(Clearwisdom.net) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1994. In doing the three things that Master told us to do, I have gradually come to understand deeper meanings of Master's teachings in Zhuan Falun: "Tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) I understood this to refer to the process of giving up human attachments, which includes constantly putting thoughts of self aside and improving xinxing in order to assimilate to Dafa. Only by truly getting rid of the attachment to self can one really do the three things well, validate the Fa and save sentient beings. In my own journey of cultivation, there have been times of wisdom when I could put aside thoughts of self, as well as times when I have faltered.
I. Study the Fa Well Without Pursuit
While trying to do the three things well, I have put Fa study as the first priority. During the initial stages of Fa study, I was able to get rid of some of my attachment to self. However, I didn't recognize my fundamental attachments. I thought that I had approached cultivation without pursuit when I started practicing Dafa. In June 2000, Master published the article "Toward Consummation." After studying it and looking into myself, I felt it was very important to find out one's fundamental attachment. However, I couldn't discover what my fundamental attachment was. Especially later on, I faltered on the path of validating the Fa. I learned from that lesson, as that fall was due to my not having gotten rid of my fundamental attachment. The kinds of fundamental attachments I found were broadly related to pursuing personal status, self-interest, and qing, but I didn't discover my real fundamental attachment.
With more thorough Fa study, I received more insights from Master's hints in November 2005. In addition, I read Dafa practitioners' experience sharing about getting rid of fundamental attachments on Minghui Weekly. While discussing experiences with fellow practitioners, I suddenly realized the nature of my fundamental attachment. It was my unwillingness to suffer a loss--I was constantly either thinking about gaining something or avoiding losing something. I regarded the practice as a way to "obtain," the more the better. This was indeed a manifestation of my attachments to personal status, self- interest, qing, and selfishness. Master stated in Zhuan Falun:
"We will straighten out all these matters and, by preserving the good part and removing the bad part, ensure that you are able to practice cultivation later. However, you must be here to genuinely study this Dafa. If you hold various attachments and come to gain supernormal abilities, have illnesses cured, listen to some theories, or come with some ill intentions, that will not work at all." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I sincerely felt as if Master was talking about me. I clearly realized that although I obtained the Fa many years ago, I had not recognized and gotten rid of my fundamental attachment. Once I clearly recognized and resolved to get rid of my fundamental attachment, I immediately felt that the bad material in my brain was instantly dissolved. I strove to keep the focus on my Fa study and "xinxing" improvement without pursuit, constantly uncovering my fundamental attachments and notions reflected at different levels. I was able to face them, recognize their nature clearly, and then restrain and rectify my thoughts.
Recently, I read more experience sharing articles on Minghui Weekly. I realized a deeper meaning of the Fa that many Dafa practitioners have also realized in their current Fa-rectification cultivation. We need to improve ourselves through Fa study and assimilate to the Fa. On one hand, we have to study the Fa and sincerely cultivate ourselves, unceasingly putting aside thoughts of self while validating the Fa with the compassion developed from our cultivation and offering salvation to sentient beings. We also need to cooperate with each other selflessly to form an indestructible whole body and to unleash the boundless might of Dafa through validating the Fa. Only when we are able to get rid of the notion of self are we able to offer salvation to sentient beings with all-powerful compassion. This alone can help us to thoroughly eliminate the evil, stop the persecution, clarify the facts and save more sentient beings.
We Dafa practitioners should also be clear that if we cannot improve upon our understanding of the Fa, put aside our attachments to self, form a whole body, validate the Fa and save sentient beings, the old forces will interfere with, harm and persecute us endlessly. The Minghui Weekly has published many such persecution cases. The main excuse that the old forces use is that some Dafa practitioners have not put down their attachments to selfishness and the notion of self. Master has told us that selfishness is a fundamental attribute of the cosmos of the past. Master has asked us to consider others first, so as to attain the righteous enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. Master's mighty Fa-rectification has rectified the old universe's principle of formation, stasis, degeneration and destruction and established the perfect, unbreakable new universal mechanism. If one wants to enter the future new cosmos, one has to completely assimilate to the characteristic of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance". By constantly letting go of the attachments to selfishness and egotism, breaking through the limitation of personal cultivation, and cultivating firmly on the basis of Fa-rectification, we can thoroughly negate the old forces' arrangements. From rectifying our thoughts, words and actions, we will truly achieve selfless altruism, form an unbreakable whole body, validate the Fa and save sentient beings with righteous thoughts and compassion.
II. Adjust Our Mindsets to Do Well in Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
In these past few years, I have gone from just sending forth righteous thoughts to calming my mind before sending righteous thoughts. I experienced the gradual process of unceasingly clearing my mind and putting down "self". When I was able to set aside my sense of self and continue caring about the sentient beings to be saved, I would naturally send forth righteous thoughts more often. In addition to the set times when Dafa disciples around the world send forth righteous thoughts, I have incorporated them into my daily life at home, at work, in public places or on the road. I send forth righteous thoughts whenever there is time. Each time I saw persecution cases and requests for assisting with sending forth righteous thoughts on Minghui Weekly, I would calm my mind to send forth righteous thoughts. When our local practitioners were arrested and needed help, I also assisted in sending forth righteous thoughts.
When I first started going out to distribute truth clarification materials, my sending forth righteous thoughts was mainly for eliminating the evil interference and protecting my own safety. Along with my progress in Fa validation, I corrected my impure mind and put the elimination of the evil and saving all sentient beings as the goal of sending forth righteous thoughts. I added a pure thought into the process before going out to distribute the materials to help the predestined people obtain the materials, know that Dafa is good, see clearly the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party, and quit the CCP and its associated organizations. In the meantime, I worked on eliminating all the evil elements that blocked the predestined people from knowing the facts about Dafa and quitting the CCP. I also directed righteous thoughts towards the truth clarification materials to help them play the role they should. Every time I did this, things went smoothly.
In 2006, just past the Chinese New Year, my 80-year-old father, who is also a practitioner, suddenly experienced serious sickness symptoms. He lost consciousness and almost passed away. My father initially knew how to send forth righteous thoughts. Three Dafa disciples immediately came over to send forth righteous thoughts and shared the understanding that we should let go of ordinary people's notions, stand on the foundation of assisting Master's Fa rectification by sending forth righteous thoughts, and eliminate the persecution by the old forces. We sent forth righteous thoughts for six whole hours, and my father recovered completely. This experience displayed the boundless might of Dafa and Master's great mercy. Some family members initially had called for us to go to the hospital, but they witnessed Dafa's miracle and became more steadfast in their belief in Dafa.
One day in mid-September, a phone call came from my father's home, and he told me about his situation. It was not good and he asked me to quickly go home. As soon as I hung up the phone, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts. In a while a thought flashed through my mind that my father was too old and he had not been too diligent lately, so things might be over for him. I immediately negated this unrighteous thought and focused on believing in Master and the Fa. I then calmed my mind down to ask Master to help my continuous sending forth righteous thoughts. After getting home, me and my two younger sisters started intensive sending forth righteous thoughts around my father. We continued sending forth righteous thoughts for the whole afternoon. In a while my elder sister, who previously had practiced some cultivation, also mimicked us and helped to send forth righteous thoughts. My father threw up lots of dirty stuff and also sent forth righteous thoughts. It was not until the evening that he gradually recovered. Dafa's mighty power was again displayed on my father's body. My father told me that before making the phone call, his heart beat had been very weak and he had not been able to move. At that point there was no one in the home. He had been asking Master to help and, hence, he made the phone call.
I shared some thoughts with my father on the Fa. Through this experience, we both realized that during the tribulation, as long as we could hold onto a pure mind and put Master and the Fa as the first priority in our hearts, we can obtain Master's protection, and we can eliminate the evil and get out of danger. I, in turn, studied Master's teachings in Zhuan Falun with my father,
"Cultivation practice must take place through tribulations so as to test whether you can part with and care less about different kinds of human sentimentality and desires." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
"If this sentimentality is not relinquished, you will be unable to practice cultivation." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
"If you want to practice cultivation, human sentimentality must be relinquished. Of course, in practicing cultivation in ordinary human society, we should respect parents and educate our children. Under all circumstances, we must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members. We should treat everyone in the same way. We must be good to our parents and children and be considerate of others in all respects. Such a heart is thus unselfish, and it is a heart of kindness and benevolence. Sentimentality is something of everyday people, and everyday people just live for it." (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
In reviewing the Fa, we found the root cause of my father's tribulation imposed upon him by the evil in another dimension. It was mainly because a day prior to that incident, my father was triggered by something and thought a lot about my mother. It aggravated his attachment and he had not been able to exhibit self-restraint. Through this tribulation, my father clearly understood that he ought to let go of such sentimentality and put aside self to get rid of the control by the old universe's principles. We should completely negate the old forces' arrangement, constantly assimilate to the new universal characteristics of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance", achieve unselfishness, and have a benevolent heart to do the three things well.
III. Clarifying the Facts
In nine years of clarifying the facts, I have experienced an unforgettable process of getting rid of the attachment to fear and let go of self. When I first started clarifying the facts face-to-face, I was overly cautious and indecisive, and my whole body was shaking. I often just spoke a few words to see whether there was danger, threw down the materials at the door and rushed to leave. I would get scared whether the danger was real or not. Through studying the Fa more, sending forth righteous thoughts and frequently clarifying the facts, I gradually got rid of many attachments and the notion of fear. Having constantly put aside my attachment to self and strengthening my righteous thoughts, I became more confident in what I was doing.
I started clarifying the facts first with my family members, friends, classmates and colleagues. Whenever there is an opportunity to clarify the facts, I try to do so proactively. I also widened my distribution area in the city. In March 2005, I repeatedly studied Master's new articles and read Minghui Weekly articles about fellow practitioners' quitting from the CCP. In April I wrote an announcement to publicly quit the CCP. Through my efforts to help people see the facts and quit the CCP, over a hundred people have withdrawn from the CCP, the Youth League and the Young Pioneers.
In the process of doing the three things well, I was able to gradually put aside my attachment to self and to validate the Fa with righteous thoughts to save sentient beings with compassion. In fact, it's all because of Master's protection and guidance from the Fa. That is a reflection of "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) As long as we have the desire, Master will arrange everything for us. Let us all put down the notion of self, harmonize the whole body, solidly do the three things well and fulfill our sacred mission of validating the Fa and offering salvation to all sentient beings. Let us be worthy of Master's great compassion.
The above is my personal sharing, please kindly point out any mistakes.
