(Clearwisdom.net) Yesterday, I had a serious misunderstanding with fellow practitioners over some trivial issue. Others pointed out my problem, and I also searched within for my shortcomings. I saw that what they said was true, yet I still felt it was unfair, "Why did they all blame me? Why didn't anyone blame the other practitioner who has conflicts with me? Doesn't she have any problems?" I recognized the jealousy displayed in these thoughts and sent out righteous thoughts to eliminate it, but it didn't go away.
Today I happened to talk to the practitioner with whom I had the conflict. She has a sharp tongue, and the problems she points out often truly provoke others. Some practitioners do not understand her, and she suffers from frequent interference. We discussed the underlying reason, and she said it came from being poisoned by the evil Party culture. The corrupt notions instilled by the party have created huge gaps among practitioners. Many still think, "If you want others to do well, you have to do well yourself first," parroting exactly the party line that has been repeatedly instilled in us by its propaganda. It's a case of the evil specter doing mischief.
My jealousy vanished instantly when I recalled the following taught by Teacher. I truly felt that it was the degenerate culture and the distorted ideas and notions instilled in us by the evil party that were separating us and creating huge gaps among us. I found Teacher's Fa and read it again carefully:
"And that's especially true when it comes to those crooked principles that the evil in China propagates. For example, they spread, "if you want others to do well, you have to do well yourself first." Think about it everybody, is that saying right? Many people hold on to that saying and use it to hide their own mistakes that they don't want to correct. And that's especially so for those who have problems--they take it as the truth and won't let go. I can tell you, though, that this is absolutely wrong. Can't a person who isn't perfect tell you to do well? Can't a person who's made mistakes tell others to do well? What kind of logic is that? How many people have thought this over carefully?
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The evil regime's propaganda has twisted that principle into this: if you want others to behave well, you have to behave well yourself. It's a very evil saying. On the surface it looks like, "Oh, it's true. That saying makes a lot of sense." But it doesn't make one bit of sense, and it can only play a negative role. Who can behave so well? Where can you find a perfect human being? Even with a cultivator who's reached the last step in his cultivation and not yet completely shed his human body, he still has sins and karma, and he still has attachments. But, when he reaches that step in cultivation he has far surpassed ordinary human beings. If we go by that saying, nobody can tell anybody else to behave well. Wouldn't society be done for?" ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference," November 29, 2003)
We continued to share about how to form a stronger righteous field among practitioners. Today, when we truly understand from our inner mind the distorted notions instilled by the party, aren't we eliminating the huge gap created by the evil, aren't we forming a more righteous field among fellow practitioners?
Some practitioners are still influenced by people when clarifying the truth to them. For example, people who are immersed in the party line may say, "I don't think you're doing well enough" or "I will learn it after you do well." Many practitioners feel embarrassed and accept such degenerate logic. Instead of saving sentient beings, they become passive and depressed.
It's the same among practitioners who have long participated in the party culture. When one practitioner points out another's problem, the other may say, "Stop blaming me. You still have a lot of attachments," or, "Stop saying that to me. You also have a lot to improve." Rather than thinking about whether what he or she said was correct, the criticized practitioner focuses on the other person's shortcomings. Instead of forming a cultivation field with righteous thoughts, the practitioner is playing a negative role to undermine the environment.
"Let me tell you. When you have a hard time going through a critical juncture, when you hear some harsh words, that's my law body using harsh words to provoke you and to tell you."(Provisional translation subject to further improvement of "The First Fa Lecture in the US" )
Some practitioners are happy when others point out their shortcomings. "Oh, you have cultivated so well!" He thinks that critical practitioner is doing better and respects him. He begins to learn from that practitioner instead of learning from the Fa. Unintentionally he may spur the other practitioner to think too highly of himself. That is harmful to both parties. Even in some wicked environment, Teacher may borrow a policeman's mouth to remind a practitioner, who realizes it is Teacher's hint. However, in the end, because of the policeman's deceitful performance, the practitioner begins to trust him and follows an evil path instead.
Doesn't this demonstrate the evil party culture? If another person has correctly pointed out your mistake, that does not necessarily mean that he has done it well, and neither does it mean that he has done everything well. How can we follow the false logic instilled by the evil party culture and believe that one must have certainly done well just because what he said was correct?
Some practitioners also behave with only superficial sincerity. Wanting to look good in others' eyes, they attempt to maintain "unity" among practitioners by neglecting to point out other practitioners' shortcomings based on the Fa. Because one doesn't think he has done well enough himself, he feels too ashamed to point out others' problems and says nothing even if he sees them. If another practitioner does point out the problem, he is critical of her, "She has so many attachments herself, and yet she dares to point out other's attachments!" Isn't this situation caused by the evil party culture?
"Conflicts are inevitable. Without conflicts there wouldn't be any improvement. If assistants did well, students did well, and nobody had any conflicts in this environment, who would be happy? Demons would be happy, and I wouldn't be happy. The reason is, you would lose the environment for cultivation, you wouldn't be able to improve, and wouldn't be able to achieve the goal of returning. So you shouldn't view conflicts as bad." (Provisional translation subject to further improvement of "Falun Buddha Law - Lecture at the Western United States Fa Conference")
So we must realize that sharing our ideas and thoughts with others will expose the conflicts. Are they conflicts among us as human beings? Of course not. They are reflections of those beings that produce such notions and ideas. When you speak out without your personal notions (i.e., without putting yourself in the conflicts), it is powerful enough to eliminate those factors hiding behind both the speaker and the listener.
When one of us compassionately points out our shortcomings, if we can be concerned only about whether the criticism is correct or not and not care about who the other person is or how well the other person is doing, we will form an automatic mechanism. In such a righteous field, anything that is not righteous will automatically be corrected without aiming at any specific person. In such an environment, everyone is able to see his or her own shortcomings and correct them.
April 26, 2005