Some Suggestions on Looking Inward

By a practitioner from China

(Clearwisdom.net) After studying the Fa, I realized that it is important to look within and improve xinxing so that we can eliminate the old forces' interference and firmly walk the path arranged by Teacher. In an experience sharing article, a practitioner mentioned that if we look within when we come across a problem, then the evil will be choked back. Teacher said:

"Look at yourself first, and if you discover that you have a problem, take care of it. With that the old forces won't be able to do anything; when they can't find anything to hold against you they will back off. Of course, at the current time even if the old forces want to back off that doesn't cut it--clear them away entirely. After you cleanse yourself when you sit to send righteous thoughts, clear them away." ("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students")

I have read many fellow practitioners' articles on the Clearwisdom website and learned to look within. As a result, my xinxing has upgraded. I would like to share some of my understandings regarding looking inward.

For example, my husband began to complain that I didn't take care of him. After looking within, I realized that after I began practicing Falun Gong, I thought that nothing was as important as cultivation. I even thought cooking and doing other household chores was a waste of my time. However, those thoughts were very wrong and were not in line with the Fa. Dafa teaches us that the starting point of cultivation is to be a good person. After recognizing this shortcoming, I corrected it immediately and my husband stopped complaining.

Several times my husband became upset with me over minor trifles. However, I did not fight back when I was beaten or sworn at. Even though I did not think I had any shortcomings, why did I still have problems? Later on I understood that whenever I was not happy with my husband or complained about him in my head, he would pick on me. After removing the attachment to dissatisfaction, my situation improved a great deal.

A few days ago, we shared our understanding on the Olympics. Before, I would have blamed those practitioners who were attached to the Olympics and would not have paid attention to looking within myself. However, Teacher has told us:

"Be careful: When a problem arises, do not try to find out who should be held accountable. Instead, you should examine your own conduct. Do not try to look into who wrote them. Take a lesson from it and be careful in the future." ("Correction," Essentials For Further Advancement)

After looking inside, I found that I also had an attachment to the Olympics.

I used to always focus on other people's shortcomings when I studied the Fa. For example, when Teacher talked about jealousy, I thought it referred to Practitioner A. When the attachment of fear was mentioned, I thought it referred to Practitioner B. When we talked about attachments to human notions, I thought it referred to Practitioner C. I always pointed out others' attachments and thought I was helping them improve. This was absolutely wrong. Teacher wrote:

"Master: There are also such people among veteran disciples. And the most outstanding evidence of that is they always compare themselves with humans and with their own past, but fail to examine themselves with the requirements of the Fa at different levels.

Divine Being: These problems have already become very serious. It would be good if they could manage to search within themselves for the things that they have been able to find in others." ("A Dialogue with Time," Essentials for Further Advancement)

I gradually changed my mindset. Later, when I saw that Practitioner A had the attachment of jealousy, I could recognize it in myself. After looking within, I realized that I envied practitioners that have cultivated well. When I saw that Practitioner B had the attachment of fear, in fact, I also had a strong attachment to fear. I would always point out to my husband after he began to practice that he was not diligent enough. However, I did not do the three things every day. Sometimes I forgot to send righteous thoughts; sometimes I didn't complete the five sets of exercises; and sometimes I was too busy to clarify the truth. Since I have acknowledged my own attachments, fellow practitioners behave themselves better and my husband has started doing the three things.

Please point out anything improper in my current understanding.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/9/1/185102.html

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