In "Lecture at the Fa-Conference in Canada" (Toronto, May 23, 1999), when a practitioner asked Master,
"A student has been undergoing tribulations for a long period of time and still can't get over them. Should we point that out for him or should we let him understand it himself through studying the Fa*?" Teacher replied, "Since you have found the cause that prevented him from moving forward, why don't you point it out to him? It shouldn't be a problem if you tell him with kind intention." [provisional translation]
I used to regard these words as something that Teacher said casually and I did not genuinely realise from the bottom of my heart that, "It is the Fa!" Teacher pointed it out so clearly; however, I did not follow the instruction. "Since you have found the cause that prevented him from moving forward..." "...tell him with kind intention." This is the Fa! It is the way that Teacher taught the practitioners to deal with such things. It is the requirement of the Fa.
The key is that Teacher asks us to "tell him with kind intention." Have we met this requirement?
Another key element is that Teacher asks us to tell him "the cause that prevented him from moving forward," instead of simply pointing out his mistakes or blaming him for the mistakes he has made. The most important part is our heart, rather than the words we speak. What we saw was the cause that prevented him from moving forward, the cause that prevented him from upgrading, not simply the mistakes he has made; and we tell him with kind intention. This is compassion! It is not superficially attached to right or wrong, and is totally without a personal mentality. When we act with a compassionate intention, completely for the sake of others, won't he accept it? Then why, in most cases, have our actions deepened the conflicts? Is it because we could not bear another's attachments and behaviour? Doesn't that make it our own problem? Isn't it something that we ourselves need to cultivate?
If we indeed see the cause that is preventing a fellow practitioner from moving forward and we fail to tell him, it is wrong because we are not following the principles of the Fa. What Teacher said is the Fa! In many cases, not only did we not follow the principles of the Fa, but we also did not genuinely regard what Teacher said as the Fa. Shouldn't we, as practitioners, always be considerate of others? When we saw the cause that prevented a fellow practitioner from moving forward and we did not tell him, is this for the sake of others? Is this for the sake of the fellow practitioner?
Why don't we dare tell him then? It is certainly because of our own attachments or elements that do not conform to the Fa. Then aren't our own problems being exposed? Isn't the fellow practitioner's unrighteous behaviour directing our own heart? We do not want to upgrade ourselves but to complain about others. We won't let go of others' problems. Isn't the most important thing is to cultivate ourselves rather than others? After we ourselves have moved forward, we may feel that other people's "problems" have strangely disappeared. Maybe, at that moment, the pure words we speak will enable someone else to suddenly enlighten. It is not that we have changed others, but when our behaviour conforms to the Fa, the power of the Fa manifests. It is the Fa that changes others. "Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master." [The First Talk, Zhuan Falun, February 2003 edition] If we do not understand it from the perspective of the Fa, when the fellow practitioner expresses appreciation, we may take great pride in ourselves and feel that we have guided others; but in fact, it is not true. It is because we have followed the Fa first. It is because we have followed the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." The power is from the Fa.
I also realise that in many cases, it seemed as though I was helping others, or that conflicts occurred because of the other person's problems. When I truly looked within myself and cultivated myself under any circumstance, I could look back and see that all these things occurred because of my own heart. The others indeed helped me. Whatever happens around us is truly due to our own attachments.
When we genuinely upgrade ourselves, we feel grateful from the bottom of our hearts! How do we express our gratitude? When we see the cause that prevents another from moving forward and we do not tell them, when we care only about ourselves, regardless of others, aren't we being selfish too? Don't we want our fellow practitioners to move forward as well? What does "striving forward together" mean?
No matter how sufficient our excuses are, if we think it is totally an issue of others or if we say, "I have shortcomings, but his problem is even more serious," then we are looking outward. We always feel that others have more problems and that we have fewer. We always feel that others have bigger problems and that ours are smaller. Shallowly, we emphasise and attach to right or wrong from a superficial perspective. This is not looking within, it is fighting for the principles of ordinary people. On the surface, isn't right or wrong an illusion? As long as one is cultivating oneself, the Fa is able to change him. When a person cultivates himself in the Fa, it is like a piece of sawdust dropping into a cauldron full of hot molten steel. As long as I conform to the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," I am playing a positive and supportive role in Dafa work and in the cultivation of fellow practitioners. This is different from personal attachments. It is belief in the Fa and in the power of the Fa.
*Fa can be translated as law and principles in the Buddha school * * *
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