|
Gary N. Pansey
Welcome to our Florida conference! I hope each of you are enjoying yourselves and that it will be a profitable cultivation experience. My talk today will attempt to integrate the cultivation concepts of “…there are many great enlightened people watching this event” (Zhuan Falun, p. 135) with “…it is not an easy thing if one wants to practice cultivation. I have said that this is a serious matter. It is something beyond ordinary people and more difficult than anything of ordinary people.” (Zhuan Falun, p. 133) I hope these remarks will enhance our conference and enable us to progress in our cultivation. I begin by noting the current planetary configurations, where Jupiter, Saturn and Venus have been very prominent in the sky in recent months. Now I don’t accept any convoluted astrological interpretation other than the most basic; “THE GODS ARE WATCHING!” And what are they watching? On one level, they saw America deal with a political crisis and they see the strife in the Holy Land around Jerusalem. Of course, they also see the persecution of innocent Dafa practitioners by a brutal totalitarianism that they hoped had gone extinct. But most important of all, they are watching the “Fa rectification” by our esteemed Teacher as each and every level of the universe reaches its purest state and best exposition of “Zhen-Shan-Ren.” Now, what use is this to us cultivators? I submit that it is very inspirational. Don’t we as humans seek recognition and applause for our efforts? Certainly a desire for fame can be a harmful attachment, leading to frustration and a continuance of samsara. But at this special time of Fa-rectification, are we not most fortunate to be on stage in front of the whole Universe? Think of how this will strengthen your cultivation; When you feel depressed and upset with yourself, just look to the heavens and recall that this is your sublime moment to exemplify the noble Dafa. Hopefully, an awareness of this, along with our gong and Teacher’s great benevolence, will enable us to forbear any tribulation or test we may face. As cultivators, we seek to reach consumation and open our cultivation energy. This is surely a good thing. What could possibly hold us back from this true achievement? I suppose it would be none other than we, ourselves. This is why we must make great efforts to study Zhuan Falun and incorporate it into our every thought. And this is no easy task, since, as we have been taught, our acquired notions and thought-karma act as impedence. Our teachings show that it is futile to rely on a method to achieve Ding and that one must truly perform the cultivation oneself. So it is my understanding that we must take the most human part of us and immerse it in Dafa so that it will be rectified. I assert that two very significant human attachments that cultivators must overcome are the desires for recognition and reward. We seek to upgrade these desires so that they are in harmony with Dafa and not merely at the everyday level. As humans, we can’t help but seek recognition for our efforts, especially before kaigong. So this issue becomes one of whose recognition it is that we seek. And here is where the panorama of being in the midst of Fa rectification comes to the rescue. After much cultivation hardship, we know that we cannot betray our Teacher, the suffering disciples in China or Dafa. If we act as if Earth is a great theater of magnificent Fa harmonization, how could we not do our best? If we cultivate well, it is as if every day has the Gods viewing our humble attempts to portray a particle of Dafa and manifest the great characteristics of Zhen-Shan-Ren at our own levels. But notice that unlike the classifications of typical human theater, it is neither Tragedy or Comedy but Fa Rectification! No matter where we go, the Fa rectification process, visible to all the Gods, ensures we have a chance to speak the lines of Zhen-Shan-Ren and act in accordance with the “stage directions” of higher levels in the Universe. Another useful metaphor is the concept of particle. This past year, we have been told to become particles of Dafa (Serious Teachings). The term “particle” is also used in the sciences of physics and mechanics. These books frequently talk about the forces acting on a particle, meaning an abstraction from an actual physical object. They do this so as to simplify the analysis because a complicated physical body will need a much more detailed approach in its equations and the student will lose sight of the important principles being illustrated. This is also what we must do as cultivators. We must eliminate our extraneous parts that have no bearing or influence on the task at hand, which is reaching completion of cultivation. Remember that Newton proved many physical truths by assuming that the entire mass of the Earth or a planet could be concentrated at a point in its center. The effects of gravity were then plain to see. Is this not a similar process to cultivation? Dafa teaches that our yuanshen resides at a very microscopic level. By analogy with Newton’s mathematical process, we, too, can concentrate our human “mass” at the center of our yuanshen and then the cultivation problem will be simplified as the bouyant forces of Zhen-Shan-Ren allow us to ascend to higher levels. Essentially, I mean that a particle is not subject to the perturbations of a typical body, going about its prescribed orbit according to law and this is what we strive for as cultivators in the midst of our human existence. I have discussed the importance of being aware that we are cultivating in view of the Gods and Enlightened People. I hope that it may be of some use to you. Here are my comments on the seriousness of cultivation. Zhuan Falun has a chapter “What has Teacher Given to Practitioners?” This is a profound chapter and clearly distinguishes why a practitioner is different from other people. Since a practitioner can develop gong and be liberated from karmic debts, we are liable to suffer retributions that try and stop us from cultivating Dafa. I cherish any such tribulation, immediately recognizing that it is Dafa at work, truly trying to reach the level of fearing neither life nor death. Consequently, I feel that my Xinxing (moral standard) has upgraded such that what might previously have seemed to be a difficult test now seems trivial. How is this possible? Certainly due to Dafa as well as our Teacher. But I believe that I have come to a serious understanding of what completion entails; that one can merit a higher place in the Universe than a human form, returning to one’s original state of creation. Is this not what Dafa’s cosmology teaches? So my conception of the seriousness of cultivation is many faceted: That I will be able to quickly pay off my karmic debts, that it is a profound, never before revealed Dafa that permits this to occur and that I can lead a more rewarding existence at higher levels. Hence I realize that the standard of a practitioner is much higher than is usual, yet I relish every effort I can make to show that I am one. I conclude by relating a very rewarding Hongfa (Spreading of Dafa in society) experience that I had on New Year’s Day. I went to visit my neighbor who was having a small party with a dozen or so friends. We were sitting there chatting when someone mentioned how the Chinese eat chicken feet, telling a story from a trip to China. While the folks didn’t go as far as making fun of the Chinese, they definitely regarded it as a strange custom. Sitting there silent, the thought suddenly came to me that this would be a good Hongfa opportunity. I waited for that topic to pass and broke into the conversation by bringing up the subject of the persecution of Dafa by the Communists. They all listened attentively and my neighbor had even heard of the situation in China previously. I presented it on a very basic level, that people were being sent to labor camps for practicing stretching exercises in the parks, like I do here. I stayed later after most of the guests had gone. The
discussion turned to friendship, its definition and benefits. My hostess
told how she had done a good deed long ago and the person whom she helped
told her that even though she couldn’t personally repay her, someone else
would eventually come along to do so, which indeed proved to be the case.
At this, the remaining guest immediately agreed, saying that this had happened
to her and was indeed the way things like that work. Soon after, I realized
that this was a verifiable instance of the existence of De (the substance
of virtue) and that the Buddha Fa had indeed revealed itself as “the most
metaphysical and extraordinary science.” (Lunyu, Zhuan Falun) This was
truly a wonderful holiday present from the noble Dafa to one of its ignoble
and undeserving disciples. Thank you for your kind attention and your devotion
to Dafa as demonstrated in this Experience Sharing Conference.
|