(Clearwisdom.net) A fellow practitioner who lives near me has been in the state of "sickness karma" for a long time and has not been able to get rid of it. In trying to help with her situation, I have been doing a lot of thinking. In dealing with tribulations, we know that we must look inwards, eliminate attachments, send forth righteous thoughts, and continue to do the three things well. She has been diligently, at times even painstakingly doing them. Yet, her situation still remains about the same. Why is this the case?

I feel there exists a stubborn and deeply rooted substance that is creating barriers for us. We have merely dusted off our attachments on the surface. However, what lies deep within our hearts remains untouched. We have occasionally encountered it, but we didn't eliminate it completely. We may have thought we did, but we didn't. It occupied us completely in our old life, even invading all of the cells in our body and taking over our every thought. What is it and how can we eliminate it? I pondered this question.

"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive Out Interference")

I tried hard to remember what Teacher said about eliminating tribulations. Teacher gave me a hint and I suddenly remembered two incidents from Zhuan Falun. One was the story of a man walking on the street with a book in his hand yelling out that he was not afraid of being hit by a car because Teacher was protecting him [Teacher mentioned that he will not protect this type of person]; and the other was an elderly female practitioner in her fifties who was dragged by a car for several meters but was not harmed at all after she said, "Nothing is wrong." The two incidents have also been discussed by many practitioners in their experience-sharing articles. However, their understanding have largely been from the standpoint of believing in Teacher and the Fa," which I also agree with. But what exactly was the difference between the two incidents?

After I thoroughly read the section on "Upgrading Xinxing" in Zhuan Falun several times, I understood that Teacher was telling us something when he used the story of the elderly female practitioner who was dragged on the street by a car. When Teacher talked about "one thought," it didn't mean nothing mattered. Instead, I understand it as meaning that even in a life and death situation, if one still has a kind understanding and compassion, and does not cause trouble for others, then that kind of righteous thought is truly a huge difference from that of an everyday person trying to extort money from others.

I now understand that under any circumstance, we should have the state of mind of a genuine cultivator. In the face of personal profit or when encountering critical situations, we should consider others and have a compassionate heart. When we reach this level, Dafa's magnificence and protection will appear and interference will not occur. As for the person walking on the street with a Dafa book in his hand, he is not requiring himself to be a good person, but only trying to show off and cause trouble for others. He is even worse than an everyday person, so how can Dafa protect him?

In the past, I was confused by many things that appeared to be complicated. Now, the center of the problem has become clearer. Feeling lucky isn't hidden by showing calmness on the outside; some of our brave actions do not make our selfishness disappear; being untidy (trying not to look attractive) doesn't mean you have really gotten rid of the attachment of lust; living a poor lifestyle doesn't represent elimination of the attachment to profit; and believing in Teacher and the Fa doesn't really manifest as superficial brightness. Truly changing our nature of selfishness and completely eliminating it is the base for upgrading xinxing.

"I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others--or even future generations--along with Dafa's eternal stability."("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" Essentials for Further Advancement)

This is not the level we will attain after we have reached consummation, but the level of xinxing that we must reach while confronting tribulations and barriers every day! We can then say we are truly practicing cultivation, eliminating the old forces' persecution, overcoming barriers and tribulations, and able to accomplish our mission of assisting Teacher in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings!

Currently, sentient beings are confronting a gigantic catastrophe--facing possible elimination by the old forces. Only those who understand the truth of Dafa and withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party's organizations can be saved. Therefore, as practitioners, we need to do truth clarification with righteous thoughts and actions regardless of any danger or persecution we come across. If we can really do everything in this manner, we will become a great beings with the protection of Teacher's Law Body and the Gods that guard the Fa. So, how can any evil get near us? The evil elements in other dimensions that still interfere or cause trouble will be disintegrated immediately by our strong righteous thoughts. Then, won't the illusory image of "sickness karma" and the persecution - the monitoring, spying and arrests - disappear?

The difference between the thought of a God and that of a human is that the former is for others, whereas the latter is for his or her own interests - unselfishness versus selfishness. To shed our human thoughts and become a God, is to get rid of the nature of selfishness.

A clear principle manifests right before my eyes: cultivation practice is not for our own consummation, but for the salvation of sentient beings. Doing the three things is not just to achieve what we want, but it is what the salvation of sentient beings requires us to do. Eliminating evil is not for our own comfort, but it is for protecting numerous sentient beings within and around our bodies. Negating the persecution is not for protecting ourselves, but it is for ratifying the beauty and mighty power of Dafa. Helping fellow practitioners is not for their safety, but for negating the old forces' arrangement, enabling more fellow practitioners to save more sentient beings.

September 14, 2008