(Clearwisdom.net) The Minghui/Clearwisdom website published an article at the end of 2007 about selecting a proper timer used to prompt practitioners when sending righteous thoughts. It also stated using "Pudu" music for this purpose is disrespectful of Dafa music. In March 2008, the Minghui website published another article, "About Using a Timer for Sending Righteous Thoughts." The Minghui website has provided a replacement timer for downloading, using a real bell. Since then, I have rarely seen any practitioners using "Pudu" music as their "timer."
But when I attended an on-line group Fa study recently, I found that "Pudu" music was still being used there. The group studies the Fa twice a day, sending righteous thoughts four times total. I felt something needed to be done, so I shared my opinion. But a practitioner said the new timer was not easy to use. In my opinion, between the ease of use and being respectful of "Pudu" music, the latter is more important. A few days later I studied the Fa and read the following in "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,"
"Do you know what excuse the old forces used when they had the evil burn the books way back when? Why did they burn the books? At that time there were so many copies of Zhuan Falun in Mainland China that they were just everywhere. But a lot of students didn't realize that they should respect the book, and everyday people treated it with even less respect. The Gods couldn't stand it, because that's the Law of Heaven, the one that created the cosmos! So the old forces wanted to create a severe shortage of books, and they made people look for the Fa, respect it, and realize how precious this Fa is from then on. That was the excuse they used to do that back then."
I felt the need to bring it up again, so I talked to our local coordinator, but her response surprised me: "I know that Fa-study group. I've asked some other practitioners and was told they were using it, too. Now everyone is thinking about how to offer more sentient beings salvation, which is much more important than this. It has become one of your attachments."
In my humble opinion, the reason for us to keep studying the Fa while rescuing sentient beings is to enable us to have strong righteous thoughts while doing Dafa work and always have a righteous foundation. Master taught us,
"Also, after seeing the demeanor of the disciples who travel with me, some people will imitate them without realizing whether they are good or bad. In fact, it does not matter who the person is--there is only one Fa. Only by observing this Dafa can one meet the genuine standard." (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
I used to practice amidst the persecution in China and have formed the habit of taking the Fa as Teacher. While unlawfully detained, I was forced to watch a video that was used to shake practitioners' belief in Dafa by putting the former practitioners who used to work closely with Master in it. I understand profoundly the fault of not taking the Fa as Teacher and its harm to the individual as well as groups. As for the fellow practitioner's remarks, I could only reserve my opinion.
I wrote this article hoping practitioners, when sending righteous thoughts, especially in a group setting, would consider being responsible and respectful to the "Pudu" music and stop using it as a "timer."
December 29, 2008