A Brief Discussion on Compassion

Falun Gong practitioners in our state have been arguing over a particular issue for a long time, and as a result, we have created some friction and problems among ourselves. The original cause was that a practitioner who knows about others' previous lives likes to share stories of previous lives with other practitioners. Some practitioners like to listen and some don't. After some time, practitioners started to have disagreements about this and divided into two factions. With the differences growing larger, intense arguments followed. Practitioners who like to listen to these stories said that it helps them to understand their own attachments and let go of those attachments. Practitioners who refuse to listen think this is a kind of interference, specifically an attachment to previous lives. During this time, the practitioner who likes to recount such stories has been keeping quiet.

The constant arguing and debating created a fair amount of tension and we never came to a good, solid conclusion. I thought about sharing with the practitioner who recounts others' previous lives. He told me his original purpose was to resolve some blocks in the minds of various practitioners to help them get rid of attachments. However, because he himself had some attachments, he had been taken advantage of by the old forces to say some irresponsible things. After repeatably sharing with other practitioners, he realised his mistakes and therefore became passive for some time. He didn't step forward during that period. Not long ago, he stepped forward again and started to put a lot of effort into doing the three things well. I found that he gained a clearer understanding of the persecution by the old forces, and his righteous thoughts became stronger as well.

In sharing this, my point is not to focus on sharing about "previous lives", nor this practitioner in particular. I want to talk about compassion and how to break through personal notions.

Not long ago, I had been thinking that the two practitioners who were supportive in listening to stories of previous lives have comparatively stronger human sentiments. I thought this because the practitioner who liked sharing about previous lives really liked to share stories with those two practitioners. Therefore, I have been persuading them to no longer be attached to such stories, and to help prevent the practitioner speaking about them from expanding his attachments. I never directly shared with the practitioner doing the talking himself.

From this I saw a hidden attachment in my own mind. My notions dictated that I would decide he was wrong, and that I would stay away from him. However, from this recent discussion, I initiated sharing with this practitioner with a calm and compassionate mind. He shared his thoughts and understandings of the current Fa-rectification process with me. During our talk, I found that he was clearheaded and had a clear understanding of the principles taught in Falun Dafa. After the discussion, I found my stubborn human notions had disappeared, and what was left was the light of compassion and peace in my mind. This practitioner also told me that he had been sharing with those two practitioners. He explained that the differences in culture could not let them quickly understand the meaning of cultivation and the Fa-rectification. During this process, everybody is progressing.

After I shared with this practitioner, I thought about Master's "Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital"

"If it weren't for the need to do such things, Dafa disciples' cultivation would have already concluded. So all of what you are doing now is meant for sentient beings."

After I came back, I repeatedly studied "Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital". I no longer have such a strong attachment to 'self'. The whole body of Falun Dafa disciples are stepping forward, performing the most important tasks, and this is their compassion, which shakes heaven and earth.