Letting Go of the Show-off Mentality and Cultivating Speech

By a practitioner in Jilin Province

(Clearwisdom.net) Ten days ago, I heard that practitioner David (alias) was arrested and detained because he did not pay attention to letting go of the show-off mentality and cultivating his speech.

David went out of town to run a business in order to send his child to school and make a living for his family. According to the requirements set forth by Teacher Li, he conducted his business fairly and it prospered. However, he relaxed in studying the Fa and clarified the truth to people less. He started to talk about how he became rich and showed off his abilities, which caused people to be jealous. Someone reported him to police, saying that he was a Falun Gong practitioner. Several police officers soon went to his store and searched it. They took away truth-clarifying materials, arrested David, and held him in a detention center. The police also searched his home and confiscated his property. Not long ago, they sent David to a labor camp.

Through this incident, I gained a greater understanding of a Fa principle. As cultivators, we may do well in business. It is because we behave as good people on the human level, because we conduct business fairly and honestly, and because we are lucky. However, if we have a show-off mentality, regard the success of our businesses as something to brag about and forget to cultivate our speech, the old forces will take advantage of our loopholes. It will cause unnecessary losses and be a cruel lesson in cultivation.

Whatever cultivators hear does not happen by accident. When I look at myself, I sometimes find that I do not regard myself as a cultivator. I liked to brag about even the smallest accomplishment. I was afraid that others did not know about my successes. I did not pay attention to cultivating speech and just wanted to let others know how good I was. It is a kind of showing-off. I also realize that I should measure myself according to the standards of a cultivator. Is my behavior helping to save people? If it does, I should do it rationally and consistently. Otherwise, I will let go of it completely.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/9/21/186261.html

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