Thoughts from a Story about a Lunch with Master

By a Dafa disciple from Northeastern China

(Clearwisdom.net) Ten years ago, a disciple of many years who had listened to Master's lectures in person told me a story. Master Li Hongzhi had come to our city to give a lecture series to spread the Fa. During lunch, everyone sat down while the trade union who received us, kindly offered to order food for us. A disciple who was with Master ordered a lot of vegetarian dishes. This prompted one of the labor union officers to ask, "Why so many vegetarian dishes? Doesn't your Master eat meat?" Master smiled kindly and said (paraphrase), "Only he doesn't eat meat" (referring to the disciple who ordered). At that time everyone had a big laugh. Master then also let others order some meat dishes.

Many years passed but this story still left a deep impression in my heart. In the beginning, I thought it showed Master's courteous and humorous conduct with people. However, yesterday I realized another connotation: Master does not only teach us to consider others first, and cultivate to selflessness and righteousness, but Master also puts it into action by being an example in every situation. This realization gave me many regrets.

From this event, I remembered something else:

Recently, other disciples and I shared experiences about another disciple. This disciple was a bit on the extreme side. After becoming too excited about Dafa teachings, he did not let his kids go to school, and he did not work anymore. When he went to other disciple's homes, he would destroy books with dragon designs or of evil Chinese Communist Party culture without any permission. This created much negative thinking in people who saw him. This disciple even cut off flowers and plants, saying those things gained spiritual influence easily, and thus would interfere with other people.

When I first heard this, I was slightly alarmed. How can he be this strange? Master's Fa has been taught clearly, did he not read it? The more we talked about it, the more my heart boiled. I thought, I should stay away from this person in the future. Whenever I thought about this disciple, I would have an uncomfortable feeling. One day I calmly thought about this problem. Although everyone had a view of looking down at this person, was it that everyone had problems? Was it that everyone had human feelings that they should cultivate away? Just thinking about it suddenly exposed my own human feelings: He didn't have a proper understanding so I felt resentment, I criticized, and felt a grudge. What was the root of my problem then? It was my tremendous selfishness.

I thought I was already a veteran practitioner; however, why was it that during experience sharing I would unconsciously emphasize my own understanding? Even when other people talked, I tried to steal the conversation. Whenever I gained a new understanding about something I wanted to tell other people right away. Secretly, I wanted to make the other person approve my own understanding. I believed my way was the most righteous way. I thought that what I said and did was the most righteous and the best. I felt uncomfortable when others put forth things different than my ideas. How was this different from lives from the old universe? When I critiqued myself like that, I realized I had many human manifestations within me. For example: when I was with a friend, I told him that he had to run his business the way I thought he should. This was to the extent where I even wanted to change his store sign to a name that I felt was more appropriate. I had hidden this attachment of selfishness so deeply that it didn't show, but it surfaced from time to time.

The only way to break away from humanness and walk towards divinity is for cultivators to unconditionally look within. To look outwards will always result in being human. In the past I thought I was diligent in doing the three things. I was sure I was following the process of Fa-rectification. When Fa-rectification ended, I was certain to return home with Master. Fa-rectification hasn't ended, and it is Master is waiting for those of us who were not diligent. I was sure I was diligent. However, from this practitioner's story, I saw that my heart hasn't been cultivated clean yet. The fundamental problem hasn't been solved yet. I needed to be more lenient to fellow disciples. I needed to accept the deficiencies of other practitioners, needed to understand the cultivation state of fellow disciples. When fellow practitioners express deficiencies, I need to understand that it was the attachments of practitioners that haven't been cultivated away, while at the same time kindly pointing them out. I need to be responsible to Dafa, the new universe, and everything that Master has initiated for us. However, I have not done it at all.

Master said there were two reasons why gong would not grow. I felt that I haven't studied the high-level Fa thoroughly enough, my xinxing wasn't up to standard, and my human heart constantly made me look outwards. I was truly ashamed. Master has told us that even gods consult with each other in heaven. In my understanding, that kind of mutual understanding, tolerance and selflessness of cooperation between gods is the standard that Dafa disciples should achieve. Previously, I constantly had thoughts of wanting the Fa-rectification to end quickly. Then I thought about it from another angle. If it ended, I still have so many human attachments, where would Master assign me to? Cultivation practice waits for no one. It is also a serious matter. I said to myself in my heart: Master, I will cultivate diligently. I will achieve the standard.

When my perspective changed, I looked at this disciple again. I found that he had many strong points. His firm beliefs in regards to the Fa was stronger than mine. He copied, and memorized the Fa. He clarified the truth, and distributed fliers and other truth-clarification materials. His state of mind that allowed him to lay his life on the line to save sentient beings truly moved me. In the beginning, the old forces arranged all Dafa disciples who were tremendously different and were from different worlds all together in an environment to cultivate. The old forces want us to push each other away and create rifts between us, to make us emphasize selfishness and be an unstable body. In this way, we cannot achieve the standard, and can't cultivate. Master's Fa can help us let go of our self-centeredness, and understand each other. It lets us break through everything and achieve the standards of a life in the new universe. This is a state of mind and requirement we must achieve.

January 26, 2007

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