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Looking Inward
(Clearwisdom.net) I thought that I was cultivating well and was able to
look inward when I encountered problems. It was not until today that I realized
that I actually missed many opportunities. Many times I did not truly look
inward and thereby limited myself. When I encountered conflicts with others, I
did look inward. Even though my xinxing was not present at
that moment, I was able to look inward afterwards. When I see or hear problems
that do not directly affect me and seem not to have anything to do with me on
the surface, I seldom look inward. At such times, I often criticize others and
try to solve the problems for the sake of solving problems. As a coordinator for
the past few years, many times I experienced limitations to passively solve
problems. Whenever there was a problem, I usually discussed the problems with
the whole group. During this process we all tried to look inward, but often
limited ourselves by the fact that we did not discuss the issue. We commented
about who was right and who was wrong and what everyone had done. I thought we
were doing quite well and that I was helping others to solve their problems.
It's a pity that I actually missed so many opportunities when I should truly
have looked inward! I acted like a judge when I helped others with their
problems and conflicts. As a third party, I seldom stayed out of the conflicts
and looked inward at myself. This is not uncommon among our fellow practitioners. Of course we should try
to solve the problems when we encounter them, but exactly how should we solve
the problems? Teacher told us in "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at
the U.S. Capital, 2006:" "If you can conduct yourself in that manner with whatever you encounter,
at a minimum you will find a way to resolve the problem. Otherwise how could you
resolve it? When a person charges forward and is contentious, the more he wants
to resolve it, the less he is able to. In that scenario you still haven't in
fact let go of that attachment and you are pushing your way to the front, and
you insist on figuring out who's right and who's wrong; even though you've made
mistakes, you insist on figuring out others' mistakes. When that's the approach,
you won't be able to resolve the problem." After repeatedly studying Teacher's lecture, my thoughts started to change. I
realized that in cultivation, when we encounter problems, if we cannot look
inward, then we are not in the Fa. When we do not listen to Teacher,
we are in conflict with the Fa. When we try to solve problems or try to point
out others' mistakes without looking inward, it will not work well. Because this
is looking externally and trying to change others according to our expectations,
we do not consider ourselves as cultivators. We have to truly cultivate
ourselves. No matter what or who the problem is directly or indirectly related
to, we ourselves should always look inward. Nothing we encounter is accidental.
If we see it or hear it, it's in our own dimension and corresponds to something
negative. On the surface it seems to be someone else's error, but this shows us
our own errors. We should not be confused by things on the surface. We need to
go beyond that, look at our own thoughts, see which of our attachments are being
touched, and whether we have the same problems. We have to find the real problem
and resolve it. If we act like this, then our thoughts are based on the Fa. Then
we need to discuss the matter with others and solve it. If we all look inward,
we do not need to intentionally try to solve the problem; it will disappear if
we have righteous actions. This will truly solve the problem, because we found
our own attachments, corrected ourselves, and raised our xinxing to a
higher level. A few days ago during experience sharing, we were repeatedly discussing how
to solve a conflict between two practitioners. The two practitioners had big
conflicts cooperating with each other, and there was also a relationship
involved. We spent the whole evening discussing it but were not able to resolve
it. We felt that something was not right. How come we kept criticizing others?
Let's look inward! From examining their conflicts, we discovered we were lacking
compassion. When a problem occurs, we do not look at and use the Fa to measure
ourselves, instead, we always measure others. Also from their qing,
some of us saw our own hidden qing. Every one of us discovered problems
of our own. We saw the essence of the problem, and we did not focus on those two
practitioners' problems anymore, since their problem is actually a reflection of
our problem as one body. We all looked inward and corrected ourselves. When I
met those two practitioners later, their problem had already been solved, just
like for the rest of us. From this incident, we realized the power of
"looking inward." As one practitioner said, when a problem occurs in
our group as one body, it may not be that obvious for everyone involved. Certain
practitioners might notice more. But if we see it, then it's our responsibility,
it's a problem for us as one body, and everybody bears a share. When everybody
cleanses him or herself and takes care of his or her own problem, it will no
longer exist. Teacher told us that "Cultivation is about cultivating one's self."
("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital", 2006) If
we limit ourselves to solving the problems for the sake of solving problems,
then we are looking outward, we are using the theory of the old universe, and we
are following the arrangements of the old forces. If we do not completely negate
the arrangements of the old forces, we won't be able to solve the root cause of
the problem. Why can't the old forces that wanted to save the universe not do
it, and in fact destroyed themselves? It's the same reason. Looking inward when
facing problems is a major difference between the lives from the old universe
and the new universe. Only when we look inward can we meet the requirements of
the Fa. Cleanse ourselves, be tolerant toward others, cultivate our compassion,
and save sentient beings. How do we look inward? We need to change our old
notions. It is a natural act after a life has assimilated to the Fa, so we must
study and use the Fa to measure ourselves. When facing problems, no matter under
what circumstance, no matter what or who it's related to or if we find it is to
be right or wrong, we must be calm, take a step back, and find what problems
exist inside ourselves. Yesterday evening when I was reciting Teacher's "Teaching the Fa at the
Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital" for the third time, I discovered that I
did or said many things in the past few days which were not in the Fa. I was
shocked. I visited a new area recently and noticed that big safety issues
existed there. Practitioners were not paying attention to their speech and
everyone knew everything. At least six or seven people have the keys for a major
material production site and they come and go freely. They pay more attention to
doing things than studying the Fa. I talked to the local coordinator and
practitioner who is in charge of the printing several times and pointed this out
and gave them some suggestions. They also realized the importance of this issue.
They listened to my suggestions and changed their methods. In the past, I felt
that I have done well. But when I studied the Fa calmly, when I recited
"Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital" and checked
my own actions, I realized I was wrong! Seeing the problems in this area, I did
not look inward first--why didn't I see it? Was it arranged for me to correct
their wrongdoing? Why was I so certain that my opinion was right? The first
thing I did was not looking inward but solving problems for "others:"
this was wrong. The suggestions I gave them came from my understanding during my
cultivation from different levels and periods. Is it suitable to tell others to
copy my understanding? Isn't it forcing my own opinion onto others? I realized
these things and maybe it meant that I needed to change the methods I used
before. I need to renew my notions and correct anything that is not within the
Fa. Afterwards, I could then discuss with fellow practitioners how to solve the
problems. Maybe at the end they will still use what I originally suggested, but
the result--for myself, or we as one body, or in another dimension--would be
totally different. Teacher has told us that we should assimilate to the Fa
unconditionally. We should change our long term human notions and follow his
requirements. Recently I have required myself to follow this and I have really
discovered so many problems. My old selfish notions have started to change. My
old ways of thinking and habits have changed as well. So this is an important
point we should realize: whatever we do, whatever problems we face, we should
first realize we are practitioners. We should not focus on doing things and rush
to solve problems. We should cultivate ourselves during the process and upgrade
our xinxing, because our xinxing level is very important to the
success of everything else. December 29, 2006 |