(Clearwisdom.net) The Minghui article entitled, "Cultivating at a Materials Production Site in China" mentions that the reason for the persecution is that Dafa practitioners overall still only comprehend the Fa from perceptual and superficial levels. We lack true, rational understandings of the Fa, which is why the gods allowed the persecution to begin. As I see it, this also applies to different aspects of Fa-rectification cultivation. If we only understand the Fa perceptually and do things with little enthusiasm, this will inadvertently bring significant losses to Dafa.
Recently, my wife put a copy of Zhuan Falun on a bookshelf in our community and hoped predestined people would have an opportunity to read it. Soon after I noticed that someone had drawn on it with pencil. I took the book back because if I kept it there they might eventually recycle it.
This made me ponder if I have caused damage to Dafa books without even realizing the consequences? Looking back, there might have been several similar instances. For example, my father was unstable before he died and had poor personal hygiene. I told him, "Dafa is good," and he seemed to have understood it. I hoped Dafa could help change his condition and I gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun and encouraged him to read it. After a while I found that he had damaged the book.
My parents-in-law live in the south. They usually do farm work and seldom read books. When my wife and I went to visit them, we taught them how to practice the exercises and played Master's tapes for them, but we felt they didn't pay enough attention. Not wanting to give up, we left them a copy of Hong Yin, and hoped this might help them in their practice. When we came back for a return visit we saw they had not taken good care of the book.
About two years ago I went to a prison to introduce the Fa to people there. I gave them 30 copies of Zhuan Falun, but never went back to visit. I don't know whether or not those books are still there. I tried to call the section chief whom I met there, but he was no longer there. The new section chief said he had never seen the books but promised to look for them. He called the next day and said he could not find the books, and that they might have been recycled.
Although we introduced the Fa to more than 100 inmates at the time, the effect was not that good. No one expressed an interest in learning the exercises, but we still wishfully gave them the books. Now that I think about it, doesn't recycling mean reusing the paper? It involves destroying the books! Doesn't destroying the books amount to the same as the evildoers persecuting Dafa practitioners and destroying the books?
What everyday people follow are their own principles. When they don't wish to learn the Fa and would not have a good understanding of Dafa, they wouldn't know how to cherish the Fa. But we practitioners as initiators introducing them to the Fa should take the responsibility! If they get retribution because they didn't take good care of Dafa books, wouldn't we have to pay for this greatly as well?
Every now and then people give books to others. One of my coworkers complained to me that his manager not only gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun, but also insisted that he practice Falun Gong. The coworker felt pressured and bothered. This manager had introduced me to the practice, and although he wasn't a diligent cultivator, he very actively introduced the Fa to people, and has given many Dafa books to others. When he introduced me to the practice, he didn't give me any Dafa books, but instead asked me to buy the books. Few of those to whom he gave a Dafa book have actually taken up cultivation. As I see it, there is no direct relationship between giving someone a book and people stepping on the path of Dafa cultivation.
When we shared thoughts and experience around this topic, one coordinator suggested that we could have people borrow the books. When borrowing anything, people know they need to return it and would be more responsible for it. Other practitioners also suggested that we could ask people to buy the books themselves or we could help them buy the books. People who are willing to pay for the books are seriously thinking about learning, and they would likely treasure their purchase.
Additionally, some practitioners don't take good care of the books and leave them lying around casually, eventually causing the books to look dirty and no longer neat. Think about it, behind every word in the book are deities and Buddhas from all levels. How could we treat this so casually?
This is my personal understanding. Please point out anything inappropriate.
