By A Dafa Practitioner

August 14, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net)

The practitioners who have done more Dafa work indeed work very hard; however, they should not always think they work harder and expend more energy than others. (This refers to the state of mind here. Of course, when there is a large amount of work to do, one should try to let other practitioners share some of the work and play a role). Some may feel uneasy and might sometimes try to encourage themselves with the thought that "the more one pays, the more one gains" or "the more one pays, the higher one's cultivation level reaches." In my opinion, this is pursuing intentionally and displays selfishness that hasn't been completely removed. Some may feel that they have prestige and seek the fame and self-interest that exists in ordinary society, seeking after "good things." Some even take listening to Master's lectures as a privileged gain to satisfy their pursuit. They do not realize that the purpose of this is to do better Dafa work and to cooperate well with other fellow practitioners. There are some who try to first grab "good things" instead of suffering hardships. Some wrongly place themselves in a position to give orders to fellow practitioners and tell others how to cultivate, instead of playing a leading role in studying the Fa and cultivating their xinxing [moral character, mind nature]. Frankly speaking, from this kind of behavior, they don't actually regard themselves as genuine practitioners. All of the above reflect their attachments to fame and self-interest, and their attachment of competitiveness and jealousy. If this continues on, negative consequences are inevitable. This way of pursuing things in cultivation is just like what Master has described, "Building temples and worshiping gods, truly busy, But not knowing actions with pursuit can bring nothing in the end." ("Actions with Pursuit," Hong Yin)

As Fa-rectification Dafa practitioners, what should we do at present? Clarify the truth and save sentient beings. That's the honor bestowed upon us by Dafa. It's what we should do; it's not additional work, but the heavenly duty of practitioners. It is not intended for show. There should be no thought in the subconscious to measure how much one has expended or how much one has suffered. There should be no thought of gaining any praise. Everything should be a natural expression of one's dedicated heart. It is more wonderful and much more admirable if one can look at all he has done with an unassuming state of mind.

Practitioners should not have the habit of unconsciously judging fellow practitioners around us as being great, good, not so good or very poor cultivators. We should also not compare our own good qualities with another one's shortcomings. This could lead to different impressions and attitudes towards different fellow practitioners. Whoever we think highly of, we agree with and praise anything they say or do. Whoever we have a bad impression of, we are critical of and disapprove of whatever they say. Such a mentality being used to deal with the relationships among practitioners easily brings about barriers and conflicts. As Master says, "For example, there are conflicts between one and another such as you are good, he is not good, your cultivation is good, and his is not."(Zhuan Falun) We should measure things with the standard of the Fa, instead of measuring things with our personal opinions and interests. We should treat everything with reason, instead of judging everything from our own perception.

One day, I discovered out that I had unconsciously classified fellow practitioners around me with my own standards. I judged someone as good and another one as not so good in cultivation, thus comparing them all with my own understandings. I later realized that this was wrong and was not suitable for the Fa. The matter that constituted this dirty notion immediately disappeared. I felt as though my wisdom opened and ascended to another level. It now becomes easy for me to regard the Fa as my Teacher and not to be moved by the different mentalities of other people. Before, I could easily be influenced by my own perceptions without notice; now I have become more rational and calm. I can see more of the good qualities of every practitioner. I can sense their greatness and can easily forgive their mistakes.