(Minghui.org) Last year a local practitioner began to admire an individual and then spread a website that promoted this person. He later encountered significant challenges in a project he was involved in. He realized that he made a big mistake in spreading the website and was pained and confused. He read what Master taught us about this and gained a better understanding of the issue. He summarized it below.
Be Mindful of Someone Claiming to Have Reached a High Level in Cultivation
The above-mentioned website highly promoted the individual and placed him above other practitioners. It said things such as, “He is one of three most capable disciples of Master,” or “Master only trusts him to lead the changes in the world as others can’t do it.”
Everyone, no matter how high their level is, is merely a particle created by the boundless Fa. Those who have truly cultivated themselves well are humble and quietly get things done without bragging about it. Then who are these people who spare no effort to promote themselves and even compare themselves with Master? I believe they are demons controlled by the old forces to cause disruptions.
Avoid Studying or Promoting Books Compiled from an Individual’s Understandings
This person’s followers compiled several books of his speeches. They emphasized that these “aren’t ordinary sharings and not everyone can read them.” They promote it with the excuse of, “letting more people benefit from it.”
But as early as 1997, Master pointed out that doing this is strictly prohibited.
Master said,
“From now on, nobody should tape record or videotape speeches given by any of the people in charge in different regions or by any disciples; even less can they be edited into texts or be spread around for people to read. This is not a problem of any particular person, nor is this to criticize any person in particular here; instead, this is rectifying Dafa. Bear in mind: Except for Dafa students’ experience sharing conferences for studying the Fa and activities organized by major assistance centers with the endorsement of the Research Society, anything that does not belong to Dafa but is being circulated in Dafa undermines Dafa.” (“Bear in Mind Forever,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
Those who studied the Fa will immediately know that a true Dafa disciple wouldn’t do such a thing.
Don’t Learn from the Individual Instead of the Fa
Some practitioners are obsessed with what this individual said and admire him as the “second master.” They can recall many words he’s said, instead of the Fa. Isn’t this severe interference to their cultivation?
To date, Master has published 51 books and many short articles. All of these are for us to cultivate ourselves. How much of the Fa have we remembered and understood and how well have we disciplined our actions according to what Master taught?
Master said,
“So their words, when taken to heart by Buddhists, lead and confine people to the monk’s own cognitive framework. It seems like a good thing they were doing, as it appears they were encouraging people in the study of Buddhism. But weren’t they in reality undermining Buddha Fa? Undermining Buddha Fa can assume different forms. Some saboteurs praise it and disrupt it at the same time. Such damage is the hardest to detect and see through, and the most damaging.” (“Lessons from Buddhism,” Zhuan Falun Volume II)
The time and opportunity to practice cultivation in Dafa is limited. Master has arranged a cultivation system to purify our bodies, temper our will and improve our minds. Every step is critical. Any mistake may interfere with future arrangements. Only when we solidly follow Master’s teachings can we walk the path well. How can we pursue this form of interference? It’s already difficult to cultivate while saving the world’s people. If one causes inference to other practitioners’ cultivation and saving people, how much more karma will the practitioner bring himself? At critical moments, that karma may block him from making further progress or cause him to fail in cultivation.
Why Do We Fall into These Traps?
There are many ways someone can disrupt the Fa, and this isn’t the first time someone caused interference under the pretext of “sharing with other practitioners.” Those practitioners who fall for this not only harm others but also themselves. When they realize their mistakes, they deeply regret it, but why couldn’t they wake up to it earlier?
In my opinion, the first and foremost is lack of solid Fa study. They may read the Fa a lot, but was it formality, did they take the Fa to heart. Without keeping the Fa in mind, they lack the proper discernment and wisdom to immediately see the issue.
Another issue is the pursuit of novel knowledge and curiosity. When they learned “something new and at a high level,” they may develop zealotry and the mentality of showing off. That itself can be easily manipulated by the evil. No matter how much more they know, it’s still like practicing qigong at the level of qi; however much they fill the bag, they are still merely a bag of qi. This is not high level energy. It’s not that the more we know, the better. We must remember there are no short cuts in cultivation. We must improve ourselves through solid Fa study and cultivation.
The third reason is that those cultivating with “high level gradual enlightenment” can easily develop interference from one’s own mind and see false images if their mind goes off track a little bit. Once the false images began to appear, it’s very hard for them to overcome it. No matter how high a level they think their celestial vision is, what they see still can’t all be true. We shouldn’t praise them, but should handle the situation with rationality to prevent them from going further astray.
Lastly, we need to be clear about the proper relationship between us and the Fa. Everything and every life in the universe is created by the Fa. They are tiny and minute compared to the Fa. When someone has special capabilities, they only have it because Dafa gave it to them. Master helps us become who we are and we don’t have the ability to achieve anything without Dafa. We are in no position to worship or admire anyone other than Master and the Fa.
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Category: Perspectives
