(Clearwisdom.net) On the Lunar New Year's Eve, I went to my relative's home to have our family dinner. I could not send forth righteous thoughts at noon as a result, and afterwards, I even watched some TV with them and chatted about the TV program for quite awhile.
When I returned home in the afternoon, I was tired and took a nap. I had a dream that I remembered very clearly. In the dream, there was an army that had eliminated 80 percent of the enemy. They had almost completely defeated them and so they decided to take a break. While the troops were sleeping, their enemy returned. In the end, they were all killed. I was very upset about their carelessness and could not understand why they did not even have someone on guard while they were asleep. When I woke up, I was still reeling from my nightmare. The dream seemed to be a reminder and warning to us.
For instance, two practitioners in our area were arrested in another town and we tried very hard to rescue them. However, it was almost the Chinese New Year, and those in the city were busy with social obligations and others who lived in the rural areas were busy with farm work. As a result, we could barely keep up with the three things that we should be doing, let alone rescue fellow practitioners. More seriously, we can easily become attached to comfort and relaxation during the holiday seasons.
I enlightened to the inner meaning of teacher's constant teachings on not “letting up.” I realized that our cultivation and Fa-rectification are intertwined. In other dimensions, our cultivation is like a war between the righteous and the evil, no different. As long as the evil is not eliminated, if we let up even a little, the evil can take advantage of us. The evil can interfere, causing us to suffer huge losses. We want to relax, but the evil does not let up. They are watching us all the time. Even though holidays exist in human society, we cannot let up.
I can appreciate the difficulties of practitioners cultivating in the human world. We must balance the needs of family, community, and the busy holiday seasons. On the other hand, not everyone is very busy. Some practitioners may have more time and flexibility and so they should then shoulder more responsibility as the need arises -- just as an army needs soldiers to be on guard all the time. So I reminded practitioners who have more time on their hands to be “on duty.” As a result, they are more diligent in sending righteous thoughts to clear out the evil in our area and everywhere. I found that my righteous thoughts are very strong. To be responsible to the whole body is to be responsible for myself. The more we place ourselves in the whole body, the more we will let go of selfishness. I would also like to remind fellow practitioners that we should not develop attachments to comfort. As we strive to cultivate, we will be strengthened by Teacher and we will elevate during the process.
