(Clearwisdom.net) After the recent incident on the White House South Lawn, I thought about several issues that should be treated differently by practitioners. I've decided to write them down for everyone's reference--especially practitioners outside of China.
View Different CCP Leaders Differently
Everyone must position his or her own future in the Fa-rectification; absolutely no one is worthy of bargaining with Falun Dafa just because one has a special title. Falun Dafa and its disciples are merciful; no matter whether we are calling out or clarifying the truth, we are trying with all our might to save each being, but we do not rely on anyone. As we get rid of the dependent mentality towards people with special social status, we should also maintain compassion for each being.
The evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is doomed because it has persecuted Falun Gong, but individual party members, including its main leaders, will have different futures depending on their attitude toward Falun Dafa. Some officials are seeking to restore Falun Dafa's reputation, some are hoping to see this correction, and some are actively resisting this change. Although ordinary people are not worthy enough to restore Falun Dafa's reputation, their actions manifest their different attitudes toward Falun Dafa. Therefore, we should treat them differently as well. Fellow practitioners are all aware that on important issues, we need to look to the Minghui/Clearwisdom website for direction. Haven't we all noticed that Minghui/Clearwisdom only targets the main persecutors -Jiang, Luo, Liu and Zhou, etc., but does not target other officials. The banners we used during Hu's visit were mainly worded: "Bring Jiang, Luo Liu, Zhou to Justice," "Bring to justice the evil policemen and killers who torture Falun Gong practitioners," "Completely investigate the persecution facts in all Labor Camps and Prisons."
People can easily see what kind of message we are sending through these banners.
View Minghui/Clearwisdom and Other Media Run by Practitioners Differently
Although we all know what Master taught us regarding the role of the Minghui/Clearwisdom website, I feel that practitioners outside of China seem to be neglecting Minghui/Clearwisdom more and more, and cannot distinguish between the role of Minghui/Clearwisdom and other media run by Falun Dafa practitioners. In fact, different websites and media are geared to different audiences and speak from different angles, but they are all aiming at saving as many sentient beings as possible. It's not a matter of which is most important. It's just like the Army and the Air Force--they are all important, but we need to be clear on their different functions.
The role of Minghui/Clearwisdom is mainly to expose the persecution, report on Falun Dafa practitioners' activities against the persecution, report on the spread of Falun Dafa worldwide, and is a site for practitioners to share insights. Minghui/Clearwisdom reflects the point of view of the main body of Falun Dafa practitioners. In other words, when we are representing Falun Dafa, we should think of Minghui/Clearwisdom's point of view as a reference.
The various media we run are in the ordinary people's media format, but they also play important roles in saving sentient beings. Sometimes they can do things Minghui/Clearwisdom cannot do. Since they take ordinary people's forms, they must talk about topics of common interest, such as political issues. This is conforming with ordinary people's attachments, to better influence them and save them. While the ordinary people's media carry certain viewpoints, they may not be right from the viewpoint of Falun Dafa practitioners. In addition, ordinary people's media have to post some ordinary people's opinions, which definitely need to be distinguished clearly from the point of view of Dafa.
For example, regarding those human rights lawyers who have spoken out for Falun Gong in China: our society-oriented media give them concern and support as they emphasize encouraging the world's people to oppose this persecution. Minghui/Clearwisdom, on the contrary handles these issues in a very low key manner, because, as Master said,
"...it's fine for you to help them do certain things, but you have to be clear that those things have happened for the purpose of assisting you, and that cultivation and saving sentient beings are first and foremost for you." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles - Questions and Answers, Part 1")
Some literary pieces that Falun Dafa practitioners have compiled to expose the persecution could be serialized on the ordinary people's websites we operate, but Minghui/Clearwisdom would not publish them. For example, regarding one such book, Master said,
"The book does a certain amount to expose the evil's persecution of Dafa students and to save people. You can publish it in ordinary society, enthusiastically spread it among everyday people, or publish it in installments on certain websites meant for the public. However, don't promote it among our students so as to avoid causing them disruption." ("Master's Fa Taught in the International Teleconference")
By the same token, our ordinary people's media can carry all sorts of comments about the CCP's power and its officials, but when we solely express our view as an individual practitioner or as a group of Falun Dafa practitioners, we should not use such a viewpoint from the media as representing Falun Gong's point of view.
View the Positions of Falun Dafa Practitioner and Member of the Society Differently
Amidst the validation of Falun Dafa, exposing the persecution, and saving sentient beings, we mostly do things directly as Falun Dafa practitioners. Sometimes for convenience and to better reach our goals, we might use a third party individual or group identity. Using different identities requires us to take different points of view and use different methods, and even different mentalities. After a long while, it is easy to forget this, so we need to remind each other.
When we are "clarifying the truth" about the White House South Lawn incident, as Falun Dafa practitioners, we should admit that our fellow practitioner's action may have been inappropriate, and then guide people to turn their attention to the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. When we write an article or talk to people as a third party, we can praise our fellow practitioner as a hero like Rosa Parks. Our purpose is to establish righteous energy in ordinary society, and guide people to oppose the persecution and support Falun Dafa. The key is that we cannot treat her as a hero in our minds, just because she is a hero in ordinary society.
I think our cultivation in this time period has two parallel bottom lines: one is cultivation, and the other is saving sentient beings. We cultivate without forgetting to save sentient beings, and we save sentient beings without forgetting cultivation. When we clearly remember these two lines, no matter what we do and with what identities, we can use either way at will without confusing our mentalities and identities.