In A Few Words: Thoughts Derived from the "Bottleneck Effect"

By a Dafa practitioner

February 26, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, when sharing with fellow practitioners, I suddenly thought of what everyday people call the "bottleneck effect," i.e., for a bucket made of various-length wooden planks, looped together, its capacity to hold water is not determined by the longest plank, but by the shortest. People call this restricting factor the "bottleneck effect." The planks of a wooden bucket are like the various components of a matter; every component of a matter can possibly become the short plank. Only by constantly amending the "short plank" can the overall level of the matter be improved. It is so for the wooden bucket, and the same principle applies to the whole body.

Dafa practitioners are a whole body; is there a "bottleneck effect" in our whole body? Currently the cultivation distance among practitioners has become greater. Many practitioners are diligent with righteous thoughts and righteous actions; however, there are quite a few practitioners who have yet not completely stepped forward, and there are even some who have enlightened along an evil path.

How to improve our level as a whole body deserves the serious consideration of Dafa practitioners. In the issue of the "bottleneck effect," the capacity of the whole bucket can only be increased by increasing the length of the "short plank." I think practitioners who have the ability should try harder to help those fellow practitioners who have lagged behind due to not stepping forward, enlightening along an evil path or other reasons.

Every Dafa disciple is doing what he or she is supposed to do, but we should think more from the perspective of the whole body. When helping those who have fallen behind, we should also consider the issue from the perspective of expediting the progress of the whole body.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2003/2/26/45337.html

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