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My Understanding of the Poem "Do Not Be Sad"
By practitioner in Wuhan city (Clearwisdom.net) As I become more diligent in Fa study and
"clarifying truth," my understanding of the poem "Do Not Be
Sad" from Teacher's book of poems, "Hong Yin (II)" has
gone from a perceptual understanding to one that is more rational. When I first
read it, my understanding was that it does not have much to do with
practitioners outside of prisons, detention centers and labor camps, and that
our compassionate Teacher is only telling those who are illegally detained to
"not be sad." Instead of being swayed by emotion, they need to take
the Fa as teacher and have righteous thoughts and deeds in the evil environment.
Also, they should calmly search for their attachments and get rid of them. Only
then would the evil be eliminated and could they be released. After repeatedly studying the Fa, my understanding changed. Teacher's words
are concise and simple, yet they profoundly contain deep Fa principles behind
them. For every practitioner, Teacher's Fa is our guide for cultivation. It is
the most respectful and precious base for cultivation in Fa rectification.
Therefore, it cannot be regarded as only relevant to some, but not to others. On July 20, 1999, the evil Communist regime started its terrible persecution
against Falun Gong. Such systematic and widespread persecution turned China into
a nation-wide prison for practitioners. Facing this prison, determined
practitioners let go of life and death, had no fear, and courageously went to
Tiananmen to expose the evil and save sentient beings. Their brave deeds shocked
heaven and earth. Gods admired them and the evil feared them. However, some practitioners became muddled-headed because of the CCP's
fabricated propaganda and could not tell right from wrong. Some are afraid, even
though they know that Falun Dafa is good. They hide at home and practice
secretly. This is like confining themselves in the prison set up by the CCP,
daring not to step out of it. Others gave up their beliefs due to fear. Some
even stepped to the opposite side and brought negative effects to Dafa. For
those practitioners, our compassionate Teacher is worried. Teacher taught the Fa
many times encouraging practitioners in mainland China to work together to end
this brutal persecution. Although some practitioners are validating the Fa under
various environments, after Fa study and experience sharing, others cannot break
through the blockage set by the evil regime, therefore missing opportunities to
save sentient beings. Teacher often tells us that Dafa disciples are one body. If every particle in
this body can function, the evil persecution will not exist. Even if it exists,
it would not be as blatant, brutal and vicious. It is a big lesson for all
practitioners, especially for those who did not do so well in the past. The
recent Fa lectures by Teacher abroad, and the cases of fellow practitioners
being abducted and tortured, made me realize that, while the practitioners who
are being detained at prisons, labor camps, detention centers and brainwashing
classes are facing a tangible prison, every practitioner is facing an invisible
prison consisting of our postnatally formed notions, including the notions
formed by the Party culture. As a Dafa practitioner, whether or not one can
break through these notions is directly related to whether he can realize his
prehistoric vows, keep up with the process of Fa rectification, do the
three things well, and be a qualified Dafa practitioner in the Fa
rectification period. One who can break through them is a God; otherwise he is a
human. After seeing fellow practitioners being abducted and tortured, my human
notions surfaced. On the surface, I had fear. What am I afraid of? I am afraid
of being arrested, my family being affected, my future being destroyed if I
cannot withstand the torture, etc. In fact, behind the fear are degenerate human
factors and selfish notions. If I do not get rid of these notions, I cannot
break through the prison, and "helping Teacher to rectify the Fa"
cannot be attributed to me, let alone cultivating in the Fa rectification. How to eliminate human notions? I realize that there is no shortcut. We can
only achieve this by studying the Fa diligently and doing the three things well
everyday. "The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa
can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
("Drive Out Interference") Real life experience shows that only by studying the Fa well can we break
through our human notions, truly abandon our human thoughts, and do the three
things well as a practitioner should. Fa rectification is coming to the end and there is not much time left for
practitioners to validate Dafa. "As you get rid of the human mentality, evil naturally
disappears." (Do Not Be Sad) If every practitioner gets rids of his human notions, exposes the evil,
clarifies the truth and saves sentient beings, how could the evil continue to
exist? Isn't it time for the Fa to rectify the human world? Those who have dared
not step out, please hurry to break the human prison and keep up with the pace
of Fa rectification. The above is only my shallow understanding. Please point out anything that is
inappropriate. April 13, 2006 |