During the lecture "Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website's Founding," a practitioner asked Master, "After the persecution began, wave after wave of cultivators came forward to take on coordination roles, but wave after wave they suffered persecution." Master replied:
"The evil's persecution simply cannot touch students who really have strong righteous thoughts. When the evil's persecution was at its worst, such students didn't give the evil any gaps to capitalize on. Those that truly had strong righteous thoughts could withstand [the persecution]."
Following Master's teaching, we looked for factors that inhibit practitioners' righteous thoughts. We found that, as coordinators, there existed several human mentalities that could cause us not to have strong righteous thoughts.
1. Zealotry
A coordinator may feel he or she is better or special when compared with fellow practitioners. It is really a manifestation of zealotry and can easily cause barriers between practitioners and inhibit righteous thoughts. A coordinator may think, "I am in charge of all those future lords and kings of the universe!" He or she might feel a sense of superiority over others and forget Master's teachings on coordinators.
2. Special Privilege
Living in China where the Communist Party officials enjoy many special privileges, one is hard pressed to stay unaffected by such a state of affairs. Coordinators often make arrangements for activities, may influence how the three things (study the Fa [the teachings of Falun Dafa], send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and about the persecution to the world's people) are done, and may assign others to work on specific tasks. Coordinators also have the responsibility of spending and allocating resources. From the beginning, they usually do things according to the Fa, but after while, their human attachments may emerge, and they can have problems regarding spending money and managing property.
3. Showing Off
In general, coordinators are respected by practitioners. When they do something right, practitioners praise them. If the coordinators feel pretty good about it and become complacent, they may think they are talented and are doing better than others in their cultivation. They may forget that the group and especially Master's power are truly responsible for whatever is achieved. Some may think highly of themselves and begin to talk about their successes.
4. Competitiveness
When other practitioners don't listen to and comply with the coordinators' directions, and when practitioners raise different ideas or criticize the coordinators, if the coordinators forget to cultivate themselves, in-fighting may arise. When friction becomes conflict, it will harm the cultivation environment.
5. Jealousy
When others make good progress in cultivation and receive compliments, some coordinators feel uneasy. They not only refuse to affirm and compliment the practitioners who have done the three things well and had strong righteous thoughts, but they may also start to nitpick. When practitioners criticize them, they forget to look inside for their own attachments. Some even mount counter-attacks. They consider themselves the most important practitioners. These harmful behaviours come from the Party culture.
6. Fear
Some coordinators think they are being specifically targeted, and they worry about being persecuted. By having that fear, they acknowledge the old force's arrangements and leave gaps. When the coordination work gets busy, they may become obsessed with doing things and have a hard time calming down to study the Fa. Gradually, it may develop into a vicious cycle.
All these are human attachments. Where is righteous thought if human attachments persist? In "Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan," Master told us:
"With such an enormous Fa here, the Fa will be with you when your thoughts are righteous, and this is the greatest assurance. But on the other hand, when your righteous thoughts are inadequate and not in line with the Fa, you will be cut off from the Fa's power, and it will seem like you are alone and getting no help. Even if the things you are doing are Dafa things, you still have to conform to the Fa or else the Fa's power will not be there."
Coordinators and other practitioners should always look at themselves, discover and relinquish human attachments, and strengthen their righteous thoughts. Only then can we stay with the Fa and enjoy the "greatest assurance." We need to completely deny the old forces' arrangements, crush the evil, save more people, and comply with Master's expectations.
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