(Clearwisdom.net) I have had a lot of thoughts about Teacher's Fa lecture to Australian Falun Gong practitioners. Presently it is our top mission to save as many sentient beings as we can, but we still have a lot of unsolved problems that have directly obstructed us from elevating our cultivation levels as one-body and from saving sentient beings. Consequently, many people around us still have not accepted the truth that Falun Gong is good. We should bear in mind that Teacher said,
"Rest momentarily for self-reflection, add righteous thoughts
Analyze shortcomings explicitly, advance again wholeheartedly"("Be Rational, Awaken" in "Hongyin" II, translation version B)
We should analyze and eliminate all human notions we are unwilling to relinquish, as well as our final attachments that we are reluctant to part with, in order to devote ourselves completely to saving sentient beings.
First, we should emphasize group Fa study. Before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime started its suppression of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, we used to have an environment where we could share with one another as we studied the Fa and cultivated ourselves. That's the type of cultivation environment Teacher approves of. Although the persecution is still taking place, the environment in China has improved to some extent because of practitioners' joint efforts to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to the world's people. The CCP may have deprived us of a cultivation environment where we could study the Fa and practice the exercises together, but we should re-create a cultivation environment from this moment on. After all, we must never accept the path arranged by the old forces. Teacher specifically told Australian Falun Gong practitioners to study the Fa as a group, regardless from whatever country they originated or to what ethnic group they belonged.
We should strive to overcome adverse situations instead of waiting for adversity to disappear on its own. Naturally we might face many difficulties and challenges along the way. For example, there are some areas in China that used to have a lot of practitioners, but after the persecution began there are many fewer in these areas. Yet, two practitioners are better than one and three practitioners are better than two. When we study the Fa together, the energy field will be very powerful. Teacher said,
"If a person's righteous thoughts aren't in charge and he relies entirely on the perceptions and feelings at his human surface instead of his true thoughts, and he doesn't truly think things over clearheadedly on his own, then it will be as if he doesn't have a soul anymore." ("Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art")
When we are with fellow practitioners, the righteous energy field will disintegrate bad elements that might reside within us. As a result, we will be less likely to make mistakes. We will also have more opportunities to remind each other to conduct ourselves better and to exchange our cultivation insights.
Second, we tend to focus on fellow practitioners' shortcomings, but we are reluctant to point them out out of diplomatic concerns. When we do point them out, we tend to act arrogantly, as if we are better than they, or we talk in a derogatory manner and end up offending and hurting fellow practitioners. I wish we would all learn to let go of our ego and selfishness. We should learn to see other practitioners' shortcomings as a reflection of our own shortcomings. In other words, when we see shortcomings in other practitioners, we should learn to search within to identify and eliminate the same shortcomings in ourselves to elevate our levels. If we would do this, our cultivation environment would be completely different. Teacher said,
"When Dafa disciples validate the Fa, it doesn't matter which country or region you're in, or which ethnic group you belong to--there are no such distinctions among Dafa disciples. You're all one body." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference")
With this in mind, we should be compassionate towards each other at all times. When we interact with fellow practitioners, we should always bear in mind that Teacher said,
"The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")
Although practitioners in my area do not suspect anyone as a special agent for the CCP, we tend to focus on observing each other's cultivation. We have spent a lot of time discussing which practitioner cultivated better or which practitioner had this or that problem. In the event of a problem, we would accuse each other of being the cause. When we look at ourselves in the mirror and find a spot on our clothes, we immediately try to remove the spot instead of blaming the mirror for reflecting the spot or suspecting that the spot we see is on the mirror itself. It is because we know it is not the mirror that caused the spot on our clothes. The mirror simply reflects the spot truthfully. Whatever attachments we see in others, we are likely to have a similar problem, so we should always take this as a chance to look inside and improve ourselves rather than pointing fingers at others.
