Break Free of Selfishness and Look at Things from the Overall Situation

In an experience-sharing article, a practitioner said, "If we don't study the Fa well, we cannot fundamentally deny the old forces' arrangements. There are still residual evil forces to be eliminated, partly because Dafa disciples are unable to deny the old forces in a broader range. There are realms to be denied which are beyond our realisation. Dafa is so immense that it is beyond our imagination. Only if we diligently cultivate from the standpoint of the Fa can we rise above the old force's arrangements and deny them."
I was deeply touched by this! The old forces went through long periods of arrangement; looking from this dimension, they are engaged in a worldwide struggle of life and death. However, a good portion of us are still submerged in the state of individual cultivation. When confronted with problems, we automatically think of what we have done, how others feel about our cultivation, what attachments we have, how we think this should be done etc. It is all self centred. But in terms of what it means in Fa rectification, how it affects the overall situation, what the overall situation requires, what we can do to make the overall situation better--these things are often forgotten. I believe this is a very big barrier and we need to break through it as soon as possible. We can only see the overall situation in a bigger scope after breaking through the barriers of our selfishness and notions.

Many things have already been done very well but we often neglect to understand them from the Fa's perspective and from the overall situation. For example, suing those few heads of the evil regime, exposing the evil and setting up an investigation committee etc., are very good, but many of us currently only feel that they "should be done"; however, we don't necessarily understand very well from the Fa's perspective why they are so good. In terms of exposing the evil, we also only have a surface understanding. We see that Master Li has explicitly mentioned it in his articles, then we just do it.

From my understanding, Fa-rectification cultivation is using the requirements of Fa rectification to measure everything. Teacher said clearly in "Towards Consummation" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), "Do you know that one of the biggest excuses the old evil forces use at present to persecute Dafa is that your fundamental attachments remain concealed?" The old forces specifically go after our attachments to undermine us, and do whatever we are afraid of; they undermine whatever we are attached to. On the other hand, the evil people in the human world are afraid of being exposed, so we will expose them; they are afraid of being sued, so we will sue them. They think that they have asylum so we let them know what happened to the Nazis. We broadcast the documents used in the lawsuit and let them see that Jiang has reached the end of his road! They must stop the persecution! When they monitor overseas practitioners, they should be exposed. The bottom line is that whatever they are afraid of we will do and then the evils can be largely eliminated and their madness can be stopped.

In terms of explaining the truth to everyday people, it is not about going along with all their attachments. Normal attachments of an everyday person are acceptable but the attachments from the evil cannot be acknowledged or indulged. As everyday people live for sentiments, we can write something like the "Open letter to my fiance, Charles Li" (Note: Charles Li is an American citizen who is now being illegally detained in China.) and let the people see that the evil persecutes humanity. Everyday people have the attachment of zealotry, so we can tell them and show them the goodness of Dafa, and happiness in cultivation. Everyday people have anger, so we let them know about how low and despicable the persecution in China is.

Recently, I have clearly felt that the evil old forces are in their final death struggle, but the amount they succeed becomes our loss and our regret. We need to see things and handle many things from the perspective of "one body" and the overall situation; but we also need to surpass them. How do we break through? I feel that we should jump out of the self-centred way of thinking. This is fundamental and everyone needs to break through it. I feel that Master Li clearly emphasised this back in "Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" in February 13, 1997 when he wrote,
"... your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism."

To put it in another way: look at the overall situation more often and think of others often in big matters. During this process, matters related to "selfishness" and "I" will be eliminated.

Chinese version available at: http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200302/17141.html