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Being Responsible for Sentient Beings Is the Starting Point

Dec. 21, 2011 |   By a Dafa disciple from Beijing, China

(Clearwisdom.net) I finally let go of the hatred which has been bothering me. Afterwards I felt that the capacity of my heart has been increasing, and my compassion is becoming stronger.

My parents-in-law, who are also practitioners, have always wanted to have a grandchild. When they learned that my husband and I couldn't have a child in our current situation, my father-in-law said to my husband that he could have a child with another person. My husband isn't a practitioner. I was really shocked when I heard about this from my husband. Although my parents-in-law have cultivated for over a dozen years, when led by a strong human attachment, they could forget they are practitioners and be even lower than everyday people in terms of their level of morality. Wouldn't it harm my husband to tell him to commit such wrongdoing? In our cultivation, there is the requirement of being responsible for sentient beings. Everything we say or do carries our responsibility to sentient beings.

Two things happened this August, and they made me think of this topic. First, my range hood was broken, and I found a company on the internet to repair it. But I was cheated by them out of 1,000 yuan for the motor. At that time, I thought that they would give me de if they cheated me. Later, I felt that I made a big mistake. Firstly, it tarnished Dafa. I was so easily cheated, and it left a bad impression on my family. Secondly, I only thought of myself, as I only thought of others giving me de. Thirdly, my selfishness induced ordinary people to do wrongdoings and lose de themselves. I didn't think or do things from the starting point of being responsible for sentient beings. I didn't handle things with the wisdom obtained from Dafa. Instead, I harmed sentient beings for my own benefit.

Second, I met two gentlemen when I was clarifying the truth on the street. They looked very worried. I quickly told them about the persecution Falun Gong and quitting the Party. They listened and nodded. One of them said they had a car accident and wanted to borrow some money from me. He needed money to travel to another place to do some things. I came up with an unrighteous thought that, if I loaned money to him, he would agree to quit the Party. So I loaned him the money. Then he asked me for one hundred more. I wouldn't do so and asked them to quit the Party. They agreed. Later, I thought about it again and realized I was wrong. I didn't have the sense of being responsible to sentient beings. I wanted to buy their withdrawals with money. So I decided to call him to make sure that he was serious about withdrawing and to ask him to return the money. But it turned out that they wouldn't keep their promise. They wouldn't even meet with me. I calmed down and thought about why such things happened to me, again and again. Was it to eliminate my attachments? I enlightened that we should always think of others according to the righteous principles of Dafa and be responsible for sentient beings.

I think perhaps many practitioners have experienced or are experiencing family tribulations. When our family members who are ordinary people are against our doing the three things and are impeding our doing them, we must handle such issues from the starting point of being truly responsible for them rather than dealing with it with human mentalities or passive attitudes. If people understand the truth of Dafa and support practitioners' cultivation, they will be blessed and elevate their own levels. That's the best outcome for a non-practitioner. If we practitioners passively tolerate the tribulation and not face it with dignity according to righteous principles, we are encouraging the manifestation of ordinary people's demon nature. And that will harm them.

These are some of my understandings. Fellow practitioners, please point out anything inappropriate with compassion.