(Clearwisdom.net) (Continued from Righteous Enlightenment in Cultivation, Part 1 of 2, http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/11/10/129363.html )

Following a Natural Course”

Master said, “as a practitioner should follow the course of nature.” (“Lecture Seven” - Zhuan Falun) My personal understanding about this phrase is: As a practitioner, we should look inward according to the Fa of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” in all circumstances. If we use the excuse of “following a natural course” to satisfy our personal desires instead of taking the chance to cultivate ourselves, we are just deceiving ourselves.

For example, a practitioner could not bear an instance of sickness karma and went to a hospital for an exam. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her family wanted her to retire early and get her pension on account of sickness. This practitioner did not reject her family's suggestion. When another practitioner discussed this with her, she said, “It's because my family wants me to retire. I cannot go against them and just follow a natural course.”

The other practitioner realized that she was not clear about the Fa and started to explain things to her patiently. After that, she understood the consequences if she retired on account of “sickness” and started to look inward. She found her attachment to personal gain and said, “Because I am attached to personal gain, my family came out with this suggestion. I now intend to refuse to retire on account of sickness.” After a few days, her family learned that she would lose a big part of her pension if she retired due to sickness. Therefore, no one in the family mentioned it anymore.

Cultivate Ourselves Well”

There are different understandings about “cultivating ourselves well.” Some practitioners think that it is selfishness, while others think that we are able to help sentient beings only after cultivating ourselves well. Then, what is the standard for cultivating ourselves well? Are we able to help sentient beings if we do not cultivate ourselves well? Master asked us to, “attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature” in Essentials For Further Advancement) I think the Fa is our requirement. However, before we reach the realm, should we focus on cultivating ourselves only? I think that it is real selfishness if other people need help and we just ignore them.

Elderly Practitioner C could not pass the tribulation of sickness karma. In order to help C, Practitioner B always discussed the Fa with C. However, they were relatives, and the attachment to sentimentality was mixed in the discussion. Practitioner C thought that B was very steadfast and agreed with everything that B said. However, C always blamed B behind B's back, such as “fake compassion,” and “great, glorious, and correct.” B felt embarrassed, looked inward, and tried to find the thing that C mentioned. As a result, B thought that she had not cultivated herself well and she decided to help other people after better cultivating herself. Actually, B had an attachment to reputation. However, instead of taking the chance to let go the attachment, B used “cultivate herself well” to steer away from the challenging situation.

When I discussed the Fa with Practitioner A, two other practitioners were present. One was an older practitioner who couldn't recognize a word before practicing Falun Gong. The other was a new practitioner who had just started to practice two years before. When the older practitioner was able to read Zhuan Falun at the same speed as the other practitioners, suddenly she forgot many words. She was very disappointed and preferred to listen to the Fa instead. I disagreed with her and told her that this was a tribulation. She could read most of Zhuan Falun--how could she go backward? Therefore, she started to attend weekly group Fa study. In order to catch up with other practitioners, she woke up early to read the Fa at home. Now, she is back to where she was before.

Practitioner A said, “You should be steadfast, otherwise you will be eliminated. Master's articles are published regularly. How come most practitioners do not understand them? Everything they do is based on human notions!” After Practitioner A and the new practitioner left, the old practitioner said, “If we (practitioners) are eliminated, we are worse than normal people. They won't be completely eliminated. How come the practitioners who are just a little less steadfast should be eliminated?” I realized that the old practitioner misunderstood the meaning of “eliminated.” Therefore, I explained my understanding to him/her, “After we obtain the Fa, we should assist Master in the Fa rectification period and closely follow the progress of Fa rectification. If we cannot catch up with the progress, we will be behind. Then, we will stay in the realm lower than most of the other practitioners. However, we will never be below ordinary people.”

That day, the new practitioner came to my home. She said to me in all seriousness, “I don't want to study the Fa anymore. I have not studied the Fa for an entire day.” I asked, “Why are you unwilling to study the Fa? Let's study the Fa now.” She said, “Everything we do is based on human notions. It's no use studying the Fa. Why should I keep studying?” I understood that she was unhappy and read the following Fa to her:

“I have thus said before that Dafa disciples, being cultivators, should view problems in the opposite manner from how human beings do. Some people are unhappy when they meet with unpleasant things. Then aren’t you a human being? How are you any different? When you encounter unpleasant things, it is precisely time to cultivate yourself, to cultivate your mind.” “Then, if a cultivator can handle things in that manner, using true principles to cultivate himself, then aren’t the unpleasant things that you experience in the ordinary world good things? If you want to cultivate, if you want to break free of the Three Realms, if you want to return to your original place, and to save the sentient beings belonging to your paradise, if you really want to help Master rectify the Fa, then aren’t [those adverse things] facilitating all of that for you, enabling you to truly cultivate yourself? Isn’t your encountering such adverse things in fact paving the way for you? So why are you unhappy?” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)

Both the old practitioner and the new practitioner were happy after listening to the Fa. They said together, “Let's study the Fa,” so we read a lecture of Zhuan Falun together. After that, the new practitioner went home with an issue of Minghui Weekly.

Actually, to “cultivate ourselves well” means to evaluate ourselves with the Fa and to hold ourselves to the standard of the Fa. When we are compassionate, other practitioners will follow. If we have the mindset to be tolerant towards other practitioners, we can see other practitioners' positive qualities. If we cannot figure out what we should improve on, we can only solve it by reading the Fa with a calm mind.

“Humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking.” (“Lunyu” in Zhuan Falun)

Please kindly point out anything improper.