(Clearwisdom.net) Master said in "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference",
"... different people have different human thoughts as they cultivate and their innate foundations are different, just as their attitudes toward cultivation are, of course, different. The most precious thing is to manage to continually progress while in this grueling setting, under pressure, and unable to see hope. That is the most precious, and greatest, thing."
Master also wrote in "Tempering the Will" in Hong Yin,
"The world's miseries endured, One departs the earth a Buddha."
In Zhuan Falun, Master mentioned, "this person should also be able to endure the toughest hardships of all", when talking about people with great inborn quality.
Through years of cultivation, we cultivators have all encountered "hardships." We have to be able to endure hardship. Hardship helps reduce karma, facilitates the transformation of black matter to white matter, and helps raise ourXinxing and increase gong. However, we do not try to be "a monk who cultivates through hardship." We do not seek hardship on purpose. What we need to do is to treat hardships that we encounter on our cultivation path with righteous thoughts.
In contrast to hardship, everyday people's "enjoyment," "coziness" or "comfort" are not objects of pursuit for cultivators. A cultivator does not care what everyday people have. A comfortable life, abundant wealth, great health, a big family of children and grandchildren, a high living standard, and satisfaction with sensual pleasure all sound attractive, yet they cannot last forever. Because of their selfish nature, people have been accumulating karma. Living itself is a gradual process of building up karma. Through many lifetimes, people have accumulated karma upon karma. To owe others money, one has pay it back. To eliminate karma, one has to endure tribulations. That is why people have birth, aging, illness, and death as part of life. All misfortunes are bound to take place.
Yet we are cultivators, not everyday people. Master told us in Zhuan Falun, "To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." Craving for "enjoyment," "comfort," and "coziness" are attachments that we need to get rid of. Otherwise, they become hindrances on our cultivation path.
The following are two examples. I hope we can all take them as a lesson. At present, the two practitioners' situation is especially worrisome. I tried to persuade them out of kindness and warned them. It grieves me that my words were not effective to them.
Practitioner A started cultivation before the suppression started on July 20, 1999. He bought a cassette player and a VCD player for others to practice the Falun Gong exercises. About five years ago, the company he worked for finished building a residential high-rise. He said, "After I am done with the interior design and modeling, I will then focus on studying the Fa and practicing Falun Gong exercises." A month or two passed, and he was done modeling and decorating his new home. Then came the Chinese New Year season. He has a big family. His children and grandchildren greatly enjoyed his spacious and bright new apartment. I went to visit him after the New Year season. His attitude had completely changed. His wife said, "We don't practice Falun Gong. The Communist Party doesn't let us practice, so we just don't practice." He himself had a wrong understandings as well and reasoned, "How come so many Dafa disciples have been arrested, sentenced to prison, and taken to labor camps and Master doesn't protect them?" I did not have deep understanding back then, but I fully believed in Master and the Fa. So I looked for some articles that addressed these issues. I delivered the articles to him on my next visit. I hoped that they would help expel his erroneous understandings. Time passed. He did not change. Later I learned from a fellow practitioner that he made up a set of exercises by himself. He publicly claimed that a set of home-spun exercises was also effective for fitness and health. Better yet, the Communist Party doesn't ban it. I know this was his attachment to fear. And behind the fear, was his attachment to comfort. He drifted further and further away from Dafa. I learned later that he often went to hospitals for treatment.
Practitioner B is my uncle. He suffered a stroke before he retired. After one week of treatment, he started practicing Falun Gong. He felt it was a great set of exercises, which cured his heart problems without the aid of medicine and injections. He was amazed at its miraculous effect. Later his daughter learned that he was practicing Falun Gong. She was fearful that the Communist Party would persecute their family. She tried to stop her father from studying the Fa and doing the Falun Gong exercises. On one occasion, we were exchanging experiences at his home. Her daughter happened to come. She cried and yelled in front of everyone to prevent her father from practicing Falun Gong. Fellow practitioners gave her the facts, and he gave his own account of how he benefited from Falun Gong. After the stroke, he was not able to stand up if he squatted down. After studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, he was able to ride a motorcycle. His daughter was relieved and supported him. After his retirement, he took advantage of his medical skills and opened up a clinic treating outpatients. In the beginning he told patients of the miraculous nature of Falun Gong. As time went by, he was tied up in his business. He slacked off and did not spend as much time studying the Fa. It was said that he was swamped by patients from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. In nine months, he made over 160,000 yuan. I tried to remind him, "You have regained your health. Master gave it to you. It's for your cultivation. Our health is not merely for making money and living an everyday life. The busier your work, the harder you need to try to study the Fa." Later I found out that he often went to regional operas and joined with everyday people in song and dance. The people started to talk that he was having an extramarital affair. In order to help him realize his mistake, I asked an everyday person to bring it up to him how others were forming opinions about him. However, he did not come to realize his mistake. I then pointed it out to him how much hardship Master has endured on our behalf and the important mission Dafa disciples have. I tried to make him see the danger and damage of his actions. However, he is engrossed in his cravings. He is 70 years old. Seeing him destroying himself grieves me.
The above two examples let me see the danger of the attachment to comfort. It is a trap. If a cultivator slacks off, indulges in promiscuous behavior, a demon will immediately take advantage of the loopholes. If one does not stay alert, it is all too easy to follow the arrangement of the old forces and veer onto a path that will destroy sentient beings. Master told us in "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference",
"Failing to be diligent in cultivation is actually no trivial thing. The instant you relax, you will be led away by human thinking and take a backward, or roundabout, route, and you will cooperate poorly with each other as you validate the Fa and clarify the facts."
We must study the Fa well and set a strict standard for ourselves. Only then can we resist enticement, avoid being distracted into comfort, strengthen our righteous thoughts, and assist Master in Fa-rectification. In addition, besides the attachment to comfort, we need to get rid of all other human attachments and pursuits through cultivation.
August 20, 2009