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Believing in Our Teacher A Dafa practitioner from Henan Province
(Clearwisdom.net) Today, if someone asks a Dafa disciple, "Do you
believe in Teacher?" I think, the answer from everyone would be, "Yes,
I do! How could I not believe in Teacher? Of course, I believe in Teacher and
Dafa." If someone asks me the same question, I would answer the same way. After
experiencing tribulations and hardships during the past several years, I feel
that it is not even necessary to ask this kind of question. As a Dafa
practitioner, who does not believe in Teacher? Who does not believe in Dafa? Not
just believing, we firmly believe in Teacher and Dafa with determination. For years, we have read the phrase "believing in Teacher" many
times in experience sharing articles at the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. It has
never occurred to me that I may have problems on this issue. Especially during
the past few years of going through a difficult journey in the process of
validating the Fa, I have progressed well with the development of Fa
rectification, relying solely on my firm belief in Teacher, haven't I? I don't
think that I need to even answer this question. I would even feel insulted if
someone were to ask me this question. Having experienced so many tests of life and death, and so many hard choices
between humans and gods, I have always stayed with Dafa during the huge
tribulations and the evil persecution. I have not made any big mistakes or
compromised Dafa's principles in any way. I considered my cultivation progress
satisfactory and my enlightenment quality quite good. However, today I suddenly
realized that I was so far behind in my cultivation and I had major problems. I
had no idea that I still had problems that are very serious. For more than seven
years, I have not had the slightest idea about this most fundamental problem of
mine. What problem? It is the very problem of believing in Teacher. Teacher told us in his lectures, that his law bodies are behind every
practitioner. When talking about the exercise sites, Teacher said that his law
bodies sit in a circle surrounding the site. We certainly believe in Teacher's
Fa; every sentence that Teacher said is the truth. However, I now realize that
this belief is very superficial. It's because Teacher has said that, I knew it.
But the real belief is the manifestation in one's realm, and it is accomplished
through cultivation. At a group exercise site, Teacher's law bodies sit in a
circle. We have to ask ourselves: Do I really believe that Teacher's law bodies
sit in a circle? Do I really believe that Teacher's law bodies are truly behind
me at every moment, which is as real as a tall and strong protector standing
behind me all the time? There are a number of practitioners in my family. Do I
really think that an equal number of Teacher's law bodies are in the house?
During a small group sharing conference, do I believe that Teacher's law bodies
are sitting in a circle? Do I really feel that this is real and natural just
like an everyday person who sees things in his environment? No, I have to say I
am not at that level. There is an old saying among the Chinese people, "Respect the gods as if
they are really next to you." Have I really been at that level? When I was
little, after my parents prepared meals, they did not even dare to taste the
food before they had served some to divine beings. If kids made some childish
comments about the divine beings, the older generation would get serious and
scold the kids with reverence. In their mind, the kids did something horrible. I
have cultivated Dafa for many years, it is quite a shame that my belief in
Teacher is not even at the level as the older generation's belief in the divine
beings. Thinking about myself with a calm and clear mind, I have to ask myself how
firmly do I believe in Teacher? Teacher never requires us to follow any
formality in cultivation, and I am not suggesting that we stick to any kind of
rituals. Dafa cultivation is "a great way that has no form." We
cultivate Dafa while conforming to the ordinary society to the maximum extent,
and we are leaving behind an example for the future, therefore this principle is
very important. I think, if we truly believe that Teacher is with us all the
time, and our belief is absolute, then our hearts should know how to respect
Teacher. At least, we should have Teacher in our hearts all the time. Talking about our firm belief that Teacher is with us all the time, for the
first time did I realize the following. This belief is established by simply
talking about it; this belief is manifested after one's realm has elevated, and
it is a result of our cultivation. Without a long and solid cultivation, one
simply cannot reach this level. On May 22, 2006, the Minghui website published
an article about a crisis situation (Chinese article link http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/5/22/128444.html).
A Dafa parctitioner was feeding her grandson cherry tomatoes. Suddenly, the boy
started to choke and in a minute, his face turned blue because he could not
breathe and was near suffocation. His struggle gradually slowed down and he
finally stopped. The situation was extremely critical. The boy's father didn't
know what to do and the boy's mother started to cry. At that time, the
practitioner (the boy's grandmother) remained calm and called out at the top of
her lungs, "Teacher, please help, let the boy spit out the tomato!" In
a split second after she said that, the tomato came out of the boy's mouth and
the boy survived. From this story, I realized this fellow practitioner's firm belief in
Teacher. I think, if all our fellow parctitioners, whose lives were taken by the
evil either in the form of illness karma or torture, had a rock solid belief in
Teacher, if they truly believed that Teacher was standing in front of them, if
they could have reached this level of believing, and if they would have called
for Teacher to help during their dangerous situtations, then the evil would
never have been able to take their lives away. "One's gong level is as high as one's xinxing level, and this is an
absolute truth." ("Lecture One" from Zhuan Falun, March
2000 translation version) Teacher is indeed standing next to us. What are we
afraid of? If our trust in Teacher reaches this level, we always think about
Teacher first when we are in a crisis situation. How could Teacher not help?
Isn't this the issue of believing in our Teacher? We have cultivated for many
years, what is the purpose for cultivation? Isn't it to establish the true
belief in Teacher? I feel ashamed that it took me so long to realize this point after so many
years of cultivation. I couldn't face our honored Master.
Posting date: 6/20/2006 |