By a Dafa practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) In the past, some practitioners have always held a view while clarifying the truth that, "As long as our mind is on the Fa, we can do whatever we want. Everything will be arranged well through Dafa." For example, when making VCD programs, we didn't pay much attention to polishing and editing. Non-practitioners thought the programs were rather crude, yet we thought we were just letting things run their course. Some practitioners who undertook the task of making truth-clarifying flyers considered certain materials to be good, so they made them in large quantities and gave them to other practitioners to distribute. After the materials were passed out, it was the end of the story. They did not have the time or desire to think about it more. In fact, there have been cases during our truth-clarification activities where we went to extremes and caused misunderstandings among non-practitioners. Yet some practitioners did not pay attention to this issue, and some other practitioners who did not study the Fa well even considered such misunderstandings as a "test" for us by non-practitioners. This has caused many losses and left us with many lessons to be learned. During truth-clarification, some practitioners gradually developed a sense of avoiding difficulties, or they felt uncertain about how to clarify the truth.

Clarifying the truth is hard. Why is it so hard? I don't want to talk about the old forces' interference and suppression, or their persecution of practitioners who clarify the truth. I think the most fundamental cause lies in the fact that we as cultivators are clarifying the truth to everyday people, and there is a big gap between us. Through the process of cultivation, Dafa practitioners continuously improve their understanding of Dafa and assimilate to the Fa with the righteous Fa principles, and their perspective of the world has been fundamentally changed and rectified. On the other hand, everyday people live their lives according to their acquired notions and attachments. Therefore, if we don't do well, everyday people will consider us to be "abnormal." During truth-clarification, the manifestation of the Dafa practitioners' benevolence, harmony and rationality displayed are the most crucial, and they are what can truly move people. However, if we directly take Dafa's righteous Fa principles to the ordinary human society, sometimes everyday people will find them hard to accept. For example, if we spread the Fa-rectification verses among everyday people as truth-clarification materials, people will get confused. The losses and lessons we have experienced in truth-clarification remind us of one fact: everyday people are living in delusion. They have many attachments and are controlled by acquired notions. They therefore may show signs of being against Dafa. We must eliminate the evil elements behind them and talk to them based on their mentalities. If everyday people all displayed their Buddha nature, then there would be no need for us to clarify the truth.

It's not always necessary to change people's hearts solely with logical discourse. As Dafa practitioners, the benevolence and kindness we display are the fundamental factors that can truly change people's hearts. Sometimes, I find that it is the way we behave, not the reasoning itself, that truly changes people. When an everyday person rudely challenges a Dafa practitioner, if the Dafa practitioner can naturally show kindness and genuine concern for this person, he will have already harmonized with this person in his heart. When we blame ourselves for not clarifying the truth well, we don't know that in fact people might have already begun to change. Sometimes I have this feeling when talking to friends who are not practitioners. Some practitioners have realized that it's our state of pure compassion and not our words that is saving people. Of course, if we can use the Fa principles well that Master has taught us, people will think that what we say makes sense and they will truly respect us. I also feel that right now, people often say that emotion is more important than cold logic. For example, oftentimes we reason with others for a long time, but only end up with not-so-good results. Yet when they hear the beautiful songs composed by Dafa practitioners, they suddenly realize, "How wonderful Dafa is!" Music can directly tell people what Dafa is, and it can change people in an imperceptible way.

How can we clarify the truth well? As far as methods are concerned, I believe that if we lack careful consideration and a sense of purpose, it will be very difficult and even end up with negative effects. In regards to specific means, I think that the lessons we have learned in the past two years all come down to lack of specific consideration. In other words, we must talk to people along their ways of thinking, acquired notions, attachments, interests and problems, so that it will be easy for us to communicate and find common ground, so that we can achieve our desired outcome. Two years ago, I did marketing in a certain field, and I absolutely had to think about things from the perspective of various customers. Otherwise I would lose my job. When placed in difficult and awkward situations, I learned how to think from the perspectives of others. If our practitioners can constantly break through our own cultivation limitations, our own social experiences and knowledge, and limitations imposed by our own social status and positions, and effectively clarify the truth using different methods suitable to different people, then truth-clarification will not be as difficult as some practitioners think it is. It is the same as curing illnesses in that different illnesses must be treated with different supernormal abilities. To take special consideration and do things with a specific sense of purpose, we must truly care for the people to whom we clarify the truth. We need to look at their situations with benevolence and understanding, instead of simply flooding them with information or even trying to push them into obtaining the Fa and cultivating. We Dafa practitioners should learn from our experiences and improve through continuously studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth. Only by doing so can we keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification.

We are Dafa practitioners, so we can overcome various personal limitations with the rationality and wisdom we have acquired through Dafa cultivation. However, if we fail to realize our limitations, we will be in a self-absorbed state, and people we come into contact with will find that we don't understand them. They will then reject our message as a result. We all encounter this type of situation now and then, and when this happens, we need to listen to others instead of insisting on our own views and talking in our own language. Otherwise things will turn out just the opposite of what we wish.

Posting date: 9/19/2002
Original article date: 9/18/2002
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 9/11/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2002/9/8/36244.html

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