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A Few Thoughts on the Issue of Being "One Body" By Kevin, a practitioner in the United States (Clearwisdom.net)
1) In daily life, when an everyday person has an abnormal condition or
"sickness" in one part of his body, people often do not think only that part of
his body is sick. Instead, people think that "he" is sick or "his body as
a whole" is sick. This is because people understand that this sickness may
only be a sign that the whole body is weak or the body's immune system is out of
balance. It is only that this whole body weakness is currently manifesting in
one part of the body. Therefore, when a fellow practitioner appears to be severely interfered with by
the evil, by being "one body," instead of always thinking that one part (that
one practitioner) is weak and being interfered with, we should also look at the
situation to see if our body as a whole is "weak," and if this whole body
weakness is being exploited by the evil with one part of the body being
specifically targeted. If that is the case, this whole body's weakness has to be
quickly removed. Otherwise, evil will continue to take advantage of this
weakness, and other parts of this body may become the next target. 2) In Chinese or western medicine, it is generally thought that when a symptom
appears in one part of the body, very often it is directly or indirectly caused
by some problems in other parts of the body. For example, if a person eats
and drinks too much and has a stomach ache, it is probably not just because the
bacteria is causing trouble (external interference) or his stomach is weak
(problem with that part of body), but probably it is also caused by the nose's
attachment to the smell of the food, the tongue's attachment to the taste of the
food and the mind's lacks of self-control. Therefore, when the stomach
hurts, if other parts of the body merely focus on eliminating the bacteria and
try to help the weak stomach to improve (although these are also very important)
but not take it seriously to eliminate their own attachments, the situation may
not improve much, or even though it improves temporarily, the problem may come
back again and can even lead to other problems later. Therefore, when a fellow practitioner is being interfered with or encountering a
problem, by being "one body," in addition to sending forth righteous thoughts to
eliminate the evil, denying evil arrangements and being compassionate and
supportive, I feel it's equally important for each of us to realize that our own
attachments may very well be the direct or indirect cause for that fellow
practitioner to be "tested" and to have to endure the tribulation. If we
don't eliminate our own attachments, it may continue to give the old forces
excuses to cause the fellow practitioner to continue to suffer, or pick another
practitioner to be the next target.
Of course, fundamentally we do not acknowledge these "tests." Then in
addition to sending forth righteous thoughts, the best way to oppose these
"tests" and deny the old forces' arrangements is to look inward. When a problem
persists, maybe it is time for us to calm down and see if we have our own
attachments to be eliminated, and recognize that eliminating attachments in our
each "individual part" not only will ensure the "health" of the "one body", but
it may very often be the solution to the problem. I have seen a case just like this. One practitioner encountered a big
tribulation. In the beginning, other practitioners focused only on sending forth
righteous thoughts, looking after her and reminding her to study the Fa and keep
righteous thoughts. But there was little improvement. Then everyone
realized that when a problem occurred, not only the practitioner involved, but
also every other practitioner who has heard about or seen the situation should
also look into him or herself. Therefore, other practitioners around her started
looking inwards, discovering and eliminating their own attachments, and
purifying their own righteous thoughts. Only then did the practitioner in
tribulation begin to listen to other practitioners' reminders and encouragement,
and start to ask herself to face the tribulation like a true cultivator--and her
situation began to improve. Now when I read Master's words "The next person's things are your things, and
your things are his things."(Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa
Conference) again, I realize that "his things really are my things".
Before, I took it as "I will treat his things as my own things and do my best to
help." Now I realize that I may actually bear responsibility for the tribulation
that is happening to a fellow practitioner. Also, when I was slacking off in my
cultivation before, I thought I was the one who would be mostly interfered with
or affected. Now when I realize that my slacking off in Fa study, sending
forth righteous thoughts and xinxing improvement can be the direct cause of
another fellow practitioner's being "tested" and enduring tribulation, I can no
longer find any excuse for not being more serious and diligent in my cultivation
and Fa rectification.
Posting date: 1/31/2003 |