(Minghui.org) In conversations with fellow practitioners, a topic that has come up is whether we might have neglected certain events that present good opportunities to clarify the truth. I'd like to share our thoughts in the hopes that we can learn from each other.
"Buying firecrackers and setting off firecrackers"
We sometimes use the saying, "buying firecrackers and setting off firecrackers" to start a discussion among ourselves about ways of telling the facts about Falun Gong. The saying suggests that when one hears the sounds of firecrackers, there are people and opportunities for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong.
Not long after a Hong Kong television station reported on the brain death of Jiang Zemin, the initiator of the persecution of Falun Gong, a practitioner published an article on the Minghui website that started with "To buy firecrackers and set off firecrackers."
Isn't there something that Falun Dafa practitioners should understand when they hear that phrase? As a matter of fact, whether Jiang is dead or not is not at issue, because no matter what, Teacher has the final say. Why did "Jiang" suddenly appear in public later? Or, were his opponents looking for a scapegoat and so brought out a stand-in, making sure he would take all the blame [for the persecution when justice is served]? Or, did Jiang's brain-dead body really walk? All in all, the old forces made good use of this opportunity to again cause confusion and doubt.
The sound of firecrackers set off by the Chinese people celebrating after hearing of Jiang's possible death should be enough to announce their true thoughts. It is of the utmost importance that practitioners take advantage of the opportunity to explain the facts about Falun Gong wherever one hears the sound of firecrackers. This will provide an entry point for people to listen to the facts about Falun Gong. Don't be too concerned about whether Jiang is alive or dead, as you will be assuming another attachment, leaving your mind to wonder if Jiang is truly dead. The could result letting up in our truth-clarification efforts and becoming passive.
Teacher said,
"So now you know the reason why it was a real struggle to sell tickets this past year. Another thing is, there was a portion of students who sent righteous thoughts as a group [to help the situation]. Sending righteous thoughts is of course done to clear out evil that blocks us from saving people, and there is little of the evil left, in fact. Clearing out evil is a good thing, of course. Could it not have an impact when so many people were sending righteous thoughts? It did have an impact. However, we need to look at what some people were sending out when sending righteous thoughts. They would be sitting there, palm erect, but their thoughts would not be righteous, 'How come we’re taking this approach this year? I did a great job selling tickets last year. Why are they making me send righteous thoughts here when I could be out selling tickets? Why do we have to target society’s cultural mainstream? These tickets are so expensive—who’s going to buy them?!' (Laughter) While it sounds funny to hear this now, that was in fact an extremely widespread phenomenon. Do you realize that with all that being sent out, all around the world it formed into a sticky, glue-like substance, and it took just a very few evil beings to be able to interfere with you. It was not something that you could clear out, and it directly blocked our Dafa disciples’ ticket sales and blocked the Dafa disciples who were sending out true righteous thoughts. It was not something that could be cleared out. When evil tries to cause a mess, your sending of righteous thoughts immediately clears it out and eliminates it, scaring it into turning its tail and fleeing. But in terms of Dafa disciples, well, we certainly can’t eliminate them. What can we do when the person has a momentary slip-up because of an inadequate understanding of this matter?" ("Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference, July 16, 2011")
The above clearly hints at an important issue. Jiang's purported death was a great opportunity to promote the truth about Falun Gong to people wherever they were. But, because some practitioners did not fully understand the Fa, their righteous thoughts were not strong enough. They didn't realize the power of a concentrated effort and good coordination, causing practitioners to miss a good opportunity to go another step forward in the Fa-rectification. They missed an important opportunity to save sentient beings.
The Current Power Struggle Is an Opportunity to Talk about Falun Gong
With the arrests of Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun in the midst of the CCP's power struggles, practitioners' human notions again took the stage, despite Teacher's tremendous efforts to save more sentient beings.
Bo and Wang are among the high-ranking CCP members who have been the most instrumental in the persecution of Falun Dafa. Their arrests and the revelation of the power struggles within the CCP appear to be a part of the Fa-rectification process manifested in human society. The world's people have been eager to read about the change, but my personal feeling is that the changes didn't go far enough because of insufficient cultivation on our part.
The longer the time drags on, the farther sentient beings will fall, possibly making some people lose the opportunity to obtain the Fa. I think that the end of Fa-rectification will be the time when practitioners reach consummation. There will be no further waiting or expectations. If some practitioners slack off and drag their feet, then they will not be able to return to their former positions because they delayed saving people.
Based on my own understanding, the most important reason for the lack of resolution in the CCP's power struggle is practitioners' cultivation situation. Have we reached the position that we should in cultivation? Are we still nurturing our own attachments and not looking within? Have we saved the sentient beings that we should? Do people understand our truth clarification? Have we, at the very least, clarified the truth wherever there are people? We haven't. There are many people in remote areas that our truth-clarification materials about Falun Gong have not reached at all. When we see the situation within the CCP, we should wake up and recognize the opportunity to quickly save more people.
Fellow practitioners, we truly are delaying Teacher's big event, and sentient beings are waiting to be saved. Hurry up to spread the truth.
Please kindly point out any misunderstandings I may have.
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