PureInsight | June 4, 2002
When listening to others, we tend to selectively accept what they say based on our own past experiences, our so-called wisdom and abilities of comprehension. We tend to quickly process and accept those words that conform to our own notions while unconsciously rejecting those that do not. Also, at the same time as trying to pass on the words of others, we often make many mistakes, to which we are oblivious. We may feel that others can't understand the words, that it may be bad for someone else to hear this, or some other notion. This can make us miss the original meanings of many speakers' words and cause us to unwittingly misinterpret others' words.
In our daily life and Fa-study, do we entirely absorb or misinterpret Master Li's Fa-principles?
In Fa-study, when trying to find some of Master Li's words to support our own arguments, when using particular Fa-principles similar to our understanding and behavior to support our thoughts and ideas, and when persuading or stopping others who have different ideas, are we also quoting out of context?
From my understanding, Master Li's Fa-lecture is one complete body. It cannot be interpreted as paragraphs without context. When changing certain words into particular nouns or adjectives and then using certain behaviors in order to justify them, our selfishness is exposed. It is important to think deeply about this!
In his article "Using at Will" (In Essentials for Further Advancement II), Master Li also clearly told us He used the language at will when He taught the Fa. Also, in various lectures He mentioned about the Dharma of Buddhism being plundered for our own ends. Unfortunately, such things have been intentionally or unintentionally done in many experience-sharing papers. I once made the same mistake. I passed over an article of Master Li to some fellow practitioners. In some sentences that conformed to my thoughts I used a different color and enlarged the font size. Only because of a warning from a fellow practitioner did I later realize that this emphasized just where my xinxing was positioned. I had exposed my own shortcomings. I did not really understand the Fa-principles. It was a manifestation of my attachment.
I had studied the Fa with attachments I was unaware of. I read other practitioners' experience-sharing papers with sentiments of favor and disfavor. When I fail to follow the Fa which Master Li taught to guide my cultivation or when I read some practitioners' experience sharing papers posted on the Minghui website and simply followed what they said, was I being a true practitioner? When I behaved abnormally in everyday life, when I did Dafa work based on some of my own understanding or the understandings of others at the expense of my regular job, it made those non-practitioners around me question the behavior of Falun Dafa practitioners in general. Was this an embodiment of my selfishness or was I really stepping out from ordinary people? Because of it many conflicts arose.
I often thought if we can really meet the standards of a genuine practitioner, which Master Li specified in Zhuan Falun in our everyday life, clarifying the truth should be much easier. When Dafa is slandered in Mainland China, are the people around us the first ones to stand up and support us? The prerequisite for this to happen is that we must do well.
Whether we are diligent or not we should not be evaluated by the amount of Dafa work we do. Studying the Fa does not only mean that we have read Zhuan Falun many times. If we can't do well in our personal cultivation, how can we be considered Fa-rectification disciples? I asked myself whether, if I cannot fulfill the duty of a son, can I be called a practitioner?
I also want to ask my fellow practitioners: if you can't fulfill your duties in society,
can you be called a practitioner? I can't scold anyone because I myself have not done very well. But I hope those fellow practitioners who have made the same mistakes as I did can calm down and think. We should encourage each other from now on. Let us give enough attention to our own regular jobs when clarifying the truth. At least this way, when the Fa rectifies the human world, the people around us will not be among the ones who get eliminated right away.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/5/9/15926.html
