Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

[Minghui Fa Conference] Enlightenment Obtained While Working for Minghui

June 06, 2019 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner outside of China

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners all know that the Fa validation projects we are involved in are a part of our cultivation path. I am very honored to be able to participate on the translation team for the Minghui website. Just like all other practitioners who are helping Minghui, participating in this project is actually a process where we cultivate ourselves and improve ourselves based on the Fa.

Translating A Sharing about “Trip and Fall” and My Own Trip and Fall

Nothing is coincidental in cultivation, so there are also no coincidences regarding the experience-sharing articles that we are asked to translate. A translator will normally read through an article carefully to try to understand what the writer is trying to share, and I therefore feel that the translation process is also a process of the translator and author forming an energy field. Of course, as a translator, the way I look at the sharing and how I understand what the writer has gone through also reflects my cultivation state.

I translated an article not long ago which in general talked about a Dafa practitioner who tripped and fell when he went out to clarify the truth about Dafa. The fall was quite serious and the old forces told him that he had broken his elbow. However, this practitioner immediately send forth righteous thoughts, remained steadfast in his belief in Master and the Fa, and eliminated all disturbances. He then found that there was nothing wrong with his elbow.

When I read the article, I felt that this practitioner’s understanding of the Fa was very good. I asked myself if I could do as well if I was in a similar situation. A few days later, I went out to distribute fliers for another truth clarification activity. Just as I left the car and took a few steps, I tripped and fell on some frozen steps. At that moment, there was a loud sound from my left foot. As I landed on the ground, my left foot twisted inward, and the upper surface of my left foot was facing down and touched the ground.

I immediately remembered this article, sent forth righteous thoughts, and stood up. Thanks to the article author and my own understanding of the Fa, I had the thoughts, “I must completely reject all the arrangements of the old forces!” and, “I just had a fall so I should go rest in the car. If I really can’t continue, I can come again tomorrow.” I immediately realized that this second thought was not correct. If I were to rest or drive back, won’t I be acknowledging that I had a bad fall and affect the saving of sentient beings?

Wasn’t this an arrangement of the old forces? How can I reject the old forces’ arrangement on one hand and follow their arrangement on the other? I therefore continued walking to the district where I had planned to go, to distribute the fliers. While I was walking, I could feel a hot sensation at my left ankle but there was no pain.

After returning home, I had dinner and was sitting on the sofa when my left foot started to be quite painful. I did not let my family members know about this matter however, as I felt that the thoughts of sentient beings would also have some energy influence. Their “worries” and “fright” is their way of expressing their concern for me. As a cultivator, I should not let these kind of negative thoughts and energy be formed.

Just as I was about to take a seat to rest for a while, my husband asked me, “Do you want to clean the kitchen?” As per our family’s housekeeping plan, we clean up the kitchen together every Tuesday night. I am in charge of cleaning all the cupboard and working surfaces and my husband cleans the floor. In order to reach the higher kitchen cabinets, I need to use the foot stool. I thought, “The kitchen is not dirty and it will not matter much if we skip it this week. Additionally, my foot is in pain and this has nothing to do with saving sentient beings. Therefore, I should let this small matter go.” I suddenly realized that this was not correct and two sentences came into my mind, “Completely reject all arrangements by the old forces! There is no small thing in cultivation!” I understood that creating a disturbance in my daily life due to my fall was acknowledging the old forces’ arrangements. I therefore immediately stood up and started to clean the kitchen.

The next morning I was a bit scared when I woke up, as I did not know how I would feel when my feet stepped on the ground. But I remembered that article in which the practitioner kept emphasizing “believing in Master and the Fa.” My mind still had some doubts however. As I repeatedly recited “believe in Master and the Fa,” I also thought about the common saying, “It will take a hundred days for an injury to the tendons or bones to heal.” At that moment, I realized that human thoughts are still influencing me, so I started to send forth righteous thoughts. Suddenly, I remembered two words, “miraculous effect.”

Master said,

“Since it is a cultivation method, it isn’t just simply getting healthy and strengthening the body, because it aims to reach a very high and profound realm. Think about it, if it’s used for healing and to strengthen the body for people, of course amazing results will be seen. (“Teaching the Fa in Beijing at the Zhuan Falun Publication Ceremony,” Zhuan Falun Fajie-The Law of Zhuan Falun Explained)

My understanding of the two words is that there is no need to talk about treatments and procedures. Everyday people have all sorts of understandings about the time that is required for an injury to be treated and heal, the type of medication, and other such requirements. My understanding is that “miraculous effect” is the Fa regarding breaking free from all these preset understandings.

I am a Dafa practitioner and having no problems with my foot should be the correct state, so what am I afraid of? I therefore stood up and there was no pain in my left foot. However, I did not feel as though there was something to be happy about, as I already understood that things should be like this before I stood up. Just as the rise and set of the sun, this is a normal phenomenon. Dafa practitioners do not have any illness and that should be the normal state.

At that moment, I remembered the story about the person who wanted to cultivate to attain the Arhat state in Zhuan Falun. He did not succeed in his cultivation the first time because of his joy, and he also failed the second time because of his fear of being joyful. My own understanding is that perhaps the reason he failed in his cultivation is that he did not treat himself as a true cultivator right from the start. When one worries about gains or losses, it is usually because one is feeling unsure about the things that one wanted to gain, thus one questions oneself.

Practitioner’s Every Thought Is Important

If cultivators are supposed to attain Fruit Status, we will be able to attain it, just like the ripening and dropping of fruits, everything happens naturally. If a cultivator is to be happy or worried about attaining any Fruit Status, that means that he is treating attaining Fruit Status as something unnatural. In that case, isn’t he doubting himself as a cultivator? Similarly, Dafa practitioners have no illness. Therefore, there is no need for me to be happy or worried about “having no injuries after the fall.” Regardless if this incident happened to me or to fellow practitioners, I should treat it as a normal phenomenon and should not have any attachment.

After this incident, I looked inward and understood something else too. When I was translating that article, I was thinking, “This practitioner understood the Fa very well. He fell so hard, but managed to pass the ordeal with his righteous thoughts...”

At that time, I did not reject the disturbance from the old forces, which was that practitioners should not trip and fall in the first place when they are clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. Master totally “does not acknowledge” all that the old forces claimed to be “tests.” I asked myself what was the definition of “do not acknowledge.”

Based on my current understanding, from a certain point of view, it means that the disturbance should not even appear in the first place. I did not understand this point enough when I was reading that article, but took the experience of that fellow practitioner as an example to follow. I am acknowledging the tribulation however, thinking that one can improve one’s xinxing when one goes through such a tribulation. If I am still thinking in the logic of the old forces, then the logic of the old forces will have an effect on me. This is a loophole which can cause me to have tribulations. Therefore, a practitioner’s every thought is very important.

Having No Time and Making Excuses

I would also like to talk about another matter. Once when I was out running errands for an activity, it was almost 10 o’clock by the time I reached home and finished dinner. I had actually been translating an article for a few days at that time. I thought, “I will take a break today since I am quite tired and it is already quite late. I will just study the Fa for a while, send forth righteous thoughts, and go to bed. Since there is no time to carry on the translation today, let’s talk about it tomorrow.” That day, I happened to be reading “Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of Minghui’s Founding.”

Master said,

“The task of running Minghui well is a job of tremendous importance and one that saves people.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of Minghui’s Founding,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)

When I read the above sentence, I suddenly wondered why Master said, “a job of tremendous importance and one that saves people.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of Minghui’s Founding,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)

At my current level of understanding, Minghui may have a greater meaning than what I understood, and there may be important elements which I have yet to understand. What I need to do is to try my best so that Minghui can be maintained well.

As such, I still continued to complete the translation that night. I did not expect, however, that I managed to finish that translation within a very short time. At that time, I remembered what Master said,

“So some of the things practitioners accomplish are due, in fact, to the powers they possess.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

“This high-energy entity is in another dimension and doesn’t travel through this dimension here, so its time passes faster than ours.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

My personal understanding is that when we are working on truth clarification projects, our spiritual powers are taking effect and functioning in another dimension. If I have a thought about how much time I will need to finish a translation, it will form an opinion which results in a fake display. Everyday people can treat how much time a task requires and make it a fixed factor in their planning, and this does not affect them negatively. However, this thought can have an obstructing effect in my work for truth clarification activities.

While studying the Fa on the next day, I read this section in Zhuan Falun,

“Some people who do the cooking for their families [and have to deal with livestock] might be concerned about how they are going to put food on the table if killing is off limits. I’m not here to address minutiae like this. I am here to teach the Way to practitioners, and I won’t be giving instructions for others on how to go about their lives.” (The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)

When I first read this section, I had some questions, such as when that person says that if he/she does not kill, his/her family will have nothing to eat. This is indeed a problem. However, when I read this section, I had a bit of new understanding. There are many people who are vegetarians and there are also many people who are buying food from the supermarkets. “I do not kill” and “My family has nothing to eat” do not relate to one another logically. This person just did not want to deviate from his original lifestyle, and is using the survival of his family as an excuse for that. In that case, how can a person like that, who is reluctant to change himself, become a good cultivator?

With reference to that, how was my behavior the night before? For a Dafa practitioner, “being tired” and “having no time” are actually just excuses.

There are many more cultivation experiences that I have gone through while working for Minghui. However, I would just like to share these two little things with fellow practitioners for this submission. For me, it is like a form of encouragement and I hope that they will be of some help to fellow practitioners as well. Kindly correct me should there be any room for improvement.

(Presented at the Minghui’s 20th Anniversary Fa Conference-selected and edited)