Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- A Dafa Practitioner's Position at Home
- Looking Inward to Eliminate the Barriers That Separate Dafa Practitioners
- Removing Prejudices and Cultivating Tolerance and Compassion
- Eliminating the Root Cause of “Demonic Interference From One’s Own Mind”
- Understanding the Meaning during Fa Study Is Most Important
- Compassion Differs from Human Sentiment
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the February 2013 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites.
We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don’t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What’s Happening?
This is the fourth year that practitioners from Hyderabad got a Free stall at the All India Industrial Exhibition, which started from 1st January. Practitioners distributed flyers to many visitors, commissioner of police, Hyderabad, and his entire team of police officials, high court magistrate and others. The truth about the Persecution was clarified and practitioners explained about the practice to one and all.
Hyderabad practitioners participated in Republic Day cycle ride, organized by an educational foundation. Distributed flyers to Mr. Thirumal Rao, IPS; Amway and the foundation representatives, other officials and many IT employees who participated in the programme.
Bangalore practitioners distributed flyers and explained about the benefits of a cultivation practice to more than 300 artists at the Chitra Kala Parishad’s annual Chitra Santhe.
Practitioners from Bangalore also distributed flyers at the annual Flower Show.
Practitioners from Pune had booked a stall at the Annual Flower Show. Practitioners demonstrated the exercises and distributed flyers. Many people showed keen interest in learning the exercises.
They were also invited by one of the community on 26-Jan to introduce, demonstrate and teach the exercises.
A practitioner from Iran made a presentation on Falun Dafa at an International Women’s Conference Organized by Nirmal Niketan College, Mumbai. The practitioner then went to Hyderabad to help in the Industrial exhibition.
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- 3. A Dafa Practitioner's Position at Home
By a Dafa practitioner in Mainland China
(Minghui.org)
Practitioner A obtained the Fa after the
persecution began on July 20, 1999. He experienced many hardships at home
because of the persecution. His wife always prevented him from studying the Fa,
doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the
truth. She even hid his Dafa books on several occasions. Practitioner A
once had a big argument with his wife. He said "I will do whatever you want
me to do. But I will never accept your attempt to stop me from studying Dafa!
You must allow me to openly and nobly study the Fa and do the exercises at
home!" However, his wife still did not support him. Therefore their
conflicts continued. Practitioner A felt very upset. He told me several times,
"I must rectify the environment at home and give Dafa a righteous
position."
At first, I thought Practitioner A's wife's strong temper was being used by
the old force to test Dafa practitioners. Therefore, we helped him to send forth
righteous thoughts and eliminate all evil factors behind his wife. However, we
noticed that his wife's evil temper became worse and worse. His family conflicts
became severe. Recently, after an argument between this couple, his wife even
ran away from home. Although she returned home a few days later, she set up a
rule for Practitioner A: "I can allow you to do the exercises at home or do
whatever you want at home. But I will not allow you to contact other
practitioners. Otherwise, either I will divorce you or I will die in front of
you...." Since then, Practitioner A dared not get in touch with other
practitioners. Although we sometimes met by chance, I could feel he had a very
heavy burden in his heart. I could sense his pressure and helplessness. That
reminded me about what I experienced before. I want to share what I experienced
and hope it will provide some help to my fellow practitioners.
A few years ago, I had serious hardship at home. My wife gave me even worse
interference: sometimes when I was doing the exercises, she would suddenly push
me very hard from behind. Or when I was doing the sitting meditation, she would
keep talking in front of me. Sometimes she would shake my head. Sometimes when I
just began to read a Dafa book, she would ask me to do some housework. Or, when
I was sending forth righteous thoughts by holding up my palm, she would shout
very loud and ask me to do some housework. I held my anger in my heart and
quickly finished doing the work. When I returned to send forth righteous
thoughts, it had already passed the time [referring to the global times for
practitioners around the world to send forth righteous thoughts]. Sometimes at
night, when I was studying the Fa, she would ask me to turn off the light and
said she wanted to go to sleep. In the morning, sometimes when I was doing the
sitting meditation, she would suddenly push me. At that time, I felt that the
family environment was a huge hardship.
How could I break through such a family environment and give Dafa a righteous
position? I began to fight for it and sent forth righteous thoughts to clean out
the bad things behind my wife. Later I gradually improved my xinxing
and clearly realized that the key issue was to cultivate myself well. I should
not have any thought of looking outward. "Not striking back when beaten,
Not swearing back when sworn at" is Master's basic requirement for
practitioners. Breaking through problems in our family environment does not
require us to "fight", nor will they be solved by using
"force". Instead we should use kindness and benevolence, which can
melt steel and iron. Every test or hardship contains high level requirement for
our practitioner's xinxing. Why does the other person want to stop you or curse
you? It is because you still have a bad field formed by all kinds of human
mentalities and attachments. It is this bad field that has caused the other
person to attack you. If your field is very pure, and you always maintain a kind
and calm attitude, that field, or "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere
and rectifies all abnormalities," will very easily melt all bad things that
the other person has.
From this I understood that the family environment is the best cultivation
environment. It allows practitioners to quickly improve and upgrade. Because in
this environment, all of your attachments such as the competitive mentality,
begrudging others, lust, selfishness, etc. are more easily manifested and cause
frequent conflicts with your cultivation. As long as you constantly look inward,
you will naturally advance rapidly! Do not simply consider the other person as
your relative, nor should you view the other person as the "enemy".
You should view it as a test that helps you step away from the "human"
towards the "divine". For some daily household duties, personal
benefits, behaving in a "low position" relative to your wife (or
husband) is not really lowering your position to "human". On the
contrary, it is a breakthrough from one's own human mentality. What you have let
go of is "humanness". Only by letting go of human things will you then
have things of divine beings.
Thinking this way, I felt my mind nature improve very quickly. I began to
voluntarily do some household work instead of being passive. At that time, I
firmly told myself: I will not argue with my wife (or try my best not to argue
with her). No matter how the old forces originally arranged for her to come here
to create hardships for me, after all, she had such a great predestined
relationship with me. While I was clearing out the evil interfering factors
behind her, most of my concerns were for her. Sometimes when I just picked up a
Dafa book to read, she would ask me to do this or that. I would reply to her,
"Okay, I am coming." After I finished that household work, I would ask
her "Is there anything else I should do?" She replied, "Go
away!" Therefore I continued reading my Dafa book. Sometimes when I just
raised my palm to send forth righteous thoughts, she would shout at me,
"Go, mop the floor!" I would then say, "Sure!" After I
mopped the floor, she said it was not clean enough. I would then mop the floor
again. Sometimes she bought some very expensive clothes home and asked me,
"Are you mad at me for spending too much money?" I replied, "No.
As long as you are happy, I will be happy."
Gradually, I noticed that my mind became calmer than before. I did not have
that intention to argue with my wife any more. Sometimes for a small event when
she shouted at me, I would think to myself "Is it worth it to get
mad?" It seemed that she was very far away from me. At that moment, after
she shouted at me, she would also say she was sorry to me for having done that.
Later on, when she saw me studying the Fa, or doing the exercises, or sending
forth righteous thoughts, she would not ask me to do housework any more.
Instead, she would silently do it by herself.
When I was in a bad mood and became upset, she would imitate me and tell our
child, "Let's send forth righteous thoughts and eliminate the evil behind
your daddy."
When I was clarifying the truth and persuading my relatives and friends to
withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated
organizations, she would add "Quit the CCP. What is the good side of the
CCP? It only has a group of corrupted leaders..." I told her, "You did
really good." She replied, "I know you are a good person. That's why I
want to help you. Otherwise, I would not bother to care about you."
Sometimes in the evening when she was watching TV and I entered the room, she
would tell me, "We are ordinary people watching TV. You should go study
your Dafa book or do your exercises." Whenever I heard that, I felt really
grateful!
This is a Dafa practitioner's "position" at home. Not only does he
receive respect and support from his family members, the most important point is
that because you have been doing well, your spouse will also feel the good part
of Falun Dafa. Thus it validates the beauty of Dafa and also give them a
beautiful future. However one cannot obtain such a "position" at home
by "fighting for it". Instead, it is cultivated from silently looking
inward and considering others first. There were a lot of hardships involved in
going through all these tests. But each step left a footprint of improvement.
Each step was one step forward from the human towards the divine.
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- 4. Looking Inward to Eliminate the Barriers That Separate Dafa Practitioners
By a practitioner in China
(Minghui.org)
Barriers between Dafa practitioners can cause us to fail to form one body, and can constitute loopholes that the old forces exploit. These loopholes exist in a place within Dafa practitioners' dimensional fields where human mentalities, and other various post-natal human notions, can survive. Therefore, from the perspective of Dafa practitioners' original nature, no practitioners want the barriers that separate us to exist. To eliminate these barriers, some practitioners have busied themselves in talking to other Dafa practitioners about them. Unfortunately, I still notice that the barriers exist in a large number of our cultivation environments. I have also experienced the existence of my own barriers, which have separated me from fellow practitioners and the local coordinator. Through the elimination of my own human notions, I have to a great degree eliminated these barriers. Although I have not completely eliminated them, I still would like to share the process of how I have broken through this separation, and I hope that my experience can be a reference to other practitioners who deal with this issue.
My relationship with the local coordinator has not been very good for quite a long time. From a broader perspective of the Fa, I know that Dafa practitioners are one body. With this understanding, I have held the view that as long as the coordinator asks me to get involved in some bigger projects, I am certainly cooperative. But I usually don't have much contact with the coordinator. In fact, my not having much contact with the coordinator should not matter much, because each practitioner has his or her own things to do. But I found a problem that had existed in me. That is, in my mind a barrier between myself and the coordinator had grown over time. I had developed a thought of being repulsed by the coordinator. For a very long time, I had not thought about what caused the formation of this thick layer of substance that separated us. What was even worse, it had gotten to the point that I didn't even want to see other practitioners who were close to the coordinator. When someone mentioned the coordinator or the several practitioners close to him, I experienced mistrust in my mind. I was not the only one who had this mindset of not wanting to see them. There were also some other practitioners in our region who felt the same way. So a big gap among the Dafa practitioners in our region started to form.
Master has told us, "One's gong level is as high as one's xinxing level" ("Lecture One" in Zhuan Falun). Though I had clearly developed so many human attachments, I still failed to examine myself, and instead I believed that I had done very well in studying the Fa and clarifying the facts of the persecution to people. Later, after several fellow practitioners pointed out the gap between myself and the coordinator, I started carefully searching within myself, and examining the barrier that separated me from the coordinator. I started looking inward to see what human notions formed the root of this problem. After I calmed down and looked at myself, I was startled. I noticed so many attachments of mine, that had grown to high numbers without my realizing it, because I had failed to look inward in time.
First of all, I found a grudge and the mentality of wanting to validate myself. The cause of this attachment is as follows. I am a veteran practitioner in our region. I not only personally attended some Fa lectures that Master gave, but I was also a veteran assistant at our practice site, so I have some influence among Dafa practitioners in my area. After the persecution started, I suffered a great deal from the evil's persecution because I refused to give up my cultivation. Amidst the huge tribulations, I have not only been steadfast in cultivating Dafa, but have also utilized my good conditions and my knowledge to validate Dafa. So I held the belief that I was an important member of the local community of Dafa practitioners. On the other hand, the current coordinator is a practitioner who seems not to have an extraordinary background in Fa-rectification. From the perspective of cooperation among Dafa practitioners, I tried to let go of my selfish thoughts and cooperate with all Dafa projects, but I found that the coordinator often didn't want me to get involved when some important things happened in our region. Instead he let the several practitioners close to him carry out the projects. Of course, it ultimately doesn't matter who gets the work done. If I was asked to do the work, I felt that it was my responsibility to do it. If I was not asked to get involved, it would be fine to continue doing the work I was doing. So my doing or not doing the work was not a big deal in itself. But unfortunately, in my mind I had developed a grudge because I felt that the coordinator intentionally had looked down upon me. And I believed that was why he didn't want me to get more involved in the Fa-validation work in our region. So I felt wronged, and that I was not able to effectively use my capabilities. I had attached too much importance to myself, and this was essentially out of my selfishness; it was impure. After these bad notions were found, I took them seriously, and tried to repress and remove them. When the bad substances like this are eliminated, we become purer while doing Dafa work, being in the proper state for Dafa practitioners.
Another attachment of mine is jealousy. I was an associate head at our practice site in the past. During those several years, whenever Master's new Fa lectures or articles came out, the assistants from the practice sites throughout the region would gather and study the Fa together. While we did Dafa work, whenever something important happened, I was always the key person who would give-out the assignments. Furthermore, I had held a position at my regular workplace that would appear very attractive to ordinary people. I was also very active in promoting the Fa to the government and the high-level circles in the society, and the effect was rather good. I gradually became a well-known person among the practitioners in our region. A majority of local practitioners know me, as do many people in ordinary society. After the persecution started in 1999, I was persecuted because of my cultivation in Dafa, and I was removed from my post in my workplace. I faced the enticement that I would be able to regain my post if I agreed to write a guarantee statement, promising to no longer practice Falun Gong. But I did not cooperate with the evil. I remained determined in my faith in Dafa while under huge pressure from my family, society, and my personal living requirements. I have clarified the facts of the persecution to several thousand people, face to face. I have also published dozens of cultivation experience-sharing and truth-clarification articles on the Minghui and Zhengjian websites
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- 5. Removing Prejudices and Cultivating Tolerance and Compassion
By Li Xinming, a practitioner in Jilin province
(Minghui.org)
I used to hate evil like an enemy. In my workplace, there were only a few people with whom I got along. I tended to ignore those I disliked and held myself aloof. After I began practicing Falun Gong, I saw that this human characteristic interfered with what I should do and I had to eliminate it.
This strong human notion made me narrow-minded and extreme. I was unable to display tolerance and was never considerate of others. This brought many troubles to my cultivation. In terms of saving sentient beings, I didn't show enough mercy and should have been more compassionate. In terms of truth-clarification work, I was unable to cooperate with other practitioners and emphasized my ego. Sometimes I had disagreements with other practitioners and that built barriers between us. I was even biased against some practitioners. In fact, I always looked outward instead of looking inside.
A particular incident finally helped me face my deficiencies and enabled me to let go of my prejudices and be kind to all people.
There was a local coordinator named Jia. Because of some xinxing problems, many practitioners were defensive around him and suggested to him that he not participate in Fa-validation tasks but just study the Fa. I was also biased against him. I thought that he was in a poor state and I was reluctant to come in contact with him.
Once I was arrested but subsequently rescued and released from detention. When I came back, Jia came to visit me and asked about my laptop's login password. He told me that he had asked other practitioners several times before he got this laptop. As soon as I heard he had used the laptop, I felt sullen. Therefore, it preyed on my mind. In my heart I started to loathe him. Finally, I was unable to calm down while studying the Fa. I knew I was wrong, yet I had the attachment and looked down on him.
One day, my family members told me that when I was arrested, Jia actively participated in the rescue efforts. He specially visited my home and communicated with my relatives. He also cooperated perfectly with other local practitioners and made every effort to help rescue me. Also, it was my family member who suggested to him that he go to my place. After hearing this, I realized that I had wronged Jia. I was used to looking for shortcomings in others and didn't remove my prejudices. My behavior and thinking didn't assimilate to the cosmic characteristics.
I realized that whenever I had prejudices about other practitioners, whenever I was moved by attachments, I should look inside since it had to be my own problem. If it was another person's problem, I should be genuinely looking to benefit others when I pointed out his/her shortcomings. Instead of holding onto prejudices about people and gossiping, we need to keep the communication channels open and then we can improve together from the Fa's perspective.
While saving us, our merciful and great Master never looks for our shortcomings. Instead, he patiently teaches us, answers our questions, kindly points out common problems, hopes we can do well, continually encourages us, and reinforce our righteous thoughts. We all can feel Master's compassion, which can harmonize everything. Master can tolerate all.
I also recognize that if we have personal prejudices against other people, it shows that we have gotten trapped in a strong sense of self. It is one manifestation of the selfish characteristics of the old cosmos.
The Fa-rectification is in its final stages. We should let go of all our human notions and cultivate our own huge compassion, because this is what the Fa requires.
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- 6. Eliminating the Root Cause of “Demonic Interference From One’s Own Mind”
By a practitioner in China
(Minghui.org)
I've wanted to share my cultivation experience about demonic interference, but I kept postponing it. Tonight, after reading articles posted on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom), I immediately wrote the first draft. I experienced interference as soon as I began to type my article on the computer. I kept making mistakes, but I chose to ignore it. I was determined to write the sharing article. Once my mind was set on it, everything became smooth. Previously, when I read “Demonic Interference From One’s Own Mind” in , I always thought that Master was referring to other practitioners, and that it had nothing to do with me. I did not think that it could happen to me. I was afraid of having demonic interference from my own mind, because there could be serious consequences that could ruin a practitioner. The example that Master mentioned was about a practitioner whose Celestial Eye was opened and who thought very highly of himself. My Celestial Eye is closed and I cannot see things in other dimensions, so I was certain that I would not have demonic interference from my own mind. I often reminded myself to treat the as teacher and not think of myself as being extraordinary. I've been cultivating for more than ten years and did not look inward deeply enough in this regard before. Master's lectures are targeted toward all of our attachments, and no practitioner is an exception. When I noticed attachments stemming from the demonic interference from my own mind, I was shocked. I decided to find them, no matter how deeply they were buried, and eliminate them. I'd like to share the following experience with everyone. Signs of “Demonic Interference From My Own Mind” when I saw my articles published I had submitted many sharing articles to the Minghui website, which were subsequently published. I considered it a great honor to have practitioners from around the world read my articles. I found this satisfying and I felt proud. In May 2007, an article I wrote was published on the Minghui website and later in . What an honor! I thought maybe Minghui Radio would broadcast my article, too. During that month, I searched weekly for my article on Minghui Radio and finally found it. I could not wait to listen to the recording, but I was not able to open it. I remember seeing my article in the table of contents and it was listed right at the beginning. Though I was able to play other broadcasts, I could not play that one. At the time, I thought it was because I was too attached to my article being broadcast. I did not realize that I had the attachment of wanting to show off, self-satisfaction, and self-importance. Those were signs of “demonic interference from one's own mind.” I was just like the example Master gave in Zhuan Falun of the practitioner who thought he was an unusual person. The only difference was, we had different attachments. Was I trying to satisfy my attachments to showing off and zealotry by submitting sharing articles and seeing them published? Master said, “The desire to show off plus the attachment of zealotry are most easily exploited by the demonic part of your mind.” (“Definitive Conclusion” in Essentials for Further Advancement) I wanted my articles to be published. Once they were published, I was very happy and wanted to show off. Upon examination, I found this very frightening. On the path of cultivation, we cannot count on being lucky, as we must cultivate ourselves solidly. After I realized this, I was no longer concerned if my articles were published. If they were, then I downloaded them. I looked inward and read the original draft to see if I had any attachments. After reading the articles edited by the Minghui editors, I treated them as a reminder of my cultivation, and not something to use to show off. Other cultivation issues that manifested “Demonic Interference From One's Own Mind” I have always been proud and felt fortunate to be a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple. I felt I was nobler than non-practitioners. At work, I detested those who struggled, competed, or used unscrupulous means to obtain profit. I treated money, fame, and making a fortune as dirt, and pitied those who tried hard to obtain them. I did not consider myself a Dafa practitioner who came with the mission of saving sentient beings. I regarded people who were stuck in fame and profit with disdain. When I noticed my unkind heart, I spent more time studying the Fa to rectify myself. I recognized that behind my thoughts of being more noble than others, there were attachments to fame, vanity, and egotism. Master and Dafa offer salvation to all sentient beings. I'm just fortunate to have obtained Dafa at an earlier time, but there is nothing to brag about. A cultivator should eliminate all human attachments. Only when we do what Master requires of us, do we reach the standard. Only when we truly cultivate ourselves well, do we have something to be proud of. But by then, it won't be something we would seek. If we do not cultivate ourselves well, then everything else would be done in vain. Sometimes as a Dafa disciple, I felt that I was the only hope for the sentient beings in this corner of the world, and this gave me a faint sense of pride. When I read Master's recent lecture, “Watch Out for Breeding Demons in One’s Own Mind,” I felt that it was referring to me. Master said, “Don’t let your human attachments become overly inflated and get out of hand just because you’ve done something or other.” (“Watch Out for Breeding Demons in One’s Own Mind”) I realized I had thoughts like that and felt very ashamed. If I did not cultivate well, I would not be able to save myself, let alone others. Wasn't I breeding demons in my own mind? When I made Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs or printed Dafa books, Master's overseas lectures, Minghui Weekly Magazine, Minghui Weekly Newspaper, materials, and Minghui calendar for other practitioners, I felt that everything I did was being recorded in the cosmos. I thought sentient beings and the gods were envious of what I was doing, and I was very pleased. Those thoughts filled my heart, and sometimes I could not get rid of them when I studied the Fa. I realized that it was due to my attachments, and I should not let them interfere with my cultivation. When I look back at my cultivation path, I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not for Master's compassionate protection and enlightenment. This year, I will cultivate myself well, purify my dimension, do the well, follow Master's Fa-rectification, and truly help Master in saving sentient beings. These are my current understandings. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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- 7. Understanding the Meaning during Fa Study Is Most Important
By a practitioner from China
(Minghui.org)
During sharing between fellow practitioners we often hear the following questions and replies: “Did you study the today?” Reply: “I did.” “How many lectures did you cover?” Reply: “ One (or two or three).” When I first heard this, it seemed quite normal. Reflecting upon it further, it appears that the number of lectures covered has been equated to diligence and advancement in cultivation. Over the last ten years I thought this was the correct interpretation. Indeed, this kind of view, once accepted, becomes important. Practitioners reading less than one lecture a day are afraid to say so, while those who read two or more lectures are looked upon with admiration. Over time, practitioners decide each day how many lectures they want to read. The focus is on completing or exceeding the desired number of lectures, i.e., quantity instead of quality. I did try to change the lack of emphasis on quality but was not very successful. In September of 2012 I read the article, Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa, 2011 and the following statements, “Do you know what has become of Fa-study in many places? In some areas it has lapsed into a formality. When some people read they are not concentrating, but rather, thinking about other things, and not able to focus their attention on cultivation. It thus amounts to wasting time. And not just wasting time—instead of it being the time when they are to be elevating, they are using their minds to think over issues and things that they shouldn’t concern themselves with, and thus, not only aren’t they elevating, but on the contrary, they are often dropping in level. If you don’t study the Fa well, there are many things you will not be able to do well.” Actually, I read these statements before but didn't see their importance. This time I realize that the purpose of Fa-study is to understand its meaning and put the ideas into practice. With this realization, I no longer rush to cover more pages. Instead, I read slowly to understand the material. The time I spend each day is still the same, and I feel a lot better with this approach. Understanding what I am reading is now the focus. I do not care how many lectures I cover. If a fellow practitioner asks, “How many lectures have you read today?” I just say, “I have spent several hours studying.” Not getting the meaning of the Fa can be caused by one's own distraction. For example, while reading the Fa, a practitioner might think that drying the clothes outside might not work to-day because it might rain, or she needs to finish reading earlier because she has an appointment with a friend, etc. Allowing these random thoughts to flow interferes with the Fa-study and prevents the mind from being quiet. As Dafa disciples, we must be prepared to give up distractions before and during Fa-study. If something has to be done, get it done before Fa-study. A quiet mind is needed during Fa-study. Otherwise, the real meaning behind the words cannot be ascertained. In my view, there are two requirements to acquire the meaning of the Fa: one, we must focus on the meaning of the Fa, not the number of pages read, and two, we must let go of distracting thoughts. These problems are self-created and we should plan ahead before studying the Fa. I recommend reading slowly to make sure we know the meaning of what we are reading. Reading quickly may force us to focus on reading itself instead of the meaning of the words. If we are reading by ourselves and did not get the meaning of a paragraph, I recommend reading the paragraph again to get the meaning. This is important. Do not be afraid to read slowly. Pronouncing every word clearly is also important, especially during group study, because both you and your fellow practitioners are studying the Fa. A clear pronunciation also helps to get the meaning of the words. However, you must not be thinking about how well you do or how fellow practitioners view your reading. These thoughts are distractions. Just focus on reading and getting the meaning of what you read and you will be surprised at what you have learned. This is just my personal view about Fa-study. Please point out anything that is not proper.
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- 8. Compassion Differs from Human Sentiment
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in China
(Minghui.org)
Several days ago a practitioner said to me, "I think you are very rational but there seems to be something missing. I think you have very strong human sentimentality." Seeing I didn't comprehend his statement, he continued, "For example, when practitioners or others face difficulties or need help, you are always the one who tries to help them. However, it seems to me you do it out of human sentimentality."
I gave his comment a great deal of thought. The first thing that came to my mind was that Teacher had said, "The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference") I usually treat practitioners' problems as my own and I treat everyone else with tolerance, understanding, and kindness. This is compassion, isn't it? Then why did that practitioner think that I acted out of human sentimentality? Immediately, I thought of Teacher's words: "Without 'nothing,' it is a human feeling. If it is a human feeling, then it's not bei (compassion)." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference") I suddenly realized that maybe what I had thought to be compassion was actually human sentiment.
I started to think back and found many attachments and sentimental elements. For example, I like to watch TV series and am quite easily moved by them. Why do I like to watch? Why am I easily moved by those TV shows? I think it is the human sentiment inside that makes me pity the characters on the TV show simply because they have a "hard life." But those feelings are not considered compassion.
This issue appears when my self-interests are at stake. For example, when I am clarifying the truth, if the person accepts what I say, I am extremely happy. But if the person doesn't accept what I say or contradicts me using Party culture and logic, I am silent and think to myself, "This person is hopeless." Teacher's Fa has taught us that a practitioner with true compassion would feel sad if he couldn't save a person. If I had true compassion toward others, would I really care about my own gain or loss during this critical time of saving people?
It is my understanding that compassion is not human sentiment. A person with human attachments and sentiments cannot have true compassion. The projects that I am involved with help me see a lot of my attachments such as the mentality of showing off, the attachment of zealotry and anxiety, the competitive mentality, jealousy, arrogance when I achieve something, the fear of being misunderstood when discussing issues with practitioners, etc. With so many such human attachments, how could I have true compassion?
Sometimes I seem to be kind, but it is actually mixed with attachments. For example, whenever I spoke kindly so that others would follow my advice or to avoid hurting myself, I felt as if I was wrapped in a thin film of sentiment that I couldn't break through. In spite of having many attachments, I am at least glad to be able to pinpoint them. My understanding based on the Fa is clearer now, and I believe that I will overcome these attachments eventually.
I hope that my written experiences will be helpful to practitioners who face similar problems.
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