(Clearwisdom.net) Before 2006, some Falun Dafa practitioners in a local town did not look inward because they did not study the Fa deeply. They only paid attention to doing things but not truly cultivating. Although they engaged in validating the "Fa" vigorously, there were very deep conflicts among them. Certain practitioners' attachments were not put down for a long time. Coordinators especially did not let go of their attachment to self for a long time. These practitioners were not inclusive. They excluded others, which made the local practitioners unable to form a whole body, and they were like individual, isolated grains of sand. As a result, the evil took advantage of this loophole and made the local persecution situation even worse. Almost every year, many practitioners were illegally arrested, sent to brainwashing centers, sentenced, etc.
After Teacher's article "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles" was published in March 2006, the practitioners in this town studied Teacher's article in depth. They had a profound understanding of practitioners' cultivation form and environment. They realized that cultivating Dafa is looking inward; if they do not look inward, they are only rewarded with good fortune even they do a lot of Fa-validation things. The coordinators led the effort to look inward, put down their concern with self, and let go of their attachments. Soon after, the gaps between them disappeared and the local practitioners formed a solid whole body. At the end of 2006, the 610 Office in the city and the county 610 Office made plans to open a brainwashing center in order to persecute the local practitioners. After learning of the plot, the local practitioners acted immediately. With coordination as a whole body, they kept sending righteous thoughts at a high frequency every day. Soon, the 610 Office's plan to establish a brainwashing center completely disintegrated. Now, the situation in this town is the most relaxed in our local area.
From the change in this town's cultivation situation, we can see that the key to stopping the evil persecution and opening up a relaxed environment is for the local practitioners to form a solid whole body. The practitioners in some areas cannot form a whole body because there are gaps between them. What are the gaps? The gaps are the attachments they do not let go of for a long time, especially the attachments to jealousy, competition, fame, and suspicion. These attachments are the motivation for small groups of practitioners to band together and exclude others. Both sides in a conflict have attachments they have not let go of. As long as they look inward unconditionally, put down their self-centeredness, and eliminate the gaps deep inside themselves, the relationship between the two sides will develop towards goodness. To some extent, eliminating the gaps deep within is the same as eliminating the gaps between two sides of a conflict. Looking inward should be unconditional. We should not see how the other side responds. We should not think: "I already looked inward and admitted I was wrong. Why don't you look inside, too?" With such a thought, we are not truly looking inward but are conditionally looking inward. Cultivation means cultivating ourselves. How can we always look at others? If the other side really has problems, we should kindly point them out. However, we cannot be attached to it. If we can regard other practitioners as a mirror and find our own shortcomings from the other side's behavior, it would be truly outstanding.
Teacher said:
"Cultivate yourselves. I don't want the environment Dafa disciples have to become one in which people point fingers at each other. I want the environment to be one in which everyone can accept criticism and at the same time look inside themselves. If everyone cultivates himself, everyone looks within, and everyone cultivates himself well, won't the conflicts be few? This is a principle I have taught all along, going back to when I first began teaching the Fa. Isn't that so? Improvement for a cultivator definitely doesn't result from finger pointing, nor does it result from my criticism of you as your Master or from your pointing fingers at or criticizing each other. It comes from you cultivating yourself. Now that Master has spoken about this in today's teaching of Fa here, from this point on you must start to take this matter seriously."(Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles)
As practitioners, we must solidly remember Teacher's words. In any condition, in any situation, we should look inward. Then gaps will not appear among practitioners and we will form a whole body, indestructible as diamond. If practitioners in all areas could do this, this evil persecution would end.
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