PureInsight | August 1, 2023
[PureInsight.org] Before this lunar year, I had a thought: New Year is coming! I should collect fellow practitioners’ greetings to Master and post them on Minghui website to express disciples’ respects and gratitude towards Master.
I visited several practitioners. To my surprise, when they heard about greeting Master, some fellow practitioners looked awkward and told me they didn’t know what to say. Some said they did not cultivate well and had nothing to say. Some fellow practitioners asked me, “How could I greet Master? How could Master get happy when he saw our bad cultivation? If I promised to do well but I couldn’t; wasn’t it cheating?” I told them, “No matter how you cultivated, you should greet Master. We cultivated so many years and knew Master’s grace toward us. We should express our gratitude toward Master!”
Before May 13th, I did the same thing again. I talked to a fellow practitioner about sending greetings through the Minghui website because Master’s birthday is coming. The fellow practitioner hesitated and said, “I have nothing to say because I haven’t cultivated well.” “But you did very well!” I insisted. The fellow practitioner shook head and said, “I am far behind compared to the fellow practitioners who cultivated well, as mentioned on the Minghui radio.” Eventually the fellow practitioner sent greetings to Master due to my persistence. Another fellow practitioner also had the same attitude. I was very unhappy because of the fellow practitioner’s attitude since I believed greeting Master is a good thing. Maybe I did not hold my Xinxing well enough.
A question came to my mind, they did not want to greet Master just because they did not cultivate well. How could they think about it like that?
Traditionally, how should we look at greeting Master?
In my opinion, greeting Master during holidays is a form of courtesy, tradition and gratitude!
Especially as Dafa cultivators, during these years of cultivation, regardless of how diligent we are, we have received Master’s protection and enlightenment. We all know what Master has given us!
Master got rid of our names from the list in hell; cleaned our bodies so we can cultivate; reduced our karma debts; balanced historical grievances for us and paid off the debts we owed in heaven. In short, Master has done so much and endured a lot for us!
I always feel that Master has done so much for the disciples. A simple greeting cannot express how much we appreciated it. To cultivate diligently is an expression of our Buddha nature. We must be grateful to Master! We should express our thoughts after becoming clear-minded in this impure world!
For me, I always remember two important days: one is May 13th and the other one is the date I obtained the Fa. May 13th is the World Falun Dafa Day, which is the hope for all beings in the world. The day I obtained the Fa is the day I got to know the great Master and found hope in my life. It was a joyous occasion! My elder brother does not cultivate. But whenever I asked him if he had anything to say to Master during the holiday, he immediately greeted Master with “Master is magnificent. Master’s disciples are remarkable…..” He felt he was so lucky. Sometimes he even expressed his understanding of Dafa and gratitude towards Master by writing in a whole page.
Later, I told my brother about the publication of his greeting to Master at the Minghui website. He felt so proud and asked me if there were any other days he could greet Master. After I told him, he tried to memorize it by repeating the dates. He felt it was a significant event to memorize.
In my eyes, even a non-practitioner is happy to express gratitude towards Master. As Dafa disciples, shouldn’t we improve our understanding and consider greeting Master as an important thing to do?
In ancient traditions, for example, during the Chinese New Year, people pay respects to Heaven and the ancestors, rethink about their shortcomings in the past year, look forward to the coming year, and hope for self-improvement and the blessings of the divine. In the process of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, by purifying our thoughts and making commitments for spiritual elevation, we make beautiful aspirations. When the hearts of people turn toward goodness, the divine protects them. Isn't it the manifestation of the connection between heaven and humans?
As cultivators, why was it so hard to greet Master? I cannot understand it.
When we greet Master, we send forth pure thoughts to express gratitude towards Master while also realizing our own shortcomings and expressing our wish to do better. This is the manifestation of our Buddha nature and will be empowered by Master. On the other hand, knowing that we are not diligent and avoiding greeting Master because we feel embarrassed, what is more important to you: saving face or expressing greetings and gratitude towards Master? Is it more important to maintain the current status or to give yourself motivation and push yourself to improve?
In my opinion, greeting Master on the glorious May 13th is an honorable and tremendous event for cultivators. It resonates with all beings in the heavenly world, and it is an immense honor.
These are just a few thoughts I have regarding greeting Master and offering respectful congratulations on the World Falun Dafa Day, May 13th. If there are any inaccuracies in this article, I kindly ask fellow practitioners to point them out with compassion
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/283621
