By a Dafa practitioner in Liaoning province, China

(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, several damaging things have happened one after another in Huludao, Chaoyang and Jinzhou. Dafa material production sites were destroyed and practitioners were arrested. These incidents caused a big loss and interference to the progress of Fa-rectification. I'd like to analyze and summarize the causes and lessons learned in some areas.

It is difficult to categorize the things that happened. The main reason these things happened is because of practitioners not studying the Fa well. This problem manifests in various forms. Each practitioner has his or her own problems; therefore, it is hard to describe each individual instance in detail. I just want to point out some specific issues here.

Teacher said, "...A cultivator should know all that needs to be done, and if he doesn't do well, I'd say that's because he hasn't studied the Fa well, right?" (Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference) Studying the Fa is fundamental for all practitioners. Not studying the Fa well prevents us from looking at problems with righteous thoughts at all times. It makes us influenced by unrighteous behaviors. It also makes us enlighten to the wrong ideas, and that's why we are stuck with all kinds of attachments without realizing it. Later on, I'll illustrate various problems that are all rooted in this fundamental issue.

We all know that one of the important reasons lies in the fact that we 'haven't paid enough attention to "eliminating the dark minions with righteous thoughts." Teacher published that article on March 16, 2004, almost half a month prior to the occurrence of those incidents. Unfortunately we didn't pay enough attention to this issue. Doesn't it mean that we 'are not paying attention to Teacher's lectures if we don't pay attention to eliminating the dark minions with righteous thoughts? Isn't that equivalent to not studying the Fa well? Actually, Teacher already addressed the issue of "dark minions" at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference. Why did Teacher address this issue again in the form of an article? It must have something to do with our negligence and not being able to enlighten to it.

We observed from the cultivation status of many practitioners that two of the three things Teacher instructed us to do were overlooked. One is sending forth righteous thoughts and the other is studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. I often noticed that when sending forth righteous thoughts, our whole body and hand gestures were in a loose condition. Some practitioners don't even send forth righteous thoughts at all. Studying the Fa and practicing the exercise are fundamental activities for cultivators. If we forsake these two things, how can we say that we are busy doing Dafa' work? Because we forgot our fundamentals, some practitioners failed to use a cultivator's' standard to behave themselves. That's why so much of their behavior was not grounded in the Fa.

When Teacher told us that there is not much evil left, and that they are not capable of being vicious, the environment in all areas appeared to be better in Fa-rectification. A lot of practitioners equate that situation to their cultivation status.

As Mainland China practitioners, among the three things that we ought to do, truth clarification should be focused on exposing the local persecution and to save beings. Some practitioners' actions fell short of Teacher's requirement for us.

Some practitioners focus on the wrong issues. One example was filming the group New Year's greeting to Teacher. Minghui Net published an article on the issue of filming New Year's greetings. Unfortunately, some local practitioners used human thoughts toward Teacher and the Fa. They organized a practitioners' group greeting to Teacher. Such action was irrational. In the mean time, because the environment is getting better, some practitioners acted irrationally and neglected safety issues.

Individual coordinators had a thought: to connect western Liaoning province as a whole body. Teacher never told us "to streamline all areas," and Teacher never wanted Mainland China practitioners to do this. On the contrary, Minghui Net specified the ways of communication, saying "flowers blossom everywhere," but contact Minghui Net directly.

Some other practitioners have been busy doing things not related to truth-clarification. They did what they like to do instead of what Fa-rectification needs them to do. This time, among the equipment lost in Huludao, there were some pieces of equipment, such as camera lenses and receivers that were not even being used. Not only was the equipment idle, but also even manpower was idle.

Teacher has specifically pointed out this problem. According to my understanding, this is a common phenomenon in all areas. For example we've often heard practitioners in different areas inviting practitioners from other areas saying, "Come over and stay for couple of days if you're not busy" or, "Come over for New Year and let's join the fun." (Of course, there is the factor of caring for each other, but there is also the mindset of doing things just for fun.) Practitioners rushed to attend Fa conferences just because "everybody else goes!" The massive loss caused at the Shenyang Fa Conference was not because of the 'conference itself, but because of the mindset and intention of the organizers and attendees.

There is no formality in Dafa. But, in the past 3 years, truth-clarifying material preparation and Dafa work coordination have become formalized. Many practitioners pursue the glory in formality.

'Surely, many different forms of Fa-rectification activities are very powerful. 'That is because our cultivation status has reached that level, and because of the sound foundation of Fa study, sending forth righteous thoughts, and truth clarification. It has accumulated with increasing quality, having started small. Thus, it is achieved naturally, not by its specific activities and formality.

Some practitioners focus on the activities themselves instead of their nature and foundation and therefore follow others blindly. Practitioners in some areas copied the activities done in other areas' as role models. For instance, the formation of Fa-study groups, holding a Fa conference, and hanging banners. Some practitioners even regarded the number of how many Fa study groups formed, how many Fa conferences were held and how many banners were hung as their "merits" in Fa-validation. Behind the grandiose mentality lies their self-validation.

We should be clear that everything we do is for the real result of improving in cultivation and saving sentient beings, not for the formalities.

This problem existed for a long time 'because both sides 'did' not look inward. Conflicts are nothing to be afraid of, but if we don't cultivate ourselves the evil will find our gaps and cause damage.

Everyone knows about this problem, so I don't need to say anything more. I' have to remind all of us because of its damaging effects. It has almost become a rule that whenever there are big conflicts or pent-up grievances among practitioners, there is persecution by the evil. We have to be seriously alert if we find ourselves or other practitioners stuck in such a situation.

The issue of "starting point" has been addressed by many practitioners in articles. Teacher said at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference, "... all deviated paths are fraught with danger and pitfalls." I looked back and found that many things that happened were just like what Teacher said. Whenever I did something out of selfishness, the attachment of zealotry, the show-off mentality, or for self-validation; there were side effects. Such side effects sometimes emerged after a long time. The conference in Shenyang is a good example. Other examples include when buying equipment for personal use, the starting point was so impure that the equipment was seized by police. Other practitioners do not cherish practitioners' money. They used it to buy non-essential equipment, and that equipment was lost one piece after another. There are too many such examples.

The above-mentioned examples are limited to my personal cultivation status and point of view. I hope more practitioners will complement and correct it so that we can remind one another. Let's return to the right path in Fa-rectification and stay on it until the end.

2004-4-6

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/4/8/71867.html