(Minghui.org) Foreword: This article is for fellow practitioners' reference only. Treating the Fa as Master is fundamental for cultivators. When others point out where Falun Dafa practitioners fall short, we should compare our behaviors to the Fa, look inward, correct ourselves, and find the root of not completely believing in the Fa and Master.
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Continued from Part 1
During my discussions with this Taoist, I raised the issue that some Dafa practitioners had died after they were released from detention. I said, “Some practitioners have done a great deal for Dafa. They were then severely persecuted, even beaten to death. Is it because they did great things and therefore had to endure more? Are their cases 'special' among cultivators?”
The Taoist shared his view that there should be no special cases or exceptions in Dafa. He told me that many practitioners have not truly examined themselves, even though they have been persecuted for a long time.
He cited the cultivation story of Milarepa. In that, the pure compassion of a cultivator can move evildoers to tears, and the perpetrators can almost all be saved. Only a very few are beyond redemption.
This divine being observed that some practitioners appear to try appeal to the evildoers' kind side, but hold resentment or despise them in their hearts. Thus, the practitioners' tribulations linger. Gradually, the practitioners may even develop attachments of doubt or fear. Such thoughts will not escape the eyes of gods.
In contrast, some practitioners can achieve a state of pure kindness and therefore will come to no danger no matter how severe the persecution is. Even the evildoers offer practitioners protection in secret. Gods are amazed by this.
The enlightened being's words reminded me that my considering some practitioners to be “special cases” showed my not completely believing in the Fa.
I thought of what Master said in “Clearheadedness” in Essentials for Further Advancement:
“It is time to make a few remarks on the current methods of work employed by assistance center coordinators in different regions. It is correct to implement the requirements of the Research Society, but you should mind the way you do it. I often say that if all a person wants is the well-being of others and if this is without the slightest personal motivation or personal understanding, what he says will move the listener to tears.”
I used to think that this paragraph only meant that we should be compassionate and selfless towards our fellow practitioners. I didn't apply the principle to how we should handle non-practitioners or the evildoers that persecute practitioners.
My notions restricted my understanding of the Fa and prevented me from knowing the power of the Fa on a broader basis. As a consequence, I didn't try to save some of the perpetrators that I encountered in prison.
I also recall that some practitioners shared how a policeman, notorious for persecuting practitioners, was moved to tears by such compassion. This policeman later helped practitioners where he could.
It was a miracle beyond my imagination and showed me that however much we can achieve within the Fa's requirements, that is how much magic and power of the Fa will be revealed to us. Yet, if we develop feelings of resentment and hatred toward such perpetrators, aren't we falling short?
Master said:
“And that’s all the more so during this persecution, yet instead of developing righteous thoughts, you have allowed a great deal of hatred to build up.”
“But do you know what a bad person is and what a good person is? If your mind is filled with hatred and malice, think about it, everyone: what kind of a being would one be? And it will show in your conduct and even in your looks, and people will see evil in you. I’m not saying that some Dafa disciples have cultivated poorly. The part of them that has been fully cultivated is separated away. For as long as you have human things left here on this human side, you will have bad things and bad thoughts, and the closer things are to the surface level, the worse they appear to be.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
Once we harbor hatred towards others, we are polluted by the bad thoughts that we ought to cultivate away. Our xinxing drops as a result. So how can we overcome our tribulations?
Master said in “Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan:”
“The approach that Dafa disciples’ cultivation takes is formless, with all of ordinary society, in fact, serving as the form of your cultivation.”
One more thing became clear to me: Maybe those perpetrators were made bad by the old forces. Those people agreed to such arrangements because they believed that they would obtain salvation by playing that role in the Fa-rectification. However, they didn't know that the aim of the old forces was to deceive and ruin them.
Practitioners' compassion enables the power of Dafa to shatter the old forces' arrangements and can save those perpetrators. What a joyful notion!
Master said, “...hopeless beings would stop at no evil. (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference” in Guiding the Voyage)
I realized that if we regard evildoers as “beyond redemption,” then their knowing side might become crazed and stop at no evil when persecuting practitioners. But it was our thoughts that made them this way.
Of course, the old forces use evildoers to try to beat practitioners' righteous thoughts and kindness out of them, but this approach does not meet the requirements of Fa-rectification. It amounts to tremendous interference for practitioners and is sabotaging the Fa.
Master said:
“In order to have the students meet the standards—to meet their requirements—they used those evil beings to brutally beat students. When they exhausted the most vicious means and still couldn’t achieve their goal, they became flustered and exasperated, and went against our students even more viciously. In the end, even though they couldn’t achieve their goal, they said that they’d tried their best. How evil! Yet the layers upon layers of beings in the immense cosmos can’t perceive the evilness of all these evils taking place.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America” in Guiding the Voyage)
When practitioners hold resentment and hatred, it can only make things worse. Sending righteous thoughts in such a state of mind doesn't work at all. We must have 100% firm belief in the Fa and have immense compassion to break through the old evil forces' arrangements.
As we spoke about cooperation among Dafa practitioners, the enlightened being's view was that those practitioners place so much emphasis on “self,” because they don't truly believe in the immensity of the Fa or the seriousness of cultivation.
The divine being said that some coordinators don't work well with one another. Instead they compete for “credit.” This is particularly true for those who are more capable, who tend to think that their intelligence is the key to success. They don't truly believe that their wisdom came from Master and Dafa. Their egos get inflated, and they are, in fact, validating themselves.
Some coordinators think very highly of themselves and believe that they have obtained Master's direct instructions. Such improper thoughts are visible to gods. These people should think about this: If they think they need direct instructions for their cultivation, aren't they actually lagging behind those who can rely on their own understanding of the Fa to succeed in cultivation?
When certain practitioners become more distant from other practitioners, their arrogance grows. The less they study the Fa, the more they don't believe in the power of the Fa. They take more detours in their cultivation and cause more problems for themselves. In the end, they wrongly think that Dafa is powerless and that they have to rely on their human notions and techniques to get things done.
Many practitioners have cooperated well. However, once one gets carried away by ego, trouble is sure to follow.
I recall Master's Fa in “Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York:”
“The evil will take advantage and cause trouble if you don't coordinate and cooperate well. With a lot of the Fa-rectification things, it's not that there is no way to do them. No matter how hard it is, there is a path for you to take, even though it is a fairly narrow one. You have to go down that path correctly, and it won't work if you come up even a little short or stray a little bit. Nevertheless, there is a path for you. In other words, you need to go down it correctly. If you don't, the evil that currently exists will take advantage of it and cause trouble. In fact what I've just been talking about is the question of validating yourself versus validating the Fa when you work together on something--that's the issue.”
I later realized that my “self” kept me from accessing the more immense inner meaning of the Fa. We should look inward when we feel powerless. Is it because we haven't let of go of “self?"
Master said:
“When you let go of self even more, your wisdom for validating the Fa will naturally come forth.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students”)
I have to ask, have I achieved this? It boils down to the issue of how much I believe in Master and the Fa.
(To be continued)
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Category: Improving Oneself
