A Lesson Learned from Developing a Mentality of Showing Off Amidst Fellow Practitioners' Praises

By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Weifang City

(Clearwisdom.net) I have continuously received praise from fellow practitioners since I began cultivation. Almost every practitioner I have met has mentioned that I had good enlightenment quality and good inborn quality and that I did the three things diligently.

At first I was able to suppress the deviant mentalities that developed in me, such as being overly happy, showing off, and so on. I would tell others that it was Master who had bestowed such wisdom upon me. Master stated, "Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master." (“Zhuan Falun”) We must have the will to cultivate and Master looks at our hearts to see if we live up to the standard. It is our benevolent and great Master who truly handles this matter.

As soon as these deviant mentalities appeared, I would rectify myself by following the standards of the “Fa.” However, these deviant mentalities would spontaneously manifest. I received praise from practitioners in person and even sometimes when I was not present. The words of praise poured into my body like toxic drugs and caused attachments to surface. The attachment to being overly happy and showing off became heavier and heavier and more and more intense until I was frightened and startled. At times I was aware that every sentence I said, every thing that I did, and every thought that I had contained these dirty mentalities. This happened so frequently that it became natural.

This situation is an example of what Master has told us, "How much hardship will you have to go through to transform that into white matter? It’ll be really hard." (Zhuan Falun). These compliments were inviting unnecessary troubles and increasing tribulations for me.

I hope that fellow practitioners do not praise other practitioners at will. As time passes, unnecessary praise will stimulate and increase a practitioners' attachment to being overly happy and showing off. If a practitioner who receives such admiration does not pay attention, the situation can become very serious. One will reach a point where one will want to show off while doing anything, which will create an omission that rotten demons can exploit. Are these praises helping the practitioner, or harming the practitioner?

I hope fellow practitioners will pay attention to minding their speech, as some statements should not be used too frequently. If a practitioner needs to use encouragement to cheer someone up, then encouraging words are appropriate. Otherwise, praise should not used casually. A compliment may stimulate deviant mentalities in another practitioner.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/3/20/151137.html

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