(Minghui.org) Recently, a lot of practitioners have published experiences reminding us not to be affected by the situations among ordinary people. On the surface, I often remind myself not to be affected by the changes in ordinary human society. Yet, every time I get on the Internet, I immediately connect to Dynaweb and read everyday people's news. Sometimes, when I could not open the Web page or everything was garbled, I still did not realize that it was Teacher who did not want me to see it.
Actually, it does not matter if it is Bo or Zhou, people are punished because of their karma. It is inevitable due to cosmic changes. The ancients said, “Whatever shows up in cosmic changes will be reflected in nature and human society.”
Teacher said:
“Don’t pay heed to the affairs of bygone dynasties
All will be known when you return home
at Consummation”
(“Clarity Upon Gaining The Way” from Hong Yin II)
When I talked to other practitioners in our group Fastudy about current issues, such as Bo stepping down from the office, Zhou being controlled internally, or Wen wanting to vindicate Falun Gong, they really enjoyed listening. Then one day a practitioner told me, “Zhou Yongkang is trying to make a comeback.” I responded immediately, “Dead fish trying to turn around.” I thought my response was very fitting.
Two days later, I found a centipede on the wall of my room. I live on the fifth floor—where could this centipede have come from? I did not look inward after my husband took the centipede away. When a practitioner and I went out to clarify the truth and we passed by a store selling security doors, the practitioner pointed at the security doors and said to me, “You have a problem with your security door.” I responded right away in a resentful tone, “Don't make such irresponsible remarks.”
That night I had a dream. I was reading a book in a small room. The walls of the room were newly painted. However, the top part of the door, including the frame, was hanging off the wall and falling into the room. I suddenly woke up when I got upset. I looked inward for a long time but could not figure out what it meant.
In the morning I could not focus when I studied the Fa. I saw another centipede crawling on the floor. I knew it had something to do with my state of cultivation. All of a sudden I thought, “When insects such as centipedes die, they don't stop moving right away” [referring to a Chinese idiom meaning that even if an organization loses power, its momentum and influence do not disappear right away]. Later, I met a practitioner and told her about the incidents that had taken place over the past few days. She said, “Does it imply that you need to self-reflect and examine your conscience?”
I then started to look inward and examine myself. Below are some of my insights.
Putting too much hope in ordinary people
I have had so many lessons in this area. In the past, when we practitioners put our hopes in a prime minister, the old forces would make him bad. When we put too much thought into the 16th People's Congress, again the old forces brought about disappointing results. In this historic period, Dafa disciples are the leaders and the heroes. All beings are counting on us. How could we put our hopes in ordinary people?
A female practitioner who was released from a forced labor camp told me a story that shocked her. While in the forced labor camp, she had clarified the truth about Falun Gong to a young female guard. This guard was very sympathetic. She did her best not to participate in persecuting practitioners, and she would even provide them with some conveniences. When she did not want to stay at her job and attempted to transfer away from her position, a lot of practitioners that were illegally detained at the forced labor camp did not want her to leave. They actually wrote a joint letter encouraging her to stay! The practitioner who told me the story was the only one who did not sign the letter.
Later this guard, who had originally accepted the truth about Falun Gong, began persecuting practitioners very brutally, as if she were a completely different person. The only one she did not persecute was the practitioner who had refused to sign the letter. It was the practitioners' state of mind that caused the guard to turn bad. The majority of the practitioners put their hopes in this guard. Were they still gods? Didn't the old forces find an excuse to persecute them? If we now put our hopes in Hu and Wen, could something like this happen again?
Fear of hardship and the attachment to time
Some practitioners have become attached to the idea of completing cultivation in 2012. We have learned from the Fa that Teacher controls the progress of Fa-rectification. A lot of the arrangements by the old forces have been changed. If we do not strive forward vigorously in our cultivation, isn't it another strong attachment to just sit around and wait for our cultivation to complete in 2012? Up to today, over their many years of cultivation, many practitioners have put in a lot of effort and have endured many hardships. It is possible for some practitioners who cannot persevere to start slacking off. Once they start slacking off, they do not want to endure anymore hardship and become anxious about completing their cultivation. Many practitioners are very grateful for Teacher's grace in providing salvation. In fact, the best way for us practitioners to repay His mercy is to do the three things well and to not think about anything else.
Teacher said:
“Yet as a practitioner you will find the things that people take seriously to be very, very trivial—even too trivial—because your goal is extremely long-term and far-reaching. You will live as long as this universe.” (Falun Gong)
Not cultivating my speech, the mentality of showing off, and zealotry
I passed on news from the Internet among practitioners to show off that I knew a lot. Also, my mentality of zealotry began to grow as I heard that the evil people were being arrested.
Teacher said:
“In other matters and in the course of cultivation practice, one should be sure to not develop the attachment of zealotry—this mentality can be very easily taken advantage of by demons.” (Zhuan Falun)
Thinking about it further, when I circulate rumors among other practitioners, if other practitioners then repeat them to more practitioners, isn't this going to create a big ripple among practitioners and thus interfere with our normal cultivation?
The evil red dragon of the Chinese Communist Party in other dimensions has already been destroyed. It is just like the centipede that has not stopped moving even though it is already dead. Because the dragon has not stopped moving, the world's people mistakenly think that it is not yet dead. As practitioners, our priority right now is to save people, dissolve into the Fa, and assimilate to the Fa. We have to completely give up all of our desires and mentalities of ordinary people.
This is my limited understanding and some of my thoughts on the matter. Please point out anything inappropriate.