By a Falun Dafa Practitioner in Taiwan

(Clearwisdom.net) As it was the Mid-Autumn Festival break and I have a flexible work schedule, I stayed in Hong Kong for about 10 days. The practitioners there have done their best to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa from their hearts. What moved me the most was the way Falun Dafa practitioners cooperate so well.

I recall that on the first day that I was in Hong Kong, another practitioner expressed his respect for me, because I had come to Hong Kong by myself. This person had considered coming by himself as well, but instead, before he made the trip, he sent out an invitation to other practitioners who might be willing to join him, and two practitioners did. I then saw my shortcoming and realized that the different approaches had different outcomes. I myself was able to go, but I hadn't considered the possibility that I might create opportunities for others. In fact, many practitioners are willing to step out when presented with the opportunity.

I benefited so much from sharing and exchanging ideas with my fellow practitioners in the evenings. I had strong feelings when I talked about my cultivation level, explaining how I was very strict with myself, and the other practitioners also had much to discuss concerning this topic, and they shared their understandings. Even though I believe that being strict with myself is absolutely correct, I realized that at the same time I was also strict with others, which was the cause of a lot of anxiety for me. I came to understand that this is not the way a Dafa practitioner should behave, and I saw many shortcomings in myself, and many problems that I hadn't seen before, as I had been influenced by my human notions in my understanding of how to conform to Fa principles (1). I began to understand that eventually I must completely let go of my old mentalities and be strict with myself according to the Fa. This is real cultivation and is not the same as using ordinary people's standards as a guide.

After spending time with other practitioners, I thought my understanding might have caused some conflicts. On a certain occasion when I was bold enough to mention this, everyone discussed it openly and rationally, sweeping away the barriers. Afterwards, during our group study, my understanding deepened. I realized that my attitude toward and understanding of the Fa directly affects my ability to clarify the truth to people concerning Falun Dafa. Furthermore, I realized that when conflicts arise, I should remain unmoved, and not allow Dafa to suffer losses because of a person's notions. Therefore, we should maintain righteous thoughts and actions at all times.

Because I am strict with myself, I thought that our doing well is naturally how it should be, and not doing well is wrong; so although I would see other practitioners making progress in cultivation, I tended to focus on their shortcomings and wouldn't encourage them. Gradually my understanding of tolerance has deepened and I realized that when I made a little progress, other practitioners praised me and encouraged me to do even better, showing the difference in the levels of our xinxing (2). Other practitioners have such tolerant hearts, and were able to see the good side of situations. This was how compassion was manifested in them.

As we continued to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, practitioners exerted their effort according to righteous thoughts and beliefs, and would not relent no matter how difficult it became. We would not allow our resolve to be shaken, regardless of weather conditions, be it hot and sunny or wet and miserable, in order to fulfill our missions and not leave out any person that we might save, especially those with strong predestined relationships, we gladly gave our all to provide them with the opportunity to know about Falun Dafa. When it came to holding up posters or banners, distributing flyers, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the facts face to face, these things we did might seem ordinary on the surface, but in other dimensions they were far from ordinary. Every time I made a breakthrough and explained the truth about Falun Dafa to a Chinese person, I felt my whole body grow hot and filled with energy. Even though I was not a great speaker, I knew that as long as I continued, it would change, and it could break through another person's shell of confusion and misunderstanding.

The day before I left Hong Kong, many Chinese people were arriving there, flowing into the city in a steady stream. Seeing these precious Chinese people, my eyes filled with tears because the time had come for me to leave, but I was also happy because there are many other practitioners who will be going to Hong Kong. I hope that those who can will go to Hong Kong or Manhattan, New York, to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, as this is indispensable, and is the best hope for sentient beings.

In closing, let's study Teacher's article "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People" together so that we can do better:

"Dafa disciples, don't forsake the magnificent responsibility that has been bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification, and even less should you disappoint those beings, as you are now their only hope for entering the future. For this reason, all Dafa disciples, students both new and veteran, should get to work and begin comprehensively clarifying the truth. This is especially so for the Dafa disciples in Mainland China: each must come out and clarify the truth, bringing it to every field and valley, mountain and hill, not omitting a single area where there are people."

(1) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.

(2) xinxing -- Mind or heart nature; moral character.

Posting date: 11/11/2004
Original article date: 11/11/2004
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 11/4/2004
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/10/29/87863.html

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