Clearwisdom HomeNews & Media ReportsOpen ForumPractitioners' InsightsTruth ClarificationAbout Falun EmblemFalun Dafa WorldwidePersonal CultivationFa-Rectification StoriesScientific Findings | ||||
| Clearwisdom Home | News & Media Reports | Open Forum | Practitioners' Insights | Truth Clarification |
| About Falun Emblem | Falun Dafa Worldwide | Personal Cultivation | Fa-Rectification Stories | Scientific Findings |
 |
 |
|
Surface Form and the Heart (I) By a practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net) Sometimes we cannot balance well the relation between
surface form and heart, and have created obstacles in our own cultivation, or
even caused damage to Dafa. I remember that not too long after July 20, 1999, we enlightened that we
should safeguard Dafa so we traveled to Beijing to make appeals and spoke out
fair words about Dafa. We came to this conclusion and took the action well.
After returning from Beijing, we enlightened that safeguarding Dafa is the
responsibility of each Dafa practitioner and not that of a few people, and the
collective power is enormous. Thus we exchanged ideas with fellow practitioners. During the discussion, we did not balance well the surface form and the
heart. We emphasized physically stepping forward, but ignored stepping forward
from the heart. Many practitioners had the intention to safeguard Dafa, however,
they had many attachments that they could not give up at the same time, or they
were still puzzled with many questions. With an attachment to the conclusion of
the Fa-rectification, they felt pressure and feared that they would not be able
to reach consummation if they did not act. Some practitioners studied little and
relied on their enthusiasm. Some just followed what others did. ...... As a result, many people in our area made their trips. Some people just
wanted to safeguard Dafa. Nothing happened to them in the end and they returned
safely; or they got out of the detention center with righteous thoughts. Some
went there just for the purpose of reaching consummation before the cultivation
ended. After they returned and found that the cultivation had still not ended,
they were disappointed. Their doubts came out and they no longer wanted to step
forward. Those who followed others to Beijing became nervous as they got closer
to the city. They took taxis and circled around Tiananmen time and time again.
They discovered many xinxing problems and thought they should not push
themselves too hard. Some practitioners relied on enthusiasm. However, when
their enthusiasm ended and pressures came, they moved in the opposite direction.
In summary, some people made the opposite moves or even brought damage to Dafa.
I felt confused thinking how wonderful it was to safeguard the Fa in Beijing and
not understanding how the result not the one expected. The reason was that many
practitioners during this time did not balance well between the surface form and
the heart. If our discussions had focused on the intent to safeguard the Fa, rather than
the action of going to Beijing, then if the practitioners came to the
understanding of letting go of the attachment to life and death to safeguard
Dafa, going to Beijing to speak a fair word for Dafa would be the natural
result. Even if some practitioners could not go to Beijing for some reasons,
they would still use other means to safeguard Dafa. After letting go the thought
of life and death, safeguarding Dafa would truly work. "Whether you can step forward to validate the Fa is a test that can't be
passed just by following the crowd and its momentum. Some people have
thought that they'd wait on Tiananmen Square, and figured that 'if everyone
steps out of the crowd, then I'll step out.' When they don't see many
practitioners stepping out, they stroll around and then head back. This is
because when everyone steps out, it's that momentum that brings you out--you
aren't stepping forward as a result of letting go of life and death deep
down within. Cultivation is an individual matter, and following the crowd
won't do it. Each person's improvement must be well-grounded." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference") Even practitioners who could not let go life and death, but still had the
heart to safeguard Dafa, could still act in accordance with their heart's
understanding at their level to safeguard Dafa. Later when we were making truth-clarification materials, we picked contents
according to our own preferences and notions. We even felt satisfied with our
contents. We worked overtime to make the materials and made a lot of them. We
felt we contributed a lot and even did not have enough time to study the Fa.
Although we did not study the Fa enough, we felt that at least we made a lot of
materials. More and more people started to know of our material site. A
practitioner warned us to take certain security measures that were necessary. We
said that we should not be afraid and should get rid of the mentality of fear.
He said that taking the action does not mean having fear. We did not put much
thought into this matter. ...... One day, a fellow practitioner told us that when she went to see relatives in
areas where we had given out truth-clarification materials, she noticed that the
local people there still did not know the truth about Dafa. The local people
said that the words on the material were too close to each other, too many, and
too small to read clearly. Some said that they were not interested in the
lengthy articles that appeared on the truth-clarification materials. Some said
that they did not understand what the numbers "6.10" and "4.25" meant. Some said
that they did not know why, but they just did not want to read the materials.
Our hearts felt very heavy after hearing this feedback, and we realized that the
success on the surface form does not mean true success. Master told us, "We're doing these things with our hearts." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston") While we emphasized the success on the surface form, we failed to do things
with our hearts and elevate our xinxing during the process of doing Dafa work.
So in the end, we wasted much time, energy and resources. "...I can see their message in every word and every line." ("Explaining
the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference") From this, I understood that our own messages that we carried at the time of
doing Dafa work were left into the work that we did. When we prepared those
truth-clarification materials, we failed to give enough consideration to the
readers' situations, and instead we just chose the contents based on our own
interests. This kind of irresponsible mentality was left into the
truth-clarification materials. When we were preparing the materials, we sometimes let our thoughts roam
wildly or we were worried about other matters, so we did the work without
wholeheartedly devoting ourselves. All these bad messages were left in the
materials we prepared, so it was not a surprise that the readers did not want to
read the materials. I now understand that before we prepare truth-clarification
materials, we should read the Fa well, and bring into the materials Dafa's power
and our hearts of being responsible to sentient beings, as well as our
compassion and pure sincerity. We should prepare the materials wholeheartedly,
and they will move readers' hearts. People all have their knowing side, and they
would, from every word and line, be able to feel our unconditional compassion
toward them, the goodness of Dafa's power, the truth and the righteousness, our
sincerity and our unselfish dedication. "I hope that every Dafa disciple won't overemphasize the surface form of
things. Your own cultivation, your own improvement, your validating the Fa
amidst the evil, saving sentient beings, and steadfastly walking the path
that you should take, doing all these well, that's what counts most."
("Lecturing on and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa
Conference," draft translation) However, when we overemphasized our superficial success and overlooked our
own cultivation and elevation, we would get half the results with twice the
effort. Later, our truth-clarification material site was discovered by the police.
Only then did we remember that a fellow practitioner had said, "taking safety
precautions does not mean having an attachment of fear." When we calmed down and
thought it over, that fellow practitioner had actively done a lot of
truth-clarification work for saving people, and he did not look like a person
who has strong fear. When he did Dafa work, he chose to use those ways that are
both safe and effective in clarifying the truth. He said that we come to assist
Master in Fa-rectification and save people, and not come to accept and
acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, tests, and evil persecution. It appeared that we had again been confused over the two concepts of surface
form and heart. We used to believe that taking safety precautions meant an
attachment of fear. To save sentient beings, we should let go of our attachment
to life and death. To save sentient beings, we should also take safety
precautions. Letting go of fear in order to save people is the mindset that we
should have, and it is a righteous thought. Taking safety precautions is just
the surface form. In fact, the surface form is just the superficial appearance,
while our heart contains the essence. We should look through the surface form or
superficial appearance of taking safety precautions to see the essence behind
this. Taking precautions due to fear is not righteous thought or action. On the
other hand, taking safety precautions in order to save people, to be responsible
to Dafa, and to avoid the loopholes that the evil can take advantage of, and to
comply with the state of humans - these certainly are righteous actions and
righteous thoughts. A difference of one thought can bring about totally
different outcomes. This is just for your reference. Please point out anything improper. Posting date: 5/28/2003
feedback@clearwisdom.net |
To Fellow Practitioners
Yearly Archive
Printer Version