Looking Inward

I thought that I was cultivating well and was able to look inward when I encountered problems. It was not until today that I realised that I actually missed many opportunities. Many times I did not truly look inward and thereby limited myself. When I encountered conflicts with others, I did look inward. Even though my level of character was not present at that moment, I was able to look inward afterwards. When I see or hear problems that do not directly affect me and seem not to have anything to do with me on the surface, I seldom look inward. At such times, I often criticise others and try to solve the problems for the sake of solving problems. As a coordinator for the past few years, many times I experienced limitations to passively solve problems. Whenever there was a problem, I usually discussed the problems with the whole group. During this process we all tried to look inward, but often limited ourselves by the fact that we did not discuss the issue. We commented about who was right and who was wrong and what everyone had done. I thought we were doing quite well and that I was helping others to solve their problems. It's a pity that I actually missed so many opportunities when I should truly have looked inward! I acted like a judge when I helped others with their problems and conflicts. As a third party, I seldom stayed out of the conflicts and looked inward at myself.

This is not uncommon among our fellow practitioners. Of course we should try to solve the problems when we encounter them, but exactly how should we solve the problems? Teacher told us in "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital, 2006:"

"If you can conduct yourself in that manner with whatever you encounter, at a minimum you will find a way to resolve the problem. Otherwise how could you resolve it? When a person charges forward and is contentious, the more he wants to resolve it, the less he is able to. In that scenario you still haven't in fact let go of that attachment and you are pushing your way to the front, and you insist on figuring out who's right and who's wrong; even though you've made mistakes, you insist on figuring out others' mistakes. When that's the approach, you won't be able to resolve the problem."

After repeatedly studying Teacher's lecture, my thoughts started to change. I realised that in cultivation, when we encounter problems, if we cannot look inward, then we are not in the Fa. When we do not listen to Teacher, we are in conflict with the Fa. When we try to solve problems or try to point out others' mistakes without looking inward, it will not work well. Because this is looking externally and trying to change others according to our expectations, we do not consider ourselves as cultivators. We have to truly cultivate ourselves. No matter what or who the problem is directly or indirectly related to, we ourselves should always look inward. Nothing we encounter is accidental. If we see it or hear it, it's in our own dimension and corresponds to something negative. On the surface it seems to be someone else's error, but this shows us our own errors. We should not be confused by things on the surface. We need to go beyond that, look at our own thoughts, see which of our attachments are being touched, and whether we have the same problems. We have to find the real problem and resolve it. If we act like this, then our thoughts are based on the Fa. Then we need to discuss the matter with others and solve it. If we all look inward, we do not need to intentionally try to solve the problem; it will disappear if we have righteous actions. This will truly solve the problem, because we found our own attachments, corrected ourselves, and raised our character and understanding to a higher level.

A few days ago during experience sharing, we were repeatedly discussing how to solve a conflict between two practitioners. The two practitioners had big conflicts cooperating with each other, and there was also a relationship involved. We spent the whole evening discussing it but were not able to resolve it. We felt that something was not right. How come we kept criticising others? Let's look inward! From examining their conflicts, we discovered we were lacking compassion. When a problem occurs, we do not look at and use the Falun Gong teachings, the Fa, to measure ourselves, instead, we always measure others. Also from their emotion and sentiment, some of us saw our own hidden feelings. Every one of us discovered problems of our own. We saw the essence of the problem, and we did not focus on those two practitioners' problems anymore, since their problem is actually a reflection of our problem as one body. We all looked inward and corrected ourselves. When I met those two practitioners later, their problem had already been solved, just like for the rest of us. From this incident, we realised the power of "looking inward." As one practitioner said, when a problem occurs in our group as one body, it may not be that obvious for everyone involved. Certain practitioners might notice more. But if we see it, then it's our responsibility, it's a problem for us as one body, and everybody bears a share. When everybody cleanses him or herself and takes care of his or her own problem, it will no longer exist.

Teacher told us that "Cultivation is about cultivating one's self." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital", 2006) If we limit ourselves to solving the problems for the sake of solving problems, then we are looking outward, we are using the theory of the old universe, and we are following the arrangements of the old forces. If we do not completely negate the arrangements of the old forces, we won't be able to solve the root cause of the problem. Why can't the old forces that wanted to save the universe not do it, and in fact destroyed themselves? It's the same reason. Looking inward when facing problems is a major difference between the lives from the old universe and the new universe. Only when we look inward can we meet the requirements of the Fa. Cleanse ourselves, be tolerant toward others, cultivate our compassion, and save sentient beings. How do we look inward? We need to change our old notions. It is a natural act after a life has assimilated to the Fa, so we must study and use the Fa to measure ourselves. When facing problems, no matter under what circumstance, no matter what or who it's related to or if we find it is to be right or wrong, we must be calm, take a step back, and find what problems exist inside ourselves.

Yesterday evening when I was reciting Teacher's "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital" for the third time, I discovered that I did or said many things in the past few days which were not in the Fa. I was shocked. I visited a new area recently and noticed that big safety issues existed there. Practitioners were not paying attention to their speech and everyone knew everything. At least six or seven people have the keys for a major material production site and they come and go freely. They pay more attention to doing things than studying the Fa. I talked to the local coordinator and practitioner who is in charge of the printing several times and pointed this out and gave them some suggestions. They also realised the importance of this issue. They listened to my suggestions and changed their methods. In the past, I felt that I have done well. But when I studied the Fa calmly, when I recited "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital" and checked my own actions, I realised I was wrong! Seeing the problems in this area, I did not look inward first--why didn't I see it? Was it arranged for me to correct their wrongdoing? Why was I so certain that my opinion was right? The first thing I did was not looking inward but solving problems for "others:" this was wrong. The suggestions I gave them came from my understanding during my cultivation from different levels and periods. Is it suitable to tell others to copy my understanding? Isn't it forcing my own opinion onto others? I realised these things and maybe it meant that I needed to change the methods I used before. I need to renew my notions and correct anything that is not within the Fa. Afterwards, I could then discuss with fellow practitioners how to solve the problems. Maybe at the end they will still use what I originally suggested, but the result--for myself, or we as one body, or in another dimension--would be totally different. Teacher has told us that we should assimilate to the Fa unconditionally. We should change our long term human notions and follow his requirements. Recently I have required myself to follow this and I have really discovered so many problems. My old selfish notions have started to change. My old ways of thinking and habits have changed as well. So this is an important point we should realise: whatever we do, whatever problems we face, we should first realise we are practitioners. We should not focus on doing things and rush to solve problems. We should cultivate ourselves during the process and upgrade our characters, because this is the core to fulfilling our other tasks.