(Minghui.org) After reading the recent Minghui editorial, “Another Reminder,” I agree with the points, and would like to share more on this topic.
The article began with “Over the years Master has repeatedly spoken of prohibiting fund raising, but it nonetheless occurred from time to time among practitioners. One recent example was to establish a university operated by practitioners, in which many wealthy practitioners in Mainland China were contacted and asked for financial support. This has created confusion among practitioners and it has violated Master's teachings.”
Interference with Practitioners Cultivation
There are four types of projects that may need funding. These include projects developed by practitioners that involve saving people, personal businesses owned by practitioners, businesses owned by everyday people, and businesses jointly owned by practitioners and everyday people.
Operating a business entity requires raising and managing funds. For businesses owned by everyday people, they should follow an appropriate business model to make a profit. For businesses involving practitioners, no one should raise funds among practitioners, lest it interfere with practitioners’ cultivation practice and cause damage.
Seriousness of Collecting and Managing Funds
Master has talked about the subject of how to handle collecting and managing funds in Fa lectures, which practitioners should take seriously.
If we collect and manage money from practitioners, it is very easy to become attached to how much someone has donated. This results in two attachments, specifically jealousy and material interests, which practitioners should let go of during cultivation. Fund raising actually reinforces these attachments. Even if only one practitioner agrees to donate, he or she will be interfered with, and it is still considered fund raising. Therefore such behavior should not exist in the Dafa cultivation environment.
Practitioners Funds Needed to Save Sentient Beings
Some want to collect money in the name of Master, Master's family members, a project that saves people, or a business. These may all severely damage practitioners’ cultivation environment. No matter how it looks on the surface, as long as it asks for donations from practitioners, it is essentially the same thing. By damaging practitioners’ cultivation, it is worse and more confusing than actions of a demon. Whoever does this should stop immediately and be held accountable.
For the above-mentioned four types of business entities, one can ask for donations from everyday people. But one should not ask for or borrow money from other practitioners. There have been incidents where non-practitioner family members wanted to establish a business, and practitioners were asked to invest in return for a high interest rate. This is wrong. In fact, some such businesses did not succeed, and the practitioners’ money was lost. These are serious lessons.
Any everyday person who takes money from practitioners is commiting a sin because they are seeking profit by utilizing money that should be spent on saving people. Practitioners who invested in such businesses were wrong in doing so. The monetary loss is punishment on the surface, but the drop in the xinxing level, poor cultivation status, and the newly developed attachment to money are potentially even more serious. Such human notions harm others, and could destroy the practitioner.
Take the Editorial to Heart
Let's review the editorial again, “Here we would like to remind all practitioners again. Whether you have contacted others, have been contacted, or heard about this, please pay attention to your own cultivation, through solid Fa-study and following Fa principles. We should put an end to initiating, participating, or getting involved, either voluntarily or unwittingly, in fund raising among practitioners.”
“Only by solidly cultivating ourselves could we do well the projects we are responsible for. When acting upon human notions and violating Fa principles, the results will be against our will. In addition, it will create interference for other practitioners and leave loopholes for some ill-minded people to cause further damage.”
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Category: Improving Oneself
