By Liaoran

(Clearwisdom.net) Reflecting upon my own cultivation path, my deepest understanding is that one must truly cultivate one's mind.

I remember clearly, at the beginning of my Dafa cultivation, that even though I had a new comprehension whenever I read Zhuan Falun, the sentence that touched me the deepest was always the same: "Even in this class, there are people who think quite highly of themselves right now and speak with a different attitude." During the last several years, Teacher's words have seemed to appear constantly in my mind to alert me. Now I realize this kind of thought is the beginning of evil enlightenment, and it is also the first step for demonic interference from one's own mind.

Fortunately, I was able to overcome numerous roadblocks. I have experienced different degrees of evil enlightenment; it is Teacher's compassion that has helped me back onto the righteous path each time.

What experiences should cultivators share when they get together?

When cultivators get together, they often talk about enlightenment, "His enlightenment is very good," "My enlightenment is not so good," or "You really can enlighten to things." What are they really enlightened to? How do we judge a cultivator's enlightenment quality? Is it one's eloquence? Is it that someone can say something novel? Is it who is more creative and quick in association? In my opinion, it is none of these.

Teacher says in Zhuan Falun, "The enlightenment that we actually refer to is a matter of whether in the course of cultivation practice one can enlighten to and accept the Fa taught by the master or the Tao taught by the Taoist master, whether one can treat oneself as a practitioner upon encountering tribulations, and whether one can adhere to the Fa while practicing cultivation."

What is enlightenment? This is what we need to enlighten to. Some elder fellow practitioners, who have a poor educational background and no theory, just have faith and believe in Teacher. The evil people became discouraged when they were unable to "transform" them and thus said they had "poor enlightenment quality." I remember a fellow practitioner once said that there are two kinds of practitioners that the evil cannot transform. One is the practitioner who is clear on the Fa principles and has strong righteous thoughts. The other is the uneducated practitioner, who will not listen to anyone but Teacher. What I want to say here is that the uneducated practitioners have good enlightenment quality.

Cultivation is a process of removing one's attachments. When you let go of attachments, your xinxing will improve. We gain new understandings of Fa principles without pursuit. Enlightenment is not simply understanding some higher Fa principle or painstakingly pursuing enlightenment, as some practitioners think. When a practitioner understands a new Fa principle, it is because his xinxing has improved, his level has risen and Teacher's law body gave him a hint of the Fa principle that he was supposed to know. Enlightenment to the Fa at different levels is not obtained through pursuit. A cultivator needs to have a clear understanding of this. Once you feel that you are above everyone else and have thoughts such as, "Look how good my cultivation is," or "look how good my enlightenment is," then you are in grave danger.

Finally, I would like to talk about my own experience after I stumbled.

As a cultivator during the Fa-rectification, I once was bewildered and could not comprehend Teacher's Fa. I encountered some fellow practitioners who even doubted Teacher's Fa. As an individual, I believe in Teacher but I sometimes do not understand some Fa principles. When I read an article by Teacher, I often think, "I cannot understand this sentence, and I need to read it carefully to have a good understanding of it." When I study the Fa with doubts and attachments, I am not able to understand it. The more I want to understand, the less I can comprehend. Meanwhile, I generate more questions. This is the reason that some practitioners have left the Fa. I have a strong belief in Teacher, and I believe that Teacher is always right. Based on that thought, I often interpreted for and consoled the puzzled minds of fellow practitioners. I, however, could not solve the fundamental problem.

Slowly, when my belief in Teacher became stronger, those "questions" could no longer interfere with my studying the Fa. Anyway, since Teacher is always right, I do not need to think further. I can lay down my questions and not bother with them anymore. I only need to follow the Fa to do things and follow Teacher's requests to do things. I put down my mind of trying to understand and put down my mindset of needing to understand everything. After I let go of the "questions" and even forgot about the "questions," finally all my questions were unknowingly answered through Fa study.

Even now as I talk about my understanding, some practitioners, who still cannot lay down their "questions," do not agree with me. We will not understand if we do not let go of our attachments. If we do not let go of the mindset of wanting to understand everything and leaving no stone unturned searching for answers, not only will we never understand, but also we may feel we are clever and find more and more questions.

To a cultivator, this is very dangerous. Actually, what Teacher says is the truth of the cosmos. If a Dafa cultivator can let go of himself and firmly believe in Teacher, the Fa will be able to help us understand everything and see through all illusions.

The above is my personal understanding. I want to share with fellow practitioners and to progress together.

Posting date: 9/16/2005
Original article date: 9/16/2005
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/9/6/109871.html

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