Treasure This Most Magnificent Chance in Trillions of Years
By a Chinese practitioner from Toronto
In the Washington DC Conference, Master pointed out the origin of human
beings, especially the origin of the Mainland Chinese. Later in the Minghui
Editorial, it is once again made clear to us that, "The present state of today's humankind is formed by countless tragic but
magnificent historic stories that are little known to humankind. In an era a long time ago, in the immense colossal firmament, the lords
and kings of cosmic systems at different levels -- out of compassion for
sentient beings and in order to attain the Fa at this moment in time when
the Fa rectifies the cosmos and thereby save the beings that they represent
-- fully experienced the hardships of history and endured disgrace and
dishonor by coming down to the human world. Upon entering the three realms
they became lost in the mortal world, and exhaustively suffered the
mistreatment of low-level beings in the three realms, and in order to
survive, they also created innumerable quantities of karma. Many were high
lords, divine and holy Fa kings that confronted danger in the three realms
and the human world, hoping to attain the Fa. Finally in this lifetime, they
reincarnated in the eastern land of China at a time when Dafa is being
widely spread. Their lives and futures directly affect many cosmic systems
and the future of those sentient beings in the universe." A Toronto practitioner cried when we read this article. I knew that it was
not a cry of sentiment, but of compassion, the compassion that Falun Dafa
disciples have obtained through cultivation practice in the Fa rectification.
She truly understands that all of the lords and kings have born great suffering
for the beings that they represent in coming down to earth to obtain the Fa.
However they are deceived and polluted by the evils and many of them face the
danger of destruction of mind and soul. It is this practitioner who spends hours
to call China after work everyday. Her financial situation is not good, but one
time she discovered that only over one dollar was deducted from the phone card
though she had made several dozens of long-distance calls to China. As Master
said in Touring North America to Teach the Fa, "When you conduct
yourselves righteously Master can do anything for you." When I heard this story,
I could see that her heart is righteous. Although we often made mistakes, our Toronto study group has nurtured an
environment good for finding and correcting these problems. After we realized an
omission with regard to the German trip, over eighty practitioners reached the
Chinese Consulate that night and sent forth righteous thoughts for six straight
hours. Several practitioners just returning from Germany came directly from the
airport to join us and share their touching stories. Later, we sent 60 hours of
righteous thoughts in the rain and snow. I often argue with practitioners, sometimes even non-stop. When others point
out this problem to me, I am unconvinced, feeling that I am protecting the Fa.
Despite many practitioners mentioning my shortcomings, I secretly
thought,"Sometimes only a few know the truth." July last year on the way to attend the Washington DC Conference, several of
us took two cars, each with a big "SOS" sign on the top. We drove three days
visiting local newspapers, receiving TV interviews and clarifying the truth
along the way. We constantly held discussions during the breaks and reflected on
how we could do better to clarify the truth to the Mainland Chinese. Our
exchanges were harmonious. At the DC Conference, Master told us clearly the
origin of Chinese people and that the beings there are more worthy of being
saved. After listening to Master's teaching, I felt urgency and anxiety. When I came
back to Toronto, I raised this issue on many occasions but seldom got any
response. I began to complain. Though I myself hadn't made any concrete
improvement, I always thought others' states were not right. With this mindset,
compounded by other human mentalities, I often argued with other practitioners. Some practitioners concerned for me spoke to me in tears, "Gongshi, it has
been a long time. Why can you not get rid of this shortcoming?" I reacted
immediately: "I am worried about you, too. Why can't you improve yourself" Other
practitioners told me, "We didn't mean that what you said was totally wrong, but
why do you always complain?" I said, "If you don't think what I said was wrong,
then don't criticize my attitude. That should be left for me to cultivate." In
this manner, I messed up many precious sharing opportunities that practitioners
spared from their tight schedule. I even felt wronged. Luckily, Toronto
practitioners have formed a very healthy cultivation environment through various
forms of group studies. Every week we have a large-scale 150 to 180 people group
study as well as 30 to 40 persons group studies. This is a cultivation form that
Master leaves to us and is an important factor that can help us to improve.
Therefore, we all voluntarily maintain the purity of this environment. One time in a small group study, the practitioner who was worried for me
gently said to me with smile, "May I read an article written by a Russian
practitioner?" I heard every word of the article clearly, but was still not
convinced. "I simply worked hard to push people to clarify the truth to Mainland
Chinese. How come I become a demon?" However I could not get angry in face of
the peacefulness and the pure heart of the practitioner who only thinks of
others. I smiled with him. During that period of time, practitioners often
discussed how to break through the arrangements by the old forces. When I
included myself, I had these enlightenments: Master told us in the Lecture to the US West Conference: "According to their
thinking, the things that are happening and unfolding today were all arranged by
them. Nothing in the process has been coincidental, ..." Master also told us in the Fa-Lecture at at the Conference in Florida,
U.S.A., "Even each Dafa disciple's every move, every action, every word, and even
the questions you ponder, none of it is that simple. In the future you'll
see that everything was very carefully arranged. But it's not me who
arranged this, it's the old forces who did." I understand that, though the old forces intend to arrange and control
everything, there is at least one thing that they cannot arrange, that is the Fa
our Master teaches us. Accordingly, if we break through the human understanding
of the Fa through constant study of the Fa, if we truly understand the Fa from
the Fa, isn't this itself breaking through the arrangement of the old forces?
What Master teaches us is the Fa and there are numerous layers of profound inner
meanings behind the Fa. If we constantly argue with each other and cannot reach
agreement in the name of protecting the Fa, isn't that going in a wrong
direction? "The Fa is harmonious." Is arguing with human attachments a
demonstration of the harmony? When we hold on to our understandings of yesterday
and try to protect the Fa from a mindset that is not in the Fa, what we protect
in the end would be nothing but our own thoughts. Master said, "Their apparent purpose was to allow our Fa to establish its mighty
virtue, and to have the Fa be truly respected by beings throughout the
entire cosmos for its mighty virtue. On the surface, this was the purpose of
their arranging all this. But this has instead become an obstacle for Fa-rectification..."
("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference" In: Guiding the
Voyage). We are doing our best to protect and validate the Fa. As Dafa disciples in
the Fa rectification, we must be fundamentally different from the old forces. If
we are stubborn and disguise our attachments in the name of "protecting the Fa,"
aren't we indeed similar to the old forces that "have tried their best?" Master says, "But the layers upon layers of beings have become impure, and even the
last being has become impure. When they're helping me, at the same time they
hide their selfish intention of protecting themselves. They all want to
change others but not themselves--no one wants to change himself--and they
even try to preserve as much as possible the things they're attached to and
won't let go of." (Touring North America to Teach the Fa) From these, I understand the deeper meaning of "looking inward" that Master
has constantly taught us. I have seen the tragedy of those deviated beings. They
are so bitterly opposed to changing themselves that, even today when the great
Fa has been spread far and wide, they still refuse to change. This deviation
will mislead them; they will totally lose the opportunity to completely renew
themselves and thus they will face a most terrible end. We were once beings of the old cosmos and we have deviated. However, the
immense benevolence of our Master offers us this most precious opportunity. We
have come to understand what the deviations are and we have come to understand
the principle of looking inward in all situations. We are truly willing to
change ourselves. Master says, "... cultivation is one's own business, while the evolution of
cultivation energy is done by one's master. You only have such a wish or
thought, and it is your master who has actually done the job" (Zhuan Falun,
Lecture Two). I realize we have been given so much during Fa rectification. What our Master
wants from us is nothing but this heart for cultivation. Continuously studying the Fa, I found a lot of my shortcomings in comparison
with other practitioners. Because of my own human mentality, our petition to
suffocate evils in front of the Chinese consulate got a litter harder than
before. However, none of our practitioners complained to me. Together with them,
I stood in front of the fence erected in the so-called legal way, appealing
peacefully and sending righteous thoughts 24-hours a day, bearing rain and dust.
The blatant evil serves as a foil to the unyielding petition of Falun Dafa
practitioners. Our steady righteousness attracted many people; some brought us
hot coffee, and others voiced their support. It is the evil itself that drops
stones on its own toes. Practitioners often say: "It doesn't matter if we have a different
understanding [when treating something]." It is true that we can have different
understanding, but in the face of different understanding and opinions, we
should let go of the bit of arguing. We shouldn't mix human mentality with Fa
rectification; Dafa will manifest what we ought to do; we should not separate
ourselves into "yours" and "ours," as the mighty Fa provides everything. During the 2000 holiday season, we participated in Christmas Parades in 10
towns and cities. It was an excellent opportunity to exhibit the character of
Falun Dafa Disciples, and to tell people the truth about Falun Gong. Once we
were in a series of parades in 3 cities in row. Over 100 practitioners drove and
walked the whole day with no rest and no time for a regular meal. During the
parade, when someone would find a nice time, our practitioners would sit on the
road to demonstrate the "Strengthening and Tranquil Meditation" for the
thousands of spectators. With all the noise and excitement in the background,
the harmony and peacefulness of our exercise amazed the onlookers. Seeing this
touching scene, one young practitioner not used to practicing in public sighed,
"It proves right to come out." For this series of parades, our practitioners quickly printed 60 thousand [Falun
Dafa] newspapers in full color. The newspaper had a bright red title "Wonderful
Futures." Members of the editing team worked over 36 hours without sleep. It was
my responsibility to go over the draft. Due to my oversight, there was an extra
character in one key word. Time was very tight; the parade was going to start.
We could not send out those newspapers with such errors. Our practitioners came
up with the idea to correct the typo by covering it with some sticky paper. The
parade had started; and our practitioners continued working on fixing the
newspapers. Standing or squatting against the chilly wind, over a hundred
practitioners showed no complaints and were full of joy. My heart was like boat
turning in a storm. I might have felt a little better if any of our
practitioners had come to criticize me. Nevertheless, this is the wonder of our
practitioners; how noble they are! As Dafa Disciples during the Fa rectification period, we now know that we
come from different celestial bodies, and from different realms of Fa. We are
taking on the historical responsibility to offer salvation to sentient beings.
We do not have any personal pride or resentment. Nevertheless, we have the
sacred and predestined relationship endowed by our Teacher with Mighty
Benevolence, to be Falun Dafa Disciples, unprecedented throughout the ages in
the universe! A while ago when I clarified the truth to Mainland China's people over the
Internet, a screen name "God, save me" popped up on the screen. I immediately
clicked on his name and typed, "Let me tell you how god will save you." I then
told him the story of "lion's eyes turning red." It's those sentient beings in
the other dimensions waiting for us [to save them]. No shirking or lingering, as
true practitioners, we ought to step out of humanness, from the shadow of the
old forces' arrangement, to exhibit the benevolence that Falun Dafa has given
us, beyond any boundaries, to save sentient beings, and to create the most
brilliant future!
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/5/28/30930.html
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