Where Did Our Smiles Go?

(Minghui.org) It has been almost a year since I first joined a Fa study group in our area. This Fa study group consists of veteran and new practitioners. Some are senior practitioners who have practiced diligently for more than 20 years. Others are practitioners who stopped practicing Dafa after the persecution started in July 1999 and resumed practicing later. Although everyone’s cultivation state is different, everyone is able to study the Fa with a serious and solemn attitude. When we study the Fa, we do not waste any time. 

We study the Fa until noon. Then, everyone will make use of the little available time to share cultivation experiences as we eat the simple lunch that we brought with us. Occasionally, when someone says something that has nothing to do with cultivation, a senior practitioner will interrupt the practitioner and not let him/her continue with that conversation.

I am glad to have found the Fa study group that can help me be diligent and keep to the strict expectations in my cultivation. However, over time, I developed a feeling that is hard to describe. Every time I joined the Fa study, my mood was a bit low, but I did not know why. 

Then suddenly, one day, I realized that everyone’s facial expression was always so solemn. Not even one practitioner displayed a bit of a smile, especially the two relatively senior practitioners who were always very solemn. I have never seen them smile. Looking at myself, be it studying the Fa or sharing experiences, my face is always solemn and tight. I believe I do not appear harmonious or benevolent.

One afternoon, a practitioner from the Fa study group brought a person with him and introduced him to everyone as a practitioner, meaning that he wanted to join the Fa study group. However, nobody from the group greeted this practitioner and everyone kept a relatively blank expression. Although I felt a bit awkward in my heart, I also did not show very good manners, just like the rest of the group.

One day, I brought up this issue with the group. Some of them said that they do not know how to smile; some said that perhaps they were old Taoists in their previous lives. Surprisingly, nobody cared about this issue and it just passed.

Then, I thought about the practitioners that I knew, who were not in this Fa study group. It seems that they have similar issues. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this should not be the state that practitioners should be in!

After returning home, I told myself that I am a Dafa practitioner. From now on, I must display the peacefulness and goodness that stems from my inner soul. Then, I looked at myself in the mirror. My smile in the mirror was so stiff and unnatural and my facial expression did not show any peacefulness or benevolence. That’s when I felt that my cultivation was really lousy. If my inner soul is always peaceful and benevolent, my outward appearance should naturally reflect that, and not be stiff and unnatural.

Not Being Numb and Cold

It’s true that we practitioners do not care so much about many things in the mundane world. We are just not interested in them. However, I feel that not treating them with importance does not mean being numb and cold. Shouldn’t we save that little bit of civilization and manners to greet people when we meet them? Otherwise, how will people perceive us?

Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) saved us from the mundane world that is full of hardship. We have obtained the universal Dafa. We are the Dafa disciples of the Fa-rectification period. We are the most honorable and most fortunate people on earth. We are such fortunate practitioners, and the hardship in our hearts should long have changed into dew. 

Therefore, we should feel happy and harmonious from the bottom of our hearts! In front of our family, husbands, wives, children, relatives and friends, we should display the kind and benevolent heart of a cultivator. 

We should always put others before ourselves and display the goodness of Dafa at all times instead of feeling that nothing is related to us, even to the extent that we treat people coldly. This will result in people misunderstanding us.

The same applies to the workplace. During our work with our colleagues, we need to communicate, coordinate and cooperate. If we do not show a positive, radiant and friendly attitude towards them, how can we cooperate together well? How can we accomplish our tasks well?

More importantly, when we clarify the truth to sentient beings, if we show a numb expression without any smile, then these people will also show us a numb and cold attitude, and will distance themselves from us. Furthermore, this kind of cold attitude is contagious. If we emit this kind of signal, this is what people will receive, and it is also what people will project back towards us. Under such an ambiance, how could people feel happy to listen to our truth-clarification?

We are the messengers of the Divine. Not only do we need to cultivate ourselves well, we also shoulder the mission of saving sentient beings. Although we are still being persecuted, and we must do the three things well every day, we all know that our Master already bore so much for us. 

What is that little bit of hardship that we are facing now? There are so many things that Master needs to do every day, but the Master that we see is always smiling and shows benevolence. 

Therefore, practitioners like us who have this tendency toward coldness, we should reflect ourselves on our cultivation. We are the most honorable and most fortunate Dafa disciples of this universe and we assimilate to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Why is there no sense of joy on our faces? Why can’t we reveal a smile of goodness that stems from the bottom of our hearts?