By a Dafa Disciple in China

September 15, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) Our fellow practitioners responsible for operating truth-clarifying material sites suffered heavy interference and persecution from the authorities influenced by the old forces. Practitioners made large personal sacrifices and are carrying a heavy load. We, as their fellow practitioners should all do our best to support and cooperate with them. This is being responsible to Dafa. Below I would like to share my personal experiences and understandings on this issue. Please correct any mistakes.

Misunderstandings and conflicts among four or five practitioners occurred more than one month before our material site was destroyed by the evil forces. The most significant problem was that I and another practitioner developed strong attachments to accomplishments and doing things, and the fame that came with it. Other practitioners also had some other attachments exposed during the conflicts. Every one of us realized we should tolerate and coordinate well with each other, and hoped to resolve the conflicts through studying the Fa and coordination. However, we did not study the Fa with calm and pure hearts, did not look inward to find our own attachments and get rid of them. As a result, the conflicts were not completely resolved; rather they were hidden inside and we all felt uncomfortable about it. The resolution to these issues was delayed until after the evil forces destroyed our material site and caused losses to Dafa.

I noticed when dealing with everyday people, especially when explaining the facts to them, I often reminded myself to show them the compassion and peace of Dafa through my words and deeds, and to think about others first. However, when encountering conflicts with fellow practitioners, I often thought to myself, "You are a Dafa practitioner, you should not act like this," and felt uneasy about it. Lots of times I forced myself to tolerate or did not tolerate others, though I wanted to. I did not do what Master told us,

"Now when we clarify the truth to others you all feel that we should treat sentient beings with compassion, then all the more so should you be compassionate among our Dafa disciples." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")

"Compassion comes from a person's cultivation, and it's not something that's acted out; it comes from deep inside, and it's not something done to show others. It's something that exists eternally, and it doesn't change with the passage of time or changes in circumstances." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")

A Dafa disciple should be compassionate to everyone and under all circumstances, always do our best and look inward to find our own attachments and remove them.

When I looked inward, I also found I did not get rid of my attachment to lust. I did not pay attention when I failed the lust test, but mistakenly thought I could not completely rid myself of this attachment in everyday people's society, so it was not a big deal. I was not truly cultivating myself since I did not realize it was my attachment and I should control myself. I realized I had omissions in both thought and deed and didn't pay close attention to them, especially when I read the following Fa,

"There are standards for Dafa disciples, and the Fa has standards. It's not like everyone can just goof around together and pass muster. Every person's spirit is being hit upon, every person is genuinely cultivating himself, and every person is thinking about how to be responsible to his own existence! Why are some of you not able to do this?!" ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")

"Having humanly fostered the evil demons, you allow them to capitalize on the loopholes in the Fa." ("Expounding on the Fa," Essentials for Further Advancement)

As a result, I caused losses to Dafa and fellow practitioners. From now on I will pay close attention to this issue, purify every single thought of mine and completely eliminate this attachment.

In the meantime, some fellow practitioners and I did not do well at the material site. We did not even greet our neighbors when we ran into them, but rather sent forth righteous thoughts with human attachments and fear. We did not "conform to everyday people as much as possible while cultivating." Since we acted kind of weird, the neighbors thought we were criminals and reported us to the police. As a matter of fact, I know many other fellow practitioners who very openly dealt with security guards and neighbors and created a very positive environment for themselves. Not only were they not interfered with, but also received support from everyday people. I think back about how at that time I still had attachments that mixed Dafa practitioners' benevolent salvation with achieving success in everyday people's society. When my heart was not pure, the acts were not open and noble (this does not mean we should not be careful). I did not do what Master said,

"If you are able to succeed in improving yourself this way, what you do then, with a pure heart, will be the best and most sacred." ("Further Understanding," Essentials for Further Advancement)

The evil used this gap to interfere with us since we did not create a positive environment. Though there were hints and reminders during this period, I did not pay attention since I did not look inward to find my own problems. In addition, I had the attachment of saving face, so I did not study the Fa and discuss the issue with fellow practitioners with a calm heart.

Finally, I would like to point out that though experiences and methodologies are very important, studying the Fa with a calm heart is more important. We have to get rid of our attachments and keep our righteous thoughts all the time. This way all the conflicts and obstacles will disappear. Master told us,

"What's meant by 'not proper thoughts'? It's when somebody always has a hard time thinking of himself as a practitioner." (Zhuan Falun) "One righteous thought itself subdues a hundred evil things." ("Righteous Thoughts")

Posting date: 10/12/2003
Original article date: 10/12/2003
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/9/16/57480.html

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