(Minghui.org) An article published on the Minghui website on May 22, 2017 was about how to respond to non-practitioners' questions about a practitioner's death. The author, a practitioner in Hubei Province, believed that a practitioners deaths had a negative impact on truth clarification about Dafa and hoped to be able to explain them in a positive way.
Correcting Notions
First of all, as practitioners, we should have a clear understanding about the deaths of practitioners. Master has talked about it several times. My opinion is that it's unnecessary to explain to others why a practitioner died. What we need to do is to correct our own notions.
Nothing in the Fa has said that a Falun Dafa practitioner will never die or appear to be sick. It's an excuse for some people to attack Dafa.
In the ancient story about the life of Milarepa, he appeared to be sick and old before he left the world. Buddha Sakyamuni also appeared to be sick (from food poisoning in one version) before he achieved enlightenment. Jesus left the world after he was crucified.
The death of a highly regarded religious person is not a reason for people to believe or not believe in a particular religion, just like the death of a doctor does not affect people's decision to seek medical help. Death has always been a natural part of the cycle of life, and everyone intuitively understands this.
Factors Affecting Cultivation
Falun Dafa is different in that we cultivate mind and body. Cultivation has brought us great improvements in our health, but it depends on the level of diligence of cultivators and many other factors. During this special period of Fa rectification, many factors are involved, and are trying to play a role in our cultivation. How can we possibly explain all the different aspects to non-practitioners, or even ourselves?
If a non-practitioner questions how a practitioner could die, we should look inward and ask ourselves, “Why did another practitioner pass away and why did a non-practitioner question us about their death?”
Talking at Too High a Level
I have always attempted to explain Dafa principles using scientific reasoning thanks to my background in science and engineering. For me, this became the vehicle to explain Dafa principles to others.
After cultivating for some time, I told people, “You can ask me any question about cultivation. I guarantee to give you a good answer.” However, it did not help me when it came to truth clarification. On the contrary, it became my attachment. I talked at a high level, which was hard for most people to understand.
After listening to me for a long time, a college graduate said, “I seem to understand a little bit now. It's so hard! It appears that one needs to major in science before one can practice Falun Dafa!”
Because of my attachment to science, I used my technical background to introduce Dafa, instead of adjusting to the listeners' need and level of understanding. I thought people wanted to hear a good explanation like mine, but it wasn't true or effective.
Eliminate Attachments
For some non-practitioners, it seemed like the death of a practitioner had become an obstacle to their understanding Dafa. I believe that this is probably because we have the attachment to presenting our good health to validate Dafa.
When we dissolve karma, some practitioners avoid people, including their own family members, or pretend to be fine. When some fellow practitioners passed away, we tried to hide this because we feared a negative impact. Our reaction could have left people with the impression that cultivators should not get sick or die.
Some practitioners explained that the deaths were not due to illness, and it was different from ordinary deaths, but they could not explain it clearly. This arose, I believe, due to our human notions and attachment to reputation. It wasn't exactly in accordance to the principles Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.
The key is to eliminate our attachments. The stronger our attachments, the greater the negative impact. It could also become an excuse for the old force to make trouble.
If we could eliminate the attachments, things will turn out differently, and people would not think that it is an issue. A person who thinks that a practitioner should not get sick or die either has gained some understanding of the Fa, or is trying to nitpick. We are the people to untie the knot in their hearts. Changing our notion is the best way of bringing a change to the people around us.
Our improvements in cultivation are reflected in all we do, including truth clarification. Looking inward is the key. Letting go of the attachment to self and human notions will benefit our truth clarification. I believe that's why many practitioners in the countryside, who haven't received much education, can follow a simple train of thought, and do well on clarifying facts to people.
