(Clearwisdom.net) Teacher said in "The Seventh Talk" of Zhuan Falun, "... jealousy is really intense in China, so intense it's become natural, and people can't sense it in themselves anymore." I'd like to share some of my personal understandings on this issue.
My youngest uncle, who is also a Dafa practitioner, told me a story. Once he was chatting with a coworker on the second floor of a building. A person that collected garbage came by, hitting a barrel with a plastic stick in a lively rhythm. His coworker said, "This person is amazing. See how he hits the barrel in such a nice, melodic way." My youngest uncle said, "That's nothing. Haven't you heard of the old Chinese saying about how a person can be good at anything as long as he practices it a lot? Actually, if I were him, I could do it better." After he told me the story, I said, "You are jealous of that garbage collector." His face became red from embarrassment. His jealousy has become natural and he didn't even sense it.
Sometimes when a fellow practitioner did a good job, other practitioners would get jealous, just as Teacher said, "...and people then get upset when something good happens to other people, instead of being happy for them." (Zhuan Falun, "The Seventh Talk")
In our local area, when we asked some practitioners to help coordinate Dafa projects, other practitioners got quite jealous and said, "Oh yes, he is a good practitioner. Now he's the coordinator. We don't need to do anything then. As a coordinator, he can do it himself." Teacher gave a similar example in Zhuan Falun,
"... 'You're Employee of the Month and you're so good at your job, you should come to work early and go home late. Why don't you do all this work? You're doing so well, and we're not good enough...' People use biting sarcasm. Even being a good person is hard." (Zhuan Falun, "The Seventh Talk")
When practitioners hold the strong attachment of jealousy, it interferes with becoming one body. It separates practitioners from each other. The most serious thing about jealousy is that it can become so natural that we don't recognize it ourselves. A practitioner once said that it's easier to get rid of attachments we dig out while it is difficult to get rid of the attachments we are not aware of. For example, when practitioner A helped another area to organize a large-scale Fa conference, practitioner B said to the practitioners in that area, "Why did you invite him? He doesn't make any sense." The practitioners in that area were quite confused by his comments.
From another perspective, when conflicts occur, everyone involved should look inside. It's the same with jealousy. I had an experience in which a fellow practitioner suddenly didn't like me any more no matter how hard I tried. When I mentioned this to another practitioner, he said, "He's simply jealous of you. However, you should look inside as well." When I truly looked inside, I realized that I had a strong attachment of zealotry and showing off. I often told that practitioner how other practitioners praised me and what I thought of the praise. What I said unintentionally stirred up his attachment of jealousy. When I dug out my attachments and cultivated my speech, the conflicts between us disappeared.
Of course, we are still cultivating, and therefore we still have many areas in which to improve. Our shortcomings will exhibit in different ways. However, I think that practitioners with a strong attachment of jealousy need to study the Fa more. We all need to compare our thoughts and actions against the Fa to purify our minds and bodies.
Finally, let's all study Teacher's Fa on jealousy.
"Jealousy is very serious because it directly impacts whether we can cultivate to Perfection. If jealousy isn't eliminated, all the thoughts you've cultivated become fragile. There's a rule: a person who doesn't get rid of jealousy while cultivating cannot achieve a True Fruition--he definitely won't achieve a True Fruition. Maybe you've heard people say that Buddha Amitabha mentioned going to Heaven with karma. But that won't happen if you don't get rid of jealousy. You could fall a little short in some other way, go to Heaven with a little karma, and cultivate further. That's possible. But that's definitely not possible if you don't get rid of your jealousy. Today I'm telling practitioners: stop turning a blind eye to your problem. Your goal is to cultivate up to higher levels, so you have to get rid of jealousy. That's why I've singled it out." (Zhuan Falun, "The Seventh Talk")
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