“What I Asked You to Do Was to Clean the Bathtub”

(Clearwisdom.net) In Master’s recent article, “What Does it Mean to 'Help Master Rectify the Fa?'” He states,

"...when Master says something or decides how Dafa disciples are to go about something, there are always some students who size up Master’s [plans] with human thinking, forming opinions about how Master should handle some particular matter or thinking about how it would be if Master did it differently, rather than putting their minds to how to best fulfill what Master expressed or how to carry out the specifics; some students even wish to change Master’s thinking; some go and extol the virtues of their own ideas among fellow students; some people are confused as to what Master has said on account of their human attachments, and react negatively; and some people go so far as to seek out my family members to try to garner support for their own approaches. But what Master wants done is in fact what is required by the Fa’s rectification of an incalculable number of cosmic bodies."

Naturally, as Dafa disciples, we want to assist Master. It’s why we’re here and why we’ve gone through everything we’ve gone through. But sometimes we let our own notions block us.

Master actually already spoke about this issue in Zhuan Falun. In Lecture 7, the Issue of Killing, Master tells a story about Shakyamuni and his disciple. The disciple was asked by his master to clean a bathtub, but the disciple wouldn’t carry out what was asked of him because it would mean killing the insects that were crawling around in it.

The disciple probably felt what he was doing was right. After all, a Buddhist isn’t supposed to take life. So twice he failed to carry out what Shakyamuni asked of him. Just as the disciples of Dafa have done, this disciple questioned his master and even tried to point out the perceived error in the master’s thinking. Though his intention might have been well meaning, his underlying reasoning was that the master could be wrong.

In the end,

“Sakyamuni looked at him and said: 'What I asked you to do was to clean the bathtub.' The disciple understood all of a sudden, and he went and cleaned the bathtub right away.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 7, "The Issue of Killing")

Our Master is asking us to clean the bathtub as well. Only our bathtub is the universe, and the insects crawling around inside of it are old forces that seek to destroy sentient beings. We need to go and clean it.

I think this is also a story about Master’s compassion. How often do we become upset at those who question us? We’re only human beings cultivating, and the things we know can’t even begin to compare to the Dafa of the universe. Yet when we question Master, his only concern is over us. How truly benevolent and compassionate Master is!