(Minghui.org) I have been clarifying the truth to people face-to-face for many years, and I have not faced any problems or been harmed. I feel that the most important factor has been avoiding the old forces’ ways of thinking.
I am not a naturally courageous person, and I still hold some fear. However, my fear has lessened because I have experienced a lot of tribulations. Regardless of what happens, whether someone takes my picture, reports me, arrests me, or I get scared by something, I will not be affected in any way, and I will still do what I should be doing.
I don’t accept any so-called tribulations or tests forced onto me by the old forces. I only follow the path arranged by Master. I am not using the old forces’ ways of thinking. For things such as “zero-out” campaign and police “knocking on doors” to harass me, I just take it as an opportunity to save sentient beings. Master has the final say regarding anything I face.
Our sole purpose in this lifetime is to fulfill our vow – to save sentient beings. However, over the long period of time when we traveled down through many levels, our true nature gradually got buried, and our selfishness arose. The deeper we get buried in the human realm, the stronger are our notions.
Cultivation involves eliminating these acquired notions and returning to our original nature. At the final moment of our cultivation, when sentient beings are facing a catastrophe of life and death, whether we can let go of our selfishness and step forward to save sentient beings is a choice that every cultivator must make.
When ordinary people choose between good and evil, they are actually choosing between life and death for themselves. For cultivators, if we choose to let go of our selfishness, we are in fact choosing to believe in Master and the Fa. We are then not using the old forces’ ways of thinking, and of course are not being controlled by the old forces. Can we go to heaven with a mentality of selfishness?
Master said:
“... what is a Buddha? “Tathagata” is what human beings call someone who’s come with the truth and the power to do what he wants, whereas real Buddhas are guardians of the cosmos and are responsible for all righteous elements in the cosmos.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Guiding the Voyage)
Every cultivator wants to achieve righteous fruition, but it is not something that can be achieved just by thinking about it. It’s a realm that can only be reached through gradually letting go of selfishness in our cultivation.
How can we avoid the old forces’ ways of thinking? My understanding is that we must let go of our mentality of selfishness, and get rid of the attachment to ourselves. Only when we conform to the Fa are we following Master’s arrangements. On the contrary, if we use the old forces’ ways of thinking the old forces will attempt to control and manipulate us, and will interfere with what we do.
Master said:
“Whatever a person wants is up to him...” (Teachings at the Conference in the Western U.S.)
If we don’t even have the desire to save sentient beings, how can Master help us?
Even when I’m in a dangerous situation, my first thought is still to think of others. This has become normal for me. For example, I once began to clarify the truth to two people I saw sitting on the curbside. One of them pointed to the other person and said to me, “Do you even know what he does?” The other person signaled to him not to say anything. I didn’t care who he was because I knew we must have a predestined relationships for us to meet there.
After I finished speaking, I gave them some materials. The second man immediately jumped up and stood in the middle of the road with his arms outstretched to prevent me from leaving. I was riding an electric bike, and I could have rushed past him, but I thought it might scare him, and I knew I shouldn’t let sentient beings have bad thoughts about Dafa. I thus chose to back up and turn around, although that option was more risky for me. I turned around slowly and left. The man seemed to be frozen there. He was yelling but didn’t move.
As long as we comply with the Fa, Master can do anything for us. Even if the old forces want to do bad things, they can’t do them. This also prevents sentient beings from committing crimes against Dafa.
Although there were times that I felt anxious and fearful, I just cultivated myself and was thinking of saving sentient beings. I feel that I am improving very quickly, and it is because we are cultivating during the Fa-rectification period. We can only improve this quickly when we cultivate while doing Dafa related work for Fa-rectification.
For example, when I used to have an ordinary job, I didn’t have much time and energy, so I was just making automated voice calls. It was more like completing a task.
I started to memorize the Fa at the time, and I started from Lecture Five because each section was relatively short and easier to memorize. But it went very slowly, and I eventually gave up. Later, after I could cover my living expenses, I decided to stop working and devote myself to clarifying the truth. I then started to memorize the Fa again, and this time I memorized Zhuan Falun, the main book of Dafa, in 95 days. From then on, I became faster and faster, and I could even get through two or three lectures in one day. Some people asked me if I had a great memory. I didn’t think so. It all came from cultivation. In the process of saving people, Master has given me wisdom.
For so many years, regardless of how the environment was in China, I never stopped saving people, and I have passed through many dangerous situations. But we indeed improve the fastest when saving sentient beings. Sometimes it may seem risky, but it is actually a way for us to improve. The more I talk to people to clarify the truth, the more I want to do it. The largest number of people I was able to help withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its youth organizations was over 80 people in one day. Saving the Chinese people is my greatest wish.
When I study the Fa now, I often see and understand more principles of the Fa, and I have also enlightened to some of the principles of the Fa. For example, when I recited “... Each note of our instruments carries compassion...” (“Singing for All Lives,” Hong Yin VI), I thought that we also want to treat every sentient being with compassion and speak every word with compassion when clarifying the truth.
When studying the Fa, I constantly measure myself with the Fa, and correct myself in time if there is anything that does not conform to the Fa. Also, whenever I have a thought, I try to look at it to see if it meets the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and correct it if it does not.
Because I have memorized the Fa a lot, I am able to think of what Master said when I encounter things, and I can make fewer mistakes. Only when we conform to the Fa, let go of our selfishness, and solidly cultivate ourselves while saving sentient beings, can we stay out of the old forces’ mode of thinking and break the arrangements made by the old forces. This is the safest way.
I hope fellow practitioners will all go through the streets and clarify the truth, save more people, assist Master in Fa-rectification, and fulfill our vows and missions.
The above is based on my personal understanding. If anything is inappropriate, please kindly point it out.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Improving Oneself