PureInsight | June 6, 2005
[PureInsight.org] Recently, there have been several articles on our websites regarding how practitioners ought to deal with fellow practitioners' feeling unwell. I remember a section from "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference" where a practitioner asked, "Many among the disciples currently have this thinking: When a practitioner experiences tribulations because of interference from the old forces, other practitioners think that even if he does have attachments, the persecution shouldn't be allowed to take place and everyone should send righteous thoughts. My question is, if the practitioner himself doesn't improve, will this work?" and Master explained,
"That would be a serious impediment. If he himself isn't rational, whatever we do amounts to nothing. Sending righteous thoughts can eliminate what's outside him but not what's inside his mind. Whatever a person wants to do comes from a single thought of his—it's he who decides if he wants something or not. When this situation occurs, I think there has to be a knot in his mind that stems from attachments. If he's really not able to do it, you can go and help him. There's no problem with doing that. Try to help him understand things on the basis of the Fa-truths and by studying the Fa more."
As I understand this section of Master's explanation of the Fa and from other jingwen, it is crucially inmportant to base consideratiions for assistance to fellow practitioners on their comprehension of the tribulations from the basis of the Fa. It is crucial to consider the mental attitude that must absolutely not include any attachments. Master said: "While working, your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person's heart" (From "Clearheadedness" in Essentials for Further Advancement) When we share our experiences with those fellow practitioners who are suffering tribulations, we must assume the same attitude we do when we clarify the facts. We must be sure to have the right mindset, to be compassionate and to understand others. Furthermore, we must pay attention to the process of sharing and the outcome we hope to achieve based on the requirements of the Fa while not being arrached to results.
One must not have the feeling of superiority over other practitioners, as a properly cultivated practitioner does not have such feelings. The better one has cultivated, the more humble one becomes. Moreover, when one understands that if one has cultivated well when dealing with fellow practitioners, there is no such thing as treating others as being inferior and force one's views upon them. The fellow practitioners may have attachments. It could also be they do not comprehend the Fa too well and had been penetrated by the evil. We must be responsible toward our fellow practitioners, be responsible to Dafa and point out errors to them. That ought to be done only from what we understand about the Fa at our present level. We cannot be absolutely correct. What we tell them may not be suitable for their circumstances. We can only utilize what we know of the principles of the Fa, using compassion and being specific and constructive to accomplish the process. Both parties will then treat each other amicably and the result will be as desired.
Besides assisting fellow practitioners to understand the Fa principles, sending forth righteous thoughts is also necessary. We do not recognize any of the old forces' arrangement and we cannot allow the old forces to use the attachments that fellow practitioners have not discarded to persecute them. By persecuting the fellow practitioners, the evil has interfered with Fa-rectification and thus committed the greatest sin in the universe. Whatever the old forces had arranged cannot be accepted. They are all wrong. Whatever excuse they use in the persecution cannot be allowed. Master said,
"So looking at it from this angle, what we need to do is completely negate the old forces. Dafa disciples and I don't even acknowledge the manifestations of their last-ditch efforts." (From "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")
Regarding fellow practitioners who are undergoing long-term tribulations, I reckon that the main reason is their unwittingly following the path arranged by the old forces, though in their mind or in their speech they say they will completely deny them. And yet, because their understanding of the Fa is not that profound, they have not realized that all their actions had conformed to the arrangements of the old forces. In the Comments on "Be Clearheaded," Master said,
"The old forces have arranged for all Dafa disciples a set of their things, so if a Dafa disciple doesn't follow Master's requirements, he must be following the old forces' arrangements."
We must be strict with ourselves as toward the end period of Fa-rectification the expectations for our actions become more stringent. The expectations placed on us are much higher. We must study the Fa diligently and depart from the concepts of ordinary people.
"When a tribulation arrives, if you, as a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm, or set your mind to meeting different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test. If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are exploiting the loopholes caused by your lack of control. After all, a cultivator is not an ordinary person. So why doesn't the side of you that is your original nature rectify the Fa?"
(From "Expounding on the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement) When facing a tribulation, one must remain unperturbed and calmly search within to find the problem, discard it and thereafter send forth righteous thoughts to positively eliminate the evil and not to passively accept it.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/5/11/32293.html
