The Problem With Being Self-Righteous and Stubborn

(Minghui.org) After Minghui published the editorial "Shen Yun Performing Arts to Stop Providing DVDs to China this Year," from what I can see, most of the local practitioners in my area didn't look within.

They all believed that it was someone else's fault, and the issue didn't concern them.

Prior to this editorial, Minghui put out a notice that specifically prohibits practitioners from taking Shen Yun performance discs or video files outside of the mainland.

It stated, "Regarding the above situation, Master has said that when outside China, the shows must be seen live, and videos of the performances are strictly prohibited from being taken outside China. Whoever does this is disrupting and undermining the Shen Yun performances. If people continue to do this, then the Shen Yun performance videos will not be distributed in the future, even in mainland China."

Master couldn't have been more clear about the seriousness of this issue. So what's stopping some Chinese practitioners from following Master's instructions?

I think it's because practitioners from China were born into the Chinese regime's propaganda, and it's difficult to kick the habit of thinking like the Party culture. Most of them are self-righteous and cavalier in things they do. The CCP valued domination, and this in turn promoted a strong attachment to self in many practitioners – which made them stubborn and unwilling to yield to anyone. From my experience, this is a common phenomenon among Chinese practitioners, including myself.

I used to think that if I could only go abroad, I'd do something big and I'd do it my way. It had to be my idea that made a change. Only recently did I realize that this self-centered thought came from the CCP's education; this was something twisted and unkind that Master has already asked us to eliminate many times.

Practitioners overseas are usually more rational and calm, and I know that practitioners from China almost always clash with them when they first go overseas.

Even in China, when these dominant and self-righteous practitioners had to work together, they don't listen to others and are not humble. They liked to show off, do things their way, and cared about nobody else. No one would be able to stop this type of person if they wanted to bring Shen Yun DVDs overseas, for they wanted so badly to show off and do something “revolutionary.”

Let's suppose that Shen Yun continued to distribute DVDs to China this year. My guess is that after all these warnings, there will still be practitioners bringing them back abroad.

Many people simply don't care about this issue and make light of it. They are so used to being self-righteous and cannot see the severity of its impact on their cultivation.

A few months ago a practitioner who was about to travel abroad mentioned that he was bringing several 2015 Shen Yun DVDs to his relatives overseas.

Another practitioner tried to stop him and he replied, "What's the problem with letting my relatives watch some DVDs?"

"What is the big deal?" indeed – one wayward thought can result in a practitioner getting arrested. Something trivial can have a practitioner die of illness karma. There are no small things in cultivation.

Taking DVDs overseas also infringes upon copyrights and causes interference in truth-clarification. It also involves many more profound elements that we aren't aware of.

Sometimes I hear other practitioners say, "Minghui editors are not Master or the Fa. They are practitioners too."

This statement reeks of a strong attachment to self. These practitioners didn't think much of Minghui, and even warnings from Minghui seem to go in one ear and right out the other.

Those who choose to ignore Minghui think very highly of themselves. They are unlikely to attach importance to Master's words or the Fa for that matter. It is true that Minghui editors' articles are not the Fa, but Master does look over them and they do reflect Master's instructions for us.

One time I went to a practitioner's home and he played a video of Master speaking to a small group of practitioners a long time ago. I reminded him that Master said,

"I suggest that every disciple immediately, on the spot, destroy everything that I have not publicly issued but that is in circulation without permission, ..." ("Bear in Mind Forever" from Essentials for Further Advancement)

He replied, "This is the only copy left. You are a practitioner too, so just think of it as a special treat."

I felt terrible and didn't finish watching the video. Later on, I heard that this practitioner almost died in a car accident.

It may seem like a loss for us to not have Shen Yun DVDs in China this year. But if we could all look within and eliminate the elements of CCP culture inside of us, if we could become rational and calm through this lesson, it will be a great thing that allows us to improve together.

Anything that happens in our cultivation is a good thing as long as we can use it to become better. Unfortunately, I still heard some practitioners say, "So no one can watch it now, no big deal."

This is the CCP's egalitarianism: "If I had to die, everyone must die with me."

Some others have said, "Maybe practitioners overseas can do something for us?" or "This time Minghui overdid it."

Many local practitioners are curious about Shen Yun's programs each year and criticize them after watching the performance. This is a project led by Master to save people and there are deeper meanings to it. We should treat it with respect instead of criticism.

Despite the warnings against it, some practitioners still continue to distribute Shen Yun DVDs together with Falun Gong literature.

For example, a practitioner gave his relative a Shen Yun DVD while he clarified the facts about the persecution.

His relative wouldn't take it and said, "This is about Falun Gong, isn't it? I don't want it."

Later this relative went to another practitioner's home while the practitioner happened to be watching Shen Yun's DVD. Without knowing what it was, the relative watched it and began to weep in the middle of the show. The relative quit the CCP later.

This story tells us that we shouldn't purposely mix Shen Yun with Falun Gong. However, some practitioners just don't care.

The CCP's culture made practitioners in China hungry for attention wherever they go. They don't like to be unnoticed and hence they like to do Dafa work differently than other practitioners do. When Minghui announced that there wouldn't be DVDs this year, they still don't think that they did anything wrong.

The interference of the CCP culture in China is almost omnipresent.

When a practitioner's shortcoming gets pointed out, he often snaps back, "Why don't you look within yourself, aren't you a practitioner?"

When someone was told not to start a pyramid scheme among practitioners, he rebutted, “Then who will pay my debts?”

When being corrected for not using a cell phone safely, a practitioner would argue, “[You worry] because you don't have enough righteous thoughts.”

When being reminded to be rational while clarifying the truth, someone would refute, “You have the notion of fear.”

Some practitioners always like to stir up attention in the work he does, some only wants others to work with him but not the other way round, some like to spread rumors about others' mistakes and shortcomings, some still smoke, drink and gamble after being “practitioners” for a dozen years, some always like to pick on others in the sharing sessions … the list goes on and on.

For these people, they just might not listen when told not to take the DVDs overseas.

The practitioners in China will not be able to watch the Shen Yun performance this year. We should all take a look within ourselves.