Thoughts About Cultivation: Diligent Cultivation

Recently, I have gone through some cultivation experiences that have helped me become more diligent. I thought it would be good to share them with other cultivators, so below are a few points that I have realized.

The first is the importance of studying the Fa well. I take plenty of time to sit down and read one lecture of Zhuan Falun every day as well as Master’s recent articles and overseas lectures. The most crucial point in studying the Fa well is being able to concentrate.

The second is doing the exercises. I practice the five exercises every day. While I am doing the exercises, I keep an empty mind and focus on listening to the exercise music.

The third is being able to improve my character, which is the key to cultivation. Many practitioners pay attention to studying the Fa but neglect to improve their character. Improving character requires us to live up to the standard of Dafa, eliminate attachments, and, in the end, assimilate to Dafa.

Sending forth righteous thoughts is the fourth thing I would like to share on. Sending righteous thoughts four times a day is a must. It is crucial for practitioners to follow Master’s requirements while sending righteous thoughts—any distracting thoughts must be eliminated during that time. I personally experience that sending righteous thoughts together globally at the four established times can best help eliminate the evil in the universe, because it requires us to become one body. Nevertheless, many practitioners are still not able to pay serious attention to this global event.

The last point in my experience is clarifying the truth. This is the greatest among the Three Things that Dafa disciples are required to do at this time [Editor’s note: the Three Things are cultivating oneself, sending righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth]. As practitioners, we should have done a good job at clarifying the truth. It is important to know that no matter what your skill is, just do what you know the best and give it your best effort. For example, sending out letters about the truth of Falun Dafa, handing out flyers and CDs about the persecution, clarifying the truth face to face with people, and sending out the truth via emails and text messages, etc. are a few common methods. In fact, if we each focus on how we can help clarify the truth, we could find millions of methods among us.

I think the points I mentioned above are Master’s minimum requirements for being a Dafa practitioner. Even so, sometimes I could not achieve all of the requirements simultaneously. For example, sometimes I did not finish the five exercises every day, or my mind would be distracted and could not be calm while sending righteous thoughts, or my mind would easily wander while studying the Fa. Sometimes I even felt like studying the Fa was a chore that I must accomplish. In the area of clarifying the truth, I have also found myself not proactive enough sometimes.

Through experiencing all these weaknesses above, I realized that I must strictly discipline myself to live up to the standard of Dafa and uphold the state of a true Dafa practitioner.

At the same time, I would like to share my understanding that Dafa practitioners in Mainland China must be strict with themselves while they cultivate under the difficult environment there. They must maintain a clear mind and do the three things well while under the external pressure.

Above are some personal cultivation experiences that I wanted to share with fellow cultivators. I welcome other practitioners to point out anything that is incorrect.