(Clearwisdom.net) When studying the Fa (1) or clarifying the truth, I noticed that we cannot do anything well if we do it with the attachment of pursuit. For example, when studying the Fa, some practitioners did not realize they were thinking that studying the Fa could help reduce the persecution, resolve conflicts, or improve health; this actually is studying the Fa with the attachment of pursuit. Why is it? We are here to cultivate, not to pursue ordinary people's comfortable living.
"In religious cultivation in the past, Buddhists taught Emptiness--not thinking about anything, and entering the Gate of Emptiness. And Daoists taught Nothingness--having nothing, wanting nothing, and seeking nothing. Cultivators used to talk about, 'Putting the mind on practicing, not putting the mind on getting gong.' So you cultivate in a state of nonaction and just focus on cultivating your character, then you'll be making breakthroughs in your level, and you'll definitely have whatever you should. If you can't let go of something, isn't that an attachment? Here we're teaching such high-level Laws right at the outset, so of course the demands on your character are high. And that's why you can't come to learn the Law wanting to get something." (Zhuan Falun)
Let's think about these two points: religious cultivation in the past required Emptiness and Nothingness, and Dafa cultivation should have higher standards. My understanding is that the Fa is our guide, and as long as we study more with a pure heart, we will learn more, assimilate more into the Fa and improve more. I feel very lucky, happy and grateful for getting so much benefit from reading one book and I should not worry about anything beyond that. Pursuing more is really a greedy illusory thought, rather than our true nature, and we should completely deny such an attachment. I treasure the opportunity to study the Fa and cultivate. That is why I always take every chance to study the Fa with a pure heart.
Lots of attachments have been exposed during the process of clarifying the truth. Some practitioners became pleased with themselves and complacent when people understood and supported us. Conversely, they felt lost and angry when people ignored or opposed us, and became depressed when they suffered persecution. How to keep a calm heart and righteous thoughts? I once read a sentence in a book that said that giving someone a rice grain with no expectation of return is worth a ton, while giving tons of gold with the condition of repayment is not true merit. This is just a saying from ordinary people. Why, when we Dafa practitioners do so much, do we sometimes not get the expected good results? The key is that our hearts were not pure enough. If we unconditionally show the greatness of Dafa to people without any expectation, I believe that most people will be happy to listen to us.
Non-practitioners protect themselves when they are hurt …quot; that is human nature. As a cultivator, we should not look outwards, rather look inwards to find our own problems. Master told us that the whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments; we should not nurture any attachments under any excuses. We can only achieve calmness when we do not have any pursuit; we achieve pureness when we are calm, and we achieve benevolent resolution when we are pure.
Occasionally some practitioners who did lots of Dafa work would have the attachments of comparing and competing, and they looked down on fellow practitioners who did not do as much. All the sentient beings are waiting to be saved …quot; we should just focus on saving people. Saving one is not too little and saving 10,000 is not too much. Everybody has different capabilities, and as long as every one of us does our best, we should not pursue any results. Achieving higher levels is the result of cultivation, not pursuit or competition. Every life has its own original position. An enlightened being in the new cosmos should not have any attachment of pursuit.
June 12, 2004
(1) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.
