(Clearwisdom.net) I have long thought that since Teacher taught us the Fa and since we are Dafa disciples, who among us would not respect Teacher? Actually, this is not always the case. From what I have seen, when our thoughts become a little too relaxed, we can be disrespectful to Teacher. For some practitioners, this is pretty obvious.
Overseas Dafa practitioners are fortunate in that they get to see Teacher in various kinds of situations. This is a special opportunity for overseas Dafa practitioners that is not available to practitioners in China. Thus, overseas practitioners should really treasure it. However, some practitioners who get to see Teacher more often begin to develop disrespectful thoughts. Such thoughts include constantly asking more and more from Teacher, pushing all issues onto Teacher when encountering problems, and even dissatisfaction and complaints toward what Teacher is doing and what Teacher wants.
Have these practitioners forgotten that Teacher's will is the choice of the universe? If Teacher would do things to appease everyone, would that be Fa-rectification? Do such practitioners really not know how a disciple should treat his Master? Have they forgotten that, fundamentally, Teacher is rectifying the Fa, and that we are assisting Teacher in rectifying the Fa?
In some aspects, the notions which could lead one to develop disrespectful thoughts are similar to the notions which might cause one to selectively study the Fa.
In “Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia,” Teacher said:
“You shouldn’t believe that your notions are you. There are many people who, when reading Dafa, read with a type of notion. Such a person believes, “Ah, this section is good… Hmm, that section I don’t understand very well... Oh, I don’t think this section is up to par.” Let me tell you, you think that you’re quite smart, you think that your judgment is correct, but in fact it is a horrendous mistake. Your mindset was formed in this everyday people’s society, and so your standard for evaluating good and bad is the standard of everyday people, and it can’t possibly be superior to that of ordinary humans, and so this prevents you from seeing the true essence of the Fa. It is your attachments that have obstructed your obtaining the Fa. You are picking out parts that you think are good to read, and you are not doing true cultivation. That’s because when you see parts that you think are not good or that you think you don’t want to read, it is precisely your postnatally acquired bad habits of mind and bad thoughts at work. But that is not the real you, though you treat it as if it were.”
In “Teaching the Fa at the International Experience-Sharing Conference in Beijing,” Teacher said:
“When I came, everything I wanted was created at a very high level and was born into this world through reincarnation. My mighty virtue is in control from beyond all realms. You can say that I am here, but no one knows how many layers of particles there are separating me from the sentient beings of the Three Realms. I have the most original elements that form the existence of the universe, but I am not within them. I am the source that forms all wisdoms of the universe, yet I want nothing. Sentient beings, on the other hand, are made up of matter from different levels of universes. You may say I am not here, yet I manifest in the human world though I am not in the realm of human beings. This is a short and brief explanation.”
Doubts and discontent toward Teacher reflect a lack of righteous understanding of the Fa. This is a result of holding on to human notions and attachments, which has led to a false understanding. Being disrespectful to Teacher amounts to being disrespectful to Dafa, and those with such thoughts are unworthy of the title “Dafa disciple.”
Teacher said:
“There are also some people who maliciously say, 'The real Master is in the heavens,' 'We need to break from the Master in the human world,' and 'Help Master undo' so-called 'knots that are tied to his body.' There is only one Li Hongzhi. I don’t have any Assistant Primordial Spirit, and I don’t have any of those three souls and seven spirits like everyday people do, either. I am the principal being. The bodies inside my benti, from the larger ones to the smaller ones, that are made up of particles of different levels and that are in different dimensions, are all directed by my principal being in the human world and follow the thoughts of my principal being in the human world. My Law Bodies are specific manifestations of my wisdom. My Gong Bodies are composites of my boundlessly-immense gong. Not acknowledging the Master in the human world is not acknowledging oneself as a Dafa disciple. Then such a person is not even a cultivator, much less does he have any business talking about Consummation.” (“A Suggestion,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Few practitioners would admit that they do not acknowledge Teacher in this human world, but aren't doubts, dissatisfaction, and complaints the same as not acknowledging Teacher? We should be on guard against the presence of such thoughts in our minds.
We always talk about “respecting Teacher and respecting the Fa.” I think that being respectful to Teacher is being respectful to the Fa. Let us not forget that it was Teacher who taught us the Fa. If we are disrespectful to Teacher, then we are not worthy of obtaining the Fa. Fellow practitioners know the difficulty of enduring tribulations as a cultivator and know the difficulties of helping Teacher to save people, but some of us do not give due consideration to Teacher's suffering, which he has endured for our sake. What has Teacher given up just to save us? Teacher has no karma himself, but to eliminate karma for his disciples and to save them, Teacher is constantly bearing karma. Let us not yet talk about high level principles, but ponder these facts for a moment. Considering only these simple facts, how could one still be disrespectful to Teacher?
