Do Not Be Hindered by Human Notions: The Importance of Our Mental State When Clarifying the Truth
By Xinyue
November 6, 2003 (Clearwisdom.net) When clarifying the truth, I am often hindered by human
notions. I feel lighthearted and happy when things go smoothly. I feel
discouraged when people don't want to listen to me or don't respect Teacher. In
fact, there are many aspects of looking inside on this matter. When I look at my
mental state on clarifying the truth, I find that I am more effective in
clarifying the truth when I am in a good mental state and am not hindered by
human attachments, unless I face those who can no longer be saved. On one occasion, I was clarifying the truth to the former general manager of
my work unit and his friends. He was aware of the fact that I am a good person.
I had introduced Dafa to him many times and he also knew that Dafa is good.
However, when he introduced me to his friends, besides telling them that I was a
good person, he also said some negative words about Dafa, following the
government's propaganda. I was a little unhappy. Then he immediately said, "See,
I just said a line of what the government said and you become unhappy ..." I
suddenly realized that I was blocked by human notions, and then eliminated the
evil factors behind them. I also found a very bad attachment of mine: the desire
of relying on ordinary people, which gave the evil a loophole to take advantage
of. I had expected to use my relationship of being his colleague to clarify the
truth to his friends, and hoped for him to help clarify the truth as well. But
it turned out to be the opposite. I thought about Teacher's words, and realized that I shouldn't rely on
ordinary people. I should just talk about how we are persecuted, and they would
be able to accept it. Having found my attachment, I calmly told people around
me, "Freedom of belief is allowed according to the Constitution, and appealing
is a citizen's legal right. But I was dismissed from my job simply because I
spoke the truth that, 'Falun Dafa is good.' I endured all kinds of torture, and
was sent to labor camp three times. I was on a hunger strike and nearly died
before they carried me out. If I had said I wouldn't practice anymore, I could
have earned a salary of 2,000 Yuan a month. What kind of law is this? As long as
you truly remember in your heart that Falun Dafa is good, you will have good
fortune." When my compassion came out, none of them argued with me. They all
listened to me quietly. Teacher seriously told us in "Teaching the Fa at the
Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference", "...any desire you have can become an attachment and can be used by the
evil. As soon as that kind of thought emerges, the evil might conjure a
false image for you, and this will then cause interference. Cherish the
present time and make the best use of it -- this time is meant for the
disciples." This experience gave me a deeper understanding of this paragraph of Teacher's
lecture. I realized how important it is to keep a pure heart while clarifying
the truth. Actually, Teacher told us in "Teaching the Fa at the Australia Fa
Conference," "Even if you badmouth me, I will not hold a grievance against you,
because my mind is not at the level of everyday people. Whether you say that
I am good or bad, whether you say that I am a god or a human, I won't be
moved, because no human thoughts can move me. If you can reach the state
that I have, then you are already not far from cultivating to Consummation."
[Unofficial translation] During the course of our clarifying the truth, we may encounter all kinds of
situations. It should be enough as long as we keep our righteous thoughts, treat
everybody with compassion, and clearly clarify the truth of Dafa. Just as
Teacher said in Hong Yin, "Do but pursue not "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of
gong is done by one's Teacher." We just do what a Dafa disciple should do, and then everything is part of
cultivation. As to what people would like to choose, it is up to them. If we do
not do well, then the result may not be what we expected, and the evil may take
advantage. This reminded me of a story in Buddhism that Teacher told us in Lecture Six
of Zhuan Falun, "There once was a person who became an Arhat after much effort in
cultivation. As he was just about to attain Right Fruit in cultivation and
become an Arhat, how could he not be happy? He was going to transcend the
Three Realms! Yet this excitement is an attachment, an attachment of
elation. An Arhat should be free of attachments, with a heart that cannot be
affected. But he failed, and his cultivation ended up in vain. Since he
failed, he had to start all over again. He resumed his cultivation, and
after much painstaking effort he again succeeded in his cultivation. This
time he became scared and reminded himself in his mind: 'I shouldn't get
excited. Otherwise, I'll fail again.' With this fear, he failed again. Fear
is also a kind of attachment." From this we can see that cultivation is an extremely serious matter. My
understanding is that our cultivation is different from that in Buddhism -- we
change from the microscopic level, and Teacher has separated the part of us that
has fully cultivated, so as to prevent us from dropping down; nonetheless, the
requirement for every practitioner in Dafa cultivation is absolutely strict and
righteous. In cultivation, the attachments need to be rid of one after another.
Teacher had told us a truth at the beginning of Zhuan Falun, "...the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of
constantly giving up human attachments." "...as no human attachment can be
taken to heaven." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference") Thus we must strictly discipline ourselves in our cultivation, and reach the
state of not being affected by any ordinary people's attachments. After realizing this principle, during my truth clarification, I no longer
argued anxiously with those who had taken a deviated path. I am not emotionally
driven anymore, and neither do I feel deterred by those who don't listen to the
truth clarification. People behave irrationally because they do not know the
truth, and it is the evil that restrains them from listening to the truth. If
our minds are affected, it would allow the evil to reach its purpose, and we at
this point actually drop down to everyday people's level. At this time our words
would not carry the power of the Fa, and thus the effect would not be good
either. Later on I again found the fellow practitioner who had been imprisoned many
times together with me but had enlightened along an evil path. I was able to
keep a pure and serene mind to clarify the facts to her. I gave her Teacher's
lectures, new articles and the booklet, "To Former Fellow Practitioners." I told
her that the booklet told my heartfelt words, and that Teacher was still waiting
for her. Her husband kept saying some rude words, yet I was not affected
whatsoever. My purpose was to help her and give her the Fa, and that was all I
wanted to do. Eventually she accepted all the materials with gratitude. She said
unlike some other practitioners who were "not compassionate," my mindset was
good, and she promised to read the materials. Actually the first time I went to
see her I was not in the mindset of a cultivator; instead, there was anxiety,
complaint, helplessness and disappointment. I was emotionally driven and not
compassionate, as she said, and the effect was not good. This time I finally
held the right mindset, which I know was due to Teacher's help. I sincerely hope
she can be clear-minded again. I also hope practitioners can again help those
who deviated from Dafa according to different circumstances. Please do not feel
disheartened by them; your great compassion can melt anything! This is just my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything
improper. Thank you!
Often stay in the Dao."
("In the Dao")
(Zhuan Falun)
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/11/7/60159.html
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