(Clearwisdom.net) Master began teaching Dafa in 1992. I have practiced cultivation for twelve years. Looking back at the path I walked, I realize I would not have gotten this far without Master's compassionate salvation. But my cultivation is still far from living up to Master's requirements. I have not done the three things well enough, and I feel ashamed. However, in order to continue to help people know about Master's Dafa and fulfill the sacred mission of a Dafa practitioner, I looked within to find my shortcomings. I wrote this experience-sharing article to urge myself to catch up with Master's Fa-rectification progress and become a true Dafa practitioner.
1. Finding the Gap, Fully Using Every Moment to Cultivate
Our cultivation process is a process of melting into the Fa. Master asked us,
"The reason I ask you to study the Fa more, eliminate more of your attachments, and let go of various human notions, is to allow you to not just take a portion away with you, but to reach Consummation." ("Melt Into the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
I felt that I have let go of the attachments to fame, money and qing and followed the Fa's requirements. I have given up opportunities to become famous. I have followed the natural course of everything. I have made monetary contributions to Dafa and have helped others. I have let go of emotions. I have also given up my vices. I thought that Master said He pushed us to our highest positions when the persecution began. I felt that maybe our personal cultivation is almost done, and that Master would take care of the remaining part in the end. Now all we need to do is just clarify the truth and save sentient beings. Hence, I relaxed the requirements for myself.
I examined myself carefully in terms of the desire for recognition. Once in my dream a promotion opportunity appeared. I suddenly thought: "Is it for me?" In real life, I often show off in front of fellow practitioners and friends and family. So I have not really eliminated the attachment to recognition and fame.
In another dream, a friend made thousands of Yuan. For some reason he put 60,000 Yuan in my pocket, playing into my attachment to money. I thought: "I have nothing to do with this." But I did not return the money right away and kept it in my pocket. In real life, when I was planning to buy a burial site for my deceased parent, my son said, "I have a good friend who is responsible for this. He just provided a fund of thousands of Yuan to the management department. I bet he could get us a discount." I did not refuse. Now that I recall, I was actually happy to hear that. After my son talked to his friend, he came home and said they ended up charging us one thousand and eight hundred Yuan less. Hearing the word "less" alerted me and I immediately said, "We cannot pay them less." We then paid them in full.
Friends and family members constantly enter my dreams to interfere with me. In real life, when it was my birthday, my cousin and his wife came to celebrate with me early in the morning. They called my son before they came, saying, "Today is your mother's birthday. We are coming over." They arrived around 8 a.m. and brought pricey gifts. We practitioners usually do not pay too much attention to this kind of occasion. Ever since my mother passed away, not too many people mentioned anything about my birthday. I never thought about it either. My cousin and his wife were very passionate about it. But my husband, my son and daughter-in-law did not seem too interested. I did not care too much either. We cooked a nice meal for the guests and ate together. My family did not mention anything about my birthday. My cousin was surprised by it. I noticed what he was thinking and said, "My son usually takes care of bigger things for me. This kind of small thing he does not pay too much attention to." It did not bother me that much that day at all. My emotions were under control. Five days later, while I was cooking in the kitchen, my son came in and said, "Today is her (his wife's) birthday. Can we make some noodles?" My husband said, "Do we want to buy a birthday cake, too?" Suddenly I had a feeling of loss. Although I had prepared for this I still felt bothered, "It turned out that there is a huge difference between your mother and your wife." I thought of what happened on my birthday and felt it to be so difficult to be a human being. I knew that was a test for me to improve my xinxing, but I was unable to pass this test of my qing.
After I experienced the above event, I truly realized that I still carry many human notions within my cultivation. The selfish nature still exists. Master said earlier,
"Whether you can let go of ordinary human attachments is a fatal test on your way to becoming a truly extraordinary being. Every disciple who truly cultivates must pass it, for it is the dividing line between a cultivator and an everyday person." ("True Cultivation" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
At the bottom of my heart I still have the hidden desire for titles and money and cling to emotion. I have failed the tests. That one thought during that one moment was obviously not on the Fa.
Practitioners should completely let go of any attachment to things in the human world. We should
"attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-Omission in Buddha- Nature" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Based on this, it looks like I need to dig deeply at the root of my attachments to recognition, money and sentiment and the deeply rooted ego. While I am doing the three things I need to cultivate myself well, remember what Master taught us, study the Fa more diligently, eliminate the things from the old cosmos, keep in mind "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and melt myself into the Fa.
2. Eliminating Human Notions and Letting the Mighty Power Come Forth
Master said in "Teaching the Fa on Easter, 2004, at the New York Fa Conference,"
"On this special, glorious day, may Dafa disciples' divine sides also be resurrected!"
Master put our divine powers into effect around May 27, 2001, when Master asked Dafa practitioners the world over to send forth righteous thought for the first time. When it is the daily time to send forth righteous thoughts I always feel this great and sacred responsibility. Looking back over the past six years, whether it was when clarifying the truth or facing dangerous situations when distributing materials, even when the evildoers followed me, I always escaped danger. When during critical times I forgot to send forth righteous thoughts or my attachment to fear emerged, the evildoers would persecute me. When the evil heard or saw the miracles happening to fellow practitioners they were so afraid! Just the thought "I am a divine being" is enough for the police to be too fearful to arrest Dafa practitioners. Just the thought "I am a divine being" can make practitioners walk out of the evildoers' den with dignity. Distributing materials with righteous thoughts would go so smoothly, and the evildoers following would freeze in their tracks. There are so many stories and so many miracles.
I always admire those practitioners who upgrade their xinxing and cultivate diligently. I feel I am so far behind. I do not feel I have the mighty power when facing the same situation. I try to cover up my attachment to fear and restrain myself within a limited boundary. Even if I notice some evidence of supernatural power I still could not believe it was because of me. For example, there was a Communist flag at a company next to my house, so I sent forth righteous thoughts every day. Twenty days later it was gone. I doubted myself, thinking maybe it was a coincidence. When distributing materials I found it bothersome for a security guard to be around, so I sent forth righteous thoughts to make him leave. He went away. I immediately said in my heart, "Thank you Master. I was not able to do it myself. It was Master's power." For a long time I was in that state. I could not understand clearly human and gods' thoughts from the Fa's standpoint.
Master asks us to step out of human notions and asks us to let our divine power come forth. It is not just limited to distributing some materials or driving off security guards. It is to let our cultivated side and divine powers come forth. It is to continue to cultivate the sides that have not been cultivated well; we do this by studying the Fa more diligently. While doing the three things, we need to eliminate our acquired human notions. When the acquired substances are eliminated, we meet the standard of Dafa. Master helps move our cultivated part to the gods' side. Naturally it would be gods who are doing these things.
The difference between the thought of humans and gods is like the difference between heaven and earth. Humans cannot acquire the thought processes of gods overnight. Whether or not a momentary thought is human or divine is determined by whether we always think from the Fa's perspective.
Just as Master taught us, "What is a God? Human thoughts are nowhere found." ("The Difference Between Mortal and Divine" from Hong Yin) Using righteous thoughts to guide us to clarify the truth and rescue sentient beings would bring effective results.
As I study the Fa more and upgrade my xinxing, some things that I thought were impossible before all became possible and smooth. I had an old friend who was a descendant of a Chinese war hero. She became a member of the evil Party very early, became a Party director and married a husband who was an atheist and from a CCP family. Atheism was deeply rooted in her mind. She closely followed what the evil party commanded. A fellow practitioner and I decided to go rescue her. We believe in Dafa's power and we have strong righteous thoughts. After we got there, while one of us was talking to her the other one was sending forth righteous thoughts.
Her husband was there too that day. We treated her compassionately. We started by talking about things in daily life, from the disasters modern science brings to the human world, to the corruptness of the evil CCP, to the persecution, and to the existence of gods and Buddhas. At last we told her that the heavens will eventually intercede in corrupt society. Gods will eliminate the corrupt CCP. Kindhearted people should separate themselves from the evil party. At first she did not heed the advice. Her husband declared that he only believed in science. But gradually they stopped making more comments. At last, they both happily agreed to quit the CCP. Just as Master said, "I just don't believe their consciences are irretrievably lost." ("For the Good of the World")
Master said,
"People with predestined relationships and those who can be saved can be made to--made to by Master's Law Bodies, righteous gods, or the immense field that Dafa has formed in the world--appear right before you in any of a range of settings, providing them with a chance to learn the truth. But you have to carry it out, and it doesn't work if you're not out there doing things." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")
I once took a bus to deliver materials for fellow practitioners. There was an empty seat next to me. A girl came over but did not sit down and went to the back. I felt regret. More people entered the bus. Another girl came over and sat next to me and smiled at me. I complimented her friendliness and kindness in contrast to the general mode of our society. Then I talked about the CCP. Her point of view regarding all these issues was basically correct. I firmly believed that it was Master or the righteous gods who brought the predestined people to me, so I must rescue them. When I talked about Falun Gong she had no idea. She said her job was in the business world. She said she only focused on being a good person and making some money, and she did not care about anything else. So, I took the time to explain what Falun Gong is, and about quitting the CCP. She listened carefully. We talked for close to an hour. At last she said, "I can accept all of what you said. When I get home I will get on the Internet and quit the Youth League and Young Pioneers." I was so happy for her. Another predestined person was rescued.
During our cultivation process, the human heart sometimes is not very stable. When the attachment to fear takes precedence, the power of righteous thoughts would not be strong. When I do not have strong righteous thoughts and do not consider myself a god while clarifying the truth, I doubt everything I see. On a bus, I would feel that everybody on the bus is a spy from the National Security Bureau, and that plainclothes police are everywhere. When I see an elderly man with a worn uniform, I would think he is a spy. When distributing materials, it would be difficult too. Even when the predestined people come over, I would be afraid of being reported. Once, two policemen came to my home to investigate a case. The moment they came in, I started getting nervous. I thought I was in trouble. In that moment, my attachment to fear was exposed completely. I was not able to maintain a solid, diamond-like mind. I was not able to do like Master said,
"If you can let go of life and death, you're a God; if you can't let go of life and death, you're a human." ("Teaching the Fa in New York City")
My human notions were completely exposed. Cultivation is truly serious.
Between humans and gods, the difference is a thought in a moment. Master said clearly in Zhuan Falun, "...the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences." (Chapter Four, Zhuan Falun) We have substances from both human beings and gods walking on the divine path. We should restrain human notions at all times so they do not interfere any more. We have to study the Fa well and cultivate diligently. When facing issues, we should use Master's Dafa to completely eliminate the acquired notions and maintain righteous thoughts. What we enlighten to will be based on the Fa. What we do will manifest the power of Dafa. The difference in the thought of one moment is not coincidental, nor is it easily obtained. It comes from the mighty Buddha's Law and the strong belief in Master and the Fa.
I will follow the cultivation path Master arranged for me and keep every single thought of mine on the Fa without giving any room for any acquired notions. I know there is a huge distance between my current state and what the Fa requires. But I firmly believe that as long as I listen to Master, I will be able to do well.
