(Clearwisdom.net)
Fa-rectification has different requirements for the practitioners at different levels and at different times. During the Fa-rectification period, Teacher has also given us various kinds of relevant directions based on our progress in Fa-rectification cultivation. As Falun Dafa practitioners, we should correctly, clear-headedly, and rationally understand those requirements. In his recent Fa-lectures, Teacher has mentioned practitioners being one body several times. The Clearwisdom website has also published many very good experience-sharing articles on this issue.
Then, how can we improve ourselves so that we can truly act as one body? Here I would like to share some of my personal understandings. I would appreciate further discussions on this issue. Basically, what I'm going to talk about relates to the three things that Teacher told us to do well, which are Fa-study, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth.
1. The relationship between individual cultivation and sentient beings-- We have to cultivate ourselves well in order to be truly responsible for the Fa, the sentient beings, and ourselves.
Teacher said in Touring North America to Teach the Fa, "The reason is, that gigantic cosmic body is below you, it's almost like your body, because that's how gigantic you are. There are countless sentient beings and countless cosmic firmaments inside there. Our cultivation determines whether those gigantic groups of beings are good, or bad, and whether they can be kept or not!" So the Consummation of individual cultivation is not only being responsible for ourselves, but also for the sentient beings that we represent. At the same time, our doing well in Fa-study, in sending forth righteous thoughts, and in clarifying the truth is being responsible for other people and other sentient beings. The Consummation of individual cultivation is not just our own matter because it relates to many other beings in the cosmic firmament. So we should cultivate ourselves well. This is a requirement for us by Teacher, the Fa, and all the sentient beings.
2. The relationship between us as individuals and our fellow practitioners-- We should take the Fa as Teacher in order to improve as a whole.
Some practitioners cannot correctly handle the problems that fellow practitioners encounter. They simply act as if they are bystanders and think that fellow practitioners have those difficulties because they have omissions. They forget that we are all particles of the Fa. As Teacher taught us in Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference, "The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." These practitioners do not look at things from the perspective of the overall situation to try their best to lend help to correct, harmonize, and make up for mistakes so that we will not have omissions as a whole. From another perspective, the fellow practitioners' "omission" doesn't necessarily mean it is only their own fault. In some aspect, you probably have something to do with it too! Maybe the fellow practitioners are shouldering the tribulations for you because you have not done well! Teacher said, "Let me tell you, all those who remain and that can persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples are due to our students themselves. Students who haven't taken sending forth righteous thoughts seriously: the evil in the dimensions that you are supposed to shoulder and be responsible for has not been eliminated. That's the cause. So you must take sending forth righteous thoughts seriously. No matter whether you think you have the ability or not, you should do it. What you eliminate from your own mind are ones which have an effect within the expanse of your own body; at the same time, you need to eliminate the external ones, which are directly related to the dimensions you're in. If you don't eliminate them, then they not only persecute you and restrain you, but also persecute other students, other Dafa disciples." (From Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.)
As I understand it, all the practitioners have individual images. Meanwhile, all the practitioners have an image as a whole. Some of us not doing well will negatively affect the whole situation. So when we hear that some practice sites have met with difficulties, we should immediately start looking inside to see whether we have any similar problems. Meanwhile, we should see how we can help to rectify the situation. If we are unable to help them out in this dimension, we should send forth righteous thoughts to break through the problems in other dimensions. Teacher said, "I can tell you that every situation that occurs during the course of cultivation is related to you, so you have to cultivate." (From Falun Buddha Fa, Lecture at the First Conference in North America) Teacher also told us, "When two people have a conflict both should look for the causes within themselves, "What problem do I have here?" Each should search for his own problem. If a third person witnesses the conflict between the two, I would say that it's not accidental for this third person to see it, and he should also think it over: "Why did I see their conflict? Is it because I still have some shortcomings?" Only in this way can it be good." (From Falun Buddha Fa, Lecture at the Western U.S. Fa Conference) My personal understanding is that all the things that we see, hear, feel, or even imagine might have direct or indirect relationships to us. They might be conflicts among the practitioners, hints from Teacher, or experiences and lessons from fellow practitioners for us to think about. And they certainly include the pressure from the evil that we feel. Because all these things are related to us, we might have the ability to eliminate them or resolve them by sending forth righteous thoughts.
When fellow practitioners do well in their cultivation, some of us do not learn from them by looking inside to search for our shortcomings. Instead, we treat those practitioners as being higher than the Fa. We even follow those fellow practitioners instead of the Fa, so when those fellow practitioners make some mistakes, we suddenly feel lost and then begin to doubt the Fa. All these acts are the manifestations of not truly taking the Fa as Teacher.
3. The relationships between ourselves and the Clearwisdom website-- We should improve ourselves while learning from each other in order to achieve the state of harmony as one body.
The Clearwisdom website is a window for the Fa in this world during the Fa-rectification period. It is also a place for practitioners to share their understandings of the Fa. Thus, it presents an overview of the situation of all the practitioners' Fa-rectification and cultivation. So it has extremely important functions.
Some practitioners take the articles published on the Clearwisdom website as everyday people's knowledge. They feel like they already know everything that is talked about in those articles; thus, they don't do really well. Those articles are magnificent because they are the precious enlightenments of practitioners after they have been through all kinds of experiences and tribulations. They show the Fa-rectification situation at different places, and these articles are very representative of what's going on at various places. In addition, they are carefully picked out by the Clearwisdom editors. So we should truly cherish those articles. We need to
"Study the Fa and obtain the Fa,
Learning and cultivating under guidance,
Referring to the Fa in doing everything,
Compliance is cultivation." (From Hongyin, Solid Cultivation)
We should try our best to write articles about what we are familiar with, including what the evil has done and our own experiences and enlightenment. Then we can send those articles to the Clearwisdom website. This is also a process of harmonizing the Fa. Some practitioners have an everyday person's notion that they are not good at writing and thus they are not able to write a good experience-sharing article. Actually, it is good enough as long as we can clearly express ourselves. Some practitioners think that the articles might not get published even if they send them out. Some other practitioners stopped writing articles after they tried it a couple of times and those articles were not published. In fact, Teacher told us,
"Do but pursue not --
Constantly in the Dao." (From Hongyin, In the Dao)
If we can remember this all the time, we will not care about the results so much. Even though those articles were not published, they helped the Clearwisdom editors to understand the Fa so that they will better understand the Fa-rectification progress and the overall situation of the practitioners. Besides, writing articles is also a cultivation process for us to improve ourselves and to calmly think about what we have experienced. Meanwhile, it helps us to clearly see things, to refine our thoughts, and to find our own shortcomings so that we can spur ourselves on during our cultivation. It is just like an analysis or a review of our cultivation and the requirements of the Fa-rectification for us. Recently I've realized that practitioners sometimes enlighten to similar Fa principles or uncover similar problems around the same time. So if we can send in our articles in a timely fashion, then the Clearwisdom website will be able to publish them as soon as possible as reminders or references to all the practitioners.
4. Our relationship to the FaThis is a very big issue. Here I would like to share my personal understanding.
The most important responsibility of Fa-rectification Dafa disciples is to assist Teacher with rectifying the Fa and saving the sentient beings. Over the long period of the cosmos' evolution, all kinds of degeneration have occurred. So the Fa-rectification Dafa disciples have to deal with all kinds of problems. "All sentient beings in the cosmos are amidst the Fa-rectification, and all the manifestations might appear in this human place since I'm doing this in this human place." (From Guiding the Voyage, Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference) After Fa-rectification cultivation, we as a whole will be able to rectify ourselves and to harmonize everything. All the harmonious and indestructible elements that Teacher has given to the future firmaments will be shown through us. So the greatness of the practitioners' responsibilities is beyond words. "Everything Dafa disciples do today is extremely important, and the righteous path they take might become a reference for beings in the future. In the meantime, they've laid a foundation in human society for humankind's future way of existence." (From Guiding the Voyage, Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference)
When doing the current three things, Fa-study, sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth, we all need to truly act as one body. For example, when sending forth righteous thoughts, "... each student has to truly, clearly realize what his responsibility is, and when he sends forth righteous thoughts he has to be able to truly calm his mind and truly produce the effect of righteous thoughts. So this is something extremely critical, extremely important. Then if every student is able to do that, I can tell you, with five minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts together, the evil in the Three Realms will never exist again--that's how important this is." (From Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.)
Here I would like to summarize what we need to do in order to be able to truly act as one body. We should treat everything and everyone from the level of the overall Fa-rectification progress, whether it appears to be a local or global issue, or an issue that affects some or all of us.
The above are my personal experiences and understandings at my own level. Please correct me if I've said anything inappropriate.
