(Minghui.org) One day, I was invited to an experience sharing meeting. We sat together in a practitioner's home. We cherished the opportunity to share our understandings of the Fa with each other.
One attendee talked about something that had bothered him for some time and asked for our opinions.
A Question of Plagiarizing the Fa
He wrote a book about corporate culture and used it to spread the concepts of truth, compassion, and tolerance to those predestined and to help more people gain the opportunity to be saved.
The book included the vision of his company. It was very popular. The first printing of hundreds of thousands of copies was almost sold out. Only about1,000 copies remained.
He also made quite a few presentations across China promoting his company's culture. They were well attended.
However, some fellow practitioners noticed that he might have plagiarized the Fa, because the book talked about truth, compassion, and tolerance and quoted Master's words to explain the meaning of the principles, but he didn't give credit to Zhuan Falun or to Master.
His explanation was that the book helped to promote corporate culture as well as the truth about Dafa. It had guided predestined people. He had heard a lot of touching stories from the people who had read the book and from those who attended his presentations.
Because of the persecution, he couldn't openly say he was quoting Zhuan Falun. Instead, he wrote “according to a sage” to make the distinction between Master's words and his own words. He thought everyone would know that it was Falun Gong once “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance” were mentioned. He also thought that everyone knew that he practiced Falun Gong.
The Group's Decision and a Quick Response
We all thought that he had plagiarized the Fa. One practitioner reminded us that anything that used Dafa but didn't validate Dafa would constitute plagiarizing the Fa.
Master said in “The Fa Rectifies the Human Heart” in Essentials for Further Advancement:
“For instance, some people get some inspiration from Dafa and launch in society something like a civil movement. This kind of Fa-plagiarizing behavior, which originates from Dafa but fails to validate Dafa, works against Dafa from another perspective. As a matter of fact, no movement can bring about a fundamental change in the human heart. Nor do movements’ phenomena last—people become indifferent with the passage of time. Afterwards, unhealthy phenomena that are harder to tackle will emerge. Dafa absolutely can not fall into this kind of condition.”
Another practitioner said that “a sage says” might mislead readers. They might think of other sages they knew. People in the future might not be able to tell Master's words from other quotes.
Other practitioners also shared their understandings.
The high level meaning of “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance” and the Fa principles of high level cultivation are things that only Master can teach and are unique to Falun Gong.
If an ordinary person takes a stance on an issue without clearly knowing that it is Falun Gong, then he may not be saved.
We are disciples who assist Master. If our efforts can't reach what Master wants, then we are not truly providing assistance.
After sharing, we all understood this issue better. The author of the book realized the seriousness of what he had done. To make up for his mistake, he said he would destroy all unsold books and submit a declaration to the Minghui website to express his regret. He would also approach the people involved to clarify the truth and turn this into a good thing.
This practitioner acted immediately. He wrote his declaration and shared more to enhance his understanding.
We were all happy about this. We thought that he took timely action to recover any losses and turn a bad thing into something good.
Looking Inward
A few days later, I thought about this sharing again. It was not a coincidence that we heard about what that practitioner had done. Anything that happens to a cultivator must not be for one reason only.
Why was I invited to this sharing? This was the first time I had met with this group. Was this relevant to my cultivation? If so, how?
I then looked inward. Once I thought about it, I realized that it was indeed relevant to my cultivation.
I had recently clarified the truth to a student. I didn't mention Falun Gong. After the student quit the Chinese Communist Party organizations, I asked him to remember “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance” and “Dafa is good.” I intentionally omitted “Falun.”
This was no different from the other practitioner omitting “Falun Gong” in his book. I knew the truth, but didn't tell others. How could ordinary people know about it then?
For a lot of ordinary people, “Falun Gong” is the only name they know Dafa by. Even if they say “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance” and “Dafa is good,” they may not know it's about Falun Dafa. Then how could they choose Dafa?
Wasn't I affected by fear? Why didn't I see the issue? I even thought that I had clarified the truth “with wisdom.”
I often “published” articles (some were my own and some were written by other practitioners) on my own before the Minghui web site published them. I “published” them by sending them to fellow practitioners on my own.
I liked making notes about things I enlightened to. When a practitioner asked to read my notes. I immediately gave them to her. When she said she benefited from them, I was really pleased.
Now I understand. The invitation to the sharing occurred so I could solve my problems. I hadn't enlightened. I hadn't looked inward.
Truly Cultivating Myself
Out of habit, I didn't cultivate myself and only looked outward. Many practitioners looked inward at the gathering and talked about reflecting about themselves regarding the issue. I merely listened. I didn't think about myself.
Master's compassion offered me an opportunity to recognize my problems. I reminded myself to look inward at all times and on all matters. I shouldn't exclude myself from cultivation!
Please allow me to end this sharing by quoting Master's Fa in “A Dialogue with Time” in Essentials for Further Advancement:
“Divine Being: These problems have already become very serious. It would be good if they could manage to search within themselves for the things that they have been able to find in others.
"Master: It’s time for them to become clearheaded so that their environment can turn into one for true cultivation practice, and thus they will be able to become real gods.”
Category: Improving Oneself
