(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, many articles on Dafa websites have mentioned the issue of Dafa practitioners being a whole body. One fellow practitioner talked about the Hong Kong incident and pointed out that during the first few months, Dafa practitioners around the world only regarded it as a regional issue, and even though they did send forth righteous thoughts for this incident, they were only "helping out" instead of giving this incident its due attention. Therefore, the situation became worse and then remained unchanged for several months. However, one week before the trial, more practitioners realized that all Dafa practitioners have their own responsibilities on this issue, and Clearwisdom published some practitioners' articles calling for all practitioners to seriously send forth righteous thoughts focused on the Hong Kong incident. Within just one week, the situation made a turn for the better, and we all realized that "Dafa practitioners are a whole body."
When I first read about this, I understood my responsibility as a part of the whole body from the perspective of "when Dafa practitioners form an invincible whole body, our elimination of the evil would be the most effective."
Several days later, Clearwisdom published the news that Jiang and Luo will arrest those practitioners who were forced to leave home to avoid further persecution with the excuse of "ID checks" before the 16th National Congress. After I read about this, I just thought it was a warning for those Dafa practitioners who were forced to leave home, so when I was sending forth righteous thoughts, I did so only sparingly regarding this issue instead of taking it seriously.
Later, I thought about why I was able to treat eliminating tribulations of my family members as my own mission, but failed to treat the elimination of fellow practitioners' tribulations as my own responsibility? In fact, it was due to selfishness. When we send forth righteous thoughts with such impurities, although it would seem that we were concentrating, the actual effect would be greatly compromised because of the impurities.
Except for the selfishness, are there any other things that we have not clearly understood in terms of the Fa principles?
Master said in the Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A., "So you must take sending forth righteous thoughts seriously. No matter whether you think you have the ability or not, you should do it. What you eliminate from your own mind are ones that have an effect within the expanse of your own body; at the same time, you need to eliminate the external ones, which are directly related to the dimensions you're in. If you don't eliminate them, then they not only persecute you and restrain you, but also persecute other students, other Dafa disciples."
From this part of the Fa lecture, I realized that much evil that persecutes other practitioners also comes from our own dimensional fields; if we don't actively eliminate them, our own dimensional field would still be unclean. In other words, whenever we hear Dafa practitioners being persecuted anywhere in the world, we should always pay serious attention to sending forth righteous thoughts. We are doing it for ourselves. Although this thought is still based on "self," it is still a fact.
When I read Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference, "The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." First I thought Master was summarizing our current condition, that we are treating others' business as our own in terms of money and manpower. Now I realized that Master has set a higher standard for us: we must reach this level on all issues including sending forth righteous thoughts. At the same time, Master has also shown us a higher Fa principle, "the next person's things" are indeed "your things," and "your things" are indeed "his things." Dafa practitioners are a whole body!
The righteous force in the cosmos is a whole body. No matter when, where and why we send forth righteous thoughts, we are safeguarding the cosmos as a part of the "righteous" whole body of the cosmos. Then we are not struggling along by ourselves with our limited capabilities; instead, we are using at will the boundless power and supernormal capabilities that come from the whole body; then we are invincible and all powerful. Then we will experience the wonder, magnificence, happiness and freedom of the ultimate level of selflessness and altruism.
After realizing this point, I had a completely different feeling when sending forth righteous thoughts. Before, I thought the phrase "eliminate all evil in the cosmos that persecutes Dafa" was too general and without a clear objective, so it was hard to be properly motivated. However, now, whenever I erect my palm, I immediately have a strong feeling of responsibility as well as a powerful confidence. I feel that "all evil in the cosmos that persecutes Dafa" has a lot to do with me, and they are part of my responsibilities. As a part of the whole "righteous" force of the cosmos, I definitely have the power to eliminate them.
Furthermore, I thought about the fellow practitioners who are still being illegally detained. If we have really done our best when sending forth righteous thoughts, they would have been able to get out. However, one question remains, "It's their own issue, and they themselves are the determining factor. Then if they don't have a good enough understanding or do not have strong enough determination in breaking through the old force's arrangements, would our efforts be able to replace theirs and play a decisive role?" When I proposed this question during discussion, a fellow practitioner smiled and said, "You are still emphasizing 'their own issues.' Aren't 'their own issues' 'our own things'? Also, no matter what shortcomings or omissions they still have, they will be able to eliminate them through Dafa cultivation. The old force has no right to 'help' in an evil way, they should release the practitioners and let them reach the most righteous state through Dafa cultivation."
Even for practitioners who have done wrong things, we still have the responsibility to send forth righteous thoughts for them. "Increased tribulation as a test" is only the evil old force's arrangement. It does not conform to the principle of the cosmos, so it is not legitimate. According to the righteous cosmic principle, if a cultivator has omissions, he or she can only eliminate it through Fa study and solid cultivation.
Master said in Touring North America to Teach the Fa, "As for those who've gone to the opposite side during this persecution or even done awful things, let me tell you that Master still doesn't want to abandon them." If Master does not give up on those who have done wrong things, then what reason do we have to give up on them? Master does not acknowledge the old force's arrangements, does not acknowledge this persecution, so the evil persecution should not take place and should not exist at all, then how can we allow the evil to harm our fellow practitioners?
We talked about one thing during discussion: one highly educated practitioner did many bad things after enlightening along an evil path under the intense pressure, and those things produced far-reaching negative effects at a national level. She was always under close surveillance. After returning to the Fa rectification cultivation, she wrote a very serious solemn declaration on Clearwisdom. She was subsequently kidnapped and subjected to extreme persecution. A fellow practitioner said, "In fact, there are things that we didn't do well. Practitioners around her should have taken necessary measures to help and protect her in the very beginning." After hearing this, I was moved by the selflessness and altruism of this fellow practitioner, who really "treats others' tribulation as one's own." Yet I only felt "sorry" for her as a bystander. I could clearly see the difference between the two attitudes.
Above are some of my understandings to share with fellow practitioners. Please point out anything that is inappropriate.
October 3, 2002