(Clearwisdom.net) I recently adjusted my schedule, so that instead of staying up late at night, I get up early and go to bed early to do the three things. I have been following this schedule for a while and can clearly sense Teacher's support. This has allowed me to have a new appreciation of what Dafa cultivation is about, and I'd like to share this with fellow practitioners.
Although I have cultivated for many years I still have a strong ego. When it comes to working with others, I usually have questions about what they do, although I try not to say so. I have a clear preference of what I like and don't like. For most people this may be quite normal, but for practitioners, I think this is very bad. Some other selfish notions may be hidden and difficult to recognize.
Being Compassionate and Tolerant
I never dare to say that I have a better character than others, however when I saw a fellow practitioner doing something that I understood not to be in line with the Fa, I tended to look down on him. There was a fellow practitioner whom I felt was lazy, and a complainer. When he shared his understanding of the Fa with fellow practitioners, his attitude was not one of respect for the Fa, it was more like gossip. He talked to fellow practitioners a lot just to kill time and I did not see any improvement in his character. Whenever I saw him, I felt very uncomfortable and preferred to avoid him.
I later gradually realized that my attitude towards this fellow was similar to the old forces' attitude towards some Dafa practitioners. That is why the old forces have been so anxious to persecute them. Deep down in the minds of the old forces there is a mixture of jealousy and contempt. Their thinking becomes, “How can this fellow be a Dafa practitioner? I am a lot better.” This situation is also similar to the story of Shen Gongbao's jealousies towards Jiang Ziya described in Lecture 7 of the book,Zhuan Falun.
In reality, a person has overcome many hurdles in order to become a practitioner. Every practitioner I encounter is a very special being.
With a changed attitude I no longer focus on the weaknesses of fellow practitioners. Instead, I try to do what Teacher wants, i.e.,to accommodate and support fellow practitioners. I realize that he has practiced Dafa for many years and has gone through many challenges. Although he has weaknesses, he has decided to save sentient beings at this critical time. Hence, he is great in this regard. He has given up many personal benefits in order to focus on saving sentient beings. He is no longer young and has no personal property. He has to travel quite a bit to support Dafa activities but he does not complain. As I focus more on the positive contributions he has made, I have moved past my negative feelings about him.
We see fellow practitioners from a positive perspective, and be accepting. When we see something lacking, we should try to make up for it. During sharing time we can remind fellow practitioners about this and let other beings see us as one body so that evil spirits will remain afraid of us.
Using Righteous Thoughts for Encouragement
Now that we have discussed character, I would like to talk about ability. I have been participating in a Dafa activities for some time. Recently a newcomer wanted someone to provide guidance and I ended up working with him. He was a very passive individual and would not attempt to do anything without being told. He was a quiet fellow not willing to share his views. If he didn't like something he would not say so, but he would avoid the work. Working with him turned out to be a burden. Hence, I tried to distance myself from him, although I still worked with him superficially.
I gradually realized that my attitude towards him was wrong.
When we see a weakness in a practitioner, we should remind him during sharing and we should encourage him with righteous thoughts. Every practitioner has capabilities. I decided to change my views about him. Actually, he was a smart fellow capable of learning quickly, but he was a bit lazy. In my own mind I said to him, “I believe you can do a good job. Just put in more effort!” Instead of looking down on him, I looked at him with compassion, encouragement and confidence. Earlier when I was down on him, I took over some of his work to make sure things got done on time. Now, I let him do whatever he can. If he doesn't do something right, I don't tell him immediately to his face. Instead, I try to make it up and let him know about it later at some appropriate time. I remind myself that fellow practitioners are the best partners, and that I need to treasure the opportunity to work with them. He will be able to overcome any weakness that he may have, because he is a practitioner.
By taking a positive stand with this fellow practitioner, I saw him change to become an active worker. He was fast in what he was doing and actively cooperated with people. The power of Dafa is truly amazing.
Support Quietly
“Don’t give weight to such things. If you can manage to quietly complete what you notice is lacking, quietly do well what you should do, and quietly do something well when you find it to have been done less than ideally, then the multitude of gods will have tremendous admiration for you and exclaim that this person is simply extraordinary. ”
The above words come from “Be More Diligent” on July 24, 2010 in Washington, DC. I still remember them very well. The real issue, however, is how well can we follow them.
I know of practitioners commenting on the projects which are done pretty well and those which are not, and which coordinator is or is not doing a good job. Practitioners making such comments are acting like everyday people, except that the topics are different. Everyday people like to talk about which family is doing well, or not, and then watch what happens in order to verify their own viewpoints. This is not a good practice. Practitioners are different. There is energy associated with what they say. Furthermore, the old forces are watching the practitioners. Hence, we must be careful with what we say.
We should quietly support every Dafa activity to validate the Fa. It does not matter where we are. The purpose is to assist Teacher in Fa-Rectification.
Where is the Pure Land?
Teacher said in the book, Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa,
“I'd say that our Falun Dafa is a pure land here.”
We need to follow Dafa principles closely and let every practitioner feel that our environment is indeed a pure land.
I live with other practitioners in a residence hall. Maybe it is because we work on different projects, but each one of us is busy with our own projects and there is little cooperation. What is deplorable is that privately some practitioners comment on the quality of others' work. Although the comments are based on personal standards, and the purpose is for improvement, I think they lack compassion. We should ask ourselves about the impact that our statements make. Furthermore, repeating negative statements is the wrong thing to do.
I once visited a different residence hall, where I felt a positive energy field and an atmosphere of harmony. When practitioners live together we expect behavior and language to conform to high moral standards. There should be no mutual criticism or words behind one's back. Several practitioners studied the Fa, did the exercises, and validated the Fa together. It was truly a great environment. On the other hand, in my own residence hall, everyone does his or her own thing. The idea that together we form one body does not exist, which I think is unacceptable.
In order to progress forward we should stop demanding how others should act and allow our pure land to become purer. Let every fellow practitioner who comes to visit us feel that we have a great environment. The energy field around us will eradicate whatever is not righteous and we all will cooperate well with each other.
Assist Teacher in Fa-Rectification
While studying the Fa recently, I discovered another human notion, “gaining more for oneself.” This stems from the desire to gain more benefits for oneself.
When trying to clarify the facts, I often feel bad for not doing enough because of my fears, and I regret not doing enough. When I heard people in some areas have not heard the facts about Dafa, I reacted mechanically with a sigh. I then found that I also harbored the dirty notion that it offered me an opportunity to increase my virtue. The real problem here is that I didn't fully understand the relationship between myself and Fa-rectification.
We are here to assist Teacher to accomplish Fa-rectification. Teacher has brought us from hell into the human world and taught us how to reach consummation. There are no words that can describe His infinite grace. We should just save as many sentient beings as we can. We have been given extra time to do so and this is another demonstration of His great compassion towards all beings. Our focus should be on doing what Teacher wants - and let go of any self-interest.
The greatest thing we can do is to accomplish what Teacher wants.
Conclusion
Every person I encounter is a mirror of my own self. My own strengths and weaknesses are shown through them. Hence, it is possible to relate through them how I am doing to thereby improve my character. Maybe other practitioners also understand this point. Teacher wants to expose all of our human notions through our interactions with others, so we should be grateful to all those we encounter for the opportunity to improve ourselves. Now that I have this understanding, I no longer want to validate myself or blame others.
From Teacher's Fa-rectification activity we can see the importance of letting go of self-interest and helping others. The old forces believe that to save the universe, it is necessary to destroy all beings they consider unworthy. Hence, they created the Chinese Communist Party to do their dirty work. The old forces at a higher level are in fact making similar arrangements to destroy unworthy beings, including the old forces at a lower level, to accomplish the same goal. Clearly, their selfish and negative approach of assigning blame to others instead of removing their own negatives is destroying the universe and themselves. Teacher's way of saving the universe is for everyone to align with the Fa. The approach is for everyone to help others improve their character, thus creating an overall better group of beings. Today as Dafa practitioners, we should be unselfish and compassionate in helping others, conducting Dafa activities, and in resolving conflicts. We should not follow the old forces' way of blaming others and using destructive means. Isn't this converting the old universe into a new one? As Teacher said in the book Hong Yin,
“See the human world with eyes of compassion,
Then are you freed from the spell of delusion.”
(from “Success at Consummation”)
My level of understanding is limited. Please point out anything that is improper.
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