(Clearwisdom.net)
Naturally considering others is one the areas I'm currently focusing on in my cultivation.
1. Considering Others Makes Me Treat Fellow Practitioners Better and Helps me Better Harmonize with the Whole Body
A practitioner who is in his seventies, whom I knew, was persecuted in prison for a few years, and he walked through the tribulations righteously. After he was released from prison, he and his wife immediately bought a computer and a printer and started producing the Minghui Weekly, Zhengjian Weekly and other truth-clarifying brochures and discs. He also diligently studied the {Fa}} and sent forth righteous thoughts. For a period of time however, this practitioner's hands started to shake. The hand shaking problem subsequently worsened and he also had difficulty walking and talking. The other practitioners studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts together with him, but his situation did not improve. After being pressured by his family members, he went to the hospital. His family members have since be prejudiced toward Falun Dafa practitioners, and they no longer welcome practitioners to his home.
What could we do for him? It is really not easy for a senior practitioner to walk though all the tribulations. His problem was caused by the old forces taking advantage of his omissions. The most important thing for him to do was to further improve himself. I told myself to visit him as usual. He needed to share some experiences with fellow practitioners and get help from fellow practitioners. It was normal that everyday people didn't understand him. Considering their status, we should not let them reject us first. We could then communicate with them based on their understandings. We should not take their attitudes seriously. When the practitioner has the right status, his family will naturally change for the better.
We thus frequently shared with him experiences about the importance of studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, and how to look inward and constantly keep righteous thoughts for everything. We pointed out each other's shortcomings directly, and together we learned from the diligent practitioners. We had a good time sharing experiences. Soon the materials site at his home started to operate again. Under Master's compassionate protection, the senior practitioner's status turned better and better.
On one occasion we went to the countryside. A practitioner said, "Let us share experiences with a few practitioners here. Their status has not been very good recently." Two local practitioners came to share experiences with us. One was a female practitioner who was in her sixties. Her son had recently been illegally sentenced to prison for practicing Falun Gong. She needed to take care of her grandson and granddaughter, and do heavy housework every day. She took on a lot of physical and spiritual pressure. The other was a female practitioner who was in her forties. She had endless farm work to do every day. Under the evil Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) pressure, these people had poor and harsh lives. Both practitioners felt that they weren't doing the three things well and that they were letting Master down. They were both depressed. I feel that it's really not easy being a practitioner. I told them, "Please think about it. Under this kind of evil environment, many men are afraid of upholding justice. They disobeyed their conscience and followed the evil. But their housewives can face the evil directly, believe in the truth and walk through many tribulations even to this day. This thing by itself is an example of our greatness. Your families are being persecuted. You are in a horrible environment and the evil constantly harasses you. You also have heavy housework and farm work to do. Under this situation, you still think of doing the three things well and not letting Master down. You are great! You must see this greatness in yourself. You feel this way because you are comparing yourself with the Fa's higher requirements and with other more diligent practitioners. If we feel that we haven't done things well, we should try our best to catch up. Holding Master and the Fa in our hearts, we can do all things well."
After the short conversation, the practitioners' helpless and depressed moods disappeared and their status got better and better. Confident smiles again appeared on their faces.
When I recall this conversation, I realize that at that time I naturally considered others, which let me think of these practitioners' situation from their perspective and let the practitioners feel the understanding, trust and encouragement. Another practitioner later told me that those two practitioners are now doing very well. The younger practitioner, who was busying doing the farm work, voluntarily asked to learn how to use computer and was producing truth-clarification materials by the second day. The senior practitioner's status is also very good.
2. Considering Others, Strengthening Righteous Thoughts and Saving People Better
For a period of time I did poorly in saving people. I wanted to improve myself and meet the Fa's requirements for practitioners. I took the time to go out and clarify the truth to eight people. But only one person quit the CCP. The other seven people didn't want to hear or believe what I said. One of them even expelled me and threatened to report me to the authorities.
Why did this happen? Suddenly I remembered the things that happened when I did well in clarifying the truth. I once saw some labor workers who were building roads and the foreman parked his car on the side. I thought I needed to save those people. I first clarified the truth to the foreman and then I clarified the truth to the labor workers. Soon I had clarified the truth and persuaded over ten people to quit the CCP. Another time I was on the bus on my way to my hometown. After boarding the bus, I started talking to the driver, and mentioned "withdrawing from the CCP to maintain one's safety." In the end, all of the people on the bus quit the CCP except for two persons. Before I got on the bus, I asked Master to strengthen me since I wanted to save more people.
Clarifying the truth for the sake of meeting the practitioner's standard produces a different outcome than truly and completely considering others. A human exists for the sake of himself but a god exists for the sake of others. The difference of one thought produces totally different results. Master taught us,
"I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others--or even future generations--along with Dafa's eternal stability." ("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature," from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Compassionate and great Master created the respectful Falun Dafa disciples. Thank you Master for the merciful salvation.
