(Minghui.org) It has been a few years since I seriously started to look within at deeper levels after having faced different types of ordeals. Since then, I tried to understand the clues and trace them to their roots, so that I improve on my cultivation path.
One incident from a few years ago helped me detect some notions we had. Another Falun Dafa practitioner, whose relative is a local police chief, met up with him at a wedding, and he accepted software to break through the internet blockade. As the persecution was still very rampant at that time, this made us very happy. The practitioner had dressed especially well, to give a good impression. Thus, we adhered to our human notion – friendliness and dressing well – instead of helping him to truly understand the truth about Falun Dafa.
Master said, “The whole human society is at one level.” (Zhuan Falun)
The basis of our thinking will remain at the level of ordinary people if we continue to view people based on their positions using ordinary people's standard. Changing such notions is a process of assimilating to the Fa and improve in one's cultivation.
One should make a habit of asking oneself on every occasion, “Am I using ordinary people's standard to measure things?” One will gradually reduce the human notions in one's thoughts, words, and actions, surpass the level of ordinary people, and reduce the chance of being confused by appearances in this dimension.
A student who practices problem solving a lot can solve a problem quickly and accurately. Likewise, cultivators also need to check every thought before one can see the root of one's problem.
Letting Go of Human Notions
Some human notions are difficult to notice. When a person feels superior to others because of being rich, having achieved a high rank, or belonging to a prominent family, he or she adheres to human notions. If all these factors are removed, does one still have the same level of confidence when clarifying the facts of Dafa to people?
Some practitioners who were or are leaders at their work place, develop an attitude of superiority and thus use that type of behavior when doing Falun Dafa projects. This is not the the behavior of a practitioner, but comes from human notions.
Practitioners' lack of confidence to validate the Fa could also be a result of measuring everything with an ordinary person's standard. Some practitioners say, “I used to enjoy glory among ordinary people. Now, that I cultivate, I have let go my attachment to the past glory and stopped pursuing it.”
The key is not pursuing or not pursuing, but a matter of eliminating the human notion about glory among ordinary people. Beings in higher levels of the cosmos don't regard it as a good thing. Our standards and human notions haven't changed if we still consider the past glory as beautiful.
Transcend Human Notions and Focus on Essence
Some notions have been forced on practitioners by the old forces. Some practitioners were told that their ancestors were famous, or that they were certain famous figures in history in their previous lives. This could result in a sense of superiority. Thus, one has to find the root of one's feeling of superiority, and not fall into the trap set by the old forces.
Any ability to validate the Fa is given by Dafa. Bragging about one's ability needs to be eliminated. To use an analogy, worldly things are like clothes we put on. Our minds should not be restricted by how to make our clothes look nice, but should transcend the appearance and focus on the essence.
A practitioner wants to live a good life and wants one's children to be accepted into good schools, to show Dafa's blessing. However, the concepts of good lives and good schools are notions that we got when we put on the “clothes.” The beings in higher level have no such thoughts. To disregard the “clothes,” we have to restore our thoughts to our true origin.
I used to face tribulations, and through that wanted to prove the goodness of Falun Dafa to ordinary people, as if a drowning person desperately grasping a straw. When I failed to find anything to back up my confidence with, I eventually stopped.
Looking back, I found what I used to pursue was like bubbles, which popped as I let go of my attachments. I realized I had to let go of the idea of validating the Fa with Dafa practitioners' blessings in the material world.
Master said,
“The average person couldn’t take the hardship, and he’d think, 'Why go on? I’m gonna find a rope and hang myself—I’ve had enough! Time to put an end to it all!'” (Zhuan Falun)
While reading this passage of Master's teachings, the exclamation mark struck my heart and woke me up. I was enlightened to the meaning of “Time to put an end to it all!” I had been living in poverty because of the persecution. I tried to improve my life to prove a Dafa practitioner's value to ordinary people. While strongly attached to this idea, I became an ordinary person pursuing a good life. My thought was restricted by the framework of this level. I had to let go of my notions to break through it.
Once I held that thought, my mind became simple, as if my human notions no longer existed. All I needed was to do the three things. As I completely changed my views, I felt as if I were being lifted up.
If one still thinks that a good material life and advantages among ordinary people is good, the basis of such thought is rooted in human notions. The more one pays attention to it, the deeper it will take root. It will prevent one from making fundamental changes and block one from the principles of the Fa beyond this level.
Category: Improving Oneself
