(Clearwisdom.net) Recently a Hong Kong media outlet published a report on the death of Jiang Zemin, and the Minghui/Clearwisdom website published the article “A Time for Fireworks and Celebration“ (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/7/7/126575.html) soon after. This is really good news, but for a sizable portion of disciples, especially in mainland China, it seems to be a trial to test our xinxing.
Some disciples started worrying about a variety of things out of wanting to be responsible for fellow disciples, but this also led to the emergence of their own undetected issues. Some people's minds focused on the issue of whether Jiang was truly dead. Some started feeling overjoyed and had the attachment towards how things were turning out in ordinary society, and others let their hearts and minds bob about like duckweed, stirred at the first hint of wind, showing that they have not understood well what cultivation is about. Others think that they are always right, emphatically stating that we should not be moved and should just do what we should do, but they unknowingly limited their own minds. They failed to realize that this incident is a good opportunity to project a righteous energy field, an opportunity for another massive round of cleansing away evil, while in the meantime helping people position themselves and encouraging them to express their righteous thoughts. These notions delay us from accomplishing these things in a timely fashion.
I think that this incident can be an opportunity for us to both save people and cultivate ourselves rationally and well. In terms of saving people, many hate and despise Jiang, so if they were to buy firecrackers and set them off, wouldn't that create a good energy field in which the evil would have no place to hide? Once the atmosphere for fireworks and celebration materializes, more people would pay attention to this event, and those wavering will be encouraged to turn in the right direction and be saved.
Of course, setting off firecrackers is only one good way of chasing evil away and strengthening what is righteous. We should not be limited to this one form. Playing drums and gongs, encouraging people to stomp on Jiang's image (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/7/9/50020.html), talking to people about Jiang facing judgment in the afterlife, etc, are all ways to help people position themselves well and lead them to be saved. While doing this though, we must be clear in our minds that saving people is the goal, and our words and actions must be rational, otherwise we may end up with unintended results.
With regards to cultivation, this can be a positive event in two different regards, and we should not handle this event passively or go to an extreme. First, we should examine ourselves to make sure that we're truly being unselfish and focusing putting to use all of our human, material, and informational resources to save people. If that's the case, then that's great and we should keep going. If not, then we should quickly take steps to correct ourselves and raise our xinxing. Second, we need to examine ourselves to see if we were affected by the CCP culture and ordinary people's notions, and whenever we find those influences, we should get rid of them so as to purify ourselves.
It was recently reported that the English website of the Xinhua News Agency removed its report to “dispel rumors” [of Jiang's death]. The Asahi Shimbun website (asahi.com) reported that Jiang is on a ventilator. Many believe that Jiang is brain dead, that his heart is beating only with the help of a machine, and that he can last only 75 days at the most. Commentary by Lin Heli in Hong Kong said that the news from Asahi.com is reliable because many editors in China have been given notice to prepare the production of Jiang's documentaries. If this news causes a commotion among our disciples, that means that our cultivation state is far short of the standard and it is time for us to improve quickly. If we fail to realize how to use these turns of events in a productive, positive manner, that means we should cultivate well to improve our wisdom, as well as the ability to think rationally and save sentient beings.
These are just my observations and thoughts as a kind reminder and feedback. Thanks everyone.
