Relinquishing Party Culture

(Minghui.org) During a group Fa study, a fellow practitioner read Minghui articles as a sharing reference on issues that previously arose at our Fa study site. But I believe that we should cultivate based on the Fa, and should study the Fa. After the practitioner read two Minghui articles, I interjected, saying, “Let’s study the Fa first, then read the sharing afterward.” The practitioner asked if she could finish, as there wasn’t much left to read.

After she finished reading, she criticized me as being inflexible, dogmatic, self-centered, selfish, and not considerate. Her words shocked me.

I restrained myself from responding, and carefully looked within. Through studying the Fa and sharing with other practitioners about eliminating the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture, I began to realize that since I had worked in CCP organizations for a long time, what I saw, heard, and spoke of did indeed follow the ways of the Party. I had been seriously polluted. The degenerated notions and fixed thinking had seriously prevented me from understanding the Fa and assimilating to the Fa.

Deeply Reflecting on Party Culture in Myself

Master said,

“Cultivation is about working on the human mind and heart; it is about cultivating oneself. Only when you are able to examine yourself, looking inward amid problems, conflicts, difficulties, or when being treated unfairly, is it true cultivation. And only by doing so will you be constantly improving, staying the right course on your cultivation journey, and progressing toward consummation!” (“A Congratulatory Letter to the Fa Conference of Taiwan”)

After I started working in a Party organization, I formed a degenerated personality of being opinionated, self-centered, and arrogant, which often caused tensions between myself and others. I felt happy when things went my way, and complained when they did not. Being indoctrinated by Party culture easily incites the evil aspects in human nature, such as being jealous, aggressive, tyrannical, and bloodthirsty. Forcing others to follow one’s thoughts is also a manifestation of Party culture.

I went to a fellow practitioner’s home to study the Fa one day, and she was sharing her experiences and understandings with a practitioner who was from out of town. Upon hearing that the cultivation environment in their locale was still very rigorous, I eargerly suggested, “Let’s study the Fa together.”

Although the hosting practitioner agreed, after we finished Fa-study, she said to me seriously, “You only thought about your Fa-study, and not about the practitioner who came from far away and wanted to share with us. You seemed to be afraid it would disturb your study time. That was very selfish. You even didn’t care about the basic courtesy of how to treat people. You should show the demeanor of a Dafa practitioner.”

I was shocked, and after a while I looked inward. I found myself seemingly diligent in Fa-study, but I had plunged into the formality of Party culture. I hadn’t cultivated myself solidly, and had gone to the extreme. I focused on myself and worried about my own interests.

Eliminating Party Culture

I realized that I should eliminate the Party culture. People in China are careful to keep their behaviors and thoughts consistent with requirements of the CCP, and have been stricken with terror deep into their DNA. We have all lost our dignity. This distorted mindset stemmed from the distorted Party culture, which is against traditional intellect and the rule of law.

We can make the right judgment when our ability to think normally returns. Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) teaches people to cultivate based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It is beneficial to the nation and its people, and bears no harm. Freedom of belief is in the Constitution. Falun Gong was not in the list of cults announced by the State Council and Ministry of Public Security in 2000, and the ban on the publication of Falun Gong books was repealed by the Press and Publications Administration in 2011. These all show that it is fully legal to practice Falun Gong in China.

Accepting the Fa as Teacher, and Eliminating Party Culture with Righteous Thoughts

I came to the realization that I should study the Fa more, read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, The Ultimate Goal of Communism, and Dissolving the Culture of China’s Communist Party more, identify and repel the poisoning factors of the Party culture in myself, and eventually eliminate it. Meanwhile, I should pay more attention to sending forth righteous thoughts, so as to eliminate the old force factors in other dimensions that are trying to isolate Dafa disciples by utilizing the Party culture that hasn’t been entirely removed during our cultivation.

Letting Go of Human Notions

When talking about letting go of the attachment of resentment, a practitioner said, “If we can change our human notions to divine thoughts, the attachments of resentment, jealousy, and competition will lose their base. It is like taking away firewood from under the cauldron; therefore, the Party culture also loses its environment to breed.” I totally agreed with his sharing.

Party culture involves being extremely selfish and self-centered. Those who are polluted by it only think of themselves and never think of others, and all they seek is fame, benefit, and sentimentality. We should therefore cultivate ourselves in a reversed way by relinquishing the attachments to fame, benefits, and sentimentality, and replacing it with compassion.

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)