(Clearwisdom Net)
In March 1997, I fortunately obtained the Fa, and all three of us in my family became Dafa practitioners. In my personal cultivation stage, I strictly followed the requirements of Dafa at home and in the work place. I studied the Fa, cultivated my heart and broke away from my attachments. I was fascinated by every lecture Teacher gave. One time I listened for five hours in succession to the recordings of Teacher's lectures. I felt I was in a timeless space. I know deeply, with every facet of my life, that Teacher is extraordinary.
When the evil persecution started, I maintained a very clear mind. While they were slandering Dafa on TV, and my colleagues were repeating the false accusations about Dafa, I was determined to validate Dafa and tell people that Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance is the universal law that I am pursuing. On the path of validating Dafa, I experienced numerous tribulations. I fell down and got up again. I was thus tempered, and became more mature. When I tried to validate Dafa with my human side, I found it hard, and even miserable, to be a cultivator. When I felt myself trapped by the evil persecution, and manipulated by the old forces, I couldn't resist the malicious "tests" with my cultivated side. In my heart I know clearly how precious Dafa is, but I felt helpless. Again and again when I woke up from dreams, I asked myself anxiously: What shall I do? I felt such a strong desire to visit other practitioners and break away from the restraint created by the evil. I felt we had to actively break away from self-confinement. During that period, I often asked myself, "Will you give up practicing?" There was always only one answer: "Never!"
I felt that I had to brace myself. So I recited all of Teacher's articles written after July 20, 1999 everyday and studied the Fa with a calm mind. From within the principles of Fa, I deeply felt Teacher's benevolence. Teacher says, "When you do well in the Fa-rectification, I can see that it's always because you are able to understand the Fa from the Fa; and when you do somewhat poorly, I can see that it's because you aren't making a priority of Fa-study and you aren't able to understand the Fa from the Fa." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
As far as Dafa Practitioners are concerned, in order to follow the process of Fa-rectification, we have to be sure that our perspective is based on the Fa. The issue of cultivation is more serious than anything else in this world. We Dafa practitioners are firmly and fearlessly safeguarding Dafa in the human world.
In everyday life, I measured my behavior and interaction with people against the Fa, and cultivated my Xinxing [the nature of the mind or the heart, moral character] all the time. When I could really understand what happened in my life using the principles of Dafa, I felt less stressed than before. I do not forcefully guide myself with notions formed in this lifetime, such as "Don't get angry." "Don't complain." "Don't get anxious." Instead, I rely on the most benevolent side of my true nature to enlighten the kindness in people's hearts. I am validating Dafa with the wisdom bestowed by Dafa and the purest rationality. Thus, people's minds are gradually cleared. It's not that everyday people have a stubborn notion, but rather that they are completely lost in the maze.
Just as Teacher says in "Lecture at the First Conference in North America," "... many people come from remote places. Think about it, then: The differences among them and in their characteristics are quite substantial. As a long period of time passes and living beings continually become no longer as good (in the language of the heavens, there is nothing like 'good' or 'bad'; the words or concept they often use is that something 'becomes heavy'), they begin to sink and deposit. When they're no longer so pure, light and floating, they deposit. In fact, the substance has varied; that is, it's already impure. The course of its continual deposit was this type of process. Yet it's an extremely slow process, and people don't perceive any changes in themselves; neither do gods feel that they have themselves undergone changes. This is because the time it takes is extremely long--it can't be calculated with human time." Teacher also says in "Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America": "Yet the layers upon layers of beings in the immense cosmos can't perceive the evilness of all these evils taking place. This is because all beings have been warping."
I had thought about one question: Now that I am a student of Teacher, why do I still have bad thoughts popping up in my mind after cultivating for so long, and why do I still feel helpless? All of a sudden, I was awakened: Before reaching consummation, I have to eliminate all the notions fostered in this dye vat of the human world, with strong righteous thoughts. Those notions are not my true thoughts, nor are they worthy of blocking my way of assisting Teacher in Fa-rectification.
Once, while meditating, I felt that I had entered into a place that I had never been to before. It was indescribably wonderful. I can only use the word "realm" to depict the place that I had entered at that moment. My celestial eye was not open, yet with my firm belief in Dafa, I had really experienced the meaning of "supernormal power." It is not something mysterious or inconceivable. The dignity and immensity of the Buddha Law help me to better understand what Teacher says in Touring North America to Teach the Fa, "...to have obtained Dafa is the most fortunate of the most fortunate things."
I read from "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston": "If we don't pay attention to our own behavior in our daily lives, everyday people will see our actions and, since they can't get to know you at a deep level such as by studying the Fa, they will just look at how you act. And it's possible that one sentence or one action of yours will make them unsavable or create a bad impression of Dafa. We need to think about these things." It is indeed so. Because I didn't rectify my selfishness, and maintained the attachment of fear, several times sentient beings that ought to have been saved were delayed. With "the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism" ("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature," Essentials for Further Advancement) attained from Dafa, we can save the lives of the sentient beings deceived by the lies, from the muddy streams of this world. Teacher says, "People haven't come to this human world for nothing..." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference," July 21, 2001).
My life is created by Dafa. Everything I have is given by Teacher. Although there are hardships and barriers on the way of cultivation, I will walk steadily on my path of returning to heaven under the care of Teacher. Today, I see the light of a bright future. To all the beings in the new cosmos, tomorrow brings incomparable happiness.
In the end, I'd like to quote from the "New Year's Greetings from Master." Please kindly point out the mistakes in my article.
The endless journey has come to a close
And the pervasive haze is gradually dispersing
While righteous thoughts display the might of Gods
Returning to Heaven is no longer just yearned for
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
