Learning to Look Inward Through Truth-Clarification Projects

(Minghui.org) Even though I participated in many truth-clarification projects, I didn't know clearly how to cultivate myself. After stumbling many times, I finally learned how to look inward through working with my fellow practitioners on truth-clarification projects.

I worked on designing brochures with a fellow practitioner, whom I call “sister.” We needed to make a new graphic design for the cover. Another practitioner helped us design one, and we were to send it to another practitioner who did the printing. However, I asked sister to go instead of me. Before she left I told her, “The new graphic design looks very nice. Let's use it for the front cover and use last year's graphic for the back cover.”

Sister brought back the printout a couple days later. It turned out that both the front and back covers were the same graphics from last year. I said disappointedly, “We worked hard for nothing.” It suddenly dawned on sister, “That's true! How come my mind was blank when I went to see her (the practitioner in charge of printing)? All I remember saying was the graphic was on the USB drive already.” I blamed myself for not going in person. So I tried to comfort sister by saying, “It's OK. Either graphic will work to awaken sentient beings.”

I looked inward and thought, “Am I too attached to my own idea? I asked my fellow practitioner to do my job, but ended up blaming her.” However, I did not dig out the root of my attachment or eliminate it, either. I simply looked inward as a formality.

After our brochures were used up, I talked to sister and said, “We don't have to waste our time designing a new graphic each time. Let's pick two good ones from last year and print them out.” Sister is quick at doing things. So I sent her again to get the prints made. She brought the printouts back on the same day.

However, I found both the front and the back covers used identical graphics. I immediately knew that I needed to improve myself. I shouldn't blame sister. I overcame my human notions with the help of looking at it from the principles of Dafa.

I couldn't sleep that night. I started looking inward from the start. “There is nothing wrong with trying to help people awaken, but how did it turn out wrong twice? I did find my own fault last time. I asked others to do my job, and also I did not buy my own printer like I should have. I relied on my fellow practitioners too much.”

When I thought of other practitioners, I couldn't help finding fault with sister, “Sister is not very responsible and careful. If I tell her to do one thing, she ends up doing another thing. One time we agreed to meet at one place, but she ended up going to another place. She does not pay attention when I tell her something.” My thoughts of blaming her were swirling around in my head.

After tossing and turning in bed for half a night, I finally realized I found what I had been looking for. My complaints about sister were the very reason the two of us ended up working together. My heart was the root of the problem.

Master said,

“Do you realize that as long as you’re a cultivator, in any environment or under any circumstances, I will use any troubles or unpleasant things you come across—even if they involve work for Dafa, or no matter how good or sacred you think they are—to eliminate your attachments and expose your demon-nature so that it can be eliminated, for your improvement is what’s most important.

If you are able to succeed in improving yourself this way, what you do then, with a pure heart, will be the best and most sacred.” (“Further Understanding” from Essentials for Further Advancement)

Master used these incidents to teach me how to look inward, cultivate myself, and make improvements! He had told us how to deal with this in his teachings! But I had not studied the Fa carefully and used his teachings as my guide. Sister's “forgetfulness” provided me with one opportunity after another to expose my attachment and eliminate it. I have missed many opportunities. Master must be anxious to see me improve.

Master said,

“That’s how things will be for you, starting now. Whether you are right or not is, for a cultivator, not important whatsoever. Don’t argue left and right, and don’t emphasize who’s right and who’s wrong. Some people are always stressing that they’re right, but even if you are right, even if you’re not wrong, so what? Have you improved on the basis of the Fa? The very act of using human thinking to stress who’s right and who’s wrong is in itself wrong. That’s because you are then using the logic of ordinary people to evaluate yourself, and using that logic to make demands on others. As gods see it, for a cultivator to be right or wrong in the human world is not important in the least, whereas eliminating the attachments that come from human thinking is important, and it is precisely your managing to eliminate those attachments rooted in your human thinking as you cultivate that counts as important.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”)

Master's words dissolved a big mountain in my mind. Even though I had been cultivating myself pretty hard the past few years, my heart was tired and heavy. Now it suddenly became light and free of burdens! I finally learned how to look inward and how to cultivate myself! I was too happy to fall asleep. I went to bed after sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight, and got up at 3:50am to do the exercises. But I didn't feel sleepy at all. I felt great when doing the meditation.

When the thought of complaining about sister came into my mind again during the meditation, I realized right away that it was not my own thought. It was interference from demons. Instead of suppressing it, I eliminated it with determination. I said in my mind, “Master, my fellow practitioner is great! The complaints are not my own thoughts. I don't want them.”

After repeating this three or four times, I entered into tranquility and saw a broad road in front of my eyes. I walked ahead quickly and climbed a fight of stairs as wide as the road. My view from the top of the stairs was like looking down from the top of a building. I saw fields and farmers harvesting. Even though the people looked far away and small, I could see them very clearly. I thought, “Great! There are many people here! I have to awaken them and tell them to remember 'Falun Dafa is great!'”

The comfortable feeling I experienced during this meditation was exactly like how Master described in Zhuan Falun. I knew Master gave me encouragement when I looked inward and improved myself like a true cultivator. Thank you, Master!