(Clearwisdom.net) It happens quite often that when we clarify the facts to people, we hear negative comments from them about fellow practitioners. In the early days, I tried to change the topic or responded by saying, "There are always some who are not good enough regardless of how pure the practice is" or "This is an unusual case," etc. Later when I recalled the incidents, I still felt that those fellow practitioners did not do well enough.
I have come across similar situations again lately. However, this time I looked within myself first to see if I had attachments, such as shifting blame onto others, overly catering to people's notions when clarifying the facts, passing judgment on others and picking on fellow practitioners. Indeed, I found that I had all these attachments to various extents. I have also read experience sharing articles on the Internet that presented similar issues. I felt that I needed to look at this issue from the Fa with righteous thoughts.
Recently, as I was clarifying the facts to a person, she mentioned that a distant relative of hers was also a practitioner, an older lady and a very nice person. This person said, "However, she is too infatuated with [Falun Gong]" and "not normal." I kept sending righteous thoughts while asking her about the fellow practitioner. She said that her relative would read Dafa books before and after dinner, that she always had a Dafa book in her hand, and that she did not care much about what was happening around her in society. I asked her if her relative refused to take care of household chores or if she was indifferent towards her family members. She said that was not the case. I told her that she should not take a one-sided view about it. I told her that when I was living on campus while I was a student, every night after the lights went out, I would read novels in bed with a flashlight. Many of my classmates did the same. Would you say that we were abnormal? Could you say that the author was evil simply because we all liked reading her novels? Nowadays, playing the mahjong and chess are commonplace in China, and people often skip meals and sleeping to play, but why doesn't anyone consider mahjong and chess to be evil? I explained that because the Chinese people had been deeply poisoned by the culture of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), they tended to measure things against their own interests. If it resulted in personal gain, they would even condone serious crimes. Yet if there was no personal gain in it, they would not even appreciate the good deeds of others. I said to her that if her relative kept reading Dafa books even under such adverse circumstances, isn't that a sign that the principles taught in the Dafa books were indeed precious?
She kept nodding her head while I was talking. I also told her that when she had an opportunity to visit her relative, she should encourage her relative to remain steadfast. She agreed, and later she quit the CCP.
On another occasion, the person I was clarifying the facts to immediately said that Falun Gong practitioners were not normal and that one of them he knew was "crazy" because he practiced the exercises on the street every day. I said to him that if the practitioner did not obstruct traffic when he did the exercises by the street and if he did not cause trouble to anyone, then there was nothing abnormal about him. This person was rather confrontational at the beginning, but after I explained things to him calmly, he didn't say anything negative anymore.
I have come to the understanding that when people make judgments about Dafa practitioners with their own notions, we must think about it from the perspective of the Fa. We should not follow their way of thinking. People's comments are based on their personal interests and what they like or what they don't like, and we should not foster their negative notions. Furthermore, the current cultivation environment is so complex and what Dafa practitioners are enduring and the tribulations they go through are beyond people's imaginations. How can people make negative comments about Dafa practitioners without the facts? If they use the CCP's slanderous labels such as "crazy," "not caring about their family," etc, then isn't it a good opportunity for us to clarify the facts about the persecution?
The above is only my personal understanding and limited by my own level. Please kindly point out anything improper.
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