(Minghui.org) Part 1: http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/12/15/136670.html
In my area, a female practitioner was very warm and friendly to other practitioners. She wanted to do her best to help fellow practitioners, especially some male practitioners who just made it out of prisons. She wanted them to feel the warmth between fellow practitioners and help them catch up with the progress of the Fa-rectification through collaborations.
These male practitioners experienced long term persecution. It was remarkable and difficult for them to pull through. Some were forced to divorce during the persecution. Some were single. Once their environment switched from a brutal to a lax one, cultivators might let their guard down if they are not so alert.
When dealing with such a considerate female practitioner, their emotions evolved from gratefulness and admiration to fondness, dependence and love. They shared everything. In the beginning, all they talked about were cultivation issues. In the end, lust emerged. Some had inappropriate thoughts towards the female practitioner, who was married.
Among them, one looked for phone calls from the female practitioner every day after he moved to another city. He wanted to consult with her about everything that happened to him, big or small. Later, this practitioner woke up. He made up his mind to remove those evil thoughts. These are true stories. Maybe the female practitioner didn't sense it or maybe she sensed it more or less. However, wasn't such a result deviated from her intentions?
Helping fellow practitioners is a great thing that comes with a lot of mighty virtue. However, the meticulous consideration between fellow practitioners of the opposite sex or overly frequent interactions may not be a good thing. Human attachments may be magnified and taken advantage of by the evil. My personal understanding is that aside from the must-have communications and sharing for collaborations, we should refrain from talking about irrelevant things. The extent must be controlled well.
4. Attention from the Opposite Sex Is a Huge Tribulation for Cultivators
For a lot of ordinary people, obtaining admiration from many people of the opposite sex is a great joy. It can satisfy one's vanity and desire. However, it is a huge tribulation for cultivators. It simply shows that our field cannot suppress the demon of lust.
If a cultivator is admired by many, he or she must be alert and look inward. Some coordinators have been recognized by others due to their sacrifices, capabilities or commitment. Their attachments of fame and personal gain may grow unknowingly, especially if they are surrounded by acknowledgment and praises. If there are many members of the opposite sex around, lust may grow big in a flattering environment. We need to be extra alert.
We should consider the opposite sex's desire of us as a wake-up call. It definitely doesn't deserve lingering or recalling for pleasure. We should change our notions but not become angry at others. Once we sense it, we should bring it up immediately, kindly, but firmly decline and put an end to any hope of the other person. This is to be truly kind to fellow practitioners and responsible for our own cultivation.
Once I was doing a Fa-rectification project in the same room with a young person of the opposite sex. I could feel that the desire was very strong. After unsuccessfully resisting my bad thoughts, I shared openly with the other. I said that we shouldn't have inappropriate thoughts towards each other. The fellow practitioner didn't speak, but her face was red and she looked ashamed. In that instant, the desire disappeared. That fellow practitioner and I were calm and undisturbed.
Once similar situations occur, if we expose the inappropriate thoughts and don't cover them up, removing them can be quite quick. We shouldn't be afraid of hurting others' “feelings.” In fact, if we can evaluate this from a perspective void of such feelings, we are then considerate out of compassion. Fellow practitioners can all handle the situation righteously. If some are really hurt or at loss, we don't have to make a big deal out of it. We are fellow practitioners. Sometimes we don't understand each other, but we will all think it through after we calm down.
Over the years, we have seen that those practitioners who made actual mistakes in handling sexual relations or those who had desire during collaborations appeared very casual when dealing with one another, without much respect. This demonstrates that the fellow practitioners are already too immersed in their “feelings.” There is no compassion. They are deluded by emotions. Once this happens, we should be alert, look inward and help fellow practitioners righteously.
5. Fidelity is not just a type of behavior
The predestined relationship between a couple is arranged by the divine. Gods endorse those who stay truthful to their spouses, rich or poor. A good person can stay loyal to his/her spouse. Dafa disciples should be even more so, not only in terms of behavior, but also in terms of thoughts.
A wife took a trip to another city and had favorable impression towards another male practitioner. Her husband, a practitioner, was told in his dream: your wife has betrayed you. No wonder a Chinese proverb says: “Once a thought emerges, heaven and earth all know it.”
When we have a high morality and traditional notions, resisting and eliminating inappropriate thoughts will become quite easy.
6. Treat Fellow Practitioners and Sentient Beings with Compassion
Master told us:
“Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy—this is establishing the mighty virtue of an Enlightened Being.” (“Rationality” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
When we interact with either fellow practitioners or sentient beings, we should be guided by compassion, not emotions. Emotions are unstable, unreliable, limited and impure. From the perspectives of high levels, emotions are dirty substances in the three realms. Emotions are the fire that can burn someone up and the drugs that can make people lose sanity.
If we treat fellow practitioners with emotions and lust, we are adding bad substances to others and are causing them hardship to remain rational and clear-headed. Within emotions, one can hardly achieve the state of cultivating and looking inward. Practitioners choose to collaborate when they “like” each other. The collaboration falls short when their feelings are hurt. Even if they force themselves to work together, a lot of complaints and blames exist.
If we treat others with emotion, then others may develop emotion as well. The emotion between members of the opposite sex are lust and desires. Those who are immersed in emotion usually cannot see any inappropriateness. When we treat fellow practitioners with compassion, others will purify the field as well.
“The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities.” (Zhuan Falun)
When divine beings are together, how can they have human lust and emotions? We shouldn't have emotions towards one another. We should advance together diligently and help one another compassionately.
Ordinary people have emotions. They will emotionally treat, protect or even interfere with cultivators. However, we shouldn't react to them with emotion. If we do so, then our family members' emotion will be even stronger. Sometimes it protects us, but at other times, it may interfere with us. If we use emotion to save sentient beings, they may be unstable. Today they seem to understand the truth. Tomorrow they may be confused again or even join the persecution.
When we use emotion, we are being selfish and in pursuit. Emotion will only bring disappointment. Qi cannot control Qi. How can emotion control emotion? Only compassion is pure and clean. Bounded with selfless wisdom and enormous power, it can control emotion, eliminate the evil substance that blocks sentient being's salvation, and effectively save sentient beings.
How can we cultivate compassion? My personal understanding is that first, we should see through the real nature of sentient beings and life. They are all kings and lords from the heavens. They have come to this world to obtain salvation. The love, hatred and emotions are simply the ingredients in the drama.
Maybe we see a very common person in front of us. He or she may be the king or lord of a gigantic universe. If we can see fellow practitioners and sentient beings from this perspective, we will be able to be truly responsible for their life and future. Compassion will come. We shouldn't treat anyone differently, including our fellow practitioners and family members. Discrimination is emotion. Compassion means that we care about the ultimate life.
At the same time, we should cultivate kindness in solid cultivation. Master told us in Zhuan Falun:
“Because the cultivation of Shan can generate great, benevolent compassion, and when compassion develops one will find all beings suffering, the Buddha School thus develops an aspiration to offer salvation to all beings.”
We should cleanse any anxiety, aggressiveness or hatred in ourselves in a timely manner. Then, we should fundamentally inspire people's Buddha nature. Ordinary people and our family members will not be interfered with by emotion. When they become rational and clear-headed, how can they not help us and cooperate with us? In the field of tremendous compassion, righteous thoughts will be strong. The demon of lust will be disintegrated. Sentient beings are saved. Tribulations disappear.
Category: Improving Oneself
