Reflections on Cultivation: We Are One Body

Xiao Lian

PureInsight | December 22, 2008

[PureInsight.org] A fellow cultivator told me a story about when he and some other Falun Dafa practitioners had visited a neighboring town in China to share cultivation experiences. He mentioned that some local practitioners in that town had done some things that had disrupted the Fa. Upon hearing about the situation, a local practitioner stated that their behavior was not in line with the Fa and that their actions had interfered with the whole environment. He felt he needed to share his understandings with those people. At the group study, the practitioners all listened very carefully and compassionately, without any impatience or trying to force their opinions on others. They all resolved the issue together easily and quickly. I was very moved by the experience.

Later, I read an article on Minghui Weekly about practitioners in Jingzhou City, Liaoning Province who traveled thousands of miles to Shandong Province to rescue practitioners there. I was so touched that I couldn’t hold back my tears.

What is selflessness? This is selflessness. What is compassion? This is compassion! During the Fa rectification period, the evil finds various excuses to persecute Dafa disciples. Putting disciples into prison illegally is one form of persecution. Since we are human beings who are cultivating, we still have various human notions. When we undergo tribulations, we may feel especially lonely. If, at these times, other practitioners would show caring for each other and give each other a few words of support and encouragement, it would go a long way toward helping fellow practitioners and their families.

Another practitioner told me about a practitioner who was arrested illegally by agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). His wife was about to visit him at a brainwashing center. Since it was very far away, the practitioner who told the story had volunteered to go with her. The wife was moved to tears by his offer of support. When I heard this story, I cried too. Why? Didn’t his actions manifest the “selflessness and altruism” that Dafa requires of us? In other words, this was treating other practitioners’ things as our own things.

Over the long march of time, the elements in the old universe have degenerated because of selfishness. As beings created by Dafa, shouldn’t we manifest the characteristic of being “for others” at all times?

Not only are our fellow practitioners suffering, so too are their family members. When we care for them, it might cause the fellow practitioners to have even more righteous thoughts while their family members who are not practitioners would, at the same time, gain a good impression of Dafa disciples. This would be a great opportunity for them to build their righteous thoughts as well.

Now it is close to the end of the year, a time to reflect on how our cultivation as one body has progressed. I think that on the premise of doing the three things well, we should also show caring for our fellow practitioners and their family members who are being persecuted. However, we must not ignore safety issues and give ourselves over to blind emotion, or value emotion. Of course, before we do anything we should always measure it according to the Fa.

Translated from: http://zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2008/11/28/56246.html

 

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