(Minghui.org) A serialized, fictional story that was carried by The Epoch Times and other media was recently removed from their online publications. This warrants serious reflection by all Dafa practitioners who were directly involved or who knew of it or heard about it. Why were those pieces written? Why did so many practitioners enthusiastically recommend them and circulate them? Were these people still in a cultivator’s state? Why did the situation get progressively worse?
The writings took Master’s words as their own, mixed Master’s Fa with their own understandings, and even invited people to ask the author “the hardest questions and those that they can’t find answers to,” so that the author could “answer them comprehensively.” Though this isn’t the first time people have acted like this or such a thing has happened, and not just one person was involved, this kind of incident is particularly bad: it amounts to plagiarizing and undermining the Fa.
The Fa that Master has taught to Dafa disciples is the true Law that nobody throughout all of history has taught. It involves the true picture of how the new, future cosmos will be, and it contains secrets that not even divine beings of the past knew. If a person still has a Dafa disciple’s state, he would feel gratitude and humble respect towards the Fa that Master has taught, solidly cultivate his xinxing by “taking the Fa as Teacher,” and make validating Dafa and saving sentient beings first priority. He would not go about validating himself by plagiarizing the Fa; use Master’s true Fa as a way to sway people to follow him; get lost upon seeing, hearing, or gaining some new insight; or at the slightest temptation be so readily swayed and follow those people who love exaggeration, who dare to say anything, and who can’t handle it once they see certain things with their celestial eyes.
When a person can’t get rid of human attachments such as starting up something new just to be different, validating himself, seeking novelty, being elated, and showing off—and this persists for a long time—the bad beings in the cosmos will seize upon this and interfere, stir up trouble, and disrupt Master’s rectifying of the Fa and saving people. When a person cannot regard things correctly, often he is destroying more than just himself.
In chapter three of Zhuan Falun, Master explains how false disciplines have come into being and developed. In “Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature” in Essentials for Further Advancement, Master tells us:
In teaching the Fa, I have mentioned many times that the emergence of scriptures in Sakyamuni’s Buddhism and in the Dharma-Ending Period was brought about mainly because some people added into the Dharma their own words and understandings—this is the greatest lesson in history. Nevertheless, some disciples simply refuse to abandon their ordinary human attachments. Being taken advantage of by the demon-nature of being attached to showing off their eloquence and literary talents, they unknowingly undermine the Buddha Fa.
In “Lecture at the First Conference in North America,” Master taught us:
Talk about your own experiences. If you’re afraid of doing damage to the Fa, you can talk about what you’ve experienced and understood in the Fa, and so on. Then you add the following words: ‘The meaning of this Fa is really profound. This is just how I understand it now from where I am in my cultivation.’
In “Teaching the Fa and Answering Questions in Jinan,” Master says:
My Fa is taught by me, and it’s integrated. The things I talk about are the things of Dafa. What I’m teaching here are not my personal views, so when you’re referring to it, you can only say “This is what the book says,” or “This is what Teacher said,” which is also fine. The best way is to read from the book. Don’t use my words as your own, as they won’t work then, and it’s an act of plagiarizing the Fa. But you may talk about your own understandings—that’s different from the Fa.
Master’s Fa-teachings appeared in the human world less than twenty years ago. Have some disciples, or students, already forgotten them? When they have forgotten even Master’s warnings and teachings in the Fa, and are causing harm at every turn, are they in fact cultivating? How are they to be saved and delivered to the new cosmos? Are they helping Master to rectify the Fa and save sentient beings? We hope that all Dafa disciples will cherish Dafa, cherish cultivation, and cultivate themselves well, rationally, and with righteous thoughts. Only then will we manage to fulfill our sacred vows.
August 11, 2012
Category: Minghui Editorials
