(Clearwisdom.net)
- The Importance of Forming One Body
Since July 20, 1999, practitioners have validated Falun Dafa and clarified the truth in a variety of ways. Lacking a more profound understanding of Falun Dafa, some of the practitioners have suffered severe persecution. Some practitioners have been arrested and truth-clarification material production sites destroyed. In facing rampant persecution, we've carefully considered Teacher's words,
"When I taught the Fa I told you before about all the problems that might occur during this malicious and destructive examination."
("Drivie Out Interference," Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Having realized the importance of studying Falun Dafa, we've learned to judge things from the perspective of the Fa. Gradually, our local environments have improved.
In 2003, Teacher gave several lectures. Teacher said,
"The better you cooperate with each other as a whole the more powerful you are, and the more powerful you are the greater your impact."
(Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest U.S. Fa Conference)
When the persecution started, we still had many gaps, and there were disagreements among practitioners. Many of us were worried about the situation and felt helpless, so we examined ourselves to find our shortcomings, and held experience-sharing meetings. We put together our thoughts and shared all of the things we'd wanted to say for more than four years.
Some of us burst into tears when we read Teacher's words,
"And you've seen that after experiencing the most evil persecution in history, which has lasted four years, other than Dafa disciples tempering themselves and becoming more mature, more clearheaded, and more composed during the persecution--you've become more and more rational, your righteous thoughts have become stronger and stronger, and the moment when you will return to your positions is getting closer--other than that, what else is there?"
(Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference)
Gaps melted away. We all dissolved into Fa.
In our experience-sharing meeting, eight practitioners spoke about their cultivation experiences over the past years. They discussed problems they had with truth clarification, such as that truth materials were being produced at scattered locations (including CDs and other materials with Teacher's picture), some of our materials were poorly written, haphazardly screened and selected, and there were problems with some stickers we had produced with unclear messages. Many such problems were corrected as a result of our experience sharing. There were different opinions about the problems we encountered. Some practitioners said, "It's good to have done something, it's better than doing nothing at all." We studied Falun Dafa carefully, trying to enlighten to Teacher's words with tranquil minds. In so doing, we realized that respecting Teacher and Falun Dafa is a law of the universe. Practitioners should be very serious about the issue. Teacher said,
"But there's one problem, which is, if you don't respect Master, it's wrong according to the principles of the cosmos, and the old forces will take advantage of the gap and destroy you because of this. They'll have seized the biggest excuse to destroy you, since they've seen the entire process of my saving you." (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 U.S. West Fa Conference)
Recognizing Falun Dafa as the only standard, and studying Dafa systematically instead of fragmentally, shortcomings are corrected one after another. Another problem is "veneration." Some practitioners act according to the examples set by "model" practitioners instead of Falun Dafa. Some practitioners judge other practitioners by how many chapters he or she studies every day instead of understanding the true meaning of Falun Dafa. These attitudes hinder the practitioner's progress. It's very important that we use the Fa to guide our every step.
2. Cleaning Up the Environment, Saving Sentient Beings
In many cities and in the countryside, the portraits of Jiang Zemin and many other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders are displayed in public. Many of the practitioners are sickened at the sight of these portraits but feel that they can't do anything about it. Teacher has taught us in Zhuan Falun about some of the relevant issues, but many of us still haven't enlightened to them. Teacher said,
"Professional artists know that when someone is doing these things his state of mind is such that he is indulging the wicked side of his human nature, and is even deliberately pursuing wicked psychological responses. So, those so-called modern art things are usually not too good, because they are not only harmful to the painters but they also bring psychological harm to those who view the work, and they seriously damage people's moral values as well."
(Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art)
He also said,
"The Gods make sure that the rocks don't decay, and the existence of the rocks guarantees the life of the Gods."
(Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference)
Through study, we realized that substances are recycled and have internal relationships. Instead of just feeling irritated by those portraits, we perceived the bad effects those portraits had on people. At one place, practitioners worked together to cut off the stomach part of Jiang Zemin's portrait with a knife attached to the end of a rod. That night, one of the practitioners dreamed that the inside of the building where the portrait was hung shattered as though there had been an earthquake. We enlightened to the realization that there were evil spirits that corresponded to the portrait in other dimensions which had been destroyed.
3. We Are Validating Falun Dafa, Not Ourselves
Upon reading from the questions and answers section of Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art,
"Question: Teacher, the skills of the students in China are better than ours in this regard. In other words, they have been better trained. Can they contribute some things? What I mean is, our students in China should have a great number of paintings that are superior to ours.
"Teacher: At present, let's not count on the students in Mainland China. Right now we're only having Dafa disciples in the countries outside of Mainland China who are professionals in this arena work on this. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem to find even a thousand Dafa disciples in Mainland China who are excellent painters. But a vicious persecution is taking place there right now."
Some practitioners burst into tears. We realized that Teacher has great concern for our safety. Fine art will be part of the future human culture. Practitioners in China with fine art skills should contribute to it with the wisdom they've gained from practicing Falun Dafa. By breaking through difficulties created by the evil, we created a painting and handcrafting work titled "Buddha's Compassion Is Enormous" and sent the work to the Minghui website (Chinese language counterpart of Clearwisdom.net)
4. Breaking Through the Arrangements Made by the Old Forces - Saving Sentient Beings with Compassion
Minghui.org published an open letter written by practitioners in the Changyang District on which our Teacher commented. The letter reminded us of the power of an open letter, so we started writing open letters locally. We collected the facts of the persecution. To guarantee accuracy when exposing the amounts of money the practitioners had been forced to pay in illegal fines, we asked practitioners to affix their signatures to the amounts they reported. We should be responsible to all people.
We discussed whether or not we should include the names of some key police officers in a list of evil officers. There were different views. We realized that if a life has committed crimes against Fa-rectification, that life couldn't be pardoned, but if that life still has some human nature or kindness left, then our exposure of his criminal behavior is to save him and stop him from persecuting Falun Dafa or doing bad things in the future. It's a reflection of compassion, not hatred.
Our open letters reveal that Jiang's Regime has caused this situation; that so many people have been detained, sentenced to prison, sent to forced labor camps; that persecutors are extremely brazen; that followers of the persecution are ridiculous; that Falun Dafa practitioners are righteous and brave; and that the rule of good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil is a heavenly law.
In delivering the letters, we creatively broke through the barriers in people's concepts. We sent or mailed the letters to most units, government departments, townships, mines, and schools.
After that, people changed. The words "Falun Dafa Is Good" are now visible in many local places. In the past, these and similar postings were quickly torn down. Now people are willing to accept practitioner's truth clarification, and they understand it's for their sake. Many people say "thank you" after hearing the practitioner's words.
5. Reinforcing Righteous Thoughts, Working and Making Progress Together
Teacher said,
"Some people have family members who have been imprisoned in the persecution and are being persecuted, and yet instead of hurrying up and working along with everyone else to resist the persecution, stop the persecution, and lessen the persecution of your family members, you're talking about things like "studying the Fa at home" and you're still full of complaints about everything that [Dafa] students are doing."
(My Version of a "Stick Wake-Up)
We realized that we should increase our energy field to cover larger areas, and communicate with practitioners in other areas to formulate a unified approach. At first, it was difficult to contact practitioners in other places. Due to years of persecution, practitioners are wary of strangers. With wisdom learned by practicing Falun Dafa, barriers were removed one after another. In the process, we learned that practitioners in some areas were too afraid to contact each other. Some practitioners hadn't gotten Teacher's new articles in years. They'd never heard of sending forth-righteous thoughts, etc.
So what should we do? As Teacher's Fa-rectification is progressing so quickly, could these practitioners catch up with it? In facing these issues, the words of "Summarize experiences, correct shortcomings," resounded in my ears. Teacher said,
"We should make our Fa Conferences grand gatherings in which we summarize what we've experienced and learned, find where we fall short, draw on what we have achieved, and establish the righteous thoughts of Dafa disciples. Cherish all of what you've done, and on the path ahead may you do even better. Master is watching you all, and always looks forward to good news from you."
(Master's Message to the European Fa Conference in Vienna)
We strongly felt that we should share our successful methods with practitioners in other places and find our faults, so we can all progress together. That way, the news we send Teacher will definitely be good news, the gaps utilized by the Old Forces will be removed, and practitioner's virtue will continue to increase.
6. Making Full Use of Practitioners' Wisdom, Showing the Power of Righteous Thoughts
After Minghui published notices to solicit songs created by practitioners, local practitioners did not think that it had anything to do with them. One day, a practitioner composed a song called "Assimilating to Falun Dafa, Our Minds Are Bright." When he sang it for us, we were moved because this practitioner didn't know much about music. He just wanted to sing from his heart developed during the years of our anti-persecution efforts. The song encouraged others who thought they didn't know music or how to sing. Practitioners composed thirty songs and from them fifteen were chosen. The songs and music showed various ways practitioners have used in validating Falun Dafa over the past five years.
While recording these songs, there were some disturbances. Some practitioners who are good singers lost their voices during the recording process. We looked inward and sent forth righteous thoughts. Our planned two-day recording session extended to five to six days. We know this process is serious cultivation.
In our group cultivation, many shortcomings still exist. In the future, we will try our best to fulfill the three tasks Teacher has given us, and in the process, get rid of our own issues and reach consummation in the way that Teacher has arranged for us.
March 30, 2005
