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Happiness from Looking Inside Shared at the New Zealand Fa Conference by a Falun Dafa practitioner in New Zealand
(Clearwisdom.net) Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference
in Canada", "To cultivate is to search your inner self and discover
your shortcomings, attachments and bad thoughts, as well as find ways to
cultivate better and to get rid of your bad thoughts. This is cultivation
through searching inside yourself." Teacher's Fa has deep and rich meanings
at all levels. Here, I'd like to share some of the thoughts that I came to
realize during my cultivation. Initially, I tried to look inside to be a good person and not to fight with
others in my family, at work, and in social circles. I used everyday people's
standards when trying to be a good person. I was very happy since everybody
praised me. After some time, I couldn't pass my cultivation tests any more using my
initial way of looking inside. Using everyday people's standards, I found I was
doing everything right. When I tried to use Falun Dafa practitioners' standards,
I felt unfairly treated or wronged. It wasn't easy for me to stay calm and thank
those people when they took advantage of my kindness or when they cursed me for
no reason. Sometimes, I became very angry. However, the angrier I became, the more
they'd curse me. I clenched my teeth and with tears in my heart, I said to them
in my mind, "Thank you for cursing me. I must pass this test, Teacher.
Thank you for helping me, Teacher." When I repeated this in my mind three
times, I found I wasn't that angry any more and those people didn't seem to be
that bad. I clearly felt happiness rising from the bottom of my heart when I
improved my xinxing. Gradually, those people who liked to
curse me no longer did that. In fact, they became very polite to me. When clarifying the truth, I noticed sometimes I was able to do it well,
sometimes not. Some people that I thought would accept what I said very easily,
didn't. Others that I thought it wouldn't be easy to reach accepted the truth.
When examining myself against the Fa, I came to see that when I studied the Fa
well and when I was in a calm state, I was able to help people quit the Party
without talking too much. Otherwise, people's hearts wouldn't move even when I
talked a lot. I also realized that I shouldn't have the attachments of trying to
label people. I should be compassionate to everyone since all the people came
for the Fa. My thoughts about whether they would accept the truth easily or not
were just everyday people's notions. I also noticed that what we said might not
be as important as our compassion and the tone of our voice. When I pointed out a fellow practitioner's attachment but he didn't accept
it, I looked inside and I came to realize that I myself actually had that
attachment! I took a closer look and found that those who said others were
selfish were actually selfish people themselves. Those who always remembered who
helped them were always ready to help others. Those who claimed other people
were jealous actually were jealous of others. Those who like gossip often
complained about others being talkative. Interestingly, people who had the same
attachments often were in the same group. That's probably why we have an old
Chinese proverb that says, "People can be judged based on the people with
whom they associate." I came to realize that such an arrangement was so
that we can use others we are close to as mirrors in order for them to improve
ourselves. All predestined relationships are for today's cultivation. Teacher
said in his article "A Dialogue with Time", "It would be good if
they could manage to search within themselves for the things that they have been
able to find in others." Reading this, I came to know how to cultivate! I
was so happy! When I see someone publicly criticizing others, I ask myself: When looking inside, I came to realize that I still had so many attachments.
I was shocked. I must go forward more diligently! Now, whenever I am faced by "challenges," for example, when I can't
open the door of my car or when my computer crashes, I ask myself, "Did I
do something wrong? Did I have some unrighteous thoughts?" As soon as I
uncover my attachment and when I am determined to get rid of it, the door of my
car will open or my computer will recover by itself. I came to realize that
there aren't tests that I can't pass and there aren't things that I can't do as
long as I look inside! As long as we look inside, cultivation is not that hard. With the process of looking inside, I started to enjoy looking at things from
above. I work at a nursing home for elderly people. After I got rid of my
attachments to fame and status, Teacher empowered me with the field of
compassion. I always smile at those elderly people. They are touched by my kind
smiles and even those who are the most picky praise me. Some of them cursed,
hit, spit at people, scratched others with their sharp nails, played with their
stools, and were very stubborn. My English is not very good; however, with my
smiles and tender care, they changed. How was I able to achieve this? I was able to do this because I raised my
level. None of their words or actions can hurt me. My heart will not be moved by
them. At work, I do my job without pursuit. I don't go after a promotion or a
bonus. I'm not attached to them. I don't mind their laughing at me. I always
smile at them and my smile comes from the bottom of my heart. Therefore, it is
pure and compassionate. I am not afraid of hard work. Therefore, even the
laziest coworkers are not lazy when they are with me. As long as I am at work,
nobody will ignore any of the patients. Of course, no matter how well I thought I did, I still had many shortcomings
so sometimes conflicts might happen or things didn't work out. But I'm
determined that I should bring the beauty of Falun Dafa to my workplace and
everywhere else in my life. It is because of Teacher's guiding me and protecting me that I've come this
far. We don't have a long way to go now. I must stay clear-minded and rational.
I must strive forward diligently during the final stage so I can assist Teacher
with the Fa-rectification and save more sentient beings. The above is my personal understanding. Please correct me if I said anything
inappropriate. Thank you Teacher! Thank you fellow practitioners!
Posting date: 2/10/2008 |