(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings to Master. Greetings to fellow practitioners.
It was suggested to me to write an experience sharing article and at first I felt quite resistant to the idea as I couldn't really think of any real improvement in my xinxing or achievement in any particular Fa-rectification project. However, this lack of motivation to write something also stems from a feeling of lethargy, laziness and fame ¡V not wanting to admit that I had any great cultivation achievements.
As the Fa conference quickly approached, when I had free time I easily found myself distracted by TV and celebrity gossip. A practitioner called me to encourage me to write something, now the second time I'd been asked, and although I still had resistance, I think Master was trying to encourage me to share.
A practitioner then pointed out to me that I could look at it from the aspect of sharing to help improve the one body rather than from my own perspective.
I would like to share about working as one body and communication in Scotland and the effect on saving sentient beings. For two years Edinburgh practitioners were divided -- a small group met regularly to study the Fa and some who did not join as they were too busy.
Although the small group did study the Fa together we were also "privately becoming like buddies and pals" like Master mentioned in the "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference." In my heart I had a barrier towards one Chinese practitioner who did not study the Fa with us, even though I knew they were busy, I blamed them in my heart for not joining our group and sharing with us. Yet part of me felt relieved that they didn't join the group as I feared this practitioner pointing out attachments I did not want to give up. I had notions that this practitioner didn't want to speak to me because I had too much sentimentality towards other practitioners I felt "close" to and that therefore they felt my xinxing was too low, but I resented that they ignored me for this and did not want to communicate with me. However I did not truly look inward to root out and eliminate the problem. Nor did I really try to look at the situation from the other practitioner's perspective. This barrier meant that communication was almost non-existent between us for a long time.
We had a conflict and afterwards we didn't talk to each other and I felt uncomfortable in my heart towards them.
I can see that one of my shortcomings is that I like to feel close to people, and I like people who I consider have a similar way of communicating and expressing themselves as myself. In the case of this Chinese practitioner, I didn't feel close to them, nor could I understand their way of communicating which meant I often misunderstood them and had notions about them.
Because we are in the Fa-rectification period, my understanding is that our personal cultivation state affects how effectively practitioners clarify the truth and save sentient beings, but at the same time how well practitioners co-operate and communicate as one body also affects our Fa-rectification work on a local and national level.
In the case of Edinburgh, although the two divided groups both separately clarified the truth to the local media about organ harvesting, my understanding is that because there was a communication barrier amongst practitioners it weakened the righteous thoughts of the whole group and this loophole was taken advantage of by the evil, so the media did not print an article about it.
However as the time for the Edinburgh parade approached we decided to have a teleconference for Scottish practitioners to study the Fa and discuss about how to improve working as one body. Both this Chinese practitioner and myself shared about our shortcomings and how we had been responsible for the barrier between us. This practitioner pointed out how my sentimentality towards my husband and another practitioner friend impeded truth clarification work and I agreed. I hadn't really put saving sentient beings foremost, but wanted to enjoy my human things first. Instead of feeling resentment I felt this open communication helped to clear the barrier and notions I had. There was no blame in our sharing. We both wanted to take responsibility for the barrier. I had pushed this practitioner away by my unwillingness to move beyond my sentimentality towards friends and had put saving sentient beings in the second place.
Soon after, I was touched that this practitioner phoned me and we had a long talk about some problems that had manifested in Edinburgh, problems they saw in me, and the difficulties they had in communicating. I appreciated that they shared that with me. I felt more warmth towards them and less fear of them. I knew it would only improve our efforts in saving sentient beings. Since then we have also held activities as one group and the atmosphere was harmonious. We are now getting stronger as one body.
I wanted to share this with everyone as I know the issue of lack of understanding between Chinese and Western practitioners has come up in the UK. My understanding is that it is our notions about the differences between practitioners and our judgements that cause a barrier. The notions that we have about our different approaches in saving sentient beings causes a barrier, as does the notion that we must have practitioners understand us in order to work well together. Any barrier can be exploited by the evil and hamper saving sentient beings. Master said in Zhuan Falun (translation 2003):
"..., if you always consider other people when you do things, and whenever you have issues with other people you first think about whether they can take it or whether it will cause them harm, then you won't have any problem."
I remember Master saying something like how well we cultivate will be reflected in our work, family and society, so doesn't that include practitioners as well?
Thank you Master and thank you fellow practitioners for listening and I hope that we can accept our differences, accept that we cannot always understand each other and see our differences as strengths that can be used to save more sentient beings.
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