(Clearwisdom.net) In our recent project of selling tickets for Diving Performing Arts (DPA), our overall coordination was not very good because fellow practitioners had different opinions on how to do things. Actually, we have also had similar problems in other activities to validate the Fa in ordinary society. So, I would like to share my view with fellow practitioners.
Similar to western societies, Japan is a country where etiquette is emphasized. Many people observe others' language and behavior. As Dafa practitioners, we are not concerned with how other people do things, but we should be as Master said in his article "Sage": "... he is full of great aspirations while minding minor details." (Essentials For Further Advancement) Our behavior should at least be acceptable by other people and should be in line with ordinary society. However, in our recent promotion of DPA, there were things that were unacceptable to ordinary people.
For example, in order to show the true meaning of DPA and to keep the original meaning of the English version, we produced advertising materials using a direct translation of the English version. This caused the Japanese version to be written with poor grammar and abstract ideas. As another example, in Japan, it is customary for the audience members to decide which seats they would like in the theater. We had a problem in the past of selling one seat to multiple guests, and we wanted to to avoid that. It was hard for Japanese to accept when they had to buy tickets without knowing the specific seat and only knowing the general location.
When some Japanese fellow practitioners brought up the issue that our advertisement materials may produce a bad impression, other practitioners said that that thought was from an ordinary person's point of view and that there was no need to be in line with ordinary people. Yes, Dafa practitioners' validation of the Fa should be based on the Fa and on saving sentient beings, and be in the form of ordinary people. Yet, our goal is to surpass the ordinary. Of course, our goal should not be swayed by ordinary people's words. But, did we pay enough attention to what is acceptable to ordinary people? Although Dafa practitioners want to show the inner meaning of the Fa and the beauty of Dafa, ordinary people do not know the Fa and will only assess Dafa practitioners from the ordinary people's point of view. When we are not considerate of what is acceptable to ordinary people, we will probably have a negative influence.
Everyone has an awakened side, and what we want to do is to get people's most surface level to know the truth. However, people's most surface level is very unstable due to various notions and interference from lives in other dimensions. So, we should certainly pay attention to that when we promote DPA, and we should do our best to show the beauty of DPA. We all know that DPA is the best in the world, but ordinary people do not know that before they watch the performance. When we choose not to use generally accepted methods, we may lower DPA's image because our behavior also represents DPA.
Certainly, we cannot go to the other extreme and completely follow ordinary people's requests. But, because we have a different purpose, and what happens in the course of our Fa validation process is related to our cultivation, every practitioner should make decisions based on the Fa. While we are not affected by ordinary people's concepts, that does not mean that we can ignore ordinary people's ways of doing things. In saving sentient beings we should focus on the idea that sentient beings can really be saved. We should go as far as possible in conforming with the characteristics of those being saved and do things that are more easily accepted by them. Dafa practitioners are compassionate. We can, to the greatest extent, let sentient beings experience that the Fa can do anything.
Many times when we could not meet the form of ordinary society in the past, it was because we did not work hard enough. We felt that it was all just ordinary people's formalities. Good or bad depends on a cultivator's single thought. Miracles can appear with strong righteous thoughts. However, I think righteous thoughts should be in line with ordinary people's society. Isn't any problem we have in the process of doing things an opportunity to improve ourselves? Dafa practitioners should be the best anywhere. Even in those activities that do not seem to be related to Fa validation, we should do better and improve ourselves, as long as it is beneficial to saving sentient beings.
The above is my personal understanding. I welcome comments.
Original article date: 12/8/2008.