(Clearwisdom.net) In the article, “What is True Kindness (Shan)” (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2001/7/8/12053.html), published on July 8, 2001 and which had comments from Master, the practitioner said that he rectified himself and his ordinary notions after a car accident. As a result, a dispute and misunderstanding with the other driver was avoided. At the end of the article the author said: “I realized on a deep level that every word and action of ours, should be responsible to sentient beings, society, and to all righteous elements. We cannot let our mistakes cause those people's beings to generate karma, because human society in the future should not have warped thinking. True kindness is completely without selfishness and is considerate of others. It takes into consideration the eternity of those people's beings and even the eternity of all sentient beings and the cosmos. Under the impact of this kindness' (Shan) power, any obstruction will be removed, any unkindness will be melted, anything warped will be corrected, and what is not understood will gradually be understood.”
In this crucial period of saving human beings in which the old forces are competing with us, some older practitioners have been in undesirable situations that have caused losses for themselves. To prevent this trouble, we need to rethink what true kindness is once again.
Practitioner A's living situation became unnecessarily difficult after her husband passed away and she retired. Though she received a monthly pension of 1,200 yuan, she spent 800 yuan of the pension to pay off her daughter's mortgage and only used the remaining 400 yuan for her own living expenses. But, she herself didn't have a place to live, since her property had been transferred to her son´s name. She was being controlled by her son and daughter, and was not able to act in an upright and aboveboard manner like a practitioner, as her relatives didn't view Dafa positively. Though practitioner A was diligent in doing the three things, she passed away at the beginning of April due to a car accident.
Practitioner B and her spouse live frugally. Their older son's daughter spent about 80 thousand yuan in tuition fees for her four years of university education. Now the granddaughter wishes to move abroad at a cost of about 40 thousand yuan. The couple has given out almost all their savings for their oldest grandchild.
Practitioner C was sentenced to prison for three years for distributing Falun Gong truth-clarification material. Due to the brutal torture in prison, he became blind. After his release, he was monitored by his wife and son, so he feared making any contact with practitioners, and sometimes he suffered symptoms of sickness. Both practitioner C and his wife had been firm cultivators and did a lot of work for Dafa. They are over 70 years old, yet their son, daughter, and grandchildren entertain themselves in their home, as his wife cooks for them. Two years ago C got a big pustule on the lower abdomen that had to be operated on in a clinic. His wife stumbled on an escalator and rolled all the way down to the ground.
Children are supposed to show filial obedience to their parents according to traditional Chinese culture. Chinese people nowadays have been influenced by atheism preached by the Chinese Communist Party, and people act against ethics. Parents are now showing filial piety to their children, instead of the other way around. What the above-mentioned practitioners have been doing is doting on their children to an extent that falls further than the current low standard of modern society.
As practitioners, we understand that everyone has their own fortune. We are kind to our children, but that does not necessarily mean providing them with a luxurious lifestyle. Master says in Zhuan Falun, “The enlightened people think that the more one suffers, the better, as one should speed up repaying one’s debts. This is what they think.”
The money in practitioners' possession is part of the resources of Dafa. Are you sure that what you are giving to your children are good things? Practitioner B saw in a dream that she was giving coal to her son. After sharing this with a practitioner, she realized that the money she had given to her son was not so good for him. Giving him money was nothing more than increasing his karma.
Some practitioners believe that being a kind person means to be compassionate and forbear on the account of others. We should not fight with our non-practitioner relatives, but to unreasonably yield to them is not kindness. These practitioners have thus let themselves be controlled by their relatives. They are not able to do the three things properly and do not have personal freedom. Falun Dafa disciples should reflect the dignity of Dafa. If these incorrect thoughts are not rectified, it will cause the family members to create more karma. In fact, these practitioners are not being responsible toward their relatives.
We are Falun Dafa disciples undertaking the great mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification. This means that during our cultivation, we are supposed to rectify all that is unrighteous. The key question is, what is true kindness for a Falun Dafa disciple in Fa-rectification?
“If you can help your family members to start cultivating, that’s best of course. But if they can’t cultivate, then you have to ensure that they are beings who can be saved, and at a minimum, be good people so that they may enjoy good rewards one day.” (Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan)
Each practitioner knows the preciousness of Dafa. When our relatives can see the changes in us and want to join in cultivation, that will be best for them. If not, we practitioners should lay a good foundation for their future cultivation, which is true kindness.
