(Minghui.org) Master said,
“In the Fa, I have told you to conform to everyday people as much as possible while cultivating. I have never said that you should conform to everyday people [in and of itself]. If you are no different from an everyday person, are you still a cultivator?”(“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s),” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
While cultivating, how does a practitioner “conform to everyday people as much as possible”?
Recently, some older practitioners in our area have spent almost all of their time helping their children and grandchildren. Some are busy cooking for their children or grandchildren, some do all the house cleaning and washing for their child's family, and some of them are so busy that they do not have time to study the Fa or clarify the truth to save people.
As a result, some of these practitioners have had such severe illnesses that they went to the hospital. A few of them even passed away.
Practitioners have had different understandings about these issues. One opinion is that we must show the character of a good person and must lend a hand to our children when they need us.
Another opinion is that they were being interfered with from the old forces; since the time to save people is so limited, we should not be involved in our children's lives, and they should handle their own issues.
Practitioners holding these two different opinions argued with each other for a long time over this, but they still could not find common ground.
It is inevitable that many practitioners have families and that their children often want some help from their parents.
How do we understand Master's teaching of conforming to everyday people?
My understanding is that we should avoid the two extremes. We are cultivating in society, and we look like normal people.
Master wants us to “conform to everyday people as much as possible”. So, if our children run into trouble or need our help, we ought to help.
If we can help but refuse to help, it certainly does not show good character. The children will think that practitioners are selfish because they care only about their own cultivation and ignore their families.
Families and friends look at practitioners to understand Dafa. If we are so selfish, how can we clarify the truth to them and save them?
However, even though we can help our children, we are not everyday people. We must remember that our most important mission is to cultivate and to save people.
We can help our children, but we are not their slaves. They still must handle their own problems.
As Dafa practitioners, we must display both compassion and dignity. We are not bound by emotion to our children, and we are not selfish.
Many times, it is not what we do, but rather, why and how we do it.
Some older practitioners have a strong emotional attachment to their children that they cannot let go of, and they use Master's words of “conform to everyday people” as an excuse to keep that attachment.
On the other end of the spectrum, some practitioners think only of themselves and worry that helping with their children's housework may interfere with their advancement.
I have also heard stories about practitioners who work in companies run by a fellow practitioner and don't do their work well.
When questioned, they say, “I come to the company to cultivate, not to work.”
This is a wrong understanding. Whether one is working for an everyday person or a practitioner, work is work, and one should do his/her work well and cultivate while working.
It is also the same for practitioners working in overseas media companies established by practitioners.
There are even some young practitioners who are able to work but do not work; instead, they live on money provided by other practitioners. They only pass out fliers. I think they are using Dafa work to cover up their attachment(s).
In the current phase of Fa-rectification, the path of cultivation for every practitioner is very narrow. The old forces are watching every practitioner closely, and one misstep can lead to a big fall.
The above is my personal understandings. Please kindly point out anything that is inappropriate.
Category: Improving Oneself
