Do Not Take Doing Things As Cultivation

(Minghui.org) The persecution is the reason practitioners clarify the facts about Falun Dafa to people. They counter the defamatory propaganda spread by the media controlled by the Chinese communist regime.

Some practitioners may consider such efforts to be cultivation practice instead of looking within to improve on one's cultivation path. Most importantly, if a coordinator has this issue, it could negatively impact practitioners in a given area.

Paying No Attention to Cultivation

A coordinator visited me and complained, “A few years ago, a few coordinators were arrested and detained. Only I took on the responsibility to get practitioners together.”

Then, she said that none of the practitioners wanted to keep a printer; they just wanted to receive materials from her. Some practitioners who hosted a Fa study group were scared and suggested that they use her home. In addition, she had to ship materials to remote areas to help practitioners there.

She continued, “My husband and my child do not practice Dafa. Can you imagine how much pressure I faced?”

Looking at the practitioner, who was already in her 70s, I was impressed by her determination and hard work during the severe persecution. However, when she listed the conflicts she had with other practitioners, I somehow pitied her.

She told me, “When the persecution was really rampant, very few practitioner got involved in truth-clarification. Now that the situation has improved, they criticize me behind my back. I don’t have to be a coordinator. I just cannot understand how they can treat me this way.”

After she stopped, I shared my thoughts with her. I acknowledged that she had done very well in those years and said, “In Essentials for Further Advancement, Master said, 'As you are Dafa’s elite at the level of everyday people, I can’t just let you work without reaching Consummation.'”(“A Person in Charge is Also a Cultivator”)

She nodded and said she knew Master had taught this Fa. I continued, “Although those practitioners may have caused you harm, this did provide an opportunity for you to look within and improve your xinxing.” I then gave examples of how I looked inward when I encountered conflicts. She thanked me and said that our discussion helped her and made her feel better. However, she returned the next day and began to complain again, as if the conversation had never taken place.

When I checked with practitioners in that region, they told me that the coordinator had a strong character. But since many practitioners had to rely on her in the early days, the conflicts were buried. As the situation improved and more practitioners stepped forward to clarify the truth, the conflicts came out into the open.

Nonetheless, this coordinator emphasized doing things and paid little attention to cultivation. In the end, she passed away from illness karma. This is indeed a big loss for us.

Looking Within

Several years ago, coordinators in one major city could not resolve conflicts and asked us to share our experiences with them. Another practitioner and I decided to meet with them. It was late when we arrived, so we stayed at a practitioner's home.

When it was time to head to another coordinator's home the next morning, the practitioner responsible for us did not come to pick us up as planned.

The local practitioner began to complain, “He said he would come here on time. How can he be so careless?”

The practitioner who had come with me and I looked inward. “Most likely we still have some negative thoughts, and that is why he’s late,” I said.

The local practitioner nodded, “You are right. Although he’s late, we need to look within too.” We all smiled.

After we arrived at another coordinator's home, she complained that the other coordinators did not work with her and openly criticized her. The coordinator who led the criticism happened to be there, too and began to defend himself.

We then went to another coordinator's home. Practitioners there asked us to share first, so we talked about how we looked within and improved ourselves based on the Fa principles. As we finished speaking, one local practitioner said to another, “It seems we need to look within too. I remember we had some misunderstandings recently. I guess we need to work on that.” Everyone in the room smiled.