Some Personal Views on Sentiment and Selfishness

By a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) A while ago my cultivation was at a low point and I didn't know how to deal with it. On the same issue, practitioner A would say one thing and practitioner B would give me a different opinion. All around me, there were always completely opposite solutions to an issue I faced. If I were to do one thing, I would necessarily have to give up the other. If I were to take the middle road, then the matter would be handled poorly. Out of selfishness, I seldom came up with my own solution. Moreover, if problems arose, few people would say anything negative to me since, after all, I had not really insisted that it had to be done that way.

Once, twice -- due to my selfishness, lots of problems could not be resolved in time. Eventually, I realized it was my fault, and it was precisely because I did not correct my mistake that the same situation kept occurring. Teacher was helping me to improve. I was too concerned about what others would think of me; too afraid that others would think I was a person with strong attachments. And yet, this fear itself is my fundamental attachment! And I found that this attachment is also a kind of sentiment and selfishness.

Moreover, why should I care about what others think? Is it not because I care about that person? Is it not because I think that person's words are reasonable? Then what about the Fa? Teacher told us to follow the Fa as our teacher, but I always measure what should be done by what other people think. Teacher told us in Zhuan Falun: "As a human being, you are a good person only if you can follow this universe's characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. A person who deviates from this characteristic is truly a bad person. In the workplace or in society, some people may say that you are bad, yet you may not necessarily be bad. Some people may say that you are good, but you may not really be good. As a practitioner, if you assimilate yourself to this characteristic you are one that has attained the Tao--it's just such a simple principle."

I understand that as a practitioner, the Fa has a higher standard for me, and there are different standards at different levels. When we are doing something, we can only take the Fa as the standard, rather than any particular practitioner's personal understanding. That person's understanding might be very good, but that is just what he enlightened to from within the boundless Fa, it is not what I have enlightened to.

After I realized this point, whenever I have to do something, I think: What impact will it have on Fa rectification? Is it good for Fa rectification or is will it have a negative effect? By assessing it in this way, I immediately know how I should proceed.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2001/10/14/17897.html

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