April 29, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
I was shocked when I read the editorial about the name lists on Minghui. You see, I had participated in the proofreading and editing process for the forms the editorial referred to. Through Fa study and exchanges with fellow practitioners, I would like to share some further understandings on this issue, in hopes of warning fellow practitioners that we should walk righteously from now on, to truly safeguard Dafa.
I. Brief account
The first time I saw the forms they were brought by fellow practitioner A, who was widely known to be a well-cultivated practitioner in our area. He brought the forms to practitioner B, who was also thought to be well cultivated. He wanted to discuss whether the forms could be used, whether they were safe and reliable, and whether this action conformed to Dafa. If we couldn't decide, we could contact the Minghui (Clearwisdom is the English version) editors.
At the time we all realized the significant security issues involved, but at the same time we also thought that exposing and punishing the evil and collecting authentic evidence was a necessary step during Fa rectification. At present it seems our top priority is to expose the work units of evil thugs responsible for the persecution; however, looking at it from the standpoint of Fa-rectification, we felt that evidence was very important for determining legal punishment.
Practitioner B made suggestions for perfecting the forms and after the discussion we didn't have any disagreement, so I edited them.
Once when we met, practitioner C saw the edited forms and he thought they were very good. Because practitioners C, A and B cooperated in doing Dafa work, I gave the forms to practitioner C.
Soon, some practitioners said practitioner C had already distributed the forms to other practitioners and asked them to fill them out. Some practitioners had already turned them in. At the same time, they questioned the safety of this method and whether the "higher-up people" to whom they turned in the forms were trustworthy.
At this time, practitioners A and B realized a problem has occurred. Practitioner B kindly pointed out that I should not have given the forms to C directly, because if a problem arose, Dafa would suffer losses. At the same time he blamed himself for not taking charge and discussing it with practitioner A in time. Under these circumstances, we sent the forms to the Minghui editors, in hopes of doing it right.
II. Self-reflection
After the problem occurred, I felt I had undeniable responsibilities. In the process, I did not place myself righteously on the standpoint of being responsible for the Fa, which had a great negative impact as I found out when reading an article published on April 28 by the Minghui editors.
Through Fa study and talking to fellow practitioners, I truly looked inward and found the seriousness of my problems:
1. My sense of responsibility is not very strong. When I gave the forms to practitioner C, I didn't confirm whether he would discuss it with practitioner A. Instead, I assumed he would do so;
2. I didn't truly regard the Fa as the Teacher. I thought we all had a deep understanding of the Fa, while other practitioners cultivated better than me. I only thought to silently do well things we all decided on, but I didn't judge it with the Fa. I should look at whether it conforms to the Fa from the point of safeguarding the Fa. I caused losses to the Fa and let Master down.
3. My deeply hidden attachment to reputation and personal interest hindered me. Practitioners A and B are widely known among practitioners in our area to be well cultivated, and they have great reputations. Although sometimes I can see some of their actions and understandings are not in the Fa, I felt I didn't cultivate as well as they did and they may not listen to me, especially when they thought they did everything right. When my thoughts were not thorough, I was more willing to treat myself as an outsider and listener instead of a Dafa particle; if my cooperation were needed, I would try my best to do whatever they wanted me to do. On the surface, it seems I was being unselfish, but my internal concerns and being irresponsible shows attachment to reputation and self-interest.
4. Fear prevented me from sincerely exchanging thoughts with fellow practitioners. There used to be a time when I didn't study the Fa well and my righteous thoughts were not powerful. I had omissions that were taken advantage of by the old forces. Fellow practitioners all thought I had problems and they didn't want to contact or talk to me. Therefore, when I saw problems, I was afraid and unwilling to speak up, fearing that I would make mistakes when saying or doing things. I was completely without righteous belief.
Cultivation is very serious. Whether one can face oneself is an issue of whether one can take responsibilities for oneself. Personally, I think the lesson I learned is that I didn't study the Fa well and strong human notions led to the mistake. I didn't view things from the standpoint of the Fa and only did things for the sake of doing them, while this "doing things" mentality is very harmful.
"It doesn't matter that you fell down, it doesn't matter! Quickly get up!" ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference"), Master's boundless benevolence gave me infinite righteous belief, which enabled me to break through the "self" and walk toward righteous enlightenment.
III. Some understandings
1. There are no role models in cultivation
In the path of the Fa-rectification, it is necessary for practitioners to consult with one another while doing Dafa work in order to be responsible to the Fa, the sentient beings and ourselves. The coordination and cooperation also reflects the power of being one body, and meanwhile enables us to make progress together and embody Dafa.
Some practitioners around me have done very well in the face of the evil in the Fa-rectification period, and have good understanding of the Fa. They have many experiences in doing Dafa work; thus they have become the "lead persons" acknowledged by fellow practitioners. When doing much Dafa work, some practitioners would imperceptibly feel a lack of confidence and worry about making mistakes if these people were not consulted. Some even thought that it was an honor to do Dafa work together with them or be able to get into their "circle." This is everyday people's sentimentality.
"If you want to be a good ordinary person you can take heroes and model citizens as your example. Those are ordinary people's role models. But if you want to be a cultivator, your cultivation all relies on your own mind, and your understanding all relies on your own self, there aren't any role models."
(Zhuan Falun, the Fourth Talk }
"There are some people who notice how the students that travel with me carry themselves, and then they go and imitate them, not knowing what's good or bad about it. The fact is, we don't care who it is who acts what way--there's only one Law, and only by following this Great Law in your actions are you meeting the true standard." "But no matter what unfolds, you have to keep up your character, and the only way to truly do it right is to follow Dafa." (Zhuan Falun, the Sixth Talk)
Whenever we encounter problems, we should first judge by ourselves according to the Fa, instead of putting a certain practitioner's understanding as the first and foremost. Even less should we have the mindset that since a certain practitioner has gone through tribulations with me and has my full trust, and since I do not have a clear understanding of an issue, his understanding must be based on the Fa. When there are different understandings, if we subjectively uphold someone's understanding without being truly aware the inner meaning of the different understandings, it will become an obstacle for objective judgment.
There is another situation. When most practitioners bear the same understanding of an issue, they will think one has a problem in cultivation if that practitioner has a different understanding. If we let this situation continue, without taking the Fa as the Teacher, a kind of "circle" will form where people will echo the views of others.
"Taking the Fa as the Teacher" is not a slogan. It is that when encountering problems, we truly judge based on the Fa from the standpoint of being responsible to the Fa. In this way, no matter if our understanding is of a high or a low level, it will not deviate from the Fa; everyone can express his view with compassion, and should listen to and understand other's opinion with compassion, and our understanding as one body will be more toward perfect harmony. The subconscious "role model" mindset and lack of confidence in our own understanding also shows insufficient, righteous faith in our own cultivation. Speaking more seriously, this is in fact not being resolute in the Fa.
2 From "pass it down" and "collect it up:" recognize the importance of safeguarding the method of spreading the Fa
Practitioners I keep in contact with are the ones generally regarded as being "above." Of course, these practitioners in question themselves might not have a definite intention of "being above," or they may not even be aware that sometimes they unconsciously give others a feeling that they are "above" by what they say or do.
Most of these practitioners have worked as assistants before and have a lot of experience and very deep understandings of the Fa. Because they have tempered themselves in the persecution and have taken their steps righteously in the end, they are much respected by many fellow practitioners, who always like to share their thoughts with them and to consult with them about issues they come across.
Gradually these practitioners might have developed a mentality that they are "above" others, and therefore they unconsciously put themselves "above" [others], which is shown in the way they talk or do things. In their discussion about issues, they tend to address those who are not involved in the discussion or decision making as "the "subordinates" and even go so far as thinking that their understanding on this or that is of higher level than fellow practitioners. When sharing with others, if they say to others unconsciously, "pass this down" or "give this to the subordinates," then other practitioners would naturally feel that the information or the way of doing things or the decision is from "above." They might regard those who have direct contact with Clearwisdom.net as the "above," making people feel there is a "hierarchy" and forget about "putting the Fa first." Practitioners who have not studied the Fa well would go and "put it into effect" and those who clearly feel this way of doing things does not accord with the Fa would question, Who is the "above"?
I used to discuss this issue with one practitioner, and she told me that "pass it down" and "collect it up" is a matter of idiomatic expression. I told her frankly that this type of expression is in fact a manifestation of a mentality of placing oneself above others. If we truly place ourselves among fellow practitioners and view ourselves as only a particle of the Fa and do not feel we are "above," then the way we talk and the expressions we use will be different. We will say, " Let's see if we can inform as many practitioners as possible, or, "let's consult with fellow practitioners and see if this idea is all right," and other such expressions. Expressions such as "above" or "down" would naturally disappear in our use of language.
Of course, due to geographical locations, practitioners from big or medium-sized cities tend to address regions, townships and counties as "underlings." If we truly did not have such notions, our language usage would indeed change. Perhaps we would say, "You may take this to the practitioners in the county" etc.
"A Dafa disciple should put the Fa first in everything s/he does - whenever you evaluate something you have to consider the Fa first." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston") My understanding is that "putting the Fa first" does not mean to put any particular Dafa work first; instead, it means that during the process of us doing Dafa work we should truly do it according to the requirements of the Fa, and every one of our thoughts and every one of our words and actions should reflect the realm and image of Dafa practitioners. It is a process of assimilating to the Fa, not a process of doing things. The determination, the letting go of our attachments, the kindness and tolerance we show in the face of conflicts and disagreement, and the broadmindedness and kind understanding are all specific reflection of our "putting the Fa first." Furthermore, we should adhere to putting the Fa first by firmly safeguarding the manner in which we spread the Fa.
According to the Fa, we do not have organizations, hierarchies or name rosters like everyday people. We are "neither to be run as economic enterprises nor managed using the methods of administrative organizations."(The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa). Validating the Fa and clarifying the truth are voluntary actions of Dafa practitioners. While we can certainly discuss with fellow practitioners our understanding of the Fa as well as our understanding on a particular project, based on the Fa, we should not pass down anything like "doing work." We can have tacit cooperation and mutual understanding and support, yet the way we do it must accord with the requirements of the Fa.
We must walk our way righteously.
"Because in the Fa-rectification every stage is a trial, a test, being left for different situations in different future periods of history2, this is a magnificent Fa being left for the history of the cosmos."
"This Great Fa of the cosmos is to leave for sentient beings at different levels in different periods of history a reference for when problems occur in different periods at different levels, and is to leave for beings ways of handling all kinds of situations that occur at different times in history."("Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference" Guiding the Voyage)
"Everything Dafa disciples do today is extremely important, and the righteous path they take might become a reference for beings in the future." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference" Guiding the Voyage)
The above is only my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything that does not accord with the Fa.
2. In Chinese, "history" is used more broadly and can be used in reference to the past, present, or future.
