|
Lessons on Looking Within
(Clearwisdom.net) Due to a fellow practitioner passing away recently and
his behavior beforehand, I have realized the seriousness of looking within. The practitioner was steadfast in his Fa belief and had good understandings
of the Fa. He could usually point out the key issues in complicated situations
or problems. Other practitioners agreed that his level was pretty high and liked
to share with him. These factors, besides his own pride, could have enlarged his
feelings of superiority and tendency to look down on those who had not done as
well as he. This heart of his manifested from time to time, but he never paid
attention to it, even though it was pointed out to him. Early this year, he had some symptoms of illness, which became more serious
and later appeared to be cancer symptoms. However, he kept denying this
interference with strong righteous thoughts so that the cancer symptoms all
disappeared over time. When sharing with fellow practitioners, he often
mentioned that only he could have gone through this tribulation and others would
have failed and passed away. Also, he liked to pick at other practitioners'
shortcomings, and expressed his disappointment with them. His behavior obviously
embodied his heart of showing off and zealotry. Teacher said that, "The desire to show off plus the attachment of zealotry are most
easily exploited by the demonic part of your mind." ("Definitive
Conclusion" from Essentials for Further Advancement) Later his illness symptoms recurred and became worse, and he was confused why
even righteous thoughts did not help. In a later sharing with fellow
practitioners, he recognized that looking within was the first thing that needed
to be done, and recognized why he had experienced the interference and what his
omissions were. Fellow practitioners also helped him look for the sources of his
problems: 1) He was over protective of his family members. He got upset if
others criticized them and was unable to see things objectively. 2) He had some
strong notions acquired in his everyday life and liked being a leader. If others
did not follow his requirements, he not only got angry but also required them to
apologize and even write an apology letter (this was very much influenced by the
Chinese Communist Party's customs). 3) He looked down on those practitioners who
had not done as well as he and was picky about meeting with certain
practitioners. In other words, he avoided seeing some practitioners. To
summarize, he focused on self and was self-centered, and was not compassionate
in dealing with things. Since his mind was full of "self" instead of
"sentient beings," how could he do the three things well?
When fellow practitioners compassionately shared these points with him, he
agreed with them. However, he did not change much in practice. No matter how
often fellow practitioners reminded him, his human notions were still dominant.
Besides, he had another notion that the human heart was something different from
righteous thoughts and that the human heart could not affect righteous thoughts.
Because of this, he did not make enough effort to face his own attachments and
look within. Later, as his "illness karma" became serious, he started
to look within, but at that time looking within seemed to be the last resort to
save his life. Trying to solve problems for the mere sake of solving problems is
not in line with the Fa. The fellow practitioner is gone. I am not here to point a finger at him, but
I do want to remind those of us who have not paid attention to looking within to
avoid a similar mistake. Although we all say that we do not recognize the old forces' persecution, we
should follow Teacher in the Fa even though we may still have some omissions in
our xinxing. But what can be counted as really not
recognizing the old forces' arrangements? It isn't enough to just talk about it,
but rather it must be implemented in cultivation practice. When attachments
emerge, we should realize they are not ourselves, eliminate them, deny them, or
disobey them. Only by doing this will we "not recognize" them. If we
are inattentive or careless, we will be giving them attention and even nurturing
them. The old forces will then take advantage of us and strengthen our
attachments, making us fall into tribulations. If we are not doing well, how can
we eliminate our attachments? (The fellow practitioner's illness lasted for ten
months, a time during which Teacher was waiting and giving him extra
opportunities to enlighten.) There is a saying among ordinary people: "The destruction of a dam can
begin with an ants' nest." A practitioner who does not cultivate diligently
and isn't strict with himself will find that attachments of the human heart that
have not been eliminated will lead him to danger. Human emotions cannot
disappear automatically, rather they must be be eliminated step by step through
cultivation. To stop cultivating is to allow the evil to enlarge them and
construct huge tribulations. From the standpoint of a practitioner, the shortcomings of our fellow
practitioners are a mirror that reflect our own attachments, which we usually
take too lightly. Then they become insurmountable obstacles. If we let go of
every attachment and take every opportunity to upgrade our xinxing, we
can avoid many losses.
|