(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to take advantage of the Minghui website
to exchange and share with fellow practitioners my experience in assisting
Teacher to promote Dafa and the salvation of sentient beings. Please point out
any shortcomings.
We all know that Fa-Rectification has reached its last stage. It is each
practitioner's responsibility to walk the cultivation path that Teacher has
arranged for us and do the three things well. All things come from
the Fa. The only way to negate the old forces' influence and arrangements and
walk our paths well, is to constantly study the Fa, looking inward and using the
Fa as guidance for everything we do.
I enlightened to the fact that we are very fortunate to be born and able to receive the Fa in the same period as when Master is rectifying the Fa; to be able to assist Teacher with validating the Fa and the salvation of the world's people; to fulfill our prehistoric vows, and not to overburden Teacher, who endures tremendous amounts of hardships in order to save us. Also, we must not forget the sentient beings who are still waiting to be saved. In order to live up to being Dafa disciples and our own accomplishments, we must be more diligent in our cultivation practice in this last period of Fa-Rectification and leave no regrets. Teacher said:
"Cultivation practice is a long process and a process of gradually giving up one's attachments." (Zhuan Falun)
Practitioners in our area have realized that time is running short and that we need to be more diligent in doing the three things well in order to have a better environment for saving more sentient beings.
After doing their household chores, elderly practitioners walk to nearby towns and villages to tell people of the injustices done against Falun Gong and its practitioners. They urge people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Their endurance and diligence led younger practitioners to feel that they weren't doing enough. I used to have a misconception, thinking that elderly practitioners usually had more idle time, while younger practitioners have to juggle their time between jobs, taking care of the family, attending social activities and still needed time to do the three things. I thought we were doing a pretty good job with the three things, even though we had so many responsibilities. In actuality, Buddha Fa cultivation practice is not separated into age, size, and whether how much one has to work or not. The only thing that matters is to cultivate diligently. Validating the Fa and saving sentient beings are first and foremost and we cannot use any excuses to cover our weaknesses. I like living in comfort and don't like hardship, with one hand holding my human side and the other my divine side. Cultivation is a serious matter and this kind of behavior is dangerous and not in accordance with the Fa's requirements.
After exchanging views in group discussions, we realized that younger practitioners should take advantage of our youthful energy and go to places that don't have any practitioners, clarify the truth and save sentient beings. We used weekends to visit faraway towns, villages and divided practitioners into small groups. Practitioners who had a car gave rides to those who didn't. With Teacher's help, we coordinated well and the results were very good. Even though the weather was bad on some weekends and even wearing raincoats didn't help much, we still went and told people the facts about Falun Gong. Riding in the car, we were very lighthearted and recited Teacher's poem:
"Like pure lotus in the muddy world--
millions and billions of plum blossoms
In the bitter wind, looking more lovely
Day after day, it snows and rains--
tears of Gods and Buddhas
Longing for plum blossoms to return
Don't get lost in worldly attachments
Be steadfast in righteous thought
Through the ages to the present
Just for this one time."("Plum Blossoms" from Hong Ying II)
The scene was so touching; my eyes were blurred with tears mixed with rain drops. Deep inside my heart, I felt Dafa disciples' magnificence. When we arrived at our destination, nobody suggested to rest. Quickly, we split up into different directions and delivered Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs into the hands of the local people. Even though the rain brought disadvantages, we found farmers at home playing cards or gathered together chatting, which made our job easier. Seeing the farmers smile happily, we were happy that they had been saved. We also enlightened to the fact that sentient beings waited eagerly to receive the information materials about Falun Dafa.
By doing the three things well, fellow practitioners were all experiencing xinxing improvements. Practitioner A enlightened to the fact that cultivation is a serious matter and saving sentient beings is sacred work. In the process of saving sentient beings, we cannot pick and choose; each and every being is important and they are all predestined to be saved. Practitioner B enlightened that when saving sentient beings, we have to use a god's mentality, not discuss everyday people's matters and not joke about others. The enlightenment of practitioner C was that we needed to be more diligent in our cultivation in order to truly save sentient beings, so that they don't have a chance to commit crimes against Dafa and its practitioners. We must do well in these situations when we stand in front of sentient beings; we can then instantly disintegrate the evil factors that hide behind these sentient beings and hinder them from being saved.
I am a frank speaker. Some people even describe me as irritable. Practitioners generally like my personality, but when coordinating work with fellow practitioners, I didn't really use the Fa as guidance to measure matters. Instead of using the Fa, I thought that I knew enough to find insufficiencies and criticize fellow practitioners when I thought their conduct did not match with my own human thinking. I had totally forgotten what Teacher said:
"Haven't I said that when you look at things in the Three Realms, things are reversed." (Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006)
Teacher also said:
"When you always maintain a heart of benevolence and compassion, you will have time or room to buffer the confrontation and think, should a problem arise suddenly."(Zhuan Falun)
Due to my irritable and impatient personality, I don't use rational thinking when encountering difficult matters and frequently hurt other people's feelings. When using the Fa's criteria to measure things, how could I be worthy of being a Dafa disciple? As the saying goes, one cannot take one's own strong points and compare them with others' weaknesses. One needs to compromise one's strong points to balance with other's deficiencies. A cultivator should always look inward when a conflict arises. We should look in the mirror when encountering fellow practitioners' insufficiencies, to see where our own shortcomings are and cultivate diligently to get rid of them. Hopefully, our area's practitioners can truly be guided by the Fa to measure all things, rectify ourselves with righteous thoughts, make steadfast efforts to do well, upgrade our levels together and form "one body." We shall lay down the old universe's law principles of promoting self first and reach a realm of selflessness.
I wish for all practitioners to seize their opportunities, cultivate diligently and form an indestructible "one body", thus enabling us to save more sentient beings, walk our righteous paths and assist Teacher in validating the Fa.
