Studying the Fa, Cultivating the Heart, and Looking Within
By Dongfang Quan from Liaoning Province
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Teacher! Greetings, fellow practitioners! I obtained the Fa in 1996. In "Teaching the Fa at the Founding Ceremony
of the Singaporean Falun Dafa Association" Teacher said, "If you ask what I want, I want only to see that heart of yours--the
heart to cultivate and the heart that longs for goodness." I would like to display my "heart to cultivate and the heart that longs
for goodness" that I have developed over the past 12 years of cultivation.
I want to share my experiences studying the Fa, cultivating the
heart, and looking inside with fellow practitioners. This is my limited
understanding. If there's anything inappropriate, please kindly point it out. I am thankful for Teacher's grace. The Fa allowed me to experience the
harmony of looking inside. In early 1996, I spent an entire day reading Zhuan Falun
from beginning to end. At that time, I had a feeling that it was what I had
been searching for. This was the Teacher I had been searching for. This was the
dignified Teacher who saved my life. I was a political worker before obtaining the Fa. Not only was I an atheist,
I also used the CCP culture to poison others. In this world where morality is
worsening every day, I struggled and competed for fame and fortune. I had many
illnesses that made me seem like an old man even though I was only in my
thirties. The illnesses lasted over twenty years. I took lots of medication,
spent lots of money on treatments, suffered many pains, and yet I was still
sick. I was foggy-headed all day and was really miserable beyond description. I
didn't believe in qigong. It was just like what Teacher said in Zhuan Falun, "When he becomes ill, he will go to the hospital. When a doctor of
Western medicine cannot cure him, he will go to see a doctor of Chinese
medicine. When the doctor of Chinese medicine also cannot cure the illness and
when no special prescription works, he will then think of qigong and ponder:
'I'll try my luck to see whether qigong can actually heal my illness.'" (Zhuan
Falun, Lecture Six). I was forced to enter the realm of qigong by my illnesses. I didn't know
anything about it, and I didn't know about cultivation. As a result, I practiced
a false qigong and was possessed by spirits or animals. It was Falun Dafa that made me realize for the first time that I was looking
outward, trying to cure my illnesses, and trying to obtain supernatural powers.
It was my unrighteous heart that had summoned the spirits or animals. From then
on, I followed Teacher's teachings and looked inside, cultivating inward, asking
for nothing, and putting effort into cultivating my xinxing.
Teacher provided an incomparably bright cultivation path for me. I had infinite
hope for my life. I realized that the point of life was "to return to the
true self." I decided I would tell all my relatives, friends and even more
people about this once in a thousand year opportunity, and I would use my
cultivation experiences to spread Dafa to repay Teacher for his benevolent
salvation. In early 1996, a few other new practitioners and I established a group to
promote the Fa. After the new year in 1996, we went to the city's main
assistance center and officially established an assistance site in our district.
Under Teacher's protection, four to five thousand people from different cities
and townships in this region quickly came to learn Falun Gong. Of special note
was one day in 1997, a large Falun appeared in the sky in our region to clean
the field for the entire region. It was truly, "The Buddha-light
illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Zhuan Falun,
Lecture Three). A neighbor experiencing karmic retribution prompts me to look within to find
the difference in my own level There was a retired senior in my neighborhood who didn't understand Falun
Gong. He became a spy working for the local police station after the persecution
began on July 20, 1999. He often watched me from the front gate, tried to
persuade me to stop practicing whenever he saw me, and told my family to do the
same. At first I didn't pay much attention, and I didn't clarify the
truth to him because of my attachment to fear. I later discovered that he
sent the fliers to the police station as soon as he got them, and he was often
sneaking around with the police officers. Around early 2001, officials with the
police station, along with the street and neighborhood administrations stepped
up the harassment, forcing me to leave home to avoid further persecution, and I
was sure that my neighbor had contributed to this situation. When I left home,
he seemed healthy enough, but less than eight months later, he died of cancer. I
heard about this while I was out-of-town and it made me very happy. I thought
that it was a manifestation of retribution for what he had done, and I took
pleasure in his death. Also, I was very willing to read and share retribution
news about those around the country who participated in the persecution. I didn't
see anything wrong with this notion for a long time. Teacher said in "Realms" from Essentials for Further Advancement, "A wicked person is born of jealousy. I suddenly realized that my notions about those who received karmic
retribution was problematic. According to Teacher's Fa, I asked myself, what
realm was I in? The answer was that I was in the realm of "a wicked
person." I was astounded after looking within, as this was no small matter.
Teacher taught us to be "with no discontentment or hatred, he takes
hardship as joy." I on the other hand had spite and hatred, and no
compassion. This wasn't just an ordinary human attachment, it was demon nature.
Having compassion at all times is what Teacher hopes for us to achieve in order
to cultivate upward. It's said that to use evil against evil makes the evil even
worse, and to use kindness against evil makes the evil perish. One's
retributions are decided by the laws of the universe. Teacher said in
"Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago," "I told you a long time ago that a Dafa disciple, or a cultivator, has
no enemies. The only thing you have a role in is saving people, and you have
nothing to do with using human means and human principles to punish or
pronounce judgment on people. This is a fundamental issue!" As cultivators, we cannot dwell in the realm of an ordinary person. Our
revered Teacher wants us to save all sentient beings, be it those in this world
who came for the Fa and contributed positively or negatively. Teacher even wants
to save those who spy on Dafa practitioners. We as disciples should do the same
as Teacher. Teacher wants us to cultivate generous hearts and become immensely
compassionate and selfless, Buddhas, Taos, or Gods, not deviated, vengeful
humans. After I came to this realization, I no longer experienced pleasure whenever I
heard the news about evil people receiving retribution. Instead I felt sympathy
for them. I sincerely hoped for more people to be saved. From then on, I no
longer felt hatred or fear when I encountered police cars or police officers.
Because I no longer held enemies in my heart, I could naturally and steadfastly
do the three things well. Looking within about the incident of three small peaches, and cultivating xinxing
from each and every small incident There is a small fruit store near my home, which is run by a female owner.
She was always friendly and selected the best fruits for me every time I shopped
there. One day I took the opportunity to clarify the truth to her and helped her
quit the CCP. I was grateful that she was saved. Two days later I went to
purchase peaches from her. This time she gave me three small peaches, and I
didn't turn her down to save face. When I returned home, those three small
peaches irritated me. I thought, "Why is it that she gave me the good ones
before I urged her to quit the CCP, and now she gives me the small ones after I
helped her quit?" In a flash, I remembered that I was a cultivator, and I
shouldn't care about such a small matter. I was only three small peaches. But
they were there, catching my attention. My mind was disturbed and I couldn't let
it go. Teacher said in Zhuan Falun, Lecture Four, "From the high-level perspective, these principles are all changed. An
ordinary person will not understand it. When you look at these principles from
high levels, everything will be different. Among everyday people you may find
these principles correct, but they are not actually right. Only what is seen
from high levels is truly right. It is usually like this." Teacher taught us that encountering both good and bad situations is good.
When I looked within myself calmly, I enlightened that Teacher was using the
peaches to awaken me. Aren't these three peaches signifying my three human
attachments? I did indeed hold quite a few human attachments. For example, I
thought I should get something in return when I did something for others, I had
an attachment to validating myself, and I loved to nit-pick about others for
self-gain. From these three small peaches, I enlightened that when we clarify
the truth to people to help them quit the CCP, a life that can be saved is saved
by Teacher's fashen. We are just doing this as a process in this human format.
We can't even protect ourselves without Teacher's help, not to mention saving
others, but Teacher gives the mighty virtue to his disciples. Make no mistake,
if one has the attachment to validate oneself, then it will lead one to show
off, and it will easily be used by the evil as an excuse for persecution. I thank those three small peaches for inspiring me. Afterwards, I started
holding myself to the level of a cultivator when I went grocery shopping. I made
friends with others to clarify the truth, and the results were good. I
enlightened that even small incidents have deep meaning for a cultivator. To
look within after even the smallest incident could help not only elevate one's xinxing
but also save sentient beings. Searching within leads to boundless seas and skies, and looking outward leads
to a difficult, narrow path that is hard to walk. I feel that looking within is
a requirement for every Dafa disciple. I enlightened that looking within is like
discarding the filthy things that one has accumulated from each life. We should
evaluate everything using Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, find the filth
and purge it, and do this continuously in order to elevate continuously. The lid
needs to be opened by oneself, the human attachments need to be found by
oneself, the filth needs to be purged by oneself, and eventually that
"bottle" will float. If we look outward in the midst of hardships in
cultivation, it's like we are trying to purge others' "bottles" and we
will never be able to float. Therefore, looking within is a treasure that's
given to us by Teacher, it is a golden key in our cultivation, a broad path
leading to the heavens. The evil is scared of us searching within, not looking
outward. October 15, 2008
Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself.
A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.
With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.
An enlightened person has no attachments at all.
He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions."
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/11/13/189217.html
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