(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
When a cultivator has a thought, it can change not only the cultivator, but also manifest in other dimensions. In my understanding, ordinary society is a mirror of practitioners’ cultivation states. True cultivators carry energy, so everything they do affects the field around them, including society. Practitioners are very careful with their thoughts, speech, and actions.
Many terrible things are happening in ordinary society, and to practitioners. We know that thoughts can manifest into this “reality.” In other words even thinking about something can make it real.
Master said:
“In fact, let me tell everyone that matter and mind are one and the same.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
When we see something bad happening in ordinary society, what causes this? Certainly there is the influence of the evil old forces and the destruction of the cosmos, but how many things are being caused by practitioners themselves? What about the good things practitioners are doing? What gaps and omissions did I have and what have I done wrong? Am I truly cultivating?
The first thing I noticed was that I had Communist Party culture. I was shocked. How could a Westerner who grew up around the personal testimony from refugees who fled the evils of communism in the former Soviet Union countries have Communist Party culture? I visited communist countries and saw the terrible effect of communism firsthand before I obtained the Fa. Yet I had some notions about “equality” and I even tolerated bad things.
One of the most shocking things I discovered was when someone pointed out the actual reason communism was created, and this can be found in the Communist Manifesto. It’s goal is to abolish Eternal Truth, all religion, and all morality. It literally states this.
Anything against Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance is evil, and communism is the most evil. The evil must be eliminated and never tolerated, especially when we find it in ourselves. We shouldn’t think that only Chinese practitioners who grew up in China have this. I also had it and I’m fairly certain most of us carry it. We shouldn’t be naive on this issue.
An ordinary person doing some building work told me, “It’s too early in the job to be off by more than 1/8th of an inch.” When I heard this I had a sudden enlightenment about our cultivation process. Many of the things we do in this dimension are not exact. It’s just not possible to reach an exact measurement, so we do our best, constantly improving and upgrading our levels. But do we take the time and care to make sure we are meeting the standards of the Fa, or are we taking shortcuts in our cultivation and projects?
What this person meant was that if your foundation is not square when you start, everything you build on top of it will be crooked. Each succeeding layer must be measured precisely until you reach the top, because any errors will be amplified with each successive layer. This is the understanding of an ordinary person erecting a building, but I found it applied to my own cultivation and also to our projects.
When he said those words, I found that I had several gaps and omissions in my cultivation – I hadn’t taken enough care in terms of diligence in doing the exercises or doing activities with other practitioners. I took some shortcuts on projects and did not have good results. How many projects have problems because their foundations are not “square”?
Hearing those words from an ordinary person reminded me to carefully measure everything using the Fa and never take shortcuts. We must also remember to be very careful with legal issues, as laws are very comprehensive and complete. Ordinary people should always know that Dafa disciples are good people.
I ran a secure messaging site that was used by many practitioners and ordinary people. We were constantly attacked by the evil and I was beginning to develop the attachment of suspicion. I was sitting in my truck one day and noticed that a microphone had been installed in the ceiling, and I thought, “I should cut the wires to make my truck a secure place to talk.” As soon as I cut the wires, the heater stopped working. I laughed loudly, as I had cut the wire to the heat sensor that looked like a microphone. I suddenly enlightened to what Master said:
“On one occasion I had my mind connected with four or five great enlightened beings and great Taos from extremely high levels. Speaking of high levels, their levels were so high that everyday people would find it simply inconceivable. They wanted to know what was on my mind. I have practiced cultivation for so many years. It is absolutely impossible for other people to read my mind, and other people’s supernormal abilities cannot reach me at all. Nobody is able to understand me or know what I am thinking. But they wished to understand my thought activity, so with my consent, they linked my mind with theirs for a period of time.” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)
Master allowed those great Taos to connect their minds with him, yet I was afraid of being spied on in my truck. We are not hiding, and because what we are doing is righteous, we do things out in the open. However, it’s a fact that practitioners are spied on everywhere in the world. From my experience, practitioners are some of the most spied on people on Earth. When I travel to other countries, sometimes my phone doesn’t work for days, while everyone else in my family has no problems. However, I realized that this happens because there’s someone I need to clarify the truth to, and once I talk to them, everything clears up.
The old forces control banking and money, the legal system, communications, and so on, and they have made extremely detailed arrangements for everything, which makes it difficult for practitioners to save sentient beings. We can turn the tables with these difficulties to clarify the truth and save sentient beings.
A person I met online who was using our communications service told me, “I’m a spy.” My first thought was that Master sent him to me so I could clarify the truth to him. Master said in the 2011 Washington DC conference:
“While it may look on the surface as though someone invited you to come, you absolutely would not have been able to enter if gods hadn’t wanted you to. (Disciples applaud) I have come to save people (disciples applaud), and you all know that I am enduring things on behalf of sentient beings so that they may gain salvation. I seek nothing personally from this. I can forsake everything, and I have no human attachments. Since I have come to save sentient beings, I cannot be selective. I am saving all of the world’s people, which includes all of you seated here.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” in Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume XI)
I explained the wicked persecution by the CCP to him, and how wonderful Dafa is, and I gave him a link to Zhuan Falun. He read it twice and we’re still in touch. Good and bad people are everywhere, and this was a good person. Many spies are good people, but some are not good. If someone is placed in front of us, we must try to save them.
Spies are carefully recruited from the top universities, and are some of the most capable, clever, and experienced people from ordinary society – many are society’s elites. Some of them have been placed inside our projects and now practice Falun Dafa. We must be aware of these situations and carefully safeguard the Fa and our important projects, while saving these spies.
My third eye opened one night and I was shown a scene of the destruction of one universe after another, exploding and being destroyed until the entire old cosmos was completely destroyed and nothing remained but blackness. I was shocked. There is nothing to save here except the beings we can bring with us to the new cosmos; everything is going to be destroyed. To save these beings, we must measure everything we do carefully with the Fa. There are no shortcuts in cultivation, and our foundation must be solid and square.
Another time, when my third eye was open I could see every wall, with the entire ceiling and the floor being covered with blinking eyes. The fate of many beings in other dimensions depends on how well we do here. They were watching me—so many I couldn’t count them.
As Master said:
“All the beings are counting on you!” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)
If we are playing the lead role, then what about the persecution?
Master taught us:
“If human beings were to end the persecution, what a disgrace that would be to Dafa disciples! We wouldn't have validated the Fa, we wouldn't have established mighty virtue in the persecution, and our Dafa disciples wouldn't have blazed their own path.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2003 Midwest U.S. Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume III)
In my understanding we are near the final point. We walked most of our paths, and only the end of this story remains to be written. If we hope to live up to our vows, we must validate the Fa and cultivate well. Master arranged the best for all practitioners; are we living up to his expectations? In the end, with a good foundation, boundless compassion, and the Fa, we can save the sentient beings we were arranged to save. Please point out any errors or omissions in my sharing.
(Presented at the 2024 San Francisco Fa Conference)