(Clearwisdom.net) The reason I raised this issue is because recently I found I had become much purer in treating fellow practitioners as a result of eliminating many sentimental attachments. We all know that "a great way has no form" for Dafa cultivation, but conforming to ordinary society as much as possible in our cultivation does not mean we form little groups among practitioners like others do. I noticed that some religious people form their own circles and try to attract others, and they tend to treat people within their own circle especially well and with warmth. I had this problem before, and showed special concern for fellow practitioners that I personally knew, and would feel extremely bad when they encountered any problems. At first I thought this was being responsible to fellow practitioners, and treated fellow practitioners I knew as friends. In fact such behavior was based on the attachment to sentimentality.
Master told us that we need to conform to ordinary society as much as possible in our cultivation. We are among non-practitioners. We have our relatives, friends and neighbors; this is our little circle and our interactions and relationships with these people is very natural, including marriage, since these relationships are all based on our karmic relationships throughout our lives. However, the relationships we have established with fellow practitioners through our cultivation in the same Fa and in cultivation activities, such as group Fa study, experience sharing, clarifying the truth and rescuing fellow practitioners, etc. should not involve any personal relationships; otherwise our cultivation group will not be pure. If practitioners establish "closer" relationships like ordinary people, or even take financial advantage of fellow practitioners, then such behavior becomes the behavior of Dafa practitioners. Master mentioned in "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference" that
"There is a small number of students who are privately becoming like buddies and pals --'we do things together, we're a little group'--and they often talk about a bunch of useless things, wasting large amounts of time."
My understanding is that this Fa is directly related to the above situations.
Bringing personal feelings into cultivation has caused us much damage since Dafa was made public to date. Some practitioners had sexual relationships or unusual "friendships." When some practitioners worked together for a while, they would develop feelings for each other and would be reluctant to part with one another. I feel that other than sharing understandings of the Fa and cooperating with one another in our work, there should not be any personal relationships among practitioners. A true cultivator should not confine him/herself to such a narrow frame of mind and treat fellow practitioners differently, treating this one well, not the others, or being closer with this one and not the others.
Sometimes when I meet fellow practitioners and we immediately start to share our experiences and understandings about Dafa, we feel very close towards one another even though we could be from far away and we may never see each other again. Sometimes I don't even know their names. I recently read an article entitled "An Incident That Took Place When Teacher Gave Lectures in China," which told a story. It happened after Master finished his lectures in Yanji City, Jilin Province, and was about to leave. Master and several assistants took a taxi to the railway station. After they arrived there, one of the assistants wanted to pay for the taxi ride, but Master insisted on paying the taxi fare himself. People around him couldn't understand. He explained to them, "I have finished what I need to do here in Yanji, and all the accounts have been settled. As there is no more financial relationship between us, I must pay my own taxi fare. I would not take a cent from students."( http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/3/9/45883.html) According to ordinary people's code of conduct, how could a Master pay for the taxi when riding with his students? Yet our Master set a great example for us not to establish any personal relationship other than the Dafa relationship he has with his students, and He took the lead in breaking with those ordinary people's notions. This pure relationship leaves no omission for the evil to take advantage of, and all that the evil could do is frame Dafa with lies.
In order to enable us to cultivate in society, Master allows us to keep a little bit of ordinary people's feelings. But we are not to indulge in ordinary people's ways of life and feelings. I suggest we keep relationships among fellow practitioners as pure as a mountain spring, and be clearheaded at all times.
Above is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything improper.
