(Clearwisdom.net) Another year has passed as I follow Teacher in cultivation. Over the last year, I have noticed that the requirements in cultivation have become more strict, because every thought seems to matter. We must reach the standard of great enlightened beings. Below is what I have learned.
1. Helping Fellow Practitioners Develop an Informational Materials Production Center
Our materials production site is operating well. Practitioners returning from prison have the opportunity to read Dafa materials. As Fa-rectification progresses, further improvement in our character is needed. I think that practitioners should not “wait, rely, get.” They need to move forward.
I bought a second-hand computer and gave a group of practitioners a CD that explained how to operate it. The practitioners were anxious to learn and they bought more equipment. As things were looking up, evil interference appeared, and a practitioner was arrested, causing the operation to cease.
While feeling bad about another practitioner being arrested again, we all sent righteous thoughts and looked within ourselves for attachments. I came to understand that recently we had been learning how to use the computer and had neglected group Fa study. It is the Dafa principles that provide guidance in both cultivation and ways to rescue fellow practitioners.
After overcoming difficulties in family matters, we were able to begin group study of Dafa principles and realize what we had omitted in the past. Teacher said in "Further Understanding," from Essentials for Further Advancement,
“...what you do then, with a pure heart, will be the best and most sacred.”
Practitioners who were imprisoned for a long time were anxious to get back to cultivation. They wanted to hurry, make up for lost time, and were fearful that they might not reach consummation. The old forces were aware of their human notions and persecuted them once again.
Our group study helped to improve our character. Very soon some fellow practitioners overcame the problems of old age and lack of education, and came to support our materials production site. I was anxious to get our center operating normally and asked an elderly practitioner to meet me so we could go over a few things. Twice he did not show up. One time I waited for him for over 40 minutes in a cold winter wind. I realized that this was because of my hasty temper and my attempt to order him to meet me. It was likely that he was tied up with family matters and forgot about the meeting. I nonetheless needed to be more tolerant. When I understood that this was really my own problem, things changed. This elderly man was not afraid to carry supplies in one hand and the computer in the other while walking through the snow with a cold wind blowing on him. He learned the skills required to use the computer and offered the needed help at the materials production site.
2. Cooperating to Rescue Imprisoned Practitioners
During one group study, we noticed that a fellow practitioner was missing. It was possible that he had been sent to a detention center by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), so we decided to send righteous thoughts near the detention center.
We agreed we would get off at a certain bus stop, but the bus passed the stop and continued on for three more stops. When we got off the bus, we found that we were near the home of another practitioner who had information about the practitioner who had been arrested. This seeming happenstance allowed us to gather enough information about this particular persecution and report it to the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. We asked all practitioners to send righteous thoughts to remove the evil spirits behind the arrest. We also asked the practitioner's family to go to the detention center and ask for his release. Within ten days the practitioner returned home.
The short time that the fellow practitioner had been imprisoned indicated the power of our combined efforts. We are more mature now, and we recognize that righteous thoughts and deeds are important for Teacher to be able help us.
3. Achieving Balance in Everything We Do
As time goes by there is work to be done at home and I have more Dafa activities than I can handle. As Teacher said in "Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan" in 2006,
"With many things, it turns out that if you can balance things well and arrange your affairs correctly, there won’t be any delays brought to the Dafa things that you do.”
When the CCP was persecuting me, they also threatened my husband. Consequently, he always worried a lot when I went out. If I was late in returning home he felt restless. I understood his concern and tried my best to maintain harmony in our home. As Fa-rectification moved forward, the situation improved and he was no longer afraid. When I wasn't home, he prepared dinner for our children, and dinner was ready when I got home. He would ask me whether I had eaten and I would reply, “Thank you, I did.” There were times when I promised to be back in time to prepare dinner but was delayed. When I got home, dinner was already prepared. I was most grateful that Teacher arranged for my family to support me when I was doing Dafa business. I think my family will gain virtue as a result of what they have done.
The quality of the materials we prepare for saving sentient beings needs to become better and better. I once printed a sheet of labels for CDs and asked a practitioner to use them to prepare CD sleeves (in the past these sleeves had been prepared by practitioners in other cities). The fellow practitioner was busy looking after her children, so I quickly told her what to do and then went on to another practitioner's home. I was expecting the CD sleeves to be ready the next day, as we had group study and could insert the CDs and get them ready for distribution.
When it was time for group study I was surprised to find that all of the labels were ready but there weren't any sleeves! The fellow practitioner said regrettably that she didn't know she was supposed to make the sleeves. We were forced to paste the labels onto large envelopes. It was a lesson for us.
I think the real cause of the misunderstanding was that things had gone well earlier, and I had developed an attachment to zealotry. I had not coordinated things well, and I know that Dafa activities require everyone's cooperation. Doing things together will avoid such occurrences. It reminded me that I should do things more carefully.
A while ago, when a fellow practitioner's computer was not working properly, I said, “Let me look at it for you.” The reply was, “It was doing well until you touched it while I was away.” At this point I remembered the Dafa principle of not arguing about who is right. I calmly checked the computer and found nothing wrong with it. I said to the practitioner, “When you blamed me I was not moved. As a result nothing is wrong with the computer. Had I argued with you, the computer probably would have failed to work. Cultivation is not a human activity. Teacher is watching to see how we react to each event.” I think Teacher was using this incident to remind me to completely stop blaming others.
When I studied "Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan" at home, I read,
"And maybe the person really did treat you wrongfully. But, those words weren’t necessarily said by that person. Perhaps they were said by me. (Everyone laughs) I want to see how you handle things at the time. When you butt heads with that person, it actually equates to butting heads with me.”
Those words certainly made things very clear to me.
4. Participating in Overall Coordination
As the period of Fa-rectification is close to ending, there is a greater need to have good overall coordination. In the past, we only ensured coordination of those few practitioners around us, but we now need to expand to a larger group. I remember what Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York,"
"But when it’s necessary for you to work together on something as a group, Dafa disciples need to cooperate well.”
A fellow practitioner said to me, “Why don't you organize the stuff we often use so that it is easier for people to find?” My first thought was that things were all in one place. Wasn't that enough? I then realized that he might have a point, and I began to organize the items. Indeed, things were scattered and inconvenient for people to use. Once the equipment was organized, we used it more efficiently. When practitioners in other regions needed equipment, it was easy for me to provide it to them. They were grateful to me when they saw that everything was in order. I told them that there was no need to be grateful because we were all part of the same group responsible for validating the Fa.
It is not easy to set up a project under the current environment. All participants must have a solid foundation in the Fa and be able to conduct themselves righteously. I followed the teaching in "Be More Diligent,"
"...you should quietly take whatever it is that you feel is lacking and do it well. That is in fact how a Dafa disciple should handle it.”
Whenever a practitioner's computer has a problem I go ahead and fix it. Our truth-clarifying materials production site is now functioning well. We are all working as a group and the group is expanding.
One time, I spent half a day installing software for a fellow practitioner, but a few days later his computer was misconfigured by another practitioner. When a female practitioner saw that I spent another half day reinstalling the operating system, she felt that it was unfair to me and criticized the other practitioner in my presence. I told her that we should avoid criticism between practitioners and be more tolerant and understanding. Furthermore, there was always a reason why such an event occurred. She agreed and thanked me for telling her.
Many practitioners are senior citizens and don't have much formal education. They have problems learning to use the computer. I have encouraged them by saying that as Dafa practitioners, they have superior bodies and their master souls are young. All they need to do is change their thinking. You were using a hoe and now you are using a mouse. Whenever they made a little progress, I immediately encouraged them. There was a 70-plus practitioner who was able to read pinyin and operate a computer after hearing the instructions just once. There is no way an ordinary person could do that. Teacher has told us principles of the cosmos. It is up to us to use them.
Cooperation requires mutual effort. When I try to help practitioners, they are helping me too. I do the best I can to satisfy a fellow practitioner's needs. If there are obstacles to overcome, I shall overcome them. I think this is something I have to do as a practitioner, and it is required to achieve cooperation within a group.
I read and was moved by the article, "What Is Coordination for a Cultivator?" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/10/13/120595.html). I use it as a guide to improve myself.
Teacher said in "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,"
“For Dafa disciples as a whole, in the process of validating the Fa, when you work together in concert, the Fa power is great.”
I shall work with fellow practitioners to further strengthen our cooperation during the last phase of Fa-rectification. I will do what Teacher taught us and mature through truly cultivating myself.
