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"Being Selfless" and "Considering Others First" are Not Just Words
By a practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) It was March 22, 2004, just after 5pm. All of a
sudden my legs and my heart were in pain. I knew that it was the evil forces
causing trouble, and I started sending righteous thoughts. A few minutes later,
a fellow practitioner came to my house, told me that another practitioner was in
a very dangerous condition, and asked me to send forth righteous thoughts for
him. I refused without thinking, because I was sending forth righteous thoughts
to save myself. At first, I did not think I was wrong. A couple of minutes
later, I realized how selfish it was that I didn't want to save others when they
were in danger. My selfishness was thoroughly exposed. The destination of our cultivation path is to become selfless, always
consider others first, and thus reach consummation with righteous enlightenment.
This time a fellow practitioner was having trouble at the same time as me.
However, my situation was a lot of easier than his. He needed my help but I
refused. At the critical point, the first thing I thought about was my self. I have been cultivating for five years. How have I been doing? This test
showed my problem. If I continue to be like that, can I be responsible for the
positive elements in the universe in the future? Two minutes later, the
practitioner who had come to ask for my help left and I realized I was wrong.
Since I did not know who he was and where he lived, I missed the opportunity.
Two days later, I found out that the practitioner in tribulation was a 70 year
old military doctor who had skin ulcer on his back, which could have threatened
his life. I could imagine how big that tribulation was. Then I joined two fellow
practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for him, three times in the
morning and twice in the evening, each time for a half hour. In between sending
forth righteous thoughts, we exchanged our understandings with him. He said that
due to his profession, whenever he felt uncomfortable, he would think he was
sick. Eventually the elderly practitioner was sent to the hospital, and came out a
month later. He told us that he had been sending forth righteous thoughts in the
hospital as long as he had a clear mind. At the time when he had not felt so
clear minded, he thought, "It is no good. I am going to die." Then he
immediately thought, "I can't die. If I died, what would happen to the
beings in my universe?" At the key point, he thought of the beings of his
universe. That showed his righteous thoughts of thinking about others before
oneself. Teacher could see everything and save him from the brink of death. Since the fellow practitioner was admitted to the hospital, my heart felt
very heavy and I felt sorry for him. It was we who did not do well, especially
in the beginning when I refused to send forth righteous thoughts for him. I did
not pay enough attention until I went to see him and saw his severe condition. Through this incident, I learned a lesson. I did not have enough righteous
thoughts facing the great tribulation of my fellow practitioner. I did not play
the good role that I should play. From the Minghui Weekly Journal, I read
many stories that when a practitioner encountered the tribulation of illness,
there were always several fellow practitioners sending forth righteous thoughts
for hours, sometimes even over ten hours. Teacher said that everything we do
here is actually a big battle in other dimensions between the righteous and the
evil. Our fellow practitioner must have been surrounded by layers of evil,
demons and dark minions. We should send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate
those evil demons and rescue our fellow practitioners. Now I understood this and
here I am bringing it up. Through this incident, I understood many things. "Selfishness" is
the root of all our bad notions and attachments. I also realized that I was
still constrained by the standards of the old universe. Thinking back, I did not
pass many tribulations because I did not face them from the Fa's perspective.
Thus those tribulations often became more severe. We should get up once we fall,
but we should not always fall. We should not let ourselves fall at all. At this
last period of validating Fa and saving people, I should walk every step with a
clear mind on the cultivation journey arranged by Teacher, and truly become
selfless, considering others before myself. I should meet Teacher's requirements
and complete my duty of being "in control of Heaven and Earth, rectifying
the human realm" (The Foretelling). |