(Clearwisdom.net) I have cultivated in Falun Dafa since I was young. I'm now over 20 years old and came to the conclusion that the tests faced by a young practitioner are no different than those facing an older practitioner. While growing up, I had little contact with society and my thoughts were very pure. At the time, I cultivated very well. As I entered my teenage years, the opportunities to mingle with ordinary people made it very difficult for me to continue my cultivation. I couldn't let go of what everyday people had to offer and if I succumbed to activities in society, it was not easy to be diligent, studying and cultivating well.
I enlightened that age does not matter when it comes to facing tribulations and everyday-type society interferences. It is difficult for everyone to let go. When one is tested, the ability to let go or not let go at the critical moment is the same for practitioners of all ages. On average, young practitioners are in better health than older practitioners. Generally, they don't need to deal with the test of life and death when suffering sickness karma. Yet, it is certain that the criteria for young practitioners aren't lowered. On the contrary, as young practitioners grow up, they are faced with all kinds of temptations. How to deal with such temptations is the life and death test for every young practitioner. They need to choose between becoming an everyday person or letting go and walking the path of a genuine Falun Dafa practitioner.
As I watched young practitioners, I noticed that they do play a role in validating the Fa; however, they were drawn to the benefits they saw from being an ordinary person. They found it difficult to free themselves from what society had to offer. Some lost their temper when it affected their personal gain. Some turned irrational when they were affected by emotions, and others regarded comfort and position as their priorities, affecting their cultivation negatively. This rendered them unable to deal with tribulations.
I lost my job because of realignment in my office, was under a great deal of pressure, and became depressed. My heart was heavy when people asked me about my job, regardless of their intentions. I felt ashamed and insulted, and so developed a bad temper.
I studied and memorized the Fa, and came to the understanding that my suffering was human-based and I had to let it go. When my study and work environment was easy, I failed to cherish it. Given my new understanding, I let go of my attachments. I understood that the tribulation I was facing was nothing to a cultivator and nothing to be afraid of. The key was to let go of the attachments and elevate to higher levels. Wasn't the tribulation targeting my attachment to seeking fame and personal gain? Wasn't the tribulation a test to see if I was afraid of losing face? Didn't it test me to see if I still could do the three things well when I did not have a stable job? Wasn't it a true manifestation of where I positioned myself with respect to Dafa?
One particular incident helped me to have a better understanding of the Fa. On my way to buy groceries, my wallet was stolen. I was not well off, so losing several hundred yuan was a heavy blow. At the time I was all but penniless, and I felt as if I was left with nothing. While roaming the streets, I felt lost. It showed me how easy anything in this human world could disappear and I wasn't mentally prepared for this calamity. For the very first time I understood what worldly possessions meant to a human being. Money, property, career, and emotions were very unstable. I was left with nothing more than my body, my thoughts, and the Fa. All of a sudden I enlightened to the preciousness of the Fa from another perspective. Everything else could easily disappear. Only when my thoughts were on the Fa could I really feel what richness and eternity represented for a cultivator.
After everything disappeared, I really felt the inseparable relationship between my body, my thoughts, and Dafa. I realized that it meant nothing to lose worldly things, but that it would be devastating to lose the Fa. In other words, as long as we have the Fa in our hearts, nothing else really matters. The Fa was the guarantee for my existence, the hope and the meaning of my life.
My heart became peaceful. I looked at the world with a calm mind. People of my age can enjoy their life as much as they like. They have their families, careers, and comforts—but so what?
In the past I felt that I suffered a lot of hardships and sometimes I would feel envious of fellow practitioners who were relatively well off. Now all this no longer mattered, and I felt comfortable and carefree. When I had lost the things that I felt most proud of, I realized that it didn't matter as long as I had the Fa. Didn't that mean that my life existed for the Fa? This was the real meaning of my life! If I continued to yearn for the things that had no relation to my present life, it would actually be fruitless. What could I take when I left this world? As for myself, as long as I could assimilate into the Fa and do the three things well, I would be satisfied and have no other yearnings.
These tribulations were instrumental in my letting go of many human attachments. As a result, all my problems were resolved and my financial situation improved. However, I no longer had any special feelings of joy or sadness, but felt very relaxed. Now my heart remains unmoved when I face gains, losses, and emotions. After learning the true meaning of the existence of life, I find it far easier to let go of any attachment that surfaces. Since I concluded that the existence of my life is for the Fa and not for human desires, I am immersed into the Fa.
I enlightened that desires for fame, gain, and emotions is a life and death test for cultivating young practitioners. Elderly practitioners no longer have the same expectations as young practitioners, who are just entering society. Many young practitioners were doing well before becoming a part of society. However, after growing up they no longer were diligent practitioners, and so were gradually immersed in emotions and desires. Before becoming a member of society, their environment was pure and their inborn quality was good.
As long as one lives among non-practitioners, one will develop human attachments. When one grows older and is involved with everyday people, one will learn more about what goes on in human society, and one ultimately will face more problems. A practitioner has to make sure that he/she is not interfered with and deceived by fame, gain, and emotions. The objective is to remain in the Fa, genuinely cultivate, and use conflicts to strengthen one's resolve in the Fa.
Teacher said,
“Let’s think about it. If a person can’t pass the trial of life and death, he cannot achieve Consummation. But it’s not that you will definitely have to go through exactly something like that for it to count as laying down your life; that’s only the form of it. I don’t deem that important. What I look at is whether or not your mind can truly do that. ” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland”)
The Fa that Teacher taught us is very profound. The test of life and death doesn't require one to face death, but to see whether one can really let go of human thinking and human attachments. What is necessary is for one to enlighten to the real meaning of one's very existence, understand the relationship between life and the Fa, and whether one can get rid of all interferences and do a good job with the three things Teacher asked us to do.
During Fa study I enlightened that the Fa rectification period practitioner must study the Fa diligently. Maybe different practitioners have different things to do, but whatever you do, you must play a positive role and be responsible for positive outcomes. We must not be in a state of inertia.
In everyday people's eyes, processing truth-clarification materials is very dangerous in China, and sometimes I also worry. In assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa and save sentient beings, every practitioner has different skills. Not all practitioners have set up a material production site. We still need people to provide materials. Practitioners who make truth-clarification materials not only need courage, but also need to be responsible to the Fa and sentient beings. This is the mission they accepted in this lifetime. We must not have human thoughts and must keep in mind Teacher's requirements of us and the needs of sentient beings. Only by doing so will we know our responsibilities.
A practitioner wanted to set up a home material-production site and asked for help. At first I was worried about my safety because I still held human thoughts. Then I realized that this worry arose from selfishness and it created an obstacle. I only thought about my own safety, but failed to think that their wish to set up a family material site was in line with the Fa. If the material site could be set up, how many more sentient beings could be saved? Since we were of one body, whenever fellow practitioners ask for help, we need to be there for them and help harmonize everything. Teacher wants us to
“Attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism”. (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
We must do the things Teacher asked us to do and should not be hindered by human thoughts. Teacher said,
“As a practitioner, if you always think that it is an illness, you are actually asking for it. If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body. As a practitioner, your xinxing level should be high. You should not always worry that it is an illness, for this fear of illness is an attachment and it can bring you trouble just the same. ” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
I enlightened that fearing this and fearing that was also a sort of pursuit. There is nothing wrong in wanting to harmonize the one body and help Teacher rectify the Fa. I constantly eliminated the factors that set off my fear and consulted with the practitioners about the best way to set up a material site. Under Teacher's guidance, the site now is up and running smoothly.
The process of helping fellow practitioners to set up home material processing sites is also a process of tempering ourselves in the Fa. In the initial stage I had a fear mentality, but gradually let it go. Therefore, I wasn't interfered with by negative factors. I was very clear in my mind that making truth-clarification materials should not be an excuse for being persecuted, since this is in line with Teacher's requirements and the Fa of the cosmos, whereas persecuting the practitioners is going against the Fa of the cosmos. Therefore, the perpetrators themselves are the ones who should be afraid.
It is our responsibility to protect our material production sites with strong righteous that come from studying the Fa well and purifying and rectifying ourselves. We should not imagine what might or might not happen, since such negative thoughts attract demonic interference from our own minds. The righteous thing is to do everything in accordance with what Teacher asked us to do and measure what we do with the Fa.
Even though we might have some hidden attachments, they will be eliminated during our cultivation. Therefore, we don't need the so-called tests arranged by the old forces to improve ourselves. We only need to follow Teacher's and not any other arrangement. However, we must do everything righteously. We should not be moved, distracted, or burdened by fame, gain, and emotions. We should also cultivate our speech and not say anything that we aren't supposed to say. We must do everything wisely and rationally. Keeping righteous thoughts all the time will allow us to clean out all interferences and not leave loopholes that the evil forces can take advantage of. If anything happens we should not point fingers, but harmonize it. If we do things righteously, the surrounding environment will change and our own dimensional field will be purified. As our human side diminishes, our divine side will become stronger.
I think that if we can understand the relationship between life and Dafa and let go of human attachments, we will not be confused, linger on, or even forget our prehistoric vows and become lost in the human turmoil. This is a big test we are facing! We must not let Dafa slip away from us. No matter what we study and what we do, as long as we are in the Fa, we are able to make full use of our strengths. That is the real goal of our life and the result of our prehistoric vow. We have the responsibility to fulfill it.
Category: Improving Oneself
