Some Thoughts on Our Local Cultivation Environment

By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Dalian, Liaoning Province

(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, a few things happened among practitioners from my local area. I'd like to use this opportunity to share the issues on the Internet. Perhaps these problems are common among other practitioners.

In our area, some practitioners often interact with each other; sometimes they may even work together in ordinary society. Because one practitioner was not satisfied with another's attachments and faults, he brought up the problem with the second practitioner. However, because the second practitioner didn't change, the first practitioner became irritated and often complained about the second practitioner in front of a third party, similar to ordinary people's whining. When we read the Fa every day, we know to look inside. However, this looking inside is often superficial and reluctant. We ought to be able to realize where we deviate from the Fa as soon as we begin to feel uncomfortable and irritated. I think the problem stems from not studying the Fa well enough and not having high standards for ourselves. This allows us to be lax with ourselves, magnify others' problems, and results in a lack of tolerance for others.

Sometimes a conflict appears to involve only two people. However, if it goes on for a long time, it will also affect the entire group. Even when a person is not a party to the argument, she or he should also look inward and help improve the situation.

A while ago, an elderly practitioner from another area stayed with us. She originally said she wanted to learn computer skills, but actually, she was asking about and trying to learn everything she found intriguing. All the practitioners involved tried to meet her requests, since it looked as if everything she wanted to do was for the Fa. But later I saw that she had a lot of attachments in this process. I have an attachment myself against people who are stubborn. When I found that she was a stubborn person, I disliked her even more. I held resentment towards her and thought she needed to leave as soon as the project was done. What we didn't anticipate was an incident involving another practitioner on another project. The incident jeopardized our safety, so she left in a hurry without finishing the project.

Later I realized that I was not right. First, we cannot agree to do everything another practitioner asks. We cannot assume that everything a fellow practitioner does or says is consistent with the Fa. Instead, we should examine if her requests are right. The practitioner who introduced this elderly practitioner to our area made a mistake, too. Many of us followed this elderly practitioner's attachments.

Actually, the elderly practitioner could have learned computer skills in her own area. She came with attachments and wanted to learn everything so she could avoid other local practitioners. In the end, she didn't learn anything. The people who interacted with her also let her indulge in her attachments and did not point out her problem in time. After she left, I knew that we had all lost a great opportunity to improve. It's not a matter of her doing something wrong. We should be mindful of improving our xinxing regardless of the situation and measure everything with the Fa. Only when we improve as a whole can we harmonize things well together.

Once, a few practitioners were making truth-clarification materials together. One coordinator suddenly mentioned that a specific book was being written and edited by so-and-so and asked about the progress of the project. I thought it was quite strange that this usually cautious practitioner talked so casually about this project. Later, this same practitioner also said that because of what had been happening lately, he wasn't able to accomplish anything.

Some practitioners have indeed given up a lot for Dafa. However, if they treat Dafa projects like individual tasks and feel content when they finish one, that would not meet the standard. Sometimes they act as if they did something extraordinary and wanted to show off; they forget that through doing the projects, they need to cultivate their hearts. I think that Teacher hopes that we not only work on many projects, but also improve our xinxing and realms in the process.

"Even if you are able to persevere in your cultivation, it remains to be seen whether you can succeed..." (from "Wanting to Get Things" in The Second Talk in Zhuan Falun,)

Ordinary people can also do Dafa work, but they are different from Dafa practitioners, since Dafa practitioners need to elevate their realms and improve as a whole. I have not had a chance to talk with this coordinator about the issue. Lately I found that he was getting even busier and increasingly frustrated.

Actually many of us have had that experience. The more we are attached to working on projects, the busier we get. Instead of working on the projects efficiently and effectively while doing the three things well, they are attached to working on the projects and are taken advantage of by the old forces so that they become even busier. They don't get home until really late at night, have no time to study the Fa, and pay little attention to sending righteous thoughts.

The above is just my humble understanding. I hope we can all take the Fa as the teacher, improve together, and complement our good group environment.

March 12, 2006

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/3/13/122693.html

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