PureInsight | March 31, 2014
[PureInsight.org] The other day I spoke with a practitioner who recently gave birth, and I shared with her my experience of babysitting my sister’s newborn baby. I said that I utilized most of the time during the day to listen to the Fa while taking care of the child. The practitioner said that she feels it is disrespectful to Master to do other things while listening to the Fa. I’ve heard other practitioners having the same views; some feel it is disrespectful to cook while listening to the Fa, or to drive or do other things.
Here is my view on this matter. Whether we are respectful to the Fa does not have to do with what we do with our hands while we are listening, but whether our mind is focused on the Fa. We cultivate in ordinary human society while having jobs, families, and other responsibilities, so our time is naturally limited. Many practitioners don’t know that even monks in temples recite scriptures while eating, cooking, or cleaning. Not only do they recite scriptures, but someone would stand in the room and read the scriptures out loud while the others are doing their work. Many practitioners who memorize the Fa recite the Fa throughout the day while doing other things.
My understanding of respecting Master means being aware, present, and alert. If a practitioner tells another practitioner with annoyance to that they stand in front of Master’s picture [while studying the Fa], then that practitioner is the one being disrespectful to Master, because Master is consciousness. Becoming more conscious means getting closer to Master. Being annoyed while imposing one’s notions on others is being farther away consciousness. Listening to the Fa with attentiveness while doing other things is more respectful than reading the Fa while holding the book in two hands and letting the mind wonder. Most of the time, those practitioners who can focus well while reading the Fa will be able to do the same while listening to the Fa, and those who can’t focus while reading will probably have difficulty focusing while listening as well.
I remember once my husband and I were staying at a fellow practitioner’s house. Usually my husband and I listen to Fa lectures when we eat together. Do to time constraints we don’t always eat together, but when we do, we listen to the Fa. During dinner with the practitioner, while she was talking about ordinary people’s things, suddenly a Fa lecture started playing on the computer without any of us turning it on. We all got the message right away, became quiet, and listened with attentiveness while finishing our meals.
Of course this does not substitute for regular Fa study. The purpose of this writing is to share with fellow practitioners that respecting Master is not necessarily how we understand it with our human notions. Much less should we impose those notions on others. We should not always pay attention only to how things appear on the outside, but also to the inner meaning of every action.
These are my humble thoughts; please point out anything that is not on the Fa.
