PureInsight | August 26, 2008
I would like to start with a short story.
My house is rather far away from my garden. I went daily to my garden, hoed the carrots, and ate sweet tomatoes; the garden was cultivated and I was satisfied. Most of all, I liked the so-called “green corner” of my garden, in which I grew plants which bore big fruits. However, before the fruits were ripe, something happened to my garden...
Traffic authorities decided they wanted to build a roadway through my garden. They did not notify me, and suddenly one day I found part of my garden severely damaged, and the “green corner” was exactly the place where their roadway went through.
The traffic authorities, probably in order to express their willingness to help me, decided that there would be a regular bus stopping at my home and at my garden. They were trying to persuade me that this was the best solution for me and for my garden. I started to get used to it. I couldn’t raise any fruits in my garden, but still there were many other things I could plant. Carrots and tomatoes were still sweet, and I could bring them home faster and without so much effort. I almost forgot that it used to be different in the past.
Then one day, I found at home an envelope with some seeds. On the envelope, it was written “true fruit.” I was very happy. I thought, “This must be better than my tomatoes and carrots!” I took the bus to my garden and planted the first seed. I took care of it every day. I talked with the people on the bus about the injustice of having a road built through my garden, but I assured them that I have some delicious fruit on the way, and when it is ripe, I would share it with them. Some people supported me in my effort, some didn’t understand. I took the bus to my garden every day, watered the seed and looked after it, but it did not even sprout.
I blamed the buses for their exhaust fumes, and I started to explain to all the people I met how important it is to replace the old busses with modern less-polluting ones. The traffic authority met my demands and started to operate buses fueled with natural gas. After this, the plant sprouted, but it didn’t last long, and it died soon after sprouting. Somebody had dumped oil next to my garden.
I started a new information campaign, explaining the importance of waste management. But the next seed I planted grew only a few inches and then it too died.
This went on for several years. There was always something that ruined my plant. I was in despair. Such a rare plant, and it would not grow in my garden? What was it lacking? Finally, I found out. It needed the “green corner,” and all of my efforts were in vain when my starting point was not correct.
I decided on a resolute step. I took a pickaxe and removed the road from the “green corner.” I also called an excavator and directed it to remove the whole stretch of road that had passed through my garden. I told the traffic authorities I would not need the road. If they wanted, I offered to also give them some of my fruit. The plant is now growing happily in the green corner – it has grown into a fairly big plant and will soon bear fruit.
This could be the end of my story. However, why did I take the trouble to write it? It should illustrate a point: if we, as cultivators, are too much attached to our current circumstance (the road going through the garden, or the old forces persecuting Falun Gong), we could almost forget that there exists another state (a garden without a road, or a world without the persecution of Falun Gong). Even if we explained to all the people how bad it is that the road goes through the garden (and many will agree with us), we are forgetting the starting point – there should not be any road through the garden. In that case, we can talk to the people about sweet fruits (or we can talk to them also about the bad influence of hazardous wastes, polluting buses etc.).
We have so much “gotten used to” the current situation that we are sometimes forgetting to judge it from the perspective of the Fa. We easily get manipulated by human thoughts (many buses, a polluted environment, ...or we clarify the truth “because of the persecution,” “because of interference,” “to stop the persecution sooner,” etc.), but there exists another starting point, which would completely change the result of our effort.
Let me illustrate this with one more example, this one concerning the Olympic games. One of the practitioners at our practice site shared with us this idea: “The Olympic games are helping us to disclose the crimes of the communist regime.” According to my story, it would be similar to saying, “The road helps me get home faster.” They might be helping us, or they might not; they might have their own goal – we should not acknowledge something in our thoughts, which is not from the Fa.
According to my understanding, this and other similar ideas are based on an incorrect starting point. If we, as practitioners, clarify the truth because of the persecution, we are in fact strengthening it. We should negate this thought and clarify the truth only from the standpoint of wanting to save more sentient beings, from the compassionate heart of a cultivator.
The first step is for us to realize the problem regarding our starting point and begin to negate it.
The above is my personal understanding. Please point out anything that is incorrect.
