(Minghui.org) A Western university professor, who has been closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and is a so-called “China expert,” was recently interviewed on a national radio station and made some slanderous remarks regarding Falun Gong.
This sparked a discussion among fellow practitioners, who suggested different approaches: some wanted to contact him, others said he was beyond hope and not to give him an audience, etc.
After one practitioner emailed the professor about some high-level things, others were worried that this might compound the damage to Dafa's reputation, give him more “ammunition” to use against us, and further hamper his ability to understand the truth.
As I was listening to the discussions, several passages from the Fa came to mind, which helped me to respond with fewer human notions. After sharing them with our local group, I thought my understanding might be worth sharing further.
Treat Problems as Opportunities
Master said,
“Wherever there's a problem, that is where you need to clarify the truth and save people.” ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference 2002")
This is a wonderful chance to clarify the truth to the people in radio and those listening, for example, by having them interview us. This is a precious opportunity that should be seized!
Master said,
“Under normal circumstances you might not have a reason to go approach people and clarify the truth to them, and if you do so out of the blue they might not want to meet with you. Doesn't the interference give you a chance to interact with people? Shouldn't you seize the opportunity and clarify the truth to them? The greatest responsibility Dafa disciples have, aside from cultivating themselves, is that of saving lives. So could you not do that? And how could you not do it well? So don't regard the occurrence of whatever problems you face as interference to your rightful tasks, to your Fa study, or to your clarifying the truth. That's not the case. When a problem arises, it provides an opportunity for clarifying the truth.” ("Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006")
Interference from Other Dimensions
This professor has been engaged for over a decade in slandering Falun Gong, despite many interactions with practitioners who have tirelessly tried to clarify the truth to him. But that does not mean that we should stop trying to help him with our kind and compassionate side.
However, he should not be allowed to damage the future of many other sentient beings. This does not mean resorting to extreme actions in retaliation. We should always conduct ourselves like Dafa disciples and act in an open and dignified manner.
Master said:
“With righteous thoughts and righteous actionsHe is diligent without letting upEliminating demons that damage the FaHe is good to all beings” ("A Righteous God” from Hong Yin Vol. II)
It is also necessary to completely eliminate the interference in other dimensions, which is why this professor managed to utter a single word about Falun Gong in that interview in the first place, and where we had omissions.
Master writes
“It is very easy to manipulate an ordinary person’s mind. The animal can make many people, quite a lot, come to him for treatment. My goodness, while he is treating an illness here, the animal makes newspaper reporters advertise him in newspapers over there. It manipulates everyday people to do these things.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Three, "Spirit or Animal Possession")
I understand that the CCP evil specter is actually a kind of spirit or animal possession and that what we do to get people to quit the CCP is actually giving them a chance to escape that possession.
Cooperate
This was an opportunity for all of us to each look inside and examine our thoughts and notions.
It was also a perfect time to cooperate together instead of blaming each other.
As Master said:
“Be careful: When a problem arises, do not try to find out who should be held accountable. Instead, you should examine your own conduct. Do not try to look into who wrote them. Take a lesson from it and be careful in the future.” {Essentials for Further Advancement, "Correction")
We need to compassionately point it out to our fellow practitioners when we see a problem. If we talk to people at too high a level, it can be counterproductive and even damaging. We may also discover that there is a common shortcoming among us that caused this behavior which makes it harder for said practitioner to improve.
Master says,
“But in those instances, have you considered this: why does someone like that exist among Dafa disciples, and why would such a thing come about? Isn't that person's presence meant to target certain people, or certain human attachments? For sure. Nothing happens in cultivation without a reason. When incorrect states and bad human conduct surface among us, those things have come to target human attachments. We don't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, but, when we fail to do well they will exploit our gaps. So, perhaps it was that a particular place needed to be targeted in that manner, and that was why an incident happened. When something of this sort occurs, everyone gets anxious, and thinks, 'Why did this happen and make Dafa disciples look bad, and why are there people like that around?' But have you asked yourself, 'Did we perhaps do something wrong?' The truth is, when your understanding of it is right and you handle things correctly, those people and occurrences will disappear, for things cannot happen among Dafa disciples without a reason--that is not allowed, and no one dares to violate this.” ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference")
My thoughts here are in a general sense and not specifically about our recent discussion.
Please compassionately point out anything not on the Fa.
Category: Improving Oneself
