(Clearwisdom.net) During the past year, I have come to truly understand that when we form Fa-study groups, we are better able to cooperate with each other as one body, improve ourselves more quickly, and do the three things better. Here is one example.
A few months ago, an older practitioner from our Fa-study group and her daughter, Practitioner L, were arrested by the local National Security Police while clarifying the truth and producing Falun Gong materials. With righteous belief in Teacher and the Fa, and with the solid foundation of cultivation, the elder practitioner walked out of the police department very soon. But her daughter L is still detained at the local detention center.
Below is how our Fa-study group reacted to the persecution, and my personal understandings.
1. Cooperate as One Body and Eliminate Evil to Save People
When I heard that practitioners were arrested, I immediately exposed the evil's crime on the Minghui website (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom). At the same time, I shared my understandings with fellow practitioners based on the Fa. The practitioners all believe that Dafa disciples are one body and that other practitioners' things are our things. We needed to rescue Practitioner L and eliminate the persecution. This was our responsibility.
Practitioner D in our Fa-study group suggested that we should help the senior practitioner hire an attorney to make an innocent plea, and help us more effectively clarify the truth to the public as well as those in the judiciary system. We knew that we do not depend on the attorney to rescue us from persecution, but to help him and others to understand the truth. When they are defending us, they are also choosing the best future for themselves.
The senior practitioner did very well. In a very short time, she visited most of the law firms in our local area and helped them to know about the persecution. Meanwhile, other practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts, targeting the local National Security Team, Procuratorate, and the court that participated in the persecution of the practitioners. Meanwhile, we mailed letters to the local National Security Team, Procuratorate, and the court.
We exposed the CCP's crimes on the Minghui website, and Practitioner D compiled many truth-clarifying materials to expose the CCP's persecution of Practitioner L, which we passed out locally. When the senior practitioner went to the detention center to ask for the release of Practitioner L, the police officer in charge of the case either avoided seeing her or pushed the responsibility onto others. Their attitude was no longer so confident or dismissive.
2. Looking Inward to Find Our Attachments, Getting Rid of the Attachment of Fear, and Taking Responsibility
After Practitioner L was arrested and persecuted, we realized that we had omissions as a whole and were taken advantage of by the evil. We looked inward and found our attachments and shortcomings. Personally, I found that I had many problems with my xinxing, some of which were very serious.
Practitioner L had pointed out several times where I had the attachment of looking down on others. I did not admit it in my heart. Instead, I felt that Practitioner L harbored some prejudice against me. When I taught Practitioner L some technical skills before, I acted impatiently because she was a little slow to learn. My impatience made her at odds with me and generated some disagreements between us.
I looked inward and found that I indeed had the attachment of looking down on others. I felt that Practitioner L did not pay attention to her appearance, did things slowly, and did not pay attention when I taught her technical skills. While I was teaching her, she chatted with other practitioners, which made me feel disrespected.
Since then, when I needed to work with her, I did not feel good about it. I expressed this unconsciously and she sensed it. When Practitioner L needed to get rid of an attachment, I pointed it out to her. However, I accused her in an everyday people's way, instead of kindly pointing it out with a practitioner's compassion. Gradually, our differences grew deeper and our gaps grew bigger. Although I tried to keep the peace on the surface, my heart was turned upside down. I had actually already deviated from the righteous path of cultivating oneself and looking inward. I was taken advantage of by the old forces, but I did not realize it at all.
Since I did not look inward and cultivate myself, I also developed attachments of resentment and competition. I always felt that Practitioner L did things wrong and that I did things right. When I heard that Practitioner L was arrested and persecuted, I even had a thought flashing through my mind at that moment, "I had the good intention to remind you to pay attention to safety. Now look at what happened to you since you did not listen to me." When a practitioner suffered from the persecution, I still tried to prove myself right in my heart. It was even worse than an everyday person's reaction, truly shameful and selfish.
Now I realize that my attachment of looking down on others, which was pointed out by Practitioner L, was actually a form of self-validation. It originated from the fundamental nature of the old universe, selfishness. On the surface, it showed that I always used my notions to judge others, considered myself to be perfect, and protected myself at whatever costs. If practitioners do not get rid of selfishness, how can we save sentient beings and cooperate with each other as one body? I made up my mind to get rid of this attachment.
After Practitioner D suggested hiring the attorney, the practitioners in the Fa-study group all helped. Practitioner D quietly paid all of the attorney fees, and helped with finding and clarifying the truth to the attorney.
I also adjusted my duties and took on the task of transmitting information to the outside. I updated the attorney's progress on the defense, exposed the related governmental departments and officials' information on-line, and provided information for practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts and mail truth-clarifying materials.
I can recall that one day, I went to the senior practitioner's home three times in order to verify some information to be published on-line. It was mid-summer and very hot. I also worried that the police were watching her home, because some practitioners warned me of that possibility.
I was anxious and a little afraid, so I started to recite Teacher's poem "What's to Fear?" from Hong Yin Volume II to encourage myself and strengthen my righteous thoughts. During that period, I gradually got rid of my attachment of fear. Also during this time, I went to the senior practitioner's home nearly once a day to get the latest information.
3. Improving Ourselves as One Body
Once I went to the older practitioner's home to discuss some things with her. She said to me, "This severe persecution happened in my family. What went wrong? Could you please help me find out if there is any omission in my xinxing?" I told her that she had a strong attachment of affection for her children, which I had pointed out to her before.
The senior practitioner had borrowed nearly 100,000 yuan from two practitioners for her son (not a practitioner) to do business, but her son was not clear about the persecution of Falun Gong. Sometimes his attitude toward the practitioners who went to the senior practitioner's home was bad. He did not even allow the practitioners to enter the home. I felt that the senior practitioner must feel a lot of pressure for being so much in debt and was seriously interfered with by this. Was this arrest caused by her attachment of affection to her children? Was it one of the main reasons the evil beings found an excuse to persecute her family?
When I told her my thoughts, I felt that it was to sincerely help her, but the senior practitioner immediately got emotional after she heard what I said. She said, "I might just settle for whatever I can cultivate." After a while, she said again, "If I cannot achieve consummation, I might just settle for being a human. Whatever!" I felt that she was unhappy and very dissatisfied with me. When I left, she said, "I am going to fight to the end."
I didn't know how I went downstairs from her home, as my mind was full of the words that she had just said. I rode my bicycle back home in a daze. After I went back home, I could not practice the exercises anymore and could not study the Fa with a calm mind. I thought, "What do you mean? Who were you wanting to fight with? There was only you and me in the room. The words must have been targeted at me. I endangered my own safety to help you, and is this the thanks I get?" My mind was overwhelmed and I could not sleep that night. My grievances and human notions surged to the surface.
After a few days, I attended the group Fa-study and shared my experiences with fellow practitioners. I realized that a Dafa practitioner should not be interfered with by mere words, and my xinxing was too far away from Teacher's requirement for us. Just a few words could turn my heart upside down. It was just what the evil beings wanted to see, and it was interference to keep us from rescuing Practitioner L. I could not fall into the evil beings' traps. I should consider validating the Fa and rescuing the practitioner first. I could not let the evil destroy our Fa-study group's efforts of rescuing our fellow practitioner as one body.
More importantly, it was not an accident that the senior practitioner said those words to me. When I calmed down and looked inward, I found that my compassion was lacking. I could not tolerate others' shortcomings and always looked at others' deficiencies. I could not see others' strengths. So when I pointed out other practitioners' shortcomings, I usually also made accusations and complaints, which did not give the senior practitioner any kindness and warmth she may have needed during the tribulation. But I considered myself to be "frank" and "truthful."
While sharing experiences at our group Fa-study meeting, the senior practitioner also reminded me, "In the Fa, Teacher taught us that 'Truthfulness' is also composed of 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance'. Our truthfulness should also have compassion and forbearance."
She was right. I should study the Fa better and form the mechanism of "looking inward unconditionally all the time" during my future cultivation. I should be understanding and tolerant towards fellow practitioners, which also helps me broaden my heart and help more sentient beings in order to save them.
Afterwards, the other practitioners shared their experiences with the senior practitioner, and she was also glad to realize her attachments and omissions. She also mentioned that the other day, she displayed demon nature and that she needed to pay attention to cultivating herself. When everyone looked inward, the conflicts were resolved. We adjusted the way we cooperated with each other and continued to work to rescue Practitioner L and clarify the truth.
Teacher said,
"That's how things will be for you, starting now. Whether you are right or not is, for a cultivator, not important whatsoever. Don't argue left and right, and don't emphasize who's right and who's wrong. Some people are always stressing that they're right, but even if you are right, even if you're not wrong, so what? Have you improved on the basis of the Fa? The very act of using human thinking to stress who's right and who's wrong is in itself wrong. That's because you are then using the logic of ordinary people to evaluate yourself, and using that logic to make demands on others." ("Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan")
When I compared my words and actions with Teacher's requirements for us, I felt ashamed. I have cultivated Dafa for over 10 years, but I still could not look inward naturally. My attachment of validating myself was still strong. My other attachments were also sometimes strong and sometimes weak, but I did not get rid of them from the root. The time Teacher has left for us to cultivate ourselves well and save sentient beings is very limited.
Fortunately, I am part of a Fa-study group and all of us can encourage each other, find our problems in time, and rectify ourselves based on the Fa. I must cherish the last chance of Fa-rectification, truly cultivate myself, look inward, and try my best to do the three things well. Only by doing so will I live up to the sentient beings' hopes in me and be worthy of being a Falun Dafa disciple of the Fa-Rectification Period.
The above is my individual understanding. Please kindly point out anything improper. Heshi!
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