(Clearwisdom.net) I was very surprised after reading articles written by fellow practitioners that talked about how to do Fa-validation from a financial point of view. Ever since I became a practitioner, I thought I had given up the attachment to making money, thinking that it would be okay as long as I could get along with my daily living. I never did ponder the problem in terms of Fa-validation.
When the persecution of Falun Gong first began, we were invaded on three fronts: (1) smearing our reputation, (2) eliminating us physically, and (3) cutting off our financial resources. Due to our recollection of the old universe's way of cultivation, and the obstacles and limitations that we had, our attention was on the first two problems, but not the last.
My attitude towards money was that I didn't focus on it at all. Sometimes I would check to see if I still had enough money to support my daily living. When I shopped for something to wear or eat I bought the most inexpensive things. I always thought that as a practitioner, I should not have any attachments. Just because of this distraction, fellow practitioners all unknowingly had the same misunderstanding that allowed the evil to persecute us, causing fellow practitioners to spend all they had to support material sites and their daily minimal living expenses.
A little while back, I had a sharing with a new "practitioner." "Have you started your cultivation practice yet?" He said, "I only do some reading, not really wanting to be a practitioner." He explained to my disbelief, "If I were to become a practitioner, then my wife would follow, which would affect the daily life of our child." I came to realize that we shared the same misunderstanding, even though his angle was different from mine.
Ever since the persecution began, people all over the world have been demoralized by the old forces. Now there are more and more people who have become rich by cheating and stealing, which has directly influenced people's perspective and their direction in life. Practitioners are, in dealing with the direct and vicious persecution, basically dragging on in their daily lives. Some of those who make truth-clarifying materials are experiencing difficulties in continuing to do so.
In the face of all these problems, while carrying out our sacred mission of saving sentient beings, we have met with a considerable amount of misunderstanding and obstacles. For example, we say that just by thinking that "Falun Dafa is good", you will be blessed with peace and happiness. However, what appears is merely peace with little or no happiness. Practitioner's lives have been tough, especially in a society so degenerate that they find it difficult to live a normal life, and that directly reduces the strength and breadth of clarifying the truth about the goodness of Falun Dafa.
In reality, a practitioner's environment should become better and better. Since one could be blessed with peace and happiness if one's attitude is good to Dafa, then, shouldn't a practitioner be blessed with supreme fortune? Of course, saying that the characters of Dafa disciples are worth thousands should be corrected. This kind of saying is not honest. This great title shouldn't be measured with money. It would be like putting a universe inside an eggshell--it's disrespectful of the title. Our character and supreme righteousness should be greater than that of all. This, of course, includes richness in living. As I understand it, Teacher talked about this in "Wealth with Virtue" but we ourselves have not really understood its contents.
March 2, 2008