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Our Hearts Must Be Pure and Righteous
By a Falun Gong practitioner in Taiwan
(Clearwisdom.net) I have encountered a problem during my recent trips to
Manhattan. Fewer and fewer people accepted truth-clarification materials from
me. I repeatedly looked inward to search for the cause. I finally found the root
cause when I came across the following passage of the Fa. Teacher said, "In cultivation and practice one should be in a state
free of intention. As long as you focus on cultivating your xinxing, you will
make breakthroughs in your level and certainly get things you deserve. If you
cannot give something up, isn't it an attachment?" (Zhuan Falun.) Although I am a relatively new Falun Gong practitioner, I have been diligent
in my cultivation practice. I have been very diligent in the Fa study and even
more diligent in doing truth-clarification work. Things went well when I first
started to distribute truth-clarification materials on the streets of Manhattan.
Many fellow practitioners mentioned that I distributed more truth-clarification
materials than others. After a while, I developed an attachment to fame and
self-complacency. I started to feel I was better with the truth-clarification
work than other practitioners. When fewer and fewer people in Manhattan accepted
the truth-clarification materials, I looked inward and found some of my
attachments. For example, I had an attachment to competitiveness. I would check
if anyone else could distribute the truth-clarification materials more quickly.
I also had an attachment to doing things. I was very anxious to distribute more
truth-clarification materials to satisfy my selfish desire for fame and
accomplishment. I tried to adjust my mentality, but the situation did not
improve much, for I still had an attachment to distribute more
truth-clarification materials than others. I also discovered that people often refused to take the truth-clarification
materials from me when I thought in my mind, "I want to save you."
After a thorough self-examination, I realized what I was "really"
thinking in my mind. I was thinking, "I want to save you because I want you
to take the truth-clarification material." However, I should have been
thinking, "I want you to take the truth-clarification material because I
want to save you." I wasn't altruistically thinking of people's best
interests. I was thinking about winning the competition of distributing the
truth-clarification materials. In other words, I was not thoroughly sincere or
pure when I offered people our materials. In addition, when I looked inward to search for the cause within, I
prioritized the upgrading of my personal cultivation practice over saving the
world's people. I felt bad about my low character, not about people who haven't
learned or accepted the truth about Falun Gong. Teacher said: "You are a cultivator, so you need to have mighty-virtue. And where
does your mighty-virtue come from? Doesn't it come from letting go of self and
being selfless in this grueling environment, and being completely responsible
to the Fa as a Dafa disciple? Isn't that, itself, mighty-virtue? And what's
more, you did it in a grueling environment. The more you put you first
or mix in [factors of] self, the less mighty-virtue you have, and that's why
it is less likely that you succeed at things or do them well. Dafa's things
should be the most sacred, and that's why the less you have of your own
notions and involve your own factors, the better you can handle them and the
more likely you are to succeed." ("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting
with Asia-Pacific Students") Teacher is so right! I had such a strong attachment to validating myself. I
carried many personal notions and factors when I distributed truth-clarification
materials. No wonder fewer and fewer people wanted to take the materials from
me. I hope that my past wrongs will be a lesson to other fellow practitioners.
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