(Clearwisdom.net) There exists a common habit among non-practitioners, which is that they do not openly point out others' shortcomings. As long as it does not impact their personal interests, people normally don't tell others their shortcomings in order to avoid conflict.
This will cause problems if we maintain such an ordinary notion in our cultivation. Although we often share our understandings of the Fa, we rarely point out fellow practitioners' attachments face-to-face. Instead we often talk about them behind their back.
A fellow practitioner could not pass a tribulation for more than half a year, and she had some misunderstandings about me. When I shared my thoughts about this practitioner with other practitioners, we agreed to leave her alone and hope that she could pass the tribulation over time. However, I realized that it was a serious problem, because half a year was too long. I thought that I must tell her what attachments I saw she had. This fellow practitioner has a strong personality and was a leader at work; however, she was not easy to deal with and often did not listen to others. I saw the key for her improvement and I knew that I should tell her.
However, she already had misunderstandings about me, and she was in pain at that time. I was concerned that if I pointed out her attachment and she did not accept my opinion, it would cause more conflicts among practitioners and impact our coordination. That was why we decided to leave her alone at first.
Yet I was concerned that if she continued with her situation, the old forces might take advantage of it and create danger for her. She knew that her situation was not good and she worked very hard at looking inward to find her attachments. I could clearly see her attachments; so why couldn't I help her by telling her? She is a very open person, and she helped me a lot in my past cultivation. I knew that I should openly point out her attachment.
I decided to write a letter to her, but I found it hard for me to write down her attachments. I was feeling embarrassed. Once I wrote the letter, I did not want to mail it; I was afraid it would cause conflict between us. I also discovered many of my own ordinary notions in the process of writing the letter.
The next day we saw each other, and I told her my thoughts. She gradually accepted my advice, and we were both very happy. I recognized that we must openly share our thoughts during our cultivation. This is what Master wants us to do, which is impossible even for best friends in today's human society.
Being compassionate to fellow practitioners means we must help them to improve. There was a fellow practitioner who thought I did something wrong, yet he did not directly point it out to me. Later, I learned about his thoughts through other practitioners. I felt it was necessary to share my understanding about our being open with fellow practitioners.
Younger practitioners have less preconceived notions and are more open with each other. They often directly point out each others' shortcomings and help them to look inward. This has not caused many conflicts at all for them. However, many older practitioners often have strong human notions and are not open to criticism. The human notions in other dimensions are as hard as rocks and as high as mountains; they are not easy to eliminate.
Older practitioners, please pay attention to this matter. I was often confused when dealing with practitioners who did not express their opinions directly and openly. Another example is that some fellow practitioners even lie to others. It is normal for ordinary people to tell a "white lie" in embarrassing situations, but we are cultivators and should not lie at all. We could say nothing (as an option), but whatever we say must be true.
I once heard this story. A fellow practitioner did something wrong and another practitioner wanted to criticize him but did not know how to say it; so he told him that he had a dream in which Master pointed it out to him. This practitioner said that this way of pointing out fellow practitioners' mistakes is very effective, and he recommended this to others. It is very dangerous to do this!! Master has always told us that no one could represent Master. How could anyone turn his or her own opinion into Master's words. Even if such a method could be effective, it could destroy a practitioner. Are you using Master? You would not be following the Fa. It is a very serious matter when Master benevolently gives us hints. How could we fabricate such hints? Isn't this a disruption of the Fa? This is very serious.
As cultivators we must be compassionate. I have heard some practitioners argue with each other, and some have had serious conflicts with each other. How could two cultivators not be tolerant towards each other? All the gods are watching us; they would laugh at us if we have conflicts.
Master published "Towards Consummation" and "Eliminate Your Last Attachments" in 2000; the time left for us to cultivate is becoming less and less. Though Master continues to give us opportunities when we make mistakes, there will be a day when the Fa-rectification ends. Let us all do better and better, to be worthy of Master's benevolence.
