(Minghui.org) The day before the recent Minghui Editorial “Notice” was published in Chinese, a practitioner told me that she read some things that someone had posted on the Internet and was confused by what they said about Falun Dafa.
I said that there is no need to discuss such posts. As practitioners, when encountering such things, we should look for loopholes in our cultivation, ask ourselves why we encounter them, and think about how we should respond. This includes posts about negative situations that happened to (former) practitioners.
The person mentioned in the notice graduated from a renowned university in China. Because he was detained in China, he labeled himself a hero and a victim. Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, has told us that everything happens for a reason. When we encounter tribulations or persecution in cultivation, we should thank Master for protecting us and eliminating karma for us. Without Master’s protection, the tribulations would be much more severe. We should never blame Dafa or Master for the tribulations or persecution we encounter.
I also come from mainland China. As a child, I repeatedly had the same nightmare in which a man followed me and wanted to harm me. Seeing his fierce face outside the window, I was terrified. As an adult, I no longer had the dream and forgot about it.
After I began practicing Dafa in 1997, I was not diligent at all times. When the persecution started two years later, I felt afraid, but persisted in following my faith. Because of Master’s protection, I never encountered danger when I distributed materials that provided information about Falun Dafa. However, one day at a residential building, I was stopped by a person who asked me what I was doing there. I was afraid and said I was there to visit a friend and gave a fake name. The person looked at me suspiciously. He hesitated, but let me go in the end. After returning home, I suddenly realized: “Wasn’t he the man I saw in my childhood nightmares?”
This incident was not accidental. First, imagine if I did not practice Falun Dafa. Would I have avoided meeting that man and lived a happy life? No. Without Master protecting me and bearing the karma for me, I may have already died.
Secondly, I owe debts to many people from my past lives. So, although Master has borne a tremendous amount of karma for me, I still need to suffer to pay back some of that karma. If I was detained and tortured due to a lack of righteous thinking, would I be a hero for enduring the persecution or does it mean I can casually disparage Dafa or Master? No.
In addition, if someone is irresponsible and complains on the Internet because they have attachments, only the old forces and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents will be happy. Everyday people who do not know about cultivation practice might misunderstand Dafa and practitioners. If those people have a negative opinion about Falun Dafa, will they be saved? Wouldn’t such actions push people to have no future?
I hope all practitioners will read and follow the Minghui editorial, and stop listening to or reading harmful content on the Internet. This is being responsible for saving people and for oneself. Every click increases the number of views of the message, and makes the situation worse. This is not what Dafa disciples should do. After so many years of cultivation practice, we know the importance of staying away from misleading Internet content out of “curiosity.” This is indeed serious since cultivation is sacred.
The traditional Chinese culture was imparted to us by the divine and it contains cultivation elements. One example is the story of Bian Que’s encounter with a lord in the state of Cai. On several occasions, Bian said that the lord’s illness had worsened and that it was perilous for him if it was not treated right away. But the lord repeatedly denied that he was ill, said he was fine, and his denial ultimately led to his death.
In our cultivation, there are many similarities between how we fail to remove our attachments and how the lord’s illness failed to be treated.
After Master Li helps us realize our attachments by providing various opportunities to see them, including conflicts among one another, it’s up to us to make the choice as to whether we want to remove the attachments.
As attachments are living entities that do not want to be eliminated, they will bring us pain, force us to look outward, and blame others for the things we ourselves are responsible for. When we fall into this trap, attachments survive. To negate this, we need to have strong righteous thoughts and have faith in Dafa and Master, so that Master can eliminate our attachments. If we do not admit to our attachments, there is no way to get rid of them, and even Master cannot help since it is our choice to hold onto them.
Therefore, whenever we see or hear something negative, practitioners should consider it an opportunity to look within and identify the attachments that are involved and why we encountered the situation. We should look within instead of shifting the blame to others, Minghui, or even Dafa or Master. One will drop in levels or turn to the dark side if they always act that way.
Dafa has given us countless wonderful blessings. Some practitioners have a notion that there should be harmony between each other and we should not have conflicts. If everyone has studied the Fa and cultivated themselves well, it’s possible to achieve such harmony. But it’s not something to be pursued.
The above are my personal understandings. Please point out anything improper.
Editor's note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)