(Minghui.org) A Western news media outlet recently published an article claiming Shen Yun seeks money, and implied Master also seeks money. Defaming certain people or groups is an old tactic that has been always used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the persecution of Falun Dafa, which began in 1999.
This article may mislead people and cause them to misunderstand Shen Yun and Falun Dafa. As practitioners, I think we should also examine ourselves and see if there are loopholes in our thoughts that are taken advantage of by the old forces which caused this issue.
As practitioners, we know we should focus on cultivating ourselves so we can help Master save people. But when a media reported on Shen Yun’s assets, many practitioners were interested. When they read that Master has no money, and does not even own a house or car, some practitioners seemed to be assured and relieved.
When we talk about our experiences or look back on our cultivation paths, we always say we are grateful to Master and wish him well. But if Master owned a house, a car and was wealthy, would some practitioners feel differently?
Perhaps what happened points out some of our fundamental attachments. Master said,
“If you are attached to Dafa’s consistency with human science, they manipulate wicked human beings to spread lies that Dafa is “superstitious”; if you are attached to Dafa’s power to heal, they manipulate wicked human beings to spread lies that Dafa forbids people to take medicine and that this has led to fourteen hundred deaths; even if you say that Dafa isn’t involved in politics, they have wicked human beings spread lies that Dafa and Li Hongzhi have foreign political forces behind them, and so forth; if you say that Dafa collects no fees, they say that Master has sought to accumulate wealth through dishonest means. They have evil ones concoct lies about whatever it is you are attached to.” “Additionally, they manipulate wicked human beings into examining Dafa and its disciples, putting them through a comprehensive and destructive test that targets all human thoughts and attachments. Had you truly been able to discard those fundamental human attachments as you cultivated, this final ordeal would not be so vicious.” (“Towards Consummation”, The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
Cultivation practice is serious and the requirements for us are high. Due to our attachments and human notions of course we hope Master has a good life; however, some practitioners may feel assured when they hear that Master lives modestly. If this loophole persists, it could be used by people with ill-intentions to spread rumors that Master seeks to get wealthy through Shen Yun.
When a doctor saves a dying patient, the patient is thankful and does not care if the doctor enjoys a six figure income. If a psychiatrist successfully treats a patient who has been chronically depressed and changes the person’s outlook on life, the patient does not care if the psychiatrist’s family members wear expensive jewelry. If a person’s life is in danger and he is rescued, he would not ask if the person who saved him is wealthy, lives in a fine house or drives a luxury car.
Mankind is deluded by the world’s attractions, but practitioners know that only cultivation can bring us back to our original selves, and homes. In this society filled with atheism, Master compassionately introduced Falun Dafa, reminded us why we are here, and showed us how to cultivate. He only asks that we hurry up and eliminate our karma, and improve our xinxing. He compassionately reminds us through the Fa (teachings) how to progress in our cultivation. We should feel fortunate and grateful. Our only concern should be whether our progress is too slow and how we can do better.
If we realized we are smaller than the most minute dust particle in the gigantic cosmos, we wouldn’t think about how other beings, especially enlightened beings live. Whatever conditions others are in does not matter, because if we cannot succeed in our cultivation we will remain here. If we think about the situation from this angle, whether Master is wealthy or not is irrelevant.
Master said, “The Buddha Fa has different manifestations at different levels. However, the higher the level, the closer it is to the truth, and the lower the level, the further away from the truth.” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)
Enlightened beings exist where they are because of their levels. We know the truth at the highest level is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. So the level of an enlightened being has nothing to do with any wealth.
From ancient cultivation stories, we know Milarepa gave everything he had to his master. Even if his master had more wealth than him, Milarepa still treated him with humility and great respect. This is because his master had great wisdom and could guide him to leave the cycle of reincarnation.
In everyday society, whether one is wealthy or not is not a criteria that measures whether a person is good or bad. Some wealthy people are selfless and benefit society; some people who are poor wantonly harm others, create karma and thus hurt themselves.
Shortly after the persecution began Master said,
“Talking about this reminds me of something. In all these years there is one facet of Fa I haven’t brought up with you. When the persecution was really intense, back in 2000, students in Mainland China were exposing the slanderous propaganda about Master that the evil had made up, and something said by one student has really stuck with me. And it is a view that needs to be corrected. The evil ringleader and the CCP made up lies and told our students how their teacher was so rich, how he had such-and-such luxury apartments in Beijing and Changchun, and how he led such an extravagant lifestyle. When I taught the Fa in China my lifestyle was in fact quite basic. Well, a student in Mainland China said, “Our Master is the best and he wouldn’t be like that. If our Master were that way I wouldn’t follow Him.” I was saddened by that, and more than ever I understood the hardship and pains felt by the previous divine beings who had descended to the world to save people. Cultivation is about cultivating oneself—why look at others?
“I have taught you cultivation, but that doesn’t mean I am cultivating just as you are. If that were the case, and if we had become bad, then you’d just stop cultivating? Is that how it would work? Nothing in the Fa I’ve taught says that the Master must go through grueling cultivation just as cultivators do. The evil has assaulted me because I have been suffering on behalf of sentient beings. And when it’s Dafa cultivation—where people don’t leave the secular world to cultivate, and the disciples are from all walks of life—how could the Master be the same as all his disciples? And why would he have to live like those of his students who have the most karma or the most hardship? If it happens that your Master does things differently from you and you find it objectionable, then are you going to stop cultivating? Isn’t [your notion that] the master who saves you must be like his disciples, the result of being poisoned by the Party-culture of the CCP? Do human beings really want their master, who brings people salvation, to undergo human suffering along with them? And only then will they approve of him? In fact, what I want to establish and the problems that I intend to resolve during the Fa-rectification include no longer having divine beings who come down to save people be persecuted by the sentient beings in the Three Realms. Divine beings who save people come down to rescue them, so they can’t be the same as human beings. In the past they went through the same ordeals that human beings experience, or suffered even worse than humans, for it was hard to save people, and those divine beings bore the karma of human beings. That was also to leave their own examples and to help people learn from them. They willfully went through that for the sake of human beings and to teach people how to live properly. So should divine beings, who don’t have karma, have to suffer even a bit? It was human beings’ karma weighing them down.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference”, Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume VII)
Twenty years have passed and we practitioners, both veteran and new, should be clear on this. During the Fa-rectification, Master is rectifying the old and creating the new cosmos. If practitioners hold onto our human notions – and even lose faith in, or doubt Master or Dafa, how can we succeed in cultivation practice? How much trouble we are creating for ourselves and the Fa-rectification?
Master also explained, “In fact, if you look at that from another angle, does it matter whether I have money? Even if I had money, I wouldn’t care about it.” “I think that sometimes people have impure intentions. They take things in a very narrow-minded and stupid way.” (“Teachings at the Conference in Canada”)
Speaking of being wealthy, everyday people and those practitioners who have strong human notions might think of luxury lifestyles, pleasure, and vanity. Practitioners know this has nothing to do with Master. To save us, Master suffered tremendously and has painstakingly taken care of us every step of the way.
In the recent article, “Special Report | Our Master” published on Minghui, we know Master is busy all the time. “Those who have worked at the Dragon Springs construction site know that Master is constantly working. Whether it’s the toughest areas or the heaviest labor, Master is there. When lifting timber, he always chooses the heavier end. He regularly cleans up debris, often cleaning it up before others get to it. When no one wants to clean up a muddy water pit, Master silently steps in and takes care of it…”
This is only part of the story. We know after the Shen You tours begin, Master is very busy and ensures that each performance is perfect and successful, so it can save people. Everything Master does is for us practitioners and sentient beings—nothing is done for himself. So, what difference would it make if Master was wealthy? This may be difficult for everyday people to understand; but we practitioners must let go of such human notions if we are serious about cultivation.
Of course, from the Minghui article, we also learned Master leads a modest life, has no money and does not ask for money. Everything that happens in society could be related to our mindset; if we don’t have loopholes, there may be fewer problems such as a media outlet accusing Master of seeking a fortune.
These are my limited understandings. Please point out if anything I’ve said is inconsistent with Falun Dafa’s teachings.