(Clearwisdom.net) Fa-rectification cultivation has been going on now for twelve years. Falun Dafa disciples are maturing. We know how to deal with many situations after going through so much. Facing difficulties, no matter what methods we use, we cannot omit looking inward in our cultivation. “For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
I remember when we first began cultivation, Master required us to look inside and we practitioners disciplined ourselves very strictly. This requirement has not changed. Master bestowed us with supernormal powers to eliminate interference in other dimensions by sending forth righteous thoughts, but personally, I think sending forth righteous thoughts cannot replace looking inward. We should not stop doing one and emphasize only the other.
I have observed some phenomena while hosting Shen Yun performances, and would like to discuss them with fellow disciples here. We all know that we should strengthen our righteous thoughts when tickets sales are not going well. Some regions gather disciples together to send righteous thoughts, and even invite practitioners from other regions to help. No doubt this is necessary and effective. However, when we are sending forth righteous thoughts so often and are employing appropriate levels of advertising, yet tickets sales are still too low, shouldn't we try to find other causes?
Under these circumstances, personally I think we should carefully look inside and see if any cultivation problems remain. I believe that this may meet with good results.
Some practitioners say that even if we have loopholes, the evil forces are still not allowed to interfere, and that we should fundamentally negate the old force arrangements. On the surface, these words make sense, but I believe that if we negate the old force arrangements, it must be based on cultivating ourselves well. If we do not look for our own omissions, do not cultivate ourselves, and only emphasize not allowing interference, is this righteous thoughts? Is this validating the Fa? Don't we then have a lopsided understanding of Master's teaching of completely negating old force interference?
As long as we act righteously, the old forces dare not block us in saving sentient beings by clarifying the truth. Negating the old forces' arrangements does not mean believing that they don't exist while still going about things with a human mentality and without looking within. Righteous gods and negative deities are all looking to see if our xinxing improved. If we put all our hopes in sending forth righteous thoughts and human methods, and do not upgrade our xinxing, sending righteous thoughts can easily become just a formality and not part of cultivation.
Master taught us, “However high a person’s gong is, that’s how high his or her character is, and this is an absolute truth of the universe.” (The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa) Cultivating inwardly, looking within, upgrading xinxing, and digging out one's own attachments cannot be omitted. The process can be very painful, but this is our basic cultivation principle.
While selling Shen Yun tickets, the entire body needs to upgrade according to the Fa. It is time that practitioners outside China make a point of looking inside. Sending forth righteous thoughts cannot replace looking within.
