Looking Within and Helping Others with Kind Intentions

(Minghui.org) Recently, practitioners in our region have debated their understandings on how to help fellow practitioners. Some practitioners think that we should not criticize other practitioners, especially those who have been imprisoned. If we point out their gaps, we are criticizing them, which will add to their tribulations. Another group thinks that all practitioners should rationally look within and also analyze each other's gaps. We have been debating these two views for six months. Here I would like to share my understanding. Please point out my gaps.

I think that at any time, criticizing or blaming others shows our human heart. We should not do it, no matter how big the other party's gap or mistake is. However, this does not mean that we should not point out their gaps. Pointing out gaps and criticizing are two different things.

How sacred is the predestined relationship between fellow practitioners! We have gone through countless reincarnations and countless hardships, and some practitioners even promised to remind each other to cultivate Dafa before we came to the human world. We met again when Dafa spread. Isn't our goal to cultivate together? When a practitioner makes a mistake, if we don't remind him and just ignore the issue, are we doing the right thing for him? Is that being responsible for his cultivation? Is that truly for his good? So we should point it out to him. The only thing is that before we tell him, we need to look within first: Why did I see his gap? Do I have this kind of human heart? Then we can kindly and calmly point out his gap.

Once when a fellow practitioner pointed out my gap, I saw as he was speaking, a diamond-clear heart show up. It was so powerful that it disintegrated my gap right there.

When another practitioner pointed out my gap with strong resentment, I saw a spiny mace coming towards me. Of course his heart was also kind. His heart was in a rough, molecule-level form of the Chinese character of Benevolence. Later I thought, his heart was good, but just his way of expression was inappropriate. The way he spoke might hurt others and would be easy for the evil to take advantage of and create separations among practitioners.

A practitioner who knew a few imprisoned practitioners said, “They hadn't studied the Fa much for a year. They sent righteous thoughts even less often. They were just doing things. Some other practitioners thought that since everyone has some gaps, they should just tolerate them. But when they were arrested, those practitioners realized such tolerance is being irresponsible to fellow practitioners.” Actually I think tolerating' other practitioners' gaps is being unattached to their gaps. It is not being responsible to them.

No one can take care of everything in the process of validating the Fa. We need the whole group to work together to complete this great and sacred mission. Therefore, every person's cultivation status is very important. Only when we cultivate ourselves well and truly establish a looking-within environment, can the group as a whole have stronger power in validating the Fa.

Nevertheless, when a practitioner did something not on the Fa, it was because he didn't realize he was wrong. If he knew, he would fix it. So I think, just as Teacher told us,

“If everyone could do this, that would be the best. When a person can't recognize an issue, of course it's not wrong for him to point it out. But when you point something out, it must be done with kind intentions. You are cultivating compassion, so you must have kind intentions.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angles”)

We must understand the relationship between “looking within” and “kindly helping others.” This itself is an issue that we need to resolve in our cultivation.