(Minghui.org) I have many thoughts upon reading the editorial article “Are You a Cultivator?” with Master's commentary (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/12/21/136744.html) on the Minghui website. Here I would like to examine how the alleged “prophet” could deceive some Dafa practitioners.
What is the fundamental reason for a person to be saved? Master told us that “The savable must be those who still have a conscience”(“Called by the Divine to Spread Truth,” Hong Yin III) and that “For walking to the future requires such a test” (“Each Must Choose Between Good and Evil,” Hong Yin III). I enlightened that the fundamental reason for people to be saved is their benevolent nature, their longing for good traditions, and their ability to distinguish between good and evil. Dafa practitioners who have been attached to prophecies and supernormal abilities share a common omission with those who only focus on the number of people they have persuaded to withdraw from the CCP and its organizations. The idea of “regardless of whatever methods, successfully making a person withdraw from the CCP means saving this person,” indicated the neglect of the real reason for saving people. Using short-cuts to persuade people to withdraw is the consequence of applying human notions to understand the meaning of truth clarification. And this very logic, hidden deeply in many practitioners' minds, is indeed the root cause of the alleged “prophet” incident.
Most everyday people are opportunists who tend to take the “right” side in power games and fight for profit to maximize their personal, material gains. Today they are facing a particular test of choice. Actually, we cultivators also face different tests and decisions in our cultivation. When we are clarifying the truth of Falun Gong and the CCP to people for them to make a choice for the future, we cannot use “short-cuts” such as prophecies about doomsday or stories of mysterious power to lead people to withdraw from the CCP. Their withdrawal motivated by these tactics is not their real choice, but rather everyday people taking sides. This is an omission. Master said, “Our path is narrow. If you go off course ever so slightly, there will be problems.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”) My understanding is that the road with even the slightest deviation will not be the road for the future. We should not equate the matter of rectifying people's hearts with the righteous Fa to ordinary people's side-taking.
The alleged “prophet” and many practitioners who have gone astray have not elevated from ordinary people's notions and have not seen the essence of “choice.” No wonder they have made mistakes and used human notions to analyze the Fa-rectification situation and reach wrong conclusions. Master said:
“From an everyday person’s level, perspective, and frame of mind, one cannot understand real things.” (Zhuan Falun)
The editorial article on Minghui points out that these people “use that which they cannot let go of as their standard for judging things.” The “prophet's” article seemed well-written with the theory of Dafa to satisfy readers' curiosity. However, his choice was against Master, and therefore, the old forces have used him and his articles to confuse new practitioners and deceive those who haven't let go of human attachments. Finally, the “prophet” put on his last show of defaming the Minghui website. From his words, I believe that he and those within the CCP system studying Falun Gong as an enemy have not fully grasped the true meaning of Dafa, so they think that what they are doing will be able to interfere with Dafa and Dafa practitioners.
From Master's commentary, I sense his benevolence to all sentient beings, including those who have gone astray.
Minghui is the platform for Dafa practitioners to share experiences globally. The voices of Minghui are the guidance and direction for practitioners on important issues. Although the articles were drafted by individual practitioners, the opinions and positions of editorials have been acknowledged by Master. This is very different from the diverse opinions that practitioners have in carrying out Dafa projects and cultivating.
In our cultivation and implementation of Dafa projects, we are bound to have some disagreements due to our different levels of cultivation. The bottom line is that we discuss, and even argue, on the platform that Minghui provides, but we do not treat the website as an opponent. The alleged “prophet” has deviated from the bottom line and been fighting Minghui as an enemy; it's hard to say what he is now.
Master noted in his comment in that article:
“I want to make something clear: It is not only the evil that is attacking Minghui with various means--when practitioners don't remove their human thoughts, they, too, play that damaging role.”
My understanding is that some practitioners couldn't rationally think through the criticisms regarding certain actions in Dafa projects in Minghui's articles, because they have not considered the issues from Dafa's perspective, only based on human notions and attachments. Some of these practitioners were so angry that they became hostile.
Master said:
“When your mind cannot get over something, isn’t it caused by your attachment? Our students shouldn’t think that this has nothing to do with them!” (“Further Elimination of Attachments,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
Master reminds us to look within when we encounter conflicts and troubles. If we notice that we have disagreements with Minghui editors, we need to search for our attachments and human notions. There must be some issues that we haven't considered from the Fa's perspective. This situation differs from the discussions or arguments on Dafa projects or personal cultivation among practitioners. Master states clearly in Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland:
“Everything you run into is about dealing with hardships. Yet you cannot represent Master. When it comes to any matter in which you know I’ve participated, you have to consider the matter from my perspective. That’s something you’ve neglected before. Troubles created for me are damage directed at this Fa. So it’s completely different from your passing through your hardships. It’s definitely not that your master is cultivating or that your master is passing tests. It really is damage directed at the Fa and the cosmos, so they can’t be equated. Be clear on this.”
I enlightened that Minghui provides guidance from Master's Fa-rectification perspective, instead of individual practitioners' cultivation. It'd be very beneficial if all practitioners could carefully review the entire section that contains this paragraph.
The choice in the Fa-rectification is based on each person's heart. If what the alleged “prophet” says were true, Dafa practitioners would not need to work so hard to explain the truth to everyday people as they will understand and awaken to make the right choice themselves.
There have always been people who do not believe in Dafa from the bottom of their hearts. Therefore, they look for any possible loopholes among Dafa practitioners to deny and even damage Dafa by using everyday people's political and religious critics to criticize Dafa. How can people with such an intention ever truly understand Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance? They are wasting their time, spoiling their own futures, and failing to take advantage of Master's merciful salvation!
I enlightened that we should not clarify the truth just on the surface. Rather, it should be just like how we study the Fa: we should use our hearts to understand the deep meanings. Master points out that:
“The reality is, in the end, if anything that has been saved or re-formed is not what I want or does not reach my standard, it will have been for naught since it will have to be destroyed.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)
There is a standard for people to be saved, and everyone can pass it easily. The old forces have set difficult tests for people in China, for which we must use wisdom to awaken and save people. The challenging mission we face is to patiently and gradually lead people to where they remember that they came here for the Fa. Aware of the urgency of saving people due to pressing time, I deeply understand the importance of coordinating well with the Minghui website in order to be effective at carrying out our various projects.
During the past decade of truth clarification, we practitioners started with uncovering the defaming lies spread by the CCP, but eventually shifted to publicizing the root cause of the persecution of Falun Gong and all Chinese people. Our cultivation in the Fa has been growing with our abilities in clarifying the truth. We need to think further about how to improve in clarifying the truth. Master says,
“If one is going to break the old forces’ interference, one needs people who can jog a person’s memory, who can point things out and make him understand, who can awaken him, and who can explain to him the truth about the past and today’s world.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
“The emergence of the Communist Party and the CCP’s real goal is to have people hate Gods and Buddhas, to propagate atheism, to instill a philosophy of 'struggle,' and to thereby destroy humankind. And this is the reason Dafa disciples are to clarify the truth. The goal is to get rid of the evil’s lies, to enable people to see the CCP’s true face, to clear away the sins committed by people against Gods and Buddhas, and to thereby save the world’s people.” (“The Ultimate Objective of Clarifying the Truth”)
If we consider and solve problems with human notions instead of Fa principles, how can we effectively save people? What we do to carry out Dafa projects will not be pure, either.
The current social and political situation in Beijing is a good time to break through the thick ice of people's ignorance on the evilness of the CCP. When producing materials for various projects, I often think about the struggles faced by everyday people in their secular lives and the best strategy to wake them up, especially white-collar professionals who possess strong opinions on politics and culture.
Through consulting and sharing experiences with fellow practitioners regarding the Beijing situation on Minghui, we realized the loopholes in our cultivation and clarifying the truth, such as taking things for granted, being opinionated, insufficiently understanding the Fa, lacking sincere compassion towards sentient beings, and needing to improve the design and editions of truth clarification materials. I have been considering these challenges and talking to everyday people to try to identify their concerns in order to improve the way we clarify the truth. The oppression also creates inconveniences and difficulties in truth clarification activities.
Master told us:
“But Dafa disciples are fulfilling their vows, and that means doing what they can to awaken people.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
I'd like to remind myself and fellow practitioners that truth clarification should be conducted based on the Fa, rather than for the sake of doing things. Targeting people's real concerns and the very attachments that they cannot let go of is the way to truly clarify the truth. Let all Beijing practitioners cultivate diligently together and clarify the truth wisely. When Master returns to Beijing, we will then have no qualms in front of Master and prove worthy of the title of Dafa disciples because we have fulfilled what we should do in Beijing.
Please point out anything not in line with Fa due to my personal cultivation level.
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