(Minghui.org) Recently many practitioners’ pension and social security benefits have been suspended or deducted for upholding their faith. I would like to share some of my understanding about this situation.
Master said in “Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”:
“Each time in the past when a civilization was to be destroyed, it was never any worse than today’s. If it weren’t for Dafa being taught, humankind would not have made it past the final day of 1999. Why did people celebrate in such a way at the start of the year 2000? Why were they so happy? Although it seemed to be for a superficial reason—a new century had begun—everything is in fact arranged by divine beings, and people have a knowing side. But that wasn’t true salvation. People now must give their stance. How a being acts as Dafa disciples clarify the facts and save people determines his or her future.”
From this passage of teaching, I believe that if it’s not because of Dafa being taught in the human world, no life could have survived after 1999 and would have been eliminated. In other words, everyone’s life in the world has been extended by Master, including practitioners. Master also offered human beings proper living conditions, including our living expenses and funds for truth-clarification projects. Some ordinary people have made their choices by giving in to their desires and competing for vested interests. But for us Falun Dafa practitioners, we should measure ourselves against the requirements of the Fa, hold our ground and don’t go with the flow in the society.
It is my understanding that suspension of pension may have something to do with our own cultivation state. Are we too obsessed with money? Is the starting point of our request for pension reinstatement based on the Fa or just for our own sake? Different responses may bring about different outcomes.
On the Usage of Money
Over the years, many Dafa disciples have put aside their attachments to profit and money, and spent their savings in exposing the brutal persecution and saving people.
But I noticed some practitioners are so obsessed with money and interests that they can't spare a penny for others or Dafa projects. Some take every single opportunity to take advantage of others and won't miss anything for free. They spend their income or pension only on their own needs: pursuing brand names, saving face, buying delicious food, etc.
On the other hand, some practitioners are not obsessed with money but they barely clarify the truth. They donate money for other practitioners to make truth-clarification materials and thought their financial contribution could replace their own truth-clarification efforts. Of course some practitioners have special reasons that they are unable to come out to clarify the truth. I’m mainly talking about those who are able to come out, but don’t do so due to various attachments.
I also observed some practitioners have strong attachments to comfort and have slacked off in their cultivation. They put less and less effort in clarifying the facts, forgetting their mission as Dafa practitioners and simply waiting for the end of the persecution to come.
I think we should really do the three things better and take every action and thought seriously. Instead of waiting for the end of the Fa rectification, we should keep on purifying ourselves, disciplining ourselves based on the Fa in our every action, every word and ever thought.
Take the Opportunity to Clarify the Facts
We learned from the Fa that nothing is accidental. Everything is related to our cultivation, Fa rectification and saving sentient beings.
When our pension was suspended, we can turn this into an opportunity to clarify the facts. We can appeal to different levels of government agencies. By doing so, it can create a lot of opportunities for us to reach a lot of people and speak to them directly what is Falun Gong, why we practice Falun Gong, how we have benefited from Falun Gong, and how the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has lacked the legal basis from the beginning.
But if we just appeal to get our money back, the outcome will be different. In 2015, when a lot of practitioners filed lawsuits against Jiang Zemin who launched the persecution, some practitioners simply took it as the opportunities to recoup their financial losses, while they didn't think of the fact that there were still many practitioners jailed because of their belief and that there were still a lot of ordinary people deceived by the CCP propaganda. Some of such practitioners were later harassed and forced to write statements to renounce Falun Gong.
I understand that if our starting point of doing things is for ourselves, then the result won't be good. But if we let go of our attachments in the process, miracles will happen. Let us not be discouraged when the Chinese Communist Party suspends our pension, but to make good use of this opportunity to reach out to more people and clarify the truth to them.
Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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
