"Both of You Were Wrong And So Was I"

(Clearwisdom.net) A while ago, two practitioners at our Dafa truth-clarification materials production site got into a conflict with each other. One of them became so angry that she left the site, which brought a halt to our regular material production and resulted in many unnecessary losses. In less than two months, that practitioner was captured by the authorities in another area. Upon hearing this news, the practitioner with whom she had clashed began saying things like, "Why was she captured?" "She should really look inward to see what she has done wrong." "Does she meet the requirements of Dafa?" My point here is that both sides were wrong. Neither of their actions were based on the Fa, nor did they truly follow Teacher's requirements in looking inward.

Let's first talk about the practitioner who was unhappy to have her mistake pointed out. Based on my experiences in cultivation over the years, I have discovered that when fellow practitioners point out our omissions, when they reveal to us our attachments, or when they tell us where we have not done well, they are correct almost one hundred percent of the time. The person being criticized usually displays one of the following three reactions: One, they recognize their omissions immediately; two, they notice their mistake, yet they refuse to admit it due to human notions; three, they truly cannot see their problems. During my cultivation, I noticed that when I become aware of my mistakes, I will often recall having had them pointed out to me repeatedly two or three years earlier by many practitioners and even ordinary people. However, because I was unable to clearly recognize the mistakes, I could not gracefully accept their criticism.

In fact, whether or not we notice our omissions is not the main point here. What is most important is that we should be able to truly act from the basis of the Fa and constantly look inward to find our attachments. If we indeed find that particular attachment, we must let it go. But if we really do not have it or are unable to realize it at the moment, what should we do? We should continue to look inward. And the next step? We should next focus on our reactions to the criticism. Did we treat it with an everyday person's state of mind? Or did we keep a calm mind and view it based on the Fa? If we treated the criticism with human notions, no matter how well we hide our disapproval, it is nevertheless wrong and we should change it.

Now let us talk about the practitioner who pointed out the mistake. When we see other practitioner's faults or omissions, we should first look inside ourselves instead of reproaching them. What is our mentality in our reaction to other's faults? When pointing out their mistakes, are we doing it based on the Fa? Does the language we employ meet the standards of Dafa? Can others bear it? Are they able to accept it positively? Teacher has already made these considerations evident in his lectures. The means we use in pointing out other practitioner's mistakes are easily observed, yet the bases for our doing so are often neglected. Are we standing from the perspective of Dafa, using compassion and a firm understanding of Fa-rectification to help our fellow practitioners quickly improve? When this is the case, they will not be persecuted by the evil and no losses will be brought to Dafa. Conversely, are we just insensitively pointing out other's insufficiencies as a matter of fact? If we have such a mentality, it is no wonder that words like, "Why was she captured? She should really look inward," come out of our mouths so carelessly. By saying this, we are actually accepting the arrangements of the old forces. This also means that Dafa practitioners as a whole are still unable to negate those arrangements. When we say things like this, is our mindset on the Fa? Do we meet the standards of the Fa-rectification? Only when we look inward and correct our mentalities based on the standards of the Fa and of Fa-rectification can we truly help fellow practitioners make progress in cultivation, and can we reduce potential losses to Dafa practitioners, to Dafa, and to Dafa work.

When the conflict between my fellow practitioners arose, I felt miserable seeing that both sides were unable to look inward. Hence I chose to remain silent and to just let things happen naturally. As a result, a practitioner was persecuted and our Fa-rectification work suffered a loss. If I had viewed all of this from the standpoint of the Fa and of Fa-rectification, reminding them that if they don't look inward they will be used by the old forces, then maybe this persecution would not have existed. Therefore I was wrong too.

January 6, 2004