(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, a practitioner was released from a forced labor camp after holding a hunger strike in protest. After he came back home, he still did not drink, eat, or sleep. We talked with him, but he thought Teacher gave him some hint to break his postnatally acquired notions by way of not drinking, eating, and sleeping. He thought eating, sleeping, or bathing were all human concepts. So he wanted to get rid of them and break through the control from the god of time in this way. Most local practitioners could not understand his behavior. His family sent him to a hospital. However, he thought that was interference from emotional ties and refused to cooperate, which led to more conflicts and dissensions. His family, the medical staff, patients, and other everyday people immediately had many misunderstandings about Dafa. This increased the difficulties in clarifying the truth to the public as well.

We should not become attached to any state that appears in the process of cultivation. We had better not draw a rash conclusion based on this practitioner's current cultivation state, either. Cultivation is complicated, and so are the reasons behind the various kinds of cultivation states. There is no model or pattern to follow in cultivation. As practitioners, we should not accommodate others for fear of their misunderstanding and give up our own cultivation principles. But the only right way is to act in accordance with the Fa. I think we should understand the Fa from the Fa regarding the practitioner's current state because we should be responsible to Dafa, the practitioner, and society. I want to share my personal understanding from the aspect of the overall situation of Fa-rectification. Please point it out if there is something incorrect.

In our cultivation, when we don't do well or don't know what to do regarding something, Teacher often gives some hint to practitioners in the form of dreams, others' words or actions, which helps practitioners look inward according to the Fa and rectify practitioners' words and deeds. Hints are an external method, while righteous enlightenment is the key. No matter what kind of "hints" we receive, we always need righteous enlightenment based on the Fa. Some practitioners have attachments to these "hints." Then the old forces will take advantage of practitioners' attachments to conjure a false image and confuse practitioners. We must seriously enlighten from the Fa whether it is Teacher's hint or a demon's interference. We should not take the false images like "transformation following mind-intent" and "demonic interference from one's own mind" as Teacher's hints.

From "Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference",

Teacher: But it must be that the entire human body has been transformed into high-energy matter. Then it can be done. It's not sufficient if the body's surface hasn't reached this state. As you know, practicing qigong stores qi and can also emit qi. When truly cultivating towards higher levels, it's no longer qi. Qi will become nothing at all, but instead there's a higher-level energy that I call gong. It's in fact a more microscopic essence of matter. And this type of essence of matter is stored in your body. Every cell in your body stores this type of high-energy essence of matter. The matter that's more microscopic certainly has a restraining nature. After a long time, this type of high-energy matter will gradually become more and more abundant, more and more substantial. Then the cells in your body, won't they become assimilated by it? After all of your cells have been assimilated by this type of high-energy matter, will your body still be the same as an everyday person's body? Such a body is then composed of high-energy matter collected from other dimensions. In that case, does everyday people's metabolism still exist? It no longer exists. At that point you can do without eating, do without drinking, but it doesn't mean that you can't eat and can't drink. What you'll really need, though, is not things in this dimension of ours. When you're offered human stuff, you'll no longer like eating it. You'll feel nauseated upon seeing it. What you'll need is higher-level matter from other dimensions." (Unofficial translation)

Dafa is supernormal. When a Dafa practitioner's cultivation reaches a certain state or level, there is no need to eat, drink, or sleep. When many Dafa practitioners go on hunger strikes to protest in jails, they are able to far exceed the limits of ordinary people's endurance. This is supported by facts, but it is necessary to point out that this kind of no eating, drinking, or sleeping has essential differences from practitioners' self-imposed fasting or not sleeping. The former is a natural state when one's xinxing and realm reach some level. It is an unintentional state. The latter is intentional behavior. Doing something with pursuit is an omission. Omissions are due to attachments, which practitioners should get rid of.

3. Cultivate while conforming to everyday people's society to the maximum extent

From "Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference",

Teacher: I'd say that this would be a horrendous mistake. I understand that some people will become overly excited when they see the truth, especially when I teach the Dafa today and have taught so many heavenly secrets. Upon obtaining the Fa one will become excited and it's easy not to balance well the relationship between cultivators and everyday people. To cultivate while conforming to everyday people's society to the maximum extent is not just a simple sentence, this is the Fa! It's interconnected from every angle and perspective." (Unofficial translation)

"I have said that our school of practice directly targets one's mind. It does not make you actually lose anything in terms of material benefits. Instead, you are to temper your xinxing amidst the material benefits of everyday people. What is truly upgraded is your xinxing. If you can give up the attachment, you are able to abandon everything; when you are asked to give up material benefits, you will certainly be able to do it. If you cannot let the attachment go, you will not be able to discard anything. Therefore, the real purpose of cultivation is to cultivate your heart. The cultivation practices in temples force you to lose these things so as to get rid of this attachment of yours. By not letting you think about it, they force you to completely reject them; and they have adopted such a method. But we do not require you to do so. We ask you to care less about the material interests that lie right before you. Thus, those who go through their cultivation in our school of practice are most solid." From Lecture 6, "Demonic Interference in Cultivation" in Zhuan Falun

Human notions are the acquired understandings or opinions in life towards the outside world. They are rules and conventions formed gradually in the human world after the sentient beings deviated from the Fa, rigid frameworks to tell right from wrong, good from bad, kindness from evil, and beauty from ugliness. They need to be gotten rid of by practitioners in the process of looking inward while regarding the Fa as Teacher. They are derived from the notion of "self" and selfishness. The process of getting rid of the acquired notions is the process through which practitioners, guided by the Fa of the universe, replace human thoughts with divine thoughts. It is the process through which cultivators look inside themselves and "attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism" ("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature", Essentials for Further Advancement) through studying the Fa intensively and repeatedly, and cultivating with diligence. It is the process through which practitioners enhance their xinxing, purify their minds, and ultimately return to the realm of their purest and most benevolent inborn nature.

Humans have to eat and sleep. This is the way of existence created for humans by the Fa of the universe. Upgrading xinxing is the essence of cultivation. To reach the state and standard of gods through no eating, drinking or sleeping has intention and pursuit. The results will not only be different from what you expect, but also will bring problems to the cultivation community, and increase the difficulty of clarifying the truth and saving people.

In Touring North America to Teach the Fa, Teacher said: "Today I can tell you this: your cultivation is absolutely not a personal, simple matter of reaching Consummation--your cultivation is saving the countless sentient beings in the cosmic body that corresponds to you and who've put infinite hope in you. The cultivation of you all is saving the sentient beings in every single gigantic cosmic colossal firmament."

Due to the continuous and intensive sending forth of righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth by Dafa practitioners, the evil elements interfering with and damaging the Fa-rectification are being destroyed in large numbers. Many people who didn't know the truth are gradually awakening. However, taking advantage of practitioners' remaining attachments on the surface, the old evil forces interfere with them using all kinds of methods in order to obstruct, interfere with and damage the Fa-rectification. As Dafa practitioners, we must reinforce our righteous thoughts, understand the Fa from the Fa, break through the old evil force's arrangements, and destroy the old evil forces' scheme to interfere with and obstruct Fa-rectification. We should jump out of the constraints of individual cultivation, think about issues from the perspective of the overall Fa-rectification, and make sure that we do an even better job of eliminating the evil with righteous thoughts, clarifying the truth and saving people.

The above mentioned is the understanding at my current level of cultivation, provided as a reference for discussion and communication.