Thoughts on Cultivating as One Body

Greetings, Honorable Teacher. Greetings, Fellow Practitioners.

I would like to share with everyone today my thoughts on cultivating as one body.

1. The Inter-Dependency between a Community of Dafa Practitioners and Individual Dafa Practitioners

Take the human body as an analogy. A human body is comprised of a large number of individual parts, which cooperate with one another as one human body. If an individual part is in jeopardy, it will affect that human body as a whole. In terms of improving the health condition of a person, his entire human body will have to be in good health. Each individual part of a human body is essential to the overall health of a person, and is dependent upon other body parts. The relationship between Dafa practitioners in an area as one body and individual Dafa practitioners is very comparable to that of a human body and individual body parts.

Some Dafa practitioners think that Dafa practitioners of an area will advance in cultivation as one body if each and every cultivator focuses on their individual cultivation. They don't believe they should meddle with others' cultivation with unsolicited feedback.

I would like to share with you a different view about the cultivation of practitioners in an area.

No individual in an area can be replaced because everyone is an integral part to the area and exists for a special reason. An area of cultivators is not just a set of Dafa practitioners. All practitioners must cooperate with each other to make the entire area function properly, just as every single body part must cooperate with one another to make the entire human body functional. A similar relationship exists between man and nature. The ancient Chinese people believed that man is an integral part of nature. I would like to interpret this ancient philosophy in a larger context. I believe that, in the same way that a body part is an integral piece of a human body, an individual practitioner is an integral part of a community of cultivators, and man is an integral part of the universe. I can speak from my own experience that I could distinctly feel such bonds between particles, or practitioners, if you would, when I did not have any selfish attachments. Teacher said, "All matter, including the human body, exists simultaneously in connection with dimensional levels of the cosmic space. When our modern physics studies the microscopic particles of matter, it only studies a microscopic particle through splitting it and fission. It will study its elements after nuclear fission." (From "The Issue of the Celestial Eye" in Lecture Two of Zhuan Falun.) Teacher also said, "…the microscopic particles of matter include molecules, atoms, and protons. When investigating further, if you can see the plane of each level instead of a point, and see the plane of molecules, the plane of atoms, the plane of protons, and that of nuclei, you will see the forms of existence in different dimensions." (From "The Issue of the Celestial Eye" in Lecture Two of Zhuan Falun.)

When I say a Dafa practitioner is an integral part of a community of Dafa practitioners, I don't mean that each practitioner must obey group decisions to make the group functional.

Today's human realm and all other dimensions in the universe are completely degenerate. If not for Teacher, who has been teaching the Fa to all beings in the universe, no individual in the universe would be able to sense the degeneration of the universe. Only Teacher can see the root cause of the degeneration of the universe because he is looking at the problems from beyond the universe. Teacher said, "Of course, there will be a lot more people learning Dafa; they will certainly bring a positive impact to society. They'll form a tremendous field, and there will be a lot of these people. They will bring about restoration of morality in society as a whole." (From "Lecture at the Fa-Conference in Canada" on May 23, 1999) If we wish to elevate to higher levels of cultivation than the human realm, we must break the connections to the human realm. Teacher said, "So whichever realm you have cultivated to, the composition of your being at the microcosmic level is connected to that realm. When you cultivate to higher levels you will be connected to higher levels and will sever the connections to all levels below." (From "Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference" in Guiding the Voyage.) But this is only my understanding from the perspective of personal cultivation. We are engaged not only in personal cultivation, but also in cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. I think that during the Fa-rectification period, all beings in the universe are assimilating to the Fa as one body. This is why we not only need to strive forward in our personal cultivation, but also need to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all the degenerated beings that damage the Fa in the universe, as well as clarify the truth and offer salvation to all sentient beings. It is beyond the capabilities of just a few Dafa practitioners to accomplish significant missions on such a grand scale.

Then do practitioners need to "obey" group decisions on Dafa work in order to accomplish Fa-rectification work?

Let me start with an example that many of us can relate to. Some Dafa practitioners are capable of handling more Fa-rectification work than others. At first, it seems that they are on top of the Fa-rectification work at hand. With the development of Fa-rectification, there has been an increasing demand of Fa-rectification work. To me personally it means that we should have more practitioners involved in the Fa-rectification work by giving them training and tutoring that allow all practitioners to contribute. I believe we should think about the increase of Dafa work as a hint to advance in cultivation as one body. We should not just see the increase of Dafa work as a personal test to expand our capabilities, and force ourselves to stretch beyond our limits even when our plates are already full. I think the ever-increasing Fa-rectification work means that both the individual practitioners and the entire area of practitioners need to break through their current levels of cultivation. It may require us to transfer some of our current tasks to other Dafa practitioners, but it serves as a perfect opportunity to purge our attachments to our work. If we could cooperate with one another by integrating our work, we would avoid a lot of duplicated efforts and would more efficiently utilize our time, technical resources, and manpower. Teacher has said, "As you know, our manpower is very limited right now, so in your efforts to validate the Fa, don't neglect things when you turn your attention to something else. In other words, we shouldn't focus all of our efforts on one thing. We should try our best to cover things as a whole and do a good job with all the things we're now working on." (From "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston.")

Next I would like to tell everyone that there are no Fa-Rectification tasks that are more or less important than the others. They are just different types of Fa-rectification work. Some Dafa practitioners resist certain Dafa work because they feel that they will have to comply with the decisions of certain Dafa practitioners or the Fo Xue Hui, or Buddha Fa Association. Whether one is a member of the Buddha Fa Association, an assistant of a Falun Dafa Assistance Center, or a Dafa practitioner who does not have any of these titles; whether one is an Asian Dafa practitioner or a Western Dafa practitioner, or whether a Dafa practitioner is inside or outside China, each practitioner is an integral part of Fa-rectification, just as each body part is an integral part of a human body. Teacher said, "This is because the students inside and outside of China are one body. When this thing takes place, there have to be some persons who do this and some who do that. Since it's a test aimed at the Fa, no matter where you are or what you're doing, you are improving yourself in the midst of the things you're supposed to do." (From "Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America" in Guiding the Voyage.) Often times a conflict arises between Dafa practitioners when they start to weigh Dafa work by importance, visibility, prestige, and other criteria. Moreover, such conflicts are often fueled by various human attachments and blown out of proportion. The truth is that a member of the Buddha Fa Association is no more important than a non-member, just as a Dafa practitioner inside China is no more important than one outside China. Every Dafa practitioner is an integral part of all Dafa practitioners as one body.

I can speak from my own experience that when everyone was free of such human notions, it was as if all particles inside a cell were spontaneously doing their respective work, and making the entire cell perfectly functional. No particle directs another particle to work, but each knows its role and plays it well. In these occasions no one would say things such as, "This ought to be the work of the Buddha Fa Association", or "This ought to be the work of the Assistant of the Assistance Center." During such experiences, I felt as if we all had mental telepathy, something akin to what Teacher described in Zhuan Falun. "Hundreds of one's energy channels must gradually become wider, with energy getting stronger and brighter. In the end, thousands of energy channels will join together and turn one's body into one without any energy channels or acupuncture points; they will join together to make one whole body." (From "Heavenly Circuit" in Lecture Eight of Zhuan Falun.) When this happens, I am sure that the effect of our Fa-rectification work will be mighty powerful. It takes everyone's contribution to develop and maintain a righteous Fa-rectification work environment, which would in turn have such mighty power so as to bring all Dafa practitioners within to higher levels.

2. The Issue of Conflicts in Fa-Rectification work

Conflicts arise during our cultivation in Fa-rectification work. Some conflicts are never resolved, and become so intense that the involved Dafa practitioners often choose to avoid each other in every conceivable way. These long-term conflicts damage not only the relationships of the involved Dafa practitioners, but also the harmony of the entire area. It is apparently one of the designs by the old forces to interfere with our Fa-rectification efforts.

Teacher said, "When you are doing things with other Dafa disciples, it's inevitable that you have arguments, and it's inevitable that you have differences of opinion. Why? Your attachments have to somehow be displayed so that you can get rid of them. But if you refuse to give ground after arguing for a long time, then it's a problem, and it's because you didn't look within and you didn't look at your own problem. You all want to be responsible to Dafa, and your intentions are good. But often you don't mind yourselves, and it's very possible you have some ordinary human attachments." (From "Touring North America to Teach the Fa") If we are willing to pull ourselves to a level higher than everyday people, all the attachments of everyday people become crystal clear to us. Similarly, if we are willing to remove our attachments and strive forward to a higher level of cultivation, we will be able to see those attachments that used to restrain us. Teacher said, "He was also constantly improving himself during the forty-nine years of his Dharma teaching. Whenever he upgraded himself to a higher level, he looked back and realized that the Dharma he just taught was all wrong. When he made progress again, he discovered that the Dharma he just taught was wrong again." (From "Different Levels Have Different Fa" in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun.) Teacher also said, "So when you argue with ordinary human attachments, I think to myself: 'If they saw the true situation, they wouldn't argue even if they were asked to.'" (From "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")

A Dafa practitioner should neither avoid conflicts nor get caught up in them. Instead, he should actively try to resolve conflicts, even if he is not directly involved in them. I don't mean that we should start playing the role of a peacemaker when we see two people having a conflict. I mean we ought to strive forward in the Fa as the first step to resolve the conflict. When we are having a heated discussion, or a conflict, often times it is because we are consumed by an attachment that we are blind to. Teacher said, "You cannot only pursue transformation of gong in the physical body without emphasizing improvement of your xinxing. It is waiting for you to upgrade your xinxing -- only then will you make a holistic change." (From "Cultivation Insanity" in Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun.)

Some Dafa practitioners consciously avoid conflicts and troubles by only taking on those Dafa projects that do not require teamwork, or by avoiding group Fa-study sessions. I feel that they are actually avoiding opportunities to elevate themselves to higher levels.

I myself am one of those practitioners who consciously avoid conflicts. I am partial to the technical aspects of Dafa work because I am reluctant to manage interpersonal relationships. After all, figuring out a technical solution is, to me, far easier than figuring out a solution to an interpersonal conflict. I would often find myself expressing opposing opinions against certain fellow practitioners or their Dafa work behind their back, because I wanted to avoid face-to-face conflicts. After realizing that talking behind others' backs is not the behavior of a Dafa disciple, I began to keep such opinions to myself.

In my opinion, criticizing someone is not the behavior of a Dafa practitioner, either. It is still a way of avoiding conflicts, and not truly resolving them. When we have resolved many conflicts, we will one day realize how many losses we have cost Dafa and how many obstacles we have put in the paths of our cultivation through our conflicts.

It took me a while for me to figure out that the root cause of avoiding conflicts was to protect myself from getting hurt. But when Teacher has taught us that everything in this universe is a life, was it myself that I was trying to protect, or was it in fact my attachment that I was trying to keep alive? When I feel it is difficult for me to say what is on my mind, is it myself that is having the difficulties, or my human personality?

We must seek inward and elevate ourselves in the Fa as the first step to resolve a conflict. Maintaining harmony merely on the surface simply will not do.

3. A Hint on Minimizing Losses in Dafa Work

I remember a fellow practitioner once told me that he enjoyed watching the moments when skaters fall on ice. He noticed at that instant every part of their bodies immediately jumped to work, coordinating with each other flawlessly, in order to minimize body damage. He was often mesmerized by the perfect, spontaneous coordination of all the parts in a body. Because of the perfect coordination of all body parts, the damage to the skater's body was thus minimized.

With this story in mind, when a problem arises in Fa-rectification work, we will minimize the damages if we can cooperate with and complement each other, instead of pointing fingers at each other. If we can all do this, I believe we will not only resolve our problems, but also perfect the Fa-rectification work at hand.

Finally I would like to conclude my speech with Teacher's poem, "In Harmony With the Fa."

"The Buddha light illuminates everywhere,
Propriety and justice rectify and harmonize everything.
Strive forward together,
A bright future lies ahead."
(Hongyin, unofficial translation)

Thank you everyone.