Various Mentalities Arise Among Dafa Practitioners During the Defamation Trial Of Les Presses Chinoises

By Canadian practitioner Sun Xiaoyan

(Clearwisdom.net) Teacher explicitly told us cultivators that,

"...everything that happens today in the ordinary society is the result of Dafa disciples' thoughts." (From "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")

When we overly focus on something, it is very hard for us to maintain a correct mindset and xinxing (moral character). This mainly presented itself in the following two ways during the defamation trial against Les Presses Chinoises.

Dafa disciples are one body and we all wanted this trial to proceed smoothly. However, it is possible that, like me, many others experienced complex psychological changes towards our fellow practitioners who testified in court. First of all, we expected them to do a good job in demonstrating Dafa disciples' demeanor. In doing so, the judge would gain a better understanding of us and would recognize our group. For this reason, we began supporting fellow practitioners with our strong righteous thoughts.

The better a practitioner performed in court, the stronger our righteous thoughts became. We could then sense the entire field become especially quiet and serene. On the other hand, when a practitioner ran into a predicament while testifying, our hearts began to fluctuate. Instead of taking a step back from the situation and viewing it from a higher perspective, we focused on the specifics and became really anxious for that practitioner. At that time, I thought I was undisturbed and I calmly observed other practitioners who were troubled by the situation. I even told them, "Don't be moved. At a time like this, the most effective thing is our righteous thoughts." I also tried to use my righteous thoughts to turn the situation around, but the effects were not obvious. Actually my heart had already been disturbed, only it had manifested in a different way. I wanted to rely on the strength of the group and did not have the confidence to take on the situation independently. When I saw fellow practitioners' minds fluctuate, I would be affected and felt helpless in the situation. This has been the greatest problem in my cultivation and has obstructed my validating the Fa.

While sharing experiences with other practitioners after the trial, we found that many of us shared the same stream of thought. When a practitioner came across a predicament while testifying in court, the thought of ourselves being more capable than him or her would surface. "I would be able to clarify this issue much better, why wasn't I selected to be a witness?" Then I recalled Teacher telling us the story of Shen Gongbao and Jaing Ziya in Zhuan Falun. There is nothing wrong with our trying to validate the Fa more effectively. Maybe I do have a better understanding on this issue than the practitioner who testified. However, this wasn't the time or place to compare who was better or to judge practitioners with a nit-picking mentality. Instead, we should use our pure hearts in sending righteous support to our fellow practitioners. In fact, the whole process of cultivation is cultivating our hearts. We also rely on a pure heart to validate the Fa.

Furthermore, there are two other kinds of mentalities. One is secretly feeling glad upon seeing practitioners failing to do well in their testimonies. I was shocked when I first heard this notion. But after regaining my calm, I suddenly realized that I also experienced the same thought in the past. These thoughts arose because our attachments had been triggered and we looked at the problem entirely from the viewpoint of everyday people. This is the manifestation of our jealousy and competitive mentalities. We knew it was incorrect at the time, but we did not fully realize the seriousness of this matter. This is actually terrifying. Fa-rectification has come to this day, yet a cultivator still can have these kinds of thoughts at a crucial time to validate the Fa. How big of an obstacle does this create? Teacher told us,

"If in the course of cultivation practice jealousy is not given up, one will not attain the Right Fruit--absolutely not." (From Zhuan Falun) This kind of mentality is interfering with the process of Fa-rectification!

There is another kind of mentality opposite to this. While everyone in general felt that a practitioner did not perform well, two other practitioners each told me, "Actually that practitioner did a fine job. We should not pick on his mistakes at a time like this, but should think of ways to harmonize them." These sincere words touched me deeply. They made me see my shortcomings and eliminate the unrighteous thoughts in my mind.

When we look at a problem from different perspectives, the end result would also be different. Isn't this kind of righteous force validating the Fa? Think about it, if all of us think this way, how immense would this righteous field be! Conversely, when everyone uses his or her own notions to evaluate the practitioners who testify, what kind of field are we creating?

Each life possesses a different characteristic, so the means he or she employs to clarify the truth and validate the Fa are also different. We cannot use our own understandings to judge the rights and wrongs of our fellow practitioners. As long as we view things based on the Fa, that righteous force becomes extremely powerful. Of course, when a practitioner who testified does not do well, there must be attachments on his or her part. Nevertheless, we should not latch onto our fellow practitioners attachments or, even worse, reinforce them. Instead, we should think of ways to better harmonize them.

The thoughts that we generate have material existence, thus our each and every thought plays a critical role. On the surface only twelve practitioners testified in court, but in actuality, our one body accomplished this task. Although this is something of the past, it is essential to look inward and upgrade ourselves from the things that we did not do well.

Our attorney obtained a certain degree of understanding of Dafa through two years of extensive contact with the practitioners in charge of this case. After listening to the cultivation experiences of the practitioners who testified in court, he gained an even better understanding of Dafa. Therefore, some of the things our attorney said in his introduction and conclusion during the trial were from the standpoint of the Fa. Some practitioners even felt that his words were like that of a Dafa disciple. As the trial proceeded, the judge and the staff also gained a certain understanding of Dafa. With regard to this, how we can maintain a correct mindset becomes very crucial.

First of all, we have to be careful not to develop the attachment of zealotry while being happy for those lives that learned the truth. In addition, we must realize that we are the ones who play the decisive role. Teacher said,

"You're cultivators, and all changes come from your cultivation and the Fa-rectification; everything that you yourselves validate and enlighten to, and everything that you'll receive, all this comes from what you have done on your path. Absolutely don't think about any favors the old forces might do for us, or about how the ordinary society might help us. You are the ones saving the ordinary people's society, and you are the ones saving sentient beings!" (From "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/12/14/62471.html

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