(Minghui.org) Many Falun Gong practitioners I know are living within very limited means. For instance, a practitioner had borrowed money to start his own business, but he was unable to pay back the loan because the business did not go well. Another practitioner worked as a day laborer to provide for his family. He got up early to go to work and came home late, but he still has difficulty making ends meet. A practitioner had been living a very frugal lifestyle for several years, and she hasn't bought any new clothes for years. Some non-practitioners have commented, "Why do I rarely see any Falun Gong practitioner able to live comfortably?"
The worst part is that some practitioners even think: "This might just be the path of cultivation arranged for me. I am destined to suffer like this." Have such practitioners acknowledged the old forces' arrangements when it comes to their financial situation? Isn't it the same as choosing hardship?
A fellow practitioner that used to suffer from poverty told me his story. "I have been stuck in this type of living standard for years. At one point our entire family had nothing but a 5.5-lb bottle of vegetable oil and preserved vegetables for three months to eat with steamed rice. When we went food shopping, we picked only those bruised and rotten ones for a discount. I worked hard as a day laborer to provide for my family, but I still had difficulty putting food on the table after a year. There was never enough money. My parents were sick and my children needed money for school. My entire family needed me to provide for them. That was hard. Then I began to think: 'Falun Gong practitioners are supposed to have good fortune. This is not good fortune at all. How can this be the path that Teacher has arranged for me?' It suddenly hit me that I had been walking on the path that the old forces have arranged for me. The old forces will only acknowledge those practitioners that cultivate in poverty. I started sending forth righteous thoughts to deny such an arrangement. When you suddenly take yourself out of this mindset, you will finally see that poverty is not the norm. We must not acknowledge or agree that cultivators are supposed to be penniless. We are supposed to walk on the path that Teacher has arranged, and ask Teacher to rectify it for us. Each time I sent forth righteous thoughts, I denied and eradicated all elements that attributed to my poverty. The next thing I knew, my life began to improve. I made more than 40,000 yuan last year. My family and friends are very happy for me."
I am glad that he has finally overcome that obstacle, yet it was such a pity that it took him several years to know what went wrong.
I used to hear comments like: "It is nothing to live in reduced circumstances. We are better off than those penniless cultivators in ancient times. We are better off than those practitioners who had to flee from home to avoid further persecution or those practitioners incarcerated in prison."
I disagree with this mentality.
If you believe poverty is the norm for a cultivator or if you are content with poverty, aren't you choosing to live in poverty psychologically? Is it normal if Falun Gong practitioners are weary of making ends meet? How can this be arranged by Teacher? We descended as kings and lords from our heavenly paradises to the earth. We have a lot of virtue and a great cultivation foundation. How can we have difficulty in providing for our family? This cannot be right.
In addition, it is the old forces that have arranged the old way of cultivating in poverty that we read in history which were penniless whether they cultivated in remote mountains or in temples. How can we acknowledge such a path? We should not reference them in our cultivation today. One will not be able to advance to a very high level of cultivation by just enduring hardships. It is the high level of the Fa that will be able to guide one towards high levels. Many cultivators that followed the old way have not even transcended the Three Realms. We must not reference these cultivators for our own cultivation.
Many fellow practitioners might have fled from home and taken to hiding to avoid further persecution. Many practitioners might be incarcerated in forced labor camps or prisons. But those are the arrangements of the old forces as well. They are by no means Teacher's arrangements. Teacher will never arrange such a path for us. We must not think we are "better off" because we are not homeless and incarcerated like many fellow practitioners are. It is "against their will" to be in those miserable conditions. If we are content since we are not incarcerated or starving, then we are choosing the old forces' path.
If we fail to completely deny the poverty that the old forces have arranged, then they are entitled to say, "See? They are quite content with our arrangements. Why don't we make it even harder? They will establish more mighty virtue by enduring more hardship." We must send powerful thoughts such as: "I completely deny all the arrangements the old forces have made in my life. I shall choose only the path Teacher has arranged for me. I shall disintegrate the poverty that the old forces have arranged. I humbly ask Teacher to set things right."
Teacher said,
"If you can really achieve that, it would make me the happiest. I don’t have any misgivings about Dafa disciples making big money. I’ll be happy when your businesses grow even bigger and you have ever greater wealth. My only concern is that you won’t achieve this. If you all had great financial means, wouldn’t you have greater strength to draw upon for these things that Dafa disciples do to validate the Fa? Wouldn’t that be outstanding? I have never told you to be like those mountain-dwelling cultivators, who’d rather go penniless. That’s because you cannot be like that when your cultivation is carried out in ordinary human society. I never told you to be like that. Rather, I have always said that Dafa’s cultivation is done in a manner that maximally conforms to the way of ordinary human society." ("Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting")
It is not our purpose to be rich so that we can have a luxurious lifestyle, but to show that Falun Gong is wonderful. It is important that the public perceives that one will be blessed with good fortune if one practices Falun Gong. This will also help when we clarify the truth about Falun Gong.
This concludes my humble insights on the subject. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
