By a practitioner in Zhangjiakou, Mainland China

(Clearwisdom.net) When fellow practitioners share their cultivation experiences, they often talk about the issue of a "righteous starting point." Obviously, everyone realizes the importance of a righteous starting point. In our cultivation practice, most of us can realize the issue of a righteous starting point with a clear mind in the face of big tribulations and tests. But for some small things in everyday life, we may neglect or forget righteous thoughts.

A senior practitioner said, "My housework took so much time that I did not have time to study the Fa, not to mention send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth. In the morning, I was busy preparing the food. After I finished breakfast, I thought I could first wash the pots and then study the Fa. After I finished cleaning the pots, I saw the room was kind of messy. So I thought I should tidy up the room first. After that, someone came to visit me. I sat there and talked with my guest for about three hours. Then it was lunchtime and I had to prepare lunch for my children. After finishing lunch and cleaning everything, I felt sleepy. I then decided to take a nap first and then study the Fa. After I woke up, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. I picked up the book in a hurry and started to study the Fa. But I could not concentrate and I also thought of what we were going to eat for dinner. It was just like that day after day. In my heart, I know this is wrong. I looked inside myself, too. But I could not find the root of my problem and I could not break through it." This actually is the problem of not being able to find a righteous starting point. Some practitioners use the excuse of maximally conforming to the ordinary human society and think that they have to prepare the food for children, take care of grandchildren, and do the housework well. But they are only satisfied with being a good person in ordinary human society and totally forget Dafa disciples' mission and responsibility of saving sentient beings.

Some practitioners have a fixed income every month. Generally, if they were frugal there would not have been any problems. But their human notions emerged. They thought they needed some savings for their children's college education. They also thought their children needed money to establish their own family, buy a house, and get married after graduation. So they went out to work to make more money. Every day they were busy working and did not have much time to study the Fa, do the practice, and send forth righteous thoughts, not to mention clarifying the truth. They also looked inside themselves, but they did not realize that they did not have a righteous starting point. They did not put the three things as the first priority, and they walked the path that the old forces arranged.

I know a couple who are both practitioners. They are unemployed workers and only have temporary work. Their child needs to go to college. Their financial situation is very dire. One time, the husband found two job offers at the same time. The monthly salary for one job was 800 yuan, but the job required long working hours and night duty. The other job only paid a 400-yuan monthly salary, but it was an eight-hour-a-day job. He chose the latter one. He said, "Doing the first job, I could have made more money and improved my current financial difficulties. But it would have taken a lot of my time and could have affected my doing the three things well. Moreover, I'd have to give up some Dafa projects I am working on right now. I am a Dafa disciple. I cannot give up my responsibilities and mission because of the difficulty of my living situation. The Fa and Master are watching us. As long as I believe in the Fa and Master, I can overcome any difficulties." After that, his child got an education loan for his college education. They got partial unemployment compensation from their former employer. In addition, they got some help from fellow practitioners and relatives. Their financial situation turned for the better.

Teacher says in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,"

"A Dafa disciple should put the Fa first in everything he does--whenever you evaluate something you have to consider the Fa first."

I understand that we are Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period. Dafa is our starting point. Master requires us to put the Fa first in everything we do. Do we put the Fa first in everything we do? Do we consider Dafa as our staring point? Master asks us to consider the Fa first whenever we evaluate something. Do we consider the Fa as the first priority? Master said "Everything," which includes everything we do. Cultivation practice is very serious. When we cultivate the Fa, any small thing in our cultivation is an important thing.

Moreover, during our cultivation there are always tribulations and difficulties. When we pass the tests, give up the attachments to fame, gain, and sentimentality, and give up the notions we are not willing to touch, it is all very painful. At that time, if we do not have a righteous starting point, if we cannot consider ourselves as practitioners and Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period and cannot consider the Fa first, if we cannot really give up those things we don't want to give up, it will be really hard for us to pass the tests. A fellow practitioner wrote, "In my heart I have Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I have Master to save me, I have fellow practitioners with me, I have the eternal truth. I am the luckiest and happiest person in the world. As long as I have the Fa in my heart, I can overcome any tribulation no matter how big it is." Another practitioner from the countryside said, using very simple words, "It is the best to cultivate in Dafa. We do not need to be monks. Our benevolent Master bore almost all the karma we created in our past lives. The suffering we endure in ordinary human society isn't proportionate to our Attainment Status after reaching Consummation. Why are we still attached to these difficulties and tribulations? As long as we have a righteous starting point and always consider the Fa first, we can overcome any problems."

My fellow practitioners' words really touched me. When I look back to my own cultivation path these last few years, I realize that when I had the Fa in my heart and had a righteous starting point, I walked the righteous path well in my cultivation, and I cultivated very diligently. When I did not have a righteous starting point and did not consider the Fa first, I did not cultivate myself based on the Fa and I slid into an ordinary person's state. I dropped down and walked a tortuous path and was not able to cultivate myself diligently. So during my cultivation, for every step, everything, and every problem, I will think of the Fa Master teaches us:

"A Dafa disciple should put the Fa first in everything he does--whenever you evaluate something you have to consider the Fa first." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")

I will look inside myself and ask myself if I consider the Fa first and whether I have a righteous starting point.

March 26, 2006

Posting date: 4/14/2006
Original article date: 4/13/2006
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/3/28/123762.html

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