(Clearwisdom.net) Practitioners in our local area have discussed safety issues many times. However, different practitioners have different thinking modes, different cultivation states and different working styles.
One practitioner says, “True safety comes from being in accordance with the Fa. We must completely deny the arrangements of the old forces, and do whatever we are supposed to do. We have Teacher and the Fa, so who can possibly interfere with us?” This sounds like it is based on the Fa. Another practitioner says, “We must be rational and cultivate our speech. We cannot carelessly go to extremes. We must be responsible to practitioners and the whole body.” This also sounds right. We must agree that both are in accordance with the Fa.
Well, if both practitioners are on the Fa, why aren't they able to understand and harmonize with each other and coordinate well?
When practitioner A points out that practitioner B is “careless and irrational,” practitioner B may claim, “We are open-hearted and upright. Why fear?”
Practitioner A then thinks, “We remind you to be rational, and be responsible for the whole body. Shouldn't you listen to other's opinions, and look inside for your own shortcomings?”
Practitioner B may then think in his mind, “I don't like your way of doing things! You always think over and over before doing anything. You're overcautious. You are not straightforward in your speech or actions. Why not be straightforward? Do we have to be like this?”
At first, both feel uneasy. Later they are not able to coordinate with each other, and they no longer contact each other. However, when they think of the whole body, they feel something is wrong.
Teacher Li Hongzhi taught us in the Fa,
“Cultivation is about looking inside yourself. Whether you are right or wrong, you should examine yourself. Cultivation is about getting rid of human attachments. If you always reject reproaches and criticism, always point your fingers at others, and always refute others' disapproval and criticism, is that cultivating? How is that cultivating? You have grown used to focusing on other people's shortcomings, and never take examining your own self seriously. When others' cultivation one day meets with success, what about you?” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
Yes. Cultivation is about cultivating ourselves. However, when we meet with conflicts and disagreements, we often forget to examine ourselves. We forget that this is an opportunity to improvement ourselves, and each one of us is included. Sometimes we even try to skirt around the conflicts.
So what is it that hinders our improvement? I believe it's the “self.” This “self” stops us from examining our own shortcomings. Instead, we can always see others' problems. This “self” puts a pair of colored glasses on us so that we always think we are right, and we refuse to listen to different opinions. When we are affected by the “self,” we are not able to understand and tolerate others with kindness, and we become angry. When we are controlled by the “self,” we forget to be responsible for the whole body. On the surface, we seem to be validating Dafa. However, we are actually validating ourselves. When we are attached to the “self,” we always think we are right, we stubbornly adhere to our own opinions, and we cannot harmonize the whole body to save the sentient beings.
Practitioner A tends to go to one extreme by relying too much on every day people's safety measures. Today, as Dafa practitioners, we should be more rational and do things well with clear minds. This is correct. We are entrusted with powerful righteous thoughts and abilities. However, there are laws in the dimension of everyday people which should not be casually undermined. In the dimension of everyday people, we normally should also conform to the laws in this dimension, including following everyday people's safety measures. On the other hand, Dafa practitioners have the cultivated parts which are divine beings. The laws in the dimension of everyday people cannot restrain the divine beings. In other words, the divine beings will not undermine the laws in the dimension of everyday people. However, this does not mean that the divine beings will rely on, or even become attached to ordinary people's safety measures. If we rely too much on ordinary people's safety measures, we drop to the level of human beings, and we are sometimes affected by the ordinary people's notions of precautions.
