Why Do We Make Excuses and then Defend Ourselves?

By Jin Ming, a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) In the process of validating Dafa and doing the three things, I have noticed an abnormal phenomenon among some fellow practitioners. One practitioner couldn't help defending himself or finding excuses for himself even though he clearly knew that he was not right and that he had not done well. One practitioner kept forgiving himself when he did not do the exercises or forgot to send forth righteous thoughts, by saying, "It's ok, I'm too busy. I'll catch up later." One practitioner could have done a task better, but due to too much trouble or difficulty, he simply gave up. When it is time to send forth righteous thoughts at midnight, one practitioner thinks, "I'm too tired today. I'll send forth righteous thoughts while lying in bed."

These situations are similar to having dirty clothes but claiming to others, "I did not make them dirty," to cover up not wanting to wash them. You know your clothes are dirty, but you find an excuse not to wash them or not to wash them carefully. What is your reasoning?

You defend yourself, telling others that you are not responsible for or not mainly responsible for a certain thing. In essence, it is because you cannot let go of your "self." Forgiving yourself is similar to "not being strict with yourself." It happens when a practitioner cannot treat cultivation practice seriously. You know that you are not right, but you do not want to be strict with yourself, and you do not want to get rid of the bad things in your mind. It shows that you are interfered with by the bad thoughts and that you are not diligent in cultivation practice.

Through witnessing this phenomenon, and digging deep into my mind, I have found that I have a similar attachment. I did not pay any attention to it before, and now it is exposed completely. It is Master who helps me become enlightened to it by letting me see it in fellow practitioners. So I am writing about it today and hoping that I can do better and become more diligent along with fellow practitioners who have the same problem.

In closing, I would like to review what Master said in his article, "The Closer to the End, The More Diligent You Should Be,"

"Actually, if you think about it, the cultivators of the past didn't dare to slack off for even a second, and that was when it took an entire lifetime to complete the journey. So how can Dafa disciples-who are to achieve the Attainment Status of a being who is saved by Dafa and who have the most convenient cultivation way-not be even more diligent when they are given this most glorious honor of Fa-validating cultivation in a brief cultivation period that passes in the blink of an eye?"

November 12, 2005

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