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How Many Hours Do I Treat Myself as a Practitioner Everyday?
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, while I was studying "Teaching the
Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference", I suddenly questioned myself,
"How many hours do I treat myself as a practitioner everyday?"
Thinking it over, I felt what I did was not good enough. Examining my
conscience, I've been practicing Falun Dafa during the past five years of
inhumane persecution. But on some issues, I couldn't maintain the state of a
practitioner. In daily work, I didn't always measure myself by the standards of
a Falun Gong practitioner, failing to keep my character when I ran into
conflicts, tribulations or tests. Sometimes, I was absentminded with all kinds
of distracting thoughts as I studied the Falun Dafa teachings and practiced the
exercises. Even when I clarified the truth to the people about Falun Gong, I had
lots of personal attachments. I didn't always treat myself as a practitioner. Teacher says in Zhuan Falun (1), "What's not a right mind? It
refers to a person's inability to always treat himself as a practitioner."
Why was I unable to treat myself as a practitioner? First, I didn't study the
teachings of Falun Dafa enough. My mind was not on the right track, I was not in
Dafa and my righteous thoughts were inadequate. My belief in Teacher and Falun
Dafa was not firm enough. Second, I didn't have a complete understanding of the
important duty and historic mission of a Falun Gong practitioner during the
period of the Fa rectification, questioning my mighty virtue or supernormal
abilities. In many cases, I treated myself as an everyday person. One last
point, I didn't let go of my personal attachments, failing to shake off the
constraints of an everyday person's ideas and being trapped by the old force's
arrangements. Teacher says in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference," "As you know, as Dafa disciples continually cultivate themselves while
they validate the Fa, many bad things that were formed among everyday people
have been gradually removed during your cultivation process, but some things
have only been reduced, while many things have truly been removed. So the
things that have been reduced aren't completely removed. There's a reason you
can't get rid of them completely yet, and it's to allow you folks, before you
Consummate, to live in ordinary society, to save sentient beings in ordinary
society, and to do the things that a Dafa disciple should do today. But since
these attachments will often show up in your cultivation and your life, they
show up in your words and actions in different settings, and can even show up
in every single thought of yours during your daily life. When you're affected
by a human attachment, then at that moment, or for that short while, or on
that matter, your behavior is the same as an ordinary person's. If you often
fail to follow the requirements for a Dafa disciple, a cultivator, then aren't
you an ordinary person? It's fine to have those human things--when you are able to restrain them in
your actions, strengthen your resolve, firm up your righteous thoughts, and
handle yourself well, then that's cultivation...But if you're not
careful then a lot of times they will make you come across as very
attached." The Fa rectification has reached the end of the final stage, so clarifying
the truth, saving people and cultivating ourselves are especially important.
Recalling that I was dominated by an everyday person's mindset and attachments
24 hours each day, it was quite dangerous. I had something on my conscience. At
the 2004 Chicago Conference, Teacher emphasized the issues of self-cultivation
of Falun Dafa practitioners and the neglect of doing the three things. This
problem was serious and common enough to bring to our attention. We should follow Teacher's requirement: "I've told you to study the Fa a
lot, to study the Fa, study the Fa, study the Fa... When you don't give weight
to Fa-study, those things are bound to be indulged" ("Teaching the
Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference"). Let's keep our thoughts, words and
actions in Falun Dafa, and negate the old forces' arrangements. "You are to
walk your own path well while not acknowledging them" ("Teaching
the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference"). Note: (1) Zhuan Falun the comprehensive guide to the practice of Falun Gong. |