An Understanding on the Issue of Believing and Spreading Rumors

(Minghui.org) The recent comment by Master on a Falun Dafa Association notice on independent media has been a stern warning in several areas outside of China. In our region, too, the problem has appeared with a couple of independent media making more and more irrelevant and fantastic claims on a variety of issues, including the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus and vaccines. I feel ashamed that our environment would manifest such phenomena and that we could not correct them by ourselves. Once again, revered Master had to spell out things to awaken us because we did not do well ourselves in the cultivation process. I would like to share some understandings obtained through the process of seeing these independent media grow. 

Losing Normality

Little by little, since the beginning of 2020, rumors have become widespread in society. Several practitioners who spent a lot of time on social media platforms with the initial intent of clarifying the truth started to believe in these spicy rumors, discussed them intensively in small groups, and even tried to push such narratives to the large media projects.

Despite many discussions with veteran practitioners and practitioners with academic backgrounds, the hosts of the few problematic independent media–and related groups of practitioners–would respond with things like “we need to step out of human notions,” “little time is remaining and we need to rush the reach the small part of the population that can still be saved.” They quoted the Fa out of context and used this as a justification for creating and spreading false or extreme content, including so-called conspiracy theories and “special knowledge” from “special people.”

I faced a difficult time discussing with these practitioners who answered that ordinary rationality cannot lead to a proper understanding of the Fa. In their opinion, a higher understanding would only manifest by going beyond the facts of the CCP persecuting good people and by mentioning “higher” issues, such as aliens, secret societies, and deep-state conspiracies. It reminded me of this passage in Zhuan Falun:

“Some people conduct themselves as though they are either mentally abnormal or they have seen enough of this secular world. They say things that others cannot comprehend.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)

After eliminating a couple of my own layers of selfishness–looking down on others, lacking patience, and fearing for my own reputation being damaged because of irrational behaviors–I could see things with a clearer mind. It occurred to me that a part of the issue might be that these practitioners have an oversimplified understanding of the Fa, where facts at the surface are considered too shallow and boring to mention. Excitement and the desire to be extraordinary could lead to the understanding that the mission of Dafa disciples is to be “deep” and reveal hidden secrets to humankind. They therefore mix content from different religious and non-religious theories and spread these as established truths. 

The Issue of Not Cultivating Speech

Strangely enough, the hearsay that has been spread is for the most part quite easy to show as being wrong with just a little bit of sober thinking. But, since mainstream media had said these rumors were wrong, some people argued that such denials are “proof” of the rumors being true.

Master said,

“In the muddy human world, pearls and fish eyes are jumbled together.” (“Enlightenment,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

Instead of looking at all messy human matters with caution, these practitioners artificially concluded that whoever opposes mainstream media and Western government policies of lockdowns, large-scale vaccination campaigns, and so on could only say the truth, as if pearls and fish eyes were not jumbled anymore.

The majority of the population find such fanciful stories bizarre and reject them as near madness. Still, a portion of viewers like to hear strange things and have given positive comments, which these practitioners took as signs that they were doing the right thing. Emboldened by such comments, the content of their channel became even more radical, as if it was needed to maintain excitement and viewer interest.

Looking back at the situation and enlightening from the section on fortune-telling in Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun, I came to understand that this phenomenon might in part be due to not clearly understanding the difference between ordinary people, who can say as they please, and practitioners of a righteous Fa, who should be more cautious and responsible to others.

When practitioners try to understand and align to the process of Fa-rectification, they should not casually refer to everyday people and the so-called “fortune tellers” who are now taking the form of conspiracy theorists. Even less should they speak wildly of things they don’t understand at the superficial human level because of strong emotions. Otherwise, because of the energy they carry, as Master explained in Zhuan Falun, they might turn things in a negative way, which would negatively affect the human world, not to mention the reputation of Dafa.

The Issue of Believing in Anything

Even though appearances at the surface level can be a delusion, my understanding is that this dimension is also a level of the Fa to which practitioners should conform to by behaving as good and rational people. Seeing some practitioners convinced by the wildest rumors being spread on the internet, I came to realize that balancing well our relationship with the human world can be a manifestation of our belief in Dafa; practitioners should not blindly follow the crowd and believe in everything ordinary people say. 

Master said, 

“Everyday people all say things and do things this way, and you just believe them? (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)

Thanks to Master’s grace, veteran and junior practitioners alike have been incredibly fortunate to be selected to participate in Fa-rectification. We are able to believe in the Fa so that the Fa can transform and assimilate us, and in the future we can contribute to the stability and richness of the new universe. Believing in the Fa and improving ourselves, we can gradually see through the illusions of fame, reputation, qing, so-called knowledge in human society, prophecies, messages from other dimensions, and the like.

But if we practitioners believe in irrelevant things when there is a group of people making enough noise around them, how can we say we validate the Fa by having a true and rational belief in the Fa? Are we different from ordinary people who believe in anything that is exciting? What value is our belief in Dafa if it is also possible to believe in anything?

Master said,

“Amidst truth and falsehood, enlightening is important.” (“Enlightenment,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

Unfortunately, the few extreme independent media channels in our region still think they are doing the right thing and that Master’s comment was not directed at them. I’m therefore writing the above limited understanding, hoping that it can help more practitioners see the seriousness of the issue. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)