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Treating Practitioners' Shortcomings with Compassion is Key to Forming a Strong One Body

September 20, 2009 |  

(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioners should have matured through tempering after having been through so many tribulations over the past 10 years. However, for the most part, practitioners have not been able to form a strong one body due to a lack of coordination and cooperation. This seems to be because of disagreements between coordinators, between practitioners and coordinators, and among practitioners themselves. There have been harmonious moments among practitioners when they have been inspired by Teacher's lectures; however, they soon fall back into their old behaviors. Therefore, they have been unable to make great breakthroughs in saving sentient beings.

This problem occurs mainly because practitioners lack righteous thoughts. From what I have seen, heard and encountered, the reason this is happening is that practitioners cannot tolerate each others' shortcomings or weaknesses. They are unable to help each other nor are they able to keep a compassionate mind. At the beginning, when a practitioner saw another person's shortcoming or weakness, he/she would immediately comment on how the person did not do well or cultivate diligently. The person who was being criticized would react and criticize back, creating disharmony among practitioners. With time and maturity, practitioners have tried to avoid criticizing each other because they realized that a cultivator should not have conflicts. Although relationships appeared to be calm on the surface, practitioners did not completely let go of their opinions about each other, and they would fall short of the standard of a practitioner when they encountered a conflict. Particularly when they were interfered with by the evil, their attachments were clearly exposed.

The reason practitioners have continued to criticize each other over a long period of time without resolving their differences is that practitioners have failed to look inward. Why can we take it lightly when ordinary people take advantage of us? Why are we unable to tolerate fellow practitioners' shortcomings? Perhaps you would say that ordinary people are different from us, and when their shortcomings are exposed, it is a test or challenge for us to pass. Then, when practitioners' shortcomings are exposed, isn't this also a test or challenge for us to pass? Teacher has said that conflicts among practitioners are tests and these conflicts will help to cultivate away our attachments. The reason why this kind of problem still exists is that we are not mature enough in our cultivation and we continue to be unable to constantly look inward. We are unable to treat fellow practitioners with compassion. Our minds are still not open and broad enough, and our xinxing is still not high enough.

Time will not wait for us and Fa-rectification will soon end. If we fail to form one body because we cannot coordinate and cooperate well, what will happen to the sentient beings we have vowed to save? Are they to be destroyed? Won't we be guilty of obstructing Teacher in the Fa-rectification? I personally think that fellow practitioners should not be defensive towards each other. We should open our hearts and share experiences as well as treat fellow practitioners with compassion. We should first find problems within ourselves and then do well with whatever we are supposed to do. In this way we can better assist Teacher in the Fa-rectification period and save more sentient beings.