(Minghui.org) Money, lust, ego, and science dominate the minds of everyday people, and most people these days don’t believe in God. We can only clarify the truth from the perspective of faith to those people who still ascribe to traditional values.
Master Li taught us,
“So if you speak from a realm as high as yours you won’t achieve good results, since others are still everyday people. An ordinary person watches the stocks every day, schemes against others, fights and competes with others for personal interest, is overjoyed by petty gains and pained by petty losses, he does whatever he pleases, and he has all of man’s emotions and desires. That’s how an everyday person is.” (Teachings at the Conference in Europe)
I’ve observed that some practitioners usually talk to people at too high a level. Reflecting on how Master explains things in Zhuan Falun I suddenly enlightened.
I have read Zhuan Falun hundreds of times, but this was the first time I realized that Master never directly asks us to believe in God or the consequences if we don’t.
I recalled my own cultivation path. I gradually gave up ego and pursuing personal interests and emotion. By following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in my everyday life, I became a better person and no longer thought like an everyday person. My view of the world and life changed—gradually.
I now firmly believe in Master and the Fa, but it was a long process. Master’s teachings guided me and helped me eliminate my notions.
Master said,
“The approach we’ve adopted in teaching the Fa is to use reasoning and concepts that humans can comprehend in order to break through and eliminate their barriers and to allow them to truly understand the universe’s principles.” (Teachings at the Conference of Changchun Assistants)
We should think about the words we use when we clarify the truth so that people can understand. We must restrain our anxiety and impatience.
There is a common phenomenon in face-to-face truth-clarification and the media programs put out by practitioners—which is that we talk about things at too high a level. God or the creator are often mentioned, even when discussing the US election.
One of the reasons practitioners talk at too high a level is anxiety, which is an attachment. Anxiety is an emotional state that people experience when they are having difficulty solving a problem.
Being anxious is definitely not a righteous state. From the Fa, we know that being anxious will suppress our wisdom and our sides that have cultivated well. In our anxiety to save people, we may blurt out our understandings that we’ve gained from many years of cultivation, which is too high for everyday people.
Another reason not to talk at too high a level is that begs the question of whether we truly care about the person to be saved from the bottom of our heart. When we clarify the truth, do we insist on convincing others that we are right? Or do we truly wish to save them? Simply put, are we practicing compassion?
Here is a metaphor: Someone has fallen into a river and is about to drown. We are on the bridge trying to save him. Do we bend over and pull him out? Or do we pass him a long bamboo pole? Do we jump in and pull him out? Or do we row a boat over?
While trying to rescue him, do we take into consideration his physical strength and how long he is likely to last? Do we dive in and save him or do we just stand on the bridge and shout, “You have to hold on! You have to stroke harder!” What do we do to really save him?
Have we really cultivated compassion? Do we place others before ourselves? Have we reflected on what we say to save people? If we speak at too high a level, the person will not understand and won’t be saved—just like the person standing on the bridge who refuses to bend down and pull the drowning person out of the river.
To encourage people to say, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” when they face danger, there are two understandable explanations, and most people can accept at least one of them.
1. Some critically ill people who remember and say, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” have had their illnesses resolved. Others say that they have been helped by repeating the words when a situation seems hopeless. There are several examples of this both in China and overseas.
2. Explain from the perspective of physics.
Master said,
“Human thinking is a type of message, a type of energy, and a form of material existence. When a person thinks, the brain produces a frequency. Sometimes chanting mantras can be very effective. Why? Because the universe has its own vibrational frequency, and an effect will be produced when the frequency of your mantra coincides with that of the universe.” (Falun Gong)
How can we use this physical concept to explain that these words can change people’s health? The best way is to explain profound things in a simple way. We need to use simple language so that people can understand. Sometimes using an interesting story about this principle can help people understand.
If our intention is to truly save them, Master will give us wisdom when we clarify the truth. We will know what to say so the people we talk to can understand and be saved.
Editor's note: Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions, for which the author is solely responsible. Readers should evaluate the article's merits on their own.