Western Practitioner: Learning to Calm Down and Have Faith in the Fa's Ability to Harmonize Everything

(Clearwisdom.net)

Recently, after the mayor of our city announced plans to dismantle the practitioners’ appeal site in front of the Chinese consulate, many practitioners became involved in writing letters to the newspapers and municipal government. Sometimes they sent their letters out to our nationwide email lists as a reference for others. This incident has revealed many practitioners’ attachments, including my own, which I would like to share here.

Some practitioners’ responses to the incident in question were very emotional. They were angry with the mayor, and wrote letters that attacked and demeaned his character. Many practitioners were very fearful, and became worked up and worried. Others wrote letters threatening to sue people casually if they dare to oppose Falun Gong.

In fact, the problem with the consulate came about because of problems in practitioners’ cultivation, and the incident could help practitioners see those shortcomings, improve through cultivation, and save the world’s people through the process of resolving it. Yet many people took the approach of defending practitioners’ actions without looking inside at all, and condemning all those who opposed them.

Upon seeing this, I became quite alarmed, and sent some emails attempting to tell people to calm down, to treat people with compassion and rationality, and to look inside at our own problems. But as I continued seeing practitioners responding with emotion, anger, and fear, I became increasingly unsettled in my heart and worried about the possible damage to Dafa’s reputation resulting from some practitioners’ actions. It was then that I was reminded of an incident that occurred a few months ago.

When Hu Jintao was visiting Washington DC, I was sad to see many practitioners arguing with the CCP’s "supporters." I wanted to tell them that Dafa disciples should only display compassion, forbearance, and breadth of mind. I wanted to tell them that Dafa disciples shouldn’t argue like that with anyone, as no one deserves to be our enemies. I wanted to tell them that, if only they were able to be perfectly unmoved when confronted by the CCP’s evil tricks, then the evil would not be able to exist; it only exists because Dafa disciples’ hearts are still moved by it. I wanted to tell them that the only way to validate and safeguard the Fa is to follow Master’s teachings, and that nothing can harm Dafa, except for practitioners themselves. I wanted to tell them that their human reactions and fear demonstrated a lack of solid grounding and faith in the Fa’s power, and so on.

I should have listened to my own advice.

At one point, in the midst of the protests at the White House, I was talking with another practitioner who shared many of these same understandings. She told me about a scene she had witnessed: a group of the CCP’s hired supporters was going around to start arguments with practitioners. They would approach one group of practitioners, get them all stirred up, and the practitioners would argue with them. Of course, the practitioners would eventually realize that they should keep calm hearts, and then the CCP’s supporters would move on and do the exact same thing to another group of practitioners. When I heard this story, I felt disappointed and frustrated with my fellow cultivators. But the practitioner who was telling the story did not seem upset. She went on and said that it was Master’s compassion, giving practitioners such good chances to cultivate themselves.

I realized at that point that I was not even thinking about the importance of the process of practitioners’ cultivation. And in fact, I was guilty of the very thing I was condemning in others: where other practitioners were reacting with fear and frustration upon seeing ordinary people do wrong or damaging things, I was reacting with fear and frustration upon seeing fellow practitioners do wrong or damaging things. Both of these states reflect a lack of faith in Master’s arrangements. I said earlier that the evil couldn’t make displays if the practitioners witnessing them did not have attachments that could get stirred up. Well, perhaps I wouldn’t see other practitioners reacting poorly if I didn’t have my own attachments that could be stirred up by it. I’m glad to have had the chance to see this clearly, and going forward, I know I should value the process more, and have more faith in the Fa’s ability to harmonize everything.