Eliminate the Notion of “Seeing Is Believing”

(Minghui.org) Recently, I feel that ordinary notions are becoming more obvious obstacles to my cultivation. Only by getting rid of this mindset can I walk out of humanness and move towards the divine.

I learned from Master Li's teachings:

“A human body looks just like that under a microscope, and this is quite different from what our naked eyes see. This is because this pair of human eyes creates a false impression for you and prevents you from seeing these things.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

I was thinking, what the human eyes see are all false appearances, so for the copy of Zhuan Falun I'm holding in my hand, what my eyes see is a book in the human dimension, but it doesn’t reflect reality.

I then wondered what is the true manifestation? At that moment, I felt that a layer of my surface material notions was broken away. 

What Zhuan Falun showed me was not a book, but endless layers of Buddhas, Taos, and Gods. Looking further, all of them were Master’s law bodies, and further on, all of them were layers and layers of the [Chinese] Characters “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”

I then felt that everything in me was empty, and there was not a single distraction in my Fa study. I realized that even having a single distraction was a great disrespect to Dafa. 

I understood that, while studying the Fa, we should read it with a mindset that is free of pursuit or action, and with incomparable piety and respect for Master. 

It is fine as long as we understand the surface meaning of the words. But we should not have the idea of “seeing the connotation of the words,” because that is a pursuit.Depending on the level of our mindset and xinxing, the connotation of the Fa is shown to us by the Buddhas, Taos and Gods behind the words.

I then realized that I, too, had been holding onto the notion that “seeing is believing.”

Master said,

“Nowadays, some people think that this pair of eyes can see any matter or object in this world. Therefore, some people have developed the stubborn notion that only what one can see through the eyes is real and concrete. They do not believe what they cannot see. In the past, such people were considered to have poor enlightenment quality, though some people could not explain clearly why these people’s enlightenment quality was poor.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)

When I previously studied this section of the Fa, I always thought that I was not a person with poor enlightenment quality, as I believed in Gods and Buddhas, and the existence of other dimensions. 

But I could see the notion was playing a role in preventing me from assimilating to the Fa. I was swayed many times by the false appearance of the ordinary world to understand and deal with my problems in cultivation. 

I realized that one of the main attachments blocking practitioners from validating Dafa is fear. There are many kinds of fear, the most important of which is the fear of persecution. 

But who is persecuting Dafa practitioners? Of course, it is not the police or worldly people, but the evil factors behind them. 

Should Dafa practitioners be afraid of the evil in other dimensions? Of course not. 

For example, when the evil tries to persecute practitioners in the guise of sickness karma, most of us are not afraid and have strong righteous thoughts. We may suffer some in the process of negating and eliminating the evil, but we can treat it with righteous thoughts. 

But when the evil appears in another form - manipulating the police to persecute us, some practitioners are afraid and hide. So if we are not afraid of the evil in another dimension, why are we afraid of the police? 

Before the persecution started, we were not afraid of the police. So why are we afraid of them now? 

It is because we formed a new notion derived from the notion of “seeing is believing”: the police persecute Dafa practitioners. 

Our fear is a reflection of this notion, not our own true thoughts. It is just like the example of the student trampling on the plant that Master gave in Zhuan Falun.

It is not the surviving plant itself that is really afraid, but the plant’s reaction to the perception formed in witnessing the other plant being trampled. 

What really persecutes Dafa practitioners is the evil behind the police, not the police themselves, who are the lives we want to save. Without the evil behind them, which police officer would dare to persecute Dafa practitioners! 

Without being manipulated, the knowing part of the police would actively seek out Dafa practitioners to hear the truth and be saved. When I went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa the second time, I was taken to the Tiananmen Square Police Branch. 

I was handcuffed to a chair, and an officer kicked me while threatening, “If you don’t confess, I’m going to use some tricks!” I knew this was what the evil behind him said. 

So I told him, “As a police officer, it is against the law for you to say that. I will also tell you, I have let go of life and death before coming here.” 

Upon hearing my words, he immediately said “don’t say that ...” with a smile and walked away. I knew that the evil behind him had disintegrated. 

Many times we are deceived by this “seeing is believing” notion, only focusing on the so-called manifestation of the current dimension and being constrained by human principles. 

As a joke, if you could see the evil in another dimension driving the police to you like herding ducks, or manipulating them like puppets to persecute you, would you still be afraid of them? Not at all.

We all know that cultivation is about letting go of ordinary people’s fame, profit, and emotions. But it is very difficult for some practitioners to do so. Why is it difficult? 

I think it is because they are swayed by the notion of “seeing is believing”, and they see these manifestations as being too real.

Master said, 

“This is because it is very difficult to relinquish something in the face of practical gain. The benefits are right here, so how can you abandon these attachments? It is actually because of this that one will find it difficult.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)

When I wanted to go to Beijing to appeal for Dafa in 2000, my mother did not agree. One day she suddenly went on a rampage, threw all the flower pots on the floor, rolled around on the floor, and threatened me with a knife. 

She said, “If you go to Beijing I won’t live!” My sister and I tried to persuade her, but she wouldn’t listen, just crying and shouting that she wouldn’t live.

I came out of her room with tears in my eyes and picked up Zhuan Falun and, with one flip, I saw the sentence “… the one who gives birth to your Original Soul is your real mother.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun). 

I was very excited and said in my heart, “Master! I understand everything now.” I took the book to my workplace to read it. 

When I came back in the evening, it seemed like nothing had happened. My mother called my sister to ask me if I had dinner, because she was too embarrassed to ask me directly.

Some fellow practitioners said they can’t let go of love for their sons, or grandchildren. In fact, your base point at this time is on the ordinary level. 

How can a human being let go? Humans should have these things. 

So when it comes to letting go, you feel very bitter and that it is difficult. Actually, you are slowly grinding away at these notions. Our Dafa cultivation is not like this. 

Master said, 

“… Directly working on our hearts, we cultivate the Fa ...” (“The Approach to Cultivation”, Hong Yin III)

By getting rid of the notion of “seeing is believing,” we will see the truth in the Fa and be able to understand from the Fa principles why we need to get rid of emotions in our cultivation.

In order to walk out of humanness, we must eliminate these acquired notions. But if this fundamental “seeing is believing” is not eradicated, newly acquired notions will continue to be formed. 

Only by eliminating the notion of “seeing is believing” can we stop forming newly acquired notions.

[Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s current understanding meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)]