning to the article: the author, feeling hopeless in prison, unexpectedly embarked on her path of cultivation there. She had the desire to transcend, but didn’t know how to begin. Yet once a person has that intention, the divine—compassionate toward human beings—will make arrangements. In prison, she met many Falun Dafa practitioners who cultivated “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.” From them, she heard the words: “Falun Gong is cultivation.” These simple words struck her like lightning. The very next day, she asked the practitioners to teach her. She listened to a line and memorized a line of Master Li’s lecture’s. Like a thirsty person finding fresh spring water, the more she learned, the brighter and happier her heart became. Life in the detention center was extremely harsh, with no comfort or hope as most people seek it. Yet in that very place, she experienced her greatest joy and happiness.
This is a real-life story, one that is worth every person pausing to reflect upon. Could it be the opportunity that we are all waiting for to begin cultivation? Falun Dafa is a high-level practice from the Buddha School. Dafa disciples do not cultivate hidden away in temples or remote mountains, but in the everyday world—refining themselves amid society and spreading the Fa, clarifying the truth. This article helped me once again understand why Dafa disciples are called “messengers of the divine,” and why they endure all hardships to do what they do. Life, upon encountering Dafa, is reborn. That joy and lightness come from the depths of one’s heart. What appears accidental is, in fact, the long-awaited fulfillment of a sacred wish.
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/297637
