(Minghui.org) Recently, some practitioners have begun to promote the “safe cell phone” among Falun Dafa practitioners in China. They claim that the cell phone is password-protected, and the issue of wire-tapping does not exist. It costs 2,380 yuan (approximately $363), and the two-year service fee is 500 yuan ($76).
The sellers claim that this phone was designed for practitioners only and are not sold to everyday people. They claim that in the future, each phone will appreciate to 10,000 yuan. Most importantly, one does not have to worry about safety issues. The sellers also claim that this is a project initiated by practitioners, making it important for practitioners to support it.
Many technical details, such as if it is really safe, if it has been tested, and if the service fee is reasonable, cannot be discussed here. I would just share some thoughts of mine based on my understanding of the Fa.
Money for Dafa
Master said:
“Question: Can Dafa disciples who do business in books and periodicals buy Dafa books at wholesale price and sell them at retail price?
Teacher: Not so long ago, I thought about something myself. Since recently more workers had to leave their duties (actually, they became unemployed) in China and a small number of them are our students, I thought about whether to let them sell Falun Dafa books. This way, not only could they make a living, but also ease the difficulty of students buying books. And some students have done so. Afterwards, I thought about it more carefully and it didn’t seem right. In what way was it wrong? Think about it, everyone: Dafa—a Great Way this sacred—can save us, yet we’d be using it to make money. Where would we be placing ourselves? Where would we be positioning Dafa? It really shouldn’t be done. So I didn’t let them do it. Why can it be done [by ordinary people] in society, then? Because I’m making use of the society of ordinary people to spread the Fa. The society of ordinary people is also a manifest form of the Fa at the lowest level, so its various trades and professions just exist like this, which isn’t wrong. Were our book not to have dimensions behind it and were it just black ink on white paper, it would just be a book. It is because it has its dimensions behind it that it has the effect of the Fa. It’s no problem for bookstores and book dealers in ordinary people’s society to sell them; that is, it conforms to the Fa at the level of ordinary people’s society. But as for our disciples, the kind of problem I described does in fact exist. If we used the Fa to make money, and since most of the people buying the books are our disciples, how could we spend that money?” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)Let us consider the issue from the Fa’s perspective. Should we make a profit from other practitioners in the name of Dafa or projects run by Dafa practitioners? Is this allowed by the heavenly laws?
Marketing Among Practitioners
Master addressed the issue of profiting from practitioners:
“From now on, besides Dafa books, don't sell at Fa conferences any materials, or any audio or video materials, etc., that aren't part of the Fa itself. Even less should you make Fa conferences or our students your primary customers. You cannot make money off of Dafa disciples. Materials for spreading the Fa, clarifying the truth, and so on, should target society. That's how things should be done.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference V)
Master spoke of selling an audio card in Hong Kong:
“Interference to Dafa disciples’ cultivation appears in all shapes and sizes. When things were the most chaotic, when the persecution was the most severe, all kinds of things showed up. [Some things] look positive but are actually interfering. Seventy Yuan each—where does the money go? Who is doing this?” (Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference)
In Taiwan, practitioners promote Shen Yun related souvenirs in theaters, but they don't sell to practitioners.
During the past 10 some years, the Minghui website had not charged a fee for the products it offers. Why does this phone charge a service fee? Even many everyday people's web phone companies offer free service.
Safety Issues and Attachments
Are we certain that our discussions are not intercepted when talking on this phone? Master has talked about the safety issue many times. There are many sharing articles from practitioners on the Minghui website concerning this issue. The safety issue arises from interference and practitioners' attachments. When a problem arises in cultivation, we should look for our own attachments, and get rid of it. A cultivator knows that techniques cannot solve the problems that are caused by our attachments.
Master said:
“Cultivation is about removing human attachments, so how could you go looking for a forum for them? How could you be so incredibly attached while cultivating?” (“Be Vigilant” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol III)
The sellers claim that this phone will be worth 10,000 yuan in the future. Let's not argue if this statement is true or not. As cultivators we do not get attached to money and materials, so how can we be moved by making a profit?
Master addressed the profit issue in detail:
“Disciple: A few years ago, incidents of collecting funds and making speeches that disrupted the Fa were taking place in the city of Harbin, and have continued occurring since that time. Many of the practitioners involved in that still haven’t awakened to the fact that what they’ve been doing is wrong, and they have not made up for the losses. Some of them act as though they’re very diligent, but in reality are trying to avoid dealing with the matter and are concealing what they’ve done. What should we do about this?
Master: Some people are just going through the motions while a part of Dafa, and some are taking advantage of certain situations. Some of these cases are caused by a lack of diligence in cultivation, and some result from people having ulterior motives and thereby taking advantage of Dafa disciples’ kindness. So by all means, you need to watch out for these things. When you donate to or financially support someone, you must know and be perfectly clear on what he is doing with the money. Otherwise you cannot do it. If you give someone money, it amounts to supporting him in his actions, and you stand to be at fault as well. Therefore, the old forces won’t regard you as having been duped. Instead, they will see you as being in cahoots with the other party and supporting him. So you absolutely must be careful with these things.
As I’m talking about this, some of you are thinking, 'But I didn’t have those thoughts. I’m a Dafa disciple, so how could I be knowingly supporting him?' Divine beings see it like this: a person’s behavior and how something turns out in the end are what truly represents that person as a being, rather than what he says, which might be at odds with what he does. That’s how high-level beings view things.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
Master addressed Dafa resources:
“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.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
It is my sincere hope that practitioners stop promoting this “safe cell phone,” and recall all those that were already sold.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Improving Oneself
