Cultivate Away the Mentality of Owing and Doing Favors for Fellow Practitioners

By Shengshi, a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) We live about twelve kilometers from the neighboring county, so it is not easy for a fellow practitioner to come over and install a satellite dish for us. When a practitioner installed a dish at my home, he left an instruction sheet. I read the installation and adjustment procedures carefully.

Later, practitioner "A" asked me to help him install a small satellite dish. Originally he had a big satellite dish with a special high frequency tuner. No matter what we tried, we could not get any program reception on the small dish. Still, the practitioner felt that he had taken up my time, so he gave me some apples and pears as a gift. I did not evaluate it seriously from the Fa. Also, I had long been used to the idea of "letting things be as they are." Consequently, I took them home because I could not reject the fellow practitioner's hospitality.

After a few days, practitioner "B" brought home a satellite dish from another practitioner, and she also came to me for help installing it. After I installed and adjusted her satellite dish, she was able to watch TV programs. She was very happy and treated me with generous hospitality. When I left she also gave me some fruit, and she would have been upset if I refused. After returning home I could not rest my mind, but I did not know why.

Later I found the answer through studying the Fa. Teacher said,

"Gradually, this person would accept small gifts. Later, she would also accept big gifts. In the end, she would even be offended when the gifts were few. Finally, she would say, 'Why do you give me so many things? Give me money!' She would not be pleased if given too little money." "Reverse Cultivation and Gong Borrowing," Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun

I instantly understood that because I had not studied the Fa deeply enough, I did not evaluate this situation from the Fa at a critical time.

Two days later, practitioner "C" purchased a set of equipment, and practitioner "B" asked me to help with the installation. This time, with fellow practitioners' help, the installation went very smoothly. Practitioner "C" wanted me to stay for lunch. I said, "For one thing, I still have other things to take care of (I indeed did), and it is not even time to have lunch yet. If you are going to cook, I'll leave. If you don't plan to cook just yet, let's just sit down and share our understandings."

We ended up sharing our understandings together. Practitioner "B" said that she too sensed trouble from the two earlier instances. She came to realize Teacher's words,

"When you spread it, you should not pursue fame and personal gain, but should serve others voluntarily." "How Should Falun Dafa Practitioners Spread the Practice?" Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun

I also told them, "First you guys wouldn't ask me to come, for fear of bothering a fellow practitioner. That's an attachment to being troublesome for others. And as for myself, my mind is not at ease when others don't ask for me. I have had the hidden attachments of showing off, zealotry and jealousy. These everyday people's attachments are not easily detectable, but they were manifested in these instances." We wholeheartedly gave thanks for Teacher's teachings and fellow practitioners' sharing.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/1/20/170721.html

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version