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Being Diligent on the Path of Cultivation While Working With Practitioners of the Opposite Sex By a Practitioner in China (Clearwisdom.net) The Falun Dafa materials sites* and Internet access
points that I know of have been set up by young and middle-aged practitioners.
Most of them are single people that were forced to leave their homes and move
from place to place to avoid being arrested. These men and women voluntarily get
together. They have suffered pain that most people could hardly imagine, endured
great pressures, and have been doing the great things that Fa-rectification
period Dafa practitioners should do. Their deeds have played a decisive role in
clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. Under the present vicious
environment they sometimes need to regroup or make some new arrangements. They
live a relatively confined and lonely life. If they slacken the demands on
themselves, the evil will use the opportunity to interfere in some way. Some of
our fellow practitioners are very good in every aspect; however, they cannot let
go of their attachment to sentimentality between the sexes. This is because they
cannot improve their understanding on the issue from the Fa principles. As a
result they have been interfered with and their levels have dropped. It is a
great pity. The Clearwisdom editors recently published two articles: "On the Basis
of Fa-Rectification Cultivation, Safeguard the Stable Operation of Materials
Sites and Internet Access Points in Mainland China" and "On the
Relationship between Members of the Opposite Sex and the Issue of
Marriage," which dealt with this very serious topic and were very good and
very timely. I think that whether we evaluate ourselves using the declined human moral
standards or using a practitioner's standards is extremely important. We are all
Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners; therefore we must live by the
standards required of Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners. Now that the
Fa-rectification has come to the final stages of the final stages, we must set
higher standards for ourselves. There is a young woman practitioner working with me. In everyday people's
words, "She is young and pretty" and she is single. She is also in a
very good cultivation state and proficient in computer technology. For a variety
of reasons, the two of us formed a new materials production site. We studied the
Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, and produced truth-clarification materials
together. From the very beginning, I felt very grateful to our Teacher for
letting me see my attachment in this aspect and arranging for this practitioner
to work beside me to help me to let go of my lust. I also thought it was a very
good opportunity, for if I could not let go of my lust, I would drop down a
level. Because I thought about the situation that way, when we worked together
we felt open-hearted and aboveboard, and when we shared experiences we also felt
relaxed and unrestrained. The mind is very active. Being contaminated by the dye vat of human desires,
dirty thoughts would pop up from time to time. However, I always reminded myself
that I was a cultivator, our Teacher's disciple, and that I had a mission in
coming to the human world, so I always made a clear distinction and sent forth
righteous thoughts to eliminate the dirty thoughts. Sometimes when the bad
thoughts flew I would suppress them and never give them any excuses to leave
behind a dimensional field. As long as one's righteous thoughts are strong,
these bad thoughts will become weaker and weaker and finally be eliminated. This
is cultivation; therefore I had a better understanding of Teacher's words: "Human society is a good place for cultivation, since everything here
can lead to attachments". ("No Politics" Essentials for Further Advancement II) If we cannot let go of attachments, then we are human beings; but if we can
let go of attachments, then we will be divine beings. As a result, the two of us
cooperated very well and did not give the evil any loopholes to take advantage
of. We did have conflicts, but each time we solved them through sharing based on
the Fa. Because we maintained a relationship between fellow practitioners and
did not allow other interfering factors, we got along very naturally and we
liked working together. Actually, whenever an outstanding fellow practitioner of the opposite sex
appears beside us or when we have favourable impressions of a particular fellow
practitioner of the opposite sex, we should all enlighten to this issue. When we
see sentiments from fellow practitioners of the opposite sex we should indeed
think about if it is time for us to let go of our attachment to feelings.
Nothing that happens around us is accidental. If we cannot enlighten to this
issue, and only look at it from the human point of view and think it is only
natural, think that it is an opportunity, or think about another practitioner's
thoughts of "Because I am practicing here, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is
rewarding me" (Zhuan Falun), then we will be ruined by the evil. We
have already seen many examples of this happening. If our righteous thoughts are
very strong, we can look at the other person from a practitioner's viewpoint and
consider the situation to be an arrangement by Teacher, see this as a sacred
predestined relationship for us to validate the Fa together, and at the same
time we can let go of our attachment in this aspect. "I am not an ordinary
person, I am a practitioner." (Zhuan Falun) In that case we would
also be seen as "This kid is teachable". (Zhuan Falun) One
thought can bring about different consequences. I will share a cultivation story that deeply touched my heart. In the early
days of Sakyamuni's spreading his Fa, his step-brother Nanda stayed with him to
cultivate. Nanda had a young and beautiful wife and they lived a very happy
life. When the Buddha spread his Dharma, Nanda simply could not cultivate
diligently. He would often sneak back home to unite with his wife whenever the
Buddha went out. Seeing Nanda's attachment, the Buddha took him to a forest
where they came across an ugly black monkey. The Buddha asked Nanda, "How
does your wife compare to this monkey?" Nanda replied, "This monkey is
so ugly. How can it compare with my wife?" Then the Buddha took Nanda to Heaven where a group of fairies lived in a
magnificent palace. One of the fairies said, "We heard that on earth there
is a Buddha whose brother is called Nanda. The Buddha persuaded him to renounce
his family and become a cultivator. Because he renounced the family his merits
and virtues would allow him to be reborn as a heavenly being after he
dies." Nanda was very happy. The Buddha asked him, "How do these
fairies compare with your wife?" Nanda replied, "It is just like
comparing my wife with the monkey; there is no comparison." After that, the Buddha took Nanda to Hell where they saw a huge iron pot in
which human beings were being boiled. One of the officers in Hell said,
"There is a Buddha whose brother is called Nanda. He will be reborn to
Heaven because he is trying to cultivate his karma. However, after he finishes
his enjoyment in Heaven, he will come down to Hell to face punishment."
Upon hearing this, Nanda was terrified. Then, he realized that all worldly
pleasures such as wealth, sex, love, and power were just illusions, and that to
get out of the cycle of suffering he must follow the teachings of Buddha.
Thereafter he adhered to the Buddha's teachings and cultivated diligently.
Finally he enlightened to the fruit status of an Arhat. Why would practitioners still regard human sentiments as important and forget
about the vows they made so many eons ago? This is just my personal understanding. If there is anything improper please
kindly it point out. *Materials sites refers to locations in China where practitioners create,
print, and assemble materials such as flyers, banners, VCD's, etc. that clarify
the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Posting date: 2/21/2004 |