My Understanding of Truth Clarification and the Concept of "Non-Action"

By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Dalian City, China

(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I shared experiences with some fellow practitioners. We shared different understandings and opinions about truth clarification. I have written them down to promote group progress.

Some practitioners in China have said: "To clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, one doesn't have to leave one's home and 'deliver flyers or video CD's. Truth clarification can be done at home. There are different ways to clarify the truth for practitioners at different levels. When I tell people how to be a good person and do good deeds and accumulate virtue, isn't that truth clarification? Practitioners at higher levels have different methods."

Other practitioners in China have said: "Some practitioners go out to deliver flyers or video CD's just to attain prestige and virtue.  "Your understanding is too one-sided and does not follow wuwei (non-action)." Still others have said, "Now the most important thing to do is to cultivate one's self. You can enlighten to many things from just watching TV and movies."

From the standpoint of the Fa, I think that the ideas above are in error. Before July 20, 1999, when there was no persecution, Teacher never asked us to clarify the truth. Only after the persecution started did Teacher tell us to clarify the truth, expose the evil, suppress the persecution, and save sentient beings. Clarifying the truth is telling people that Falun Dafa is good; that Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good, and that, even though practitioners are good people, they are suffering brutal persecution and even being killed. To tell people how to be a good person and how to behave virtuously is just one aspect of truth clarification.

There are many ways to clarify the truth, such as through the media, through producing truth clarification materials, delivering flyers or video CD's, posting stickers or banners, telling people face to face, etc. Practitioners' daily activities are also a part of truth clarification. Just as Teacher has told us, we can clarify the truth by our exemplary behavior compared to everyday people. But our focus cannot be on matters of ordinary human life; it must be on exposing the evil persecution and on making it clear that Falun Dafa is good.

Practitioners at different levels do have different ways of clarifying the truth, but that doesn't mean that those who are at "higher levels" don't need to follow Teacher's words or that they have "superior" ways of truth clarification. Being at a "higher level" should refer to a person's greater ability to clarify the truth, better cooperation with other practitioners, and the ability to save more sentient beings. Actually, the show-off mentality is bad. It hides in it the mentality of competitiveness and selfishness. Always considering oneself in the right is the reason that some practitioners have regressed.

As to the issue of "action" or "non-action," my understanding is that "non-action" is a requirement for a practitioner. The purpose is to let go of attachments. "Non-action" does not mean one should do nothing. Practitioners have tried their best to fulfill the three tasks as explained to us by Teacher. This is the righteous way, which practitioners should follow during the Fa-rectification period. If you do not stand up to clarify the truth, you do not qualify as a practitioner in the Fa-rectification period.

Of course, when we make truth-clarifying materials or deliver flyers or video CD's, our minds should be pure, righteous, and selfless. Only in this way can the things we do be divine and have the ability to save sentient beings. Teacher has told us that if the Fa-rectification were to come to an end tomorrow, today we would still need to do what a Falun Dafa practitioner should do. Some practitioners think that the Fa-rectification will soon come to an end, so it is better to just stay at home instead of going out to clarify the truth. They are afraid of dropping down in levels amidst the evil persecution. This is not what a Fa-rectification practitioner should think. Thinking this way actually lowers one's level because 'it is far from what the Fa-rectification requires of us.

I would like to end this article with a quote from Teacher':

"Looking at the things you've been doing in cultivating and validating the Fa as Dafa disciples, you still have lots of shortcomings, and you should abandon all the things you're attached to. When I bring up attachments, you won't understand it in an extreme way like you would have before. This path that you're taking and the way you cultivate are not attachments. Your own notions and the crooked thoughts that you're still holding on to among human beings as you validate the Fa, those are what you should abandon. As for this cultivation way of yours that's here in ordinary society--the fact that you work and lead a normal life among the masses while doing cultivation--that's not something I've ever told you to abandon, for it is something determined by your cultivation way."("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Washington DC Fa Conference")

The above are my personal opinions. Please correct me if there are any errors.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/10/26/87640.html

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