Western Practitioner: Denying the Old Forces' Arrangements, Eliminating Conflict, and Strengthening the Whole Body

By a Western practitioner in Canada

(Clearwisdom.net) Over the last few months during interactions with fellow practitioners, and while doing Dafa work, I have continuously seen my own problems manifesting. The problems arise differently, but together it is related to "emphasizing my own stuff," "holding on to my own stuff," and "imposing my own stuff." This is far from the requirements of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I am clear that these are actually notions which manifest the nature of the old forces, and interfere with harmonization of the whole body.

"Of course, these old forces are attached to what they want to do and to what they want to achieve..." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")

Initially I noticed that while participating in group discussions, I always wanted to say something -- about everything. Sometimes I would talk for a long time in "telling a story." At the same time, I was perturbed about another practitioner's behavior in this regard. Looking inside I saw the problem was my strong desire to express my own view.

Concurrent with this situation, I found myself to be quite intolerant of other practitioners' understanding and views. I often felt impatient.

Soon, through looking inside, studying the Fa, examining myself, and passing tests, I gained more tolerance. I found that in this state, I was able to let everything just be. Master taught, "So what's their state of mind? It's tolerance, an extremely immense tolerance, being able to accept other beings, and being able to truly think from other beings' perspectives." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")

Taking a step back, I began to notice the strong attachments that others had invested in their own stuff. It is manifest whenever we think our idea is good, or we suggest that something should be done in a certain manner. Was our true intention to include the valuable thoughts of others to the greatest degree, or something else? Of course we cannot achieve perfection right away. What is most important is where we position our hearts within the Fa, not whether our idea was a good one, or whether it was free from attachment.

In addition, I often notice, or become part of a conflict, whereby one practitioner becomes upset about other practitioners not "meeting the standard of a Dafa disciple." Perhaps we think they are not doing things correctly. Perhaps we think their manner is damaging the Fa and we should take action to protect the Fa. Perhaps the attachments we notice sicken us and we cannot stand it. Perhaps we think someone's behavior is interfering with the whole body. Perhaps the situation is quite serious, and we even judge that they are not qualified to be called Dafa disciples! We cannot continue to carry these types of mentalities.

We need to do even better in following Master closely and denying the old force's arrangements. Wherever there are problems among practitioners we need to place compassion first and foremost. Any problem can be solved by looking within. It is guaranteed that there are issues to be found, or else our own hearts would not be moved. We should not hold on to a single negative thought. Only after we are calm can we begin to understand others, and only then should we point out what we see with broad-minded compassion. We should also keep in mind, that we cannot judge from our own perspective the overall nature of another practitioner's thoughts and guiding understanding of the Fa. We should place more trust in each other's understanding, and veteran practitioners should take care to compassionately guide others without the slightest bit of interference.

Master taught us, "And, there are countless Gods of all different types, there are so many of them that it's impossible to count them, there's an infinite number of beings. Now, if they were to argue when they do something, that'd be big trouble, since every Enlightened Being has his own set of truths that he has validated and enlightened to from the Fa-truths of the cosmos, and he's formed a set of his own things with his understanding of the cosmos." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")

In order to further harmonize the whole body, we need to completely deny the old forces taking advantage of practitioners' gaps to create conflicts and interfere with the Fa-rectification, no matter how minor they are. Placing Fa-study as priority is crucial to elevate our surface and to do even better in following our Master during this most precious time. By focusing on "your things are my things" and diligently looking within first, all issues of co-ordination and cooperation will most definitely be resolved.

"It's just a matter of the cosmos's choice. Everything I've been doing during the Fa-rectification and everything I want, to spell it out, are the choice of the future cosmos and the needs of the future cosmos. (Applause) So for the beings of the old cosmos, and this includes all the elements of beings, when it comes to the Fa-rectification and what I choose, all beings' harmonizing and completing things according to my choices and contributing their best ideas and approaches--not to change what I want, but to harmonize and complete things according to what I've said--is the best thought a being in the cosmos could have." (Applause) ("Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

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