PureInsight | February 7, 2011
[PureInsight.org] Six days after Chinese New Year 2000, I left home to join two other practitioners travelling to various places, sharing understandings on cultivation and its relationship to Fa-rectification. During the trip, we listened to many touching stories, as well as severe persecution cases.
When hearing those persecution stories, the three of us had different reactions. Touched by the tremendous tribulations practitioners had experienced, I wanted to cry. Practitioner A, however, often wanted to smile, as she saw more and more practitioners walking away from humanness on the path of cultivating into enlightened beings. Practitioner B on the other hand, was calm and did not have any special feelings. He had stepped forward to validate the Fa since April 25, 1999, and after witnessing many solemn stories, was able to treat them calmly. Looking back, I realized that these three reactions represent three different realms. In fact, an enlightened being's compassion towards sentient beings is beyond human thoughts, as he is gratified that practitioners have been purified and are on the path of returning to their true selves.
Back then, I had just walked away from humanness and still had strong emotions when travelling with the other two practitioners. Upon hearing stories of severe persecution that led to broken families and other undesirable consequences, I was often grieved with indignation. In the beginning, I did not understand the reactions from practitioners A and B. As I improved in cultivation, however, I came to understand that Buddha's compassion is different from a human being's kindness. The principles in the human world are reversed, and suffering as well as repaying karmic debts is actually a good thing. Of course, we cannot acknowledge the persecution. Soon afterwards, these two practitioners were arrested and I continued to go about with another practitioner.
We travelled to a small city, and practitioners there had quite different understandings on stepping forward to validate the Fa. Some were against this, saying that would incur further persecution and loss of Dafa books if practitioner’s homes were ransacked. They thought practitioners should practice at home in private, and they even took out Master's article “A Heavy Blow” in Essentials for Further Advancement to stop us. They said that we lacked kindness by travelling around, adding burdens on fellow practitioners, while at the same time causing inconvenience to our own families.
At that time, we did not know about sending forth righteous thoughts. Nonetheless, I peacefully shared my understandings with them. I said that, had Dafa not been persecuted, we would not leave our families to oppose the persecution. Although our families may suffer for the time being, they will receive the best rewards as we reach consummation in the future. The reason that we travelled around was because our cultivation environment had been disrupted by the evil and we needed to join together to rebuild the environment—group Fa-study and group exercise—as required by Master. Eliminating the persecution is a part of Fa-rectification. When practitioners asked about my family, I told them that, although my family did not understand it, whatever they chose to do would decide their future. Had I stayed at home and remained an everyday person because of their sentimentality, wouldn't they have committed a sin of impeding an enlightened being? Out of these two possibilities, which one will lead them to a better future?
Upon hearing those words, a practitioner agreed, “Yes. We cannot reach consummation without stepping forward under this circumstance. Our families are committing a sin if they block us with sentimentality. It is indeed difficult to be both loyal and filial!” I said, “If we stay with our families like other everyday people. We can probably stay with each other for several decades at most. After that, we still have to separate from each other painfully. Depending on our karmic relationship, we may not be able to meet each other anymore. On the other hand, if we can reach consummation, at least they may have a chance to come to our world as sentient beings. This is long-lasting. If we compare these two possibilities, which one is truly being responsible to one’s family?” The practitioners sighed, “I know these principles, but it is just hard to step forward like this.”
Here, I saw their determination in the Fa was hampered by their sentimentality towards their families. This had happened to me in the past as well. After the detention centre released me on Chinese New Year’s eve, I received many hints in my dreams that I should step forward to talk with other practitioners so that we could improve together. Finally, in one dream, my family members were forcing me out of home with whip’s in their hands. This continued for 6 days, and everyday was difficult, as if it was sinful to stay at home like that; meanwhile, I did not know whether I could return safely home if I chose to step forward. Nonetheless, my sense of responsibility forced me to go ahead and do the things that I was supposed to do. In the end, I came to understand that although on the surface my family did not want me to go out, as it might make our lives more difficult, but in reality, their true selves were eager for me to step out of humanness for both myself and for them.
That sentimentality—unwilling to hurt ones family by leaving them—was actually built on human notions. It existed because of selfishness. True compassion is to see through these superficial phenomena and be truly responsible for the future. We know that according to principles in the Buddha school, nothing happens coincidentally. My family's suffering today - because of my helping with Fa-rectification will actually lead to a solid and good future for them afterwards.
After I came to that understanding, one family member gave me some money for basic living expenses and I was able to step out. One day during meditation, my main consciousness was flying in the sky following Master's Fashen. I could see Master walking forward and every step was heavy. I felt bad and wanted to get closer. However, I could not get closer no matter how hard I tried, although Master seemed to walk slowly. Seeing the difficulty in Master's Fa-rectification, I decided to become a qualified Dafa disciple who truly helps Master with Fa-rectification.
It has been 11 years since that happened. As of now, some practitioners are still unable to step forward and walk away from humanness: some are even trapped in various tribulations. Since Master does not want to leave us behind, we have to do our best to catch up by doing the three things well.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2011/1/21/71230.html
