(Minghui.org) Everyone is limited by their living condition, scope, education, and other factors, and they may form narrow conceptions and understandings in the everyday environment. People living in the same conditions or environment may not see such problems, and may thus form attachments that are hard to detect. If they are in a different environment, the attachments will be exposed.
Hindrance to Cultivation
I loved reading books about philosophy, psychology, and history before I learned Dafa. I liked to express my opinion when sharing experiences in the first few years of my cultivation. I met many similar intellectuals while attending international Fa conferences. We all liked to talk, and often sat up late, until two or three a.m. There were many practitioners with masters or PhD degrees. They made rigorous logical arguments, as if the only way to believe in Dafa was to scientifically prove it.
After cultivating for many years and ridding myself of attachments countless times, I gradually recognized that human thought was often incorrect. Teacher combined science and human science to explain things, to help practitioners understand the Fa. Everything in the human world, including the thinking method of understanding things, and especially the logic and scientific thought processes, is a hindrance to our cultivation. It prevents us from seeing the higher level truth in the universe.
I have since tried to rid myself of all this. I simply believed in Teacher and Dafa. Suddenly my thoughts became very simple and clear, and cultivation became easy. All I needed to do was to believe, and then let go of attachments. I now feel that just writing about my earlier experiences is tedious, impotent, and laughable.
Expanding Scope, Mind, and Horizon
I often translate for practitioners who arrive newly from China, since I am more familiar with the mainstream of western society. Many of these practitioners are very steadfast, after having suffered persecution. They can meditate for a long time, and are very knowledgeable of the Fa principles.
But I found very few of them tried hard to learn English, not even those highly educated, younger practitioners. They did not join the mainstream even after being here for over ten years. More importantly, some of them did not try to expand their minds or scopes, which affected them in doing the three things and validating Dafa.
I am also from the Chinese totalitarian society, and know that all information coming from there was distorted and filtered. In these past years of persecution, practitioners' thoughts were all focused on the three things.
We are living in a normal society. To exhibit the niceness of a Dafa disciple and truly save people, we need to open our minds completely and actively learn. We need to conscientiously expand our scope, mind, and horizon in order to learn technical skills, civilized conduct and speech, and the history and western society’s culture.
Even more striking is that a few individual practitioners were not aware of their own deficiencies in family education, and their abusive use of language, despite having lived in western society for more than ten years. They sometimes showed it when they told Chinese people the facts about Dafa, and sometimes when interacting with other practitioners. A good family education will present itself in one's speech and conduct. It is the prerequisite to being a good person.
These practitioners essentially isolated themselves from the surrounding practitioners and western society, which will not accept such uncivilized behavior. I feel very sorry for them. They lost a good opportunity to tell people the facts, work with fellow practitioners, and elevate themselves.
Of course there are those who bravely faced their own deficiencies. One practitioner who immigrated from China had a good voice, and worked at the radio station. But when he first came overseas his voice was so stiff, and sound as if he was reading a sentencing paper. A few years later, his voice was just as good, but the tone had become peaceful and generous. People could feel the righteousness and kindness in his heart.
Everything a Practitioner Encounters is No Accident
Teacher mentioned repeatedly about the deficiencies of practitioners who recently came from China. Some western practitioners in a large group Fa study also pointed out the deficiencies of those practitioners. While some things they said were true, some were actually hard to detect problems with the western practitioners themselves.
They came from three sources: one understanding the Fa from an extreme point of view, the second is a lack of understanding of society under the CCP’s rule, and the third is using the Fa to hide one’s own attachments, thus interfering with the cooperation needed to clarify the truth about Dafa.
Some people understood the Fa from an extreme point of view. They thought that all Chinese practitioners were heavily influenced by the indoctrination of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and their behavior was rude. Although most western practitioners do not express it this way, one can detect it from from their eyes, undertones, or laughs. It hides in their hearts, and will cause problems when cooperation is needed.
For example, during a Shen Yun ticket sales preparation meeting, Chinese practitioners who came earlier sat on the floor, and saved the chairs for the westerners. In the meeting, people expressed differing opinions. The host, who was a westerner, said, “Chinese practitioners disagree because they have been indoctrinated by the Party. The fact that you all sat on the floor instead of sitting in chairs shows it.”
A Chinese practitioner explained that the Chinese practitioners sat on floor because they were being considerate to the western practitioners. Hearing this, many western practitioners could not stop laughing. They forgot that being able to listen and understand others with a positive attitude was a test of one's own xinxing.
I know all kinds of Chinese practitioners. Some were repulsed by the CCP indoctrination. There are two types who were badly deceived by the CCP. One type is the officials of various ranks who have gained personally from the system. The other are the ordinary citizens who try their best to gain personally from the system. The complexity of the situation might be difficult even for Chinese to understand, let alone westerners.
Regardless of cultural background, everything that a practitioner encounters is no accident. It is all related to one's cultivation. Teacher told us to develop the habit of looking inward. Whether it be a western or Chinese practitioner, if when we encounter things, we think immediately, “Why did I see this? What is in it for me to cultivate? How can I truly have a positive impact? What are other people's good part?” then the cooperation among us will be easy.
Teacher's Fa is not just for Chinese practitioners to cultivate. It is also for western practitioners. Although China has been harmed by the CCP indoctrination for decades, China has 5,000 years of divine culture. Chinese and westerners were both once divided into different social strata, family and educational backgrounds, and moral upbringing.
Some people are very traditional, some more modern. They are all impacted by the society and generations of previous lives. Therefore we cannot stereotype people simply by calling them Chinese or westerners. Neither “pride” nor “prejudice” is what we practitioners want.
I am very grateful that Teacher let me cultivate in different environments, so that I can see things from different angles, and empathize with those who are different from me. I can expand my mind, and see my hard-to-detect attachments, and be warned by other's attachments. I shall be more diligent and save more people.
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Category: Improving Oneself
