(Minghui.org) Editor's note: This article records what the author saw in his or her own realm of cultivation. It is for reference only. Please treat the Fa as Master.
Continued from Part 2
In the “Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”, there is such an exchange:
“Disciple: Some practitioners got to know many Dafa disciples around the world via Dafa projects, and then started their own businesses. Should that be considered interfering with Dafa disciples?
“Master: Yes. If you use Dafa’s resources to make money for yourself, then what you are doing is no different than persecution. You will realize this in the future. This form of interference depletes Dafa disciples’ resources. Resources are limited, and they are meant to be used for Fa-rectification and saving people. In the future, there will turn out to be serious consequences for this.”
As I understand it, resources include human resources, material resources, financial resources, relationship resources, and so on. Each practitioner is a particle within Dafa, and so Dafa disciples are all Dafa resources. The same goes for financial resources as well.
When the gods vowed to come down to Earth to help Master rectified the Fa, which of them would say, "I earned money mainly so that I can use it on myself. My energy will be focused mainly on my family. I will only devote a little bit to Dafa”?
We can also imagine that if we had not wanted to give all and sacrifice all to Dafa, we most likely would simply not be fit to come down.
There are many disciples who have fulfilled their vows, some have even paid with their lives for Dafa. The majority are in the process of fulfilling their vows, steadfast on their cultivation paths. Then, there are quite a few who are slacking, lackadaisical, or are actually in danger of breaking their vows.
Some practitioners think that their money is not a Dafa resource, so they constantly pursue a high-quality lifestyle and feel really happy when they can spend money.
For new students, it’s understandable. They will naturally make changes once they start to be diligent and improve in cultivation. If veteran practitioners behave this way, then that’s not normal.
In the Fa rectification period, when there’s shortage of financial resources, this approach is what makes the evil forces most happy. In fact, this approach is being driven by low spirits.
Fa rectification absolutely prohibits collecting funds from practitioners. But, individual projects are in need of funds. As I understand it, large projects overseas are generally sponsored by big businesses, while across Mainland China, it is the local practitioners who take care of funds for clarifying the truth and saving people.
The materials production sites are family-run and financially supported by gainfully employed practitioners who contribute with their hearts and according to their capabilities.
The total amount of this level of financial resources provided by these gainfully employed practitioners far exceeds the contribution from the business owner practitioners.
Some business owner practitioners donate money to the local materials production sites to support a particular project. Should they do that? In my personal opinion, if the local practitioners are not really in need of money, then, I do not feel it should be done.
On the one hand, the local practitioners’ cultivation path and their contribution to Dafa will be interfered with. On the other hand, when we don’t know our mission in life, we might be in default of what we should do.
Some entrepreneurs are aware they have a big mission in life, and they have excess money, so they give the money to local practitioners. Yet they might run into individual practitioners who squander the money, or either crooks posing as Dafa disciples or even crooks among Dafa disciples who swindle their money. In such cases, they would not only be cheated out of the money, but also might have been instrumental in disrupting the Fa, and so might have to endure hardships as retribution.
In fact, if we study the Fa well, we can distinguish the good people from the crooks. If we really cannot differentiate one from the other, then the easiest way to fix this is to communicate with practitioners overseas or go overseas to check in person.
No matter, safety must be observed because the evil forces are watching this most carefully, and so do almost all overseas spies. Those who fundraise in mainland China in the name of overseas projects and publicize the fundraising activities openly among practitioners without paying any attention to safety – they must be crooks since they are not afraid of being discovered by spies. Some of them are arrested by the police but are let go almost immediately and encouraged to continue to play havoc among practitioners.
Then, is it okay for overseas practitioners to fund mainland Dafa projects? The CCP spies have repeatedly employed this scam, and many overseas practitioners have been fooled. Therefore, it is not okay generally speaking, because it is the overseas projects that really lack money rather than the mainland projects. Moreover, in mainland China, there are reasons for some practitioners’ difficulties, but as a rule, however difficult, there are local solutions.
Master said:
“If you really have trouble getting by in daily life, then he might provide material means, but only so as to ensure your personal welfare. He won’t have you get rich if you aren’t supposed to.” (Zhuan Falun Volume II)
Many practitioners might have forgotten this Fa about not looking at the suffering and difficulties of fellow practitioners with human thoughts and notions as the suffering and difficulties might just be arrangements in these practitioners’ cultivation paths.
Some fellow practitioners have been cheated out of millions of U.S. dollars exactly because there was no financial system in place and everything was decided by the business owner practitioners.
In one case, the accountant was aware this practice was in violation and had attempted to stop what was going on, but the owner practitioner was adamant and refused to listen. As a result, the company went bankrupt, he lost a lot of money, including money that was invested by other practitioners.
The problem lies mainly with the owner practitioner, but, in actuality, the accountant practitioner, being the expert, also has a responsibility and should have done better and more vigorous persuasion. In fact, the problem is one of not working well as a team.
There was a practitioner who did very well in this regard. The owner practitioner instructed her to pay money to another practitioner. The practitioner did not go against her “boss” but tactfully delayed three times, each time making an effort to dissuade her. Finally the “boss” understood and complimented her. Later, it was discovered that the other practitioner was really a crook who had swindled quite a number of Dafa disciples quite a few times.
Master also said:
“Dafa disciples have launched one Dafa project after another, and some disciples are doing business out in the ordinary world and want to make contributions to Dafa, yet I must remind you that your accounting books and records need to be clear and clean. The reason is, with whatever you do, it will be the human side of a Dafa disciple that’s seen doing it, and when human beings do things, human attachments act up. When you loosen standards for yourself and do things as you please, gods don’t look at the matter the way you do. If the financial activities of a Dafa project are not solidly managed, and if someone’s motives are really not right, then the sins will be enormous, because what you did is not just a personal stain, but is undermining the way of Dafa disciples.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
In mainland China, the several practitioners’ money management teams that have lost tens of millions were all without any management system. Although the “boss” was supposed to have the final say, many veteran practitioners also felt that their decision should also count. So, things got messy, allowing the evil forces to take advantage and create interference.
When the leaders did not have sufficient clarity with the principles of the Fa, cliques were formed and rumors were used as means of exclusion. Finally heavy debts were accumulated and some practitioners ended up being arrested and persecuted.
So, don’t be afraid if the financial system is not perfect initially, because once it’s set in motion, it will gradually begin to improve. As long as the heart is within the Fa and the intent is for the sake of the others, there will be no problem. If you change the system for self-gain, or are privately non-compliant, you will create loopholes, then the evil and low spirits will make unrelenting trouble for you.
(to be continued)