Advancing in Cultivation by Letting Go By Han Ze
(Clearwisdom.net) Before cultivation, I always thought one could get what
he wanted through making efforts, so when I could not get what I wanted, I
thought I didn't work hard enough. When I tried harder and still could not get
what I wanted, I would complain. Because of this way of thinking I was living an
exhausting life. Sometimes I felt a human being was so insignificant that he
could not even change his own life. Four years ago I read the book Zhuan
Falun, and I knew this was what I had been looking for throughout my life.
Master said, "But true improvements come from letting go, not from
gaining" ("Teaching the Fa at the Philadelphia 2002 Experience
Sharing Conference"). I felt that in cultivation, you wouldn't
necessarily get what you worked hard for, because you will gain only when you
let go. Dafa cultivation is the direct cultivation of one's heart. Along the
path of Fa-rectification cultivation arranged by Master, we change our fate as
we cultivate. We can truly become so gigantic that we can elevate to higher
realms. Hereby, remembering Master's words "a complete sacrifice is a higher
principle of non-omission." ("Perfect Harmony", Essentials for
Further Advancement) I would like to examine myself regarding what I have
let go of or what I realize that I should let go of during cultivation, in the
hope that I will be able to walk more righteously and more diligently on the
path of cultivation through this process of self-examination. Below are some of
my shallow understandings: 1. Let Go of the pursuit of comfort -- be truly responsible for Dafa The pursuit of comfort is a barrier on our path of cultivation. It makes us
loosen up and not be truly responsible for Dafa. I think the pursuit of comfort
interferes with practitioners in several ways: first, if we feel we have made
sacrifices for Dafa and gained reputation among fellow practitioners, we would
think we have done well in cultivation, and such complacency will lead to
erosion of diligence. Secondly, it makes us think that it's no use, no matter
how diligent we are, and we therefore develop a pessimistic mentality toward and
doubt about cultivation and Consummation. This mentality affects our righteous
belief, making our conduct deviate further and further away from that of a
practitioner, and we would even think we are not worthy of being a Dafa
practitioner. The root of this problem is our lack of understanding Fa-rectification
cultivation. In order to get rid of the interference originating from pursuit of
comfort, we must clearly understand it and repel it. I have realized that there
is no fame involved in Dafa cultivation, and there are only sentient beings
waiting to be saved. We should treat ourselves as new practitioners every day.
Every time we study the Fa, we should study it as if it's the first time. We
should place ourselves among other practitioners and should not develop the
mentality of ourselves being superior to others. Moreover, our strict
requirements of ourselves should not degenerate into a competition with others.
If we try to compete with others who have done lots of Dafa work, we are likely
to develop the attachment of doing work for the sake of the work itself. When we
fail to reach the high standard we set for ourselves, pessimistic moods will
easily encourage the development of pursuit of comfort, and this will affect our
diligence. Only when practitioners give up the pursuit of comfort can they truly
be responsible for Dafa. 2. Let go of our own attachments -- look inward Once I clarified the truth to Chinese people at a tourist attraction site
abroad. I brought a picture that we thought was appropriate for truth
clarification. With permission from the host of the tourist site, we used the
picture and the effect was good. Two days later, the host told us other
practitioners didn't think this picture should be used, and he asked us if we
would agree to take it down to avoid conflict among practitioners. But he said
if we insisted, he had no problem with us continuing to use it. I tried to look inward. If I continued to use the picture because of my
attachment to my "right" opinion and ignore fellow practitioners'
thoughts, would that be righteous? With this in mind, I decided to take down the
picture. After I held up the Self-immolation Exhibit Board for about ten
minutes, the host walked toward me and said, "You should use the picture. I
have been watching for a while and I think it's really more effective to use the
picture while you clarify the truth about the self-immolation. This picture
would attract the attention of Chinese tourists, and they will read what is
written on the exhibit board about the truth." This incident helped me
realize the importance of yielding. I let go of my own opinion on the matter and
gained fellow practitioners' understanding on this truth clarification method. When I looked deeper, I felt that the reason we didn't do well was because
although I knew this method was good for promoting the Fa and clarifying the
truth, I didn't share this experience with fellow practitioners. I only told
them briefly what I wanted to do and assumed that fellow practitioners would
certainly agree with my opinion. There was complacency on my part in that I
didn't communicate with fellow practitioners and didn't truly think from the
perspective of fellow practitioners. I realized when exchanging experiences with
fellow practitioners, we should talk about our understandings from the
perspective of the Fa instead of presumptuously assuming that others will accept
our opinion as is. Practitioners have different understandings due to their
environments and levels in cultivation. I also realized that all practitioners might have their ways of doing things.
For example, practitioners in different areas may adopt different truth
clarification methods, but are there other good methods we can use? The
important point is whether practitioners are able to calm down and listen to
others' voices, and if they are able to understand why others have such and such
opinions and behavior. When we come across different opinions, we shouldn't
allow ourselves to be trapped in superficial arguments. An article published on
Minghui. Net talked about when the author had disagreement with a fellow
practitioner. He was upset, but he suddenly saw many shining points in the other
person's thinking. This tells me when practitioners have a conflict, apart from
strictly looking inward based on the Fa, we should also see the good points of
fellow practitioners' opinions, because by doing so we will be able to let go of
our own notions we are attached to. 3. Let go for the validation of Dafa -- stepping out of the human mentality Regarding stepping out of the human mentality, my understanding is that we
should truly understand the purpose of stepping forward and validating the Fa,
and it's not important how much Dafa work we do. There is an inspiring story,
which shows one kind of letting go: a fellow practitioner tried to learn how to
clarify the truth via the computer, but no matter how hard she tried she was
getting nowhere. She thought if other practitioners were so busy with clarifying
the truth on the computer, they wouldn't have time to clean their houses, and
thought she should help them clean their houses. I felt that this practitioner
placed herself in Dafa and did what she understood from the Fa without paying
any attention to the type of work she did, much less did she pick Dafa work
according to her interest. If we step out, we are divine beings; if we don't step out, we are human
beings. When we step out, we are doing things with a divine being's way of
thinking instead of a human being's. I realized the key point of doing things
from the perspective of a divine being is to act according to one's
understanding of the Fa principles obtained from the perspective of the Fa. For
example, we are all anxious when we see that some fellow practitioners still
have not stepped out and we think, "It would be so great if they could step
forward." If we use a human method of pushing and encouraging and are
placing emphasis on the importance of stepping forward, it may only have some
partial effect. Even if they step forward and make telephone calls to China, the
results will be limited if their xinxing does not reach the standard. If
we can truly touch their hearts to save people, that would be the most
fundamental importance. For instance, at a study and sharing meeting, if we
share our experience in making telephone calls and how our xinxing
improved from doing this, it would more likely touch others' hearts. I myself
was moved and inspired this way. When we step forward to validate the Fa, the
emphasis should be on truly treating ourselves as Dafa particles, step out of
human mentality with our xinxing up to the standard, and letting go for
validating Dafa. 4. Let go for the benefit of family members and friends -- treating these
non-practitioners with benevolence and kindness Normally, we would think we cultivate well among fellow practitioners, but
why would we fall short of standards for practitioners in front of
non-practicing family members and friends? When we go out to promote the Fa, we
often remind ourselves to treat all with benevolence and kindness, yet we would
loosen up upon returning home. My personal understanding is that the way we
treat our family members and friends can most effectively show whether our
cultivation is solid or not. Our parents know us best, for they watched us grow up from childhood. They
also know something about Dafa. Sometimes they would even point out our
shortcomings from the perspective of Fa principles. So if we fail to demonstrate
practitioners' benevolence and kindness in daily interactions, they will take a
negative attitude towards Dafa since they cannot feel the beauty of Dafa
cultivation. What makes things worse is, if we forget the cultivation of speech
by unconsciously saying something from too high a level and cause
misunderstandings or confusion for family members and friends, it will intensify
the conflict. I realized that if we cause their misunderstandings by not paying
attention to our words and behavior, we might obstruct them from obtaining a
bright future. With this understanding, I thought we really ought to treat them
with benevolence and kindness, do better in everything we say and we do, and
give up attachments we have nurtured for the sake of our family members and
friends. 5. Let go for the benefit of fellow practitioners -- Dafa practitioners are
one whole body Once, after I had a conflict with a fellow practitioner, the story about Sue
Dongpo and Fuo Yin flashed through my mind. Once, Sue Dongpo and Fuo Yin were
meditating together, and Sue Dongpo laughed at Fuo Yin and said he looked like a
pile of feces. Fuo Yin was not a bit angry and said to Sue Dongpo, "You
look like a Buddha sitting there." Pleased with himself, Sue Dongpo told
his sister about how he made fun of Fuo Yin, but his sister said, "My
brother, your level is too far from that of Fuo Yin. He has Buddha in his heart,
so he thinks you look like a Buddha, while you have no Buddha in your heart, so
you think he looks like feces." When I understood this principle, I finally
realized during the times I had conflicts with fellow practitioners, that most
of the time I was in the wrong. I judged fellow practitioners with Fa principles
while forgetting to judge my own behavior with Fa principles. By doing so, not
only did I fail to be tolerant, I also caused the conflicts between
practitioners to persist. We should cultivate our speech, and we should encourage fellow practitioners
who fail to overcome a tribulation instead of criticizing them. If we see a
fellow practitioner fail to pass a test, maybe it's more than just his own
attachments; we should also take into account interference from demons that
might have increased the difficulty of the test. Master said, "The next
person's things are your things, and your things are his things"
("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference").
Think about it, if one practitioner does well, how many cosmic levels
and how many beings will he affect! From the perspective of the Fa, we should
not only help fellow practitioners overcome tribulations, but we should also
place ourselves in his/her situation to enlighten ourselves. One practitioner's
omission is an omission in our whole body. We should stop criticizing fellow
practitioners' shortcomings with the Fa, for that is not how we should help
fellow practitioners to improve; instead, we should take the standpoint of
regarding the Fa as top priority and treat fellow practitioners with kindness,
and let go of our attachment of criticizing others for the benefit of our fellow
practitioners. Even when there is a lack of understanding on the part of fellow
practitioners, we should communicate with them with kindness, and reflect
whether it is our own attachment that has caused the problem, instead of
allowing the gap to continue to exist. 6. Let go for the sake of future of sentient beings in the cosmos ¨C
breaking away from the old forces' arrangements. The old forces used the evil people in the human world to arrange this severe
test of Dafa practitioners. Lies have poisoned the minds of countless people. We
absolutely cannot sit and do nothing; we must break away from their
arrangements. Once I clarified the truth on the Internet. At first, I posted truth
clarification materials about the self-immolation incident, followed by some
other truth clarification materials. Then I posted facts about the brutal
persecution and the wide spreading of Dafa around the world. The recipient never
stopped cursing and it became worse as time went by. In my mind I thought this
person couldn't be saved, so I posted examples of temporal retribution. This
person didn't change his attitude at all and I developed the fighting mentality
as I typed, "Don't create bad karma with your mouth. Don't seek your way to
hell." He answered, "Go ahead and give me retribution! I don't believe
in this kind of stuff!" I thought I'm here to save him, and I should not
let him hurt himself by creating karma. I let go of my attachment to rectifying
him, at the same time I sent forth righteous thoughts and typed with kindness,
"I really hope you can understand. For your own good, don't cling to
errors." Then I typed, "I clarify the truth to you with sincerity and
I don't want to make you create karma. Please believe me." As I sent forth
this kind thought, his attitude changed considerably and his answers showed
thoughts of kindness. Later, he even asked me for Zhuan Falun to learn
the truth. As a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, my whole life is for cultivation
and for safeguarding the truth of the cosmos. Studying the Fa well, clarifying
the truth and sending forth righteous thoughts are truly important and we must
do them well. If we don't cultivate well and fail to let go of our attachments,
we will affect not only ourselves, but also the lives and deaths of beings in
our cosmic systems. Once more I would like to the share the following with
fellow practitioners as an encouragement: "a complete sacrifice is a higher
principle of non-omission", ("Perfect Harmony", Essentials for
Further Advancement). Please kindly point out anything inappropriate. Posting date: 12/25/2002 |