(Clearwisdom.net) I have to go out a lot for my work, so I bought an economical and practical cell phone for 399 yuan. It can play MP3 and MP4 files and can also act as an electronic book, so I uploaded all of the Fa lectures, but discovered that it could not display traditional Chinese characters. I sought advice from many practitioners over the Internet to rectify this problem, but nothing worked. I felt that I had wasted my money on cheap goods and criticized myself for false economizing. I figured I would just give the phone to my daughter and buy another.
Today I memorized a few pages of Fa, and my cell phone alarm reminded me it was time to send forth righteous thoughts. After sending righteous thoughts I picked up my cell phone and looked at the time. I suddenly realized that I had been complaining about my cell phone's capability not being adequate. I tried searching within and discovered to my surprise that these thoughts were concealing a very bad, rather large, human heart.
I remember last year in our area there were large-scale arrests of fellow practitioners. Unable to bear the pressure, some told the police that I was producing informational materials about Falun Gong. The police arrested me, took me to the police station, and grilled me for three days and three nights. Unable to obtain any information about other practitioners in the area, they took me to a forced labor camp and even brought in my 70-year-old mother, vainly attempting to coerce me using family affection. I said to my mother and the others there, "It's no use bringing my mother before me like this. In the eyes of Dafa practitioners, family and outsiders are all the same. To us there's no intimate or estranged, close or distant. We don't differentiate based on these things." Another practitioner present pitched in, "When practitioners look at the myriad matters and all things, including all sentient beings, it's all the same, it's all compassion."
I was shaken deeply by that practitioner's immense compassion, which had been cultivated from the Fa, and at the same time I felt the difference between my realm and that practitioner's. Simply because of those few words, the guards didn't cause any more trouble for my mother, and placed me with that other practitioner, allowing the two of us to share from the Fa and me to find my shortcomings. Before long, I was released!
Yes indeed, Dafa practitioners look at the myriad matters and all things as sentient beings--it's all compassion. Just because a life is flawed, has shortcomings, or has made mistakes, we can't go and complain about it. Especially during the Fa-Rectification of the universe, at the key moment in time when the cosmic body is being re-constructed, anything that contributes to Dafa and Dafa practitioners validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, and thus supports them, is a life most worthy of being cherished. How could I complain about that cell phone, which helps me but is slightly lacking in ability? Even though this life isn't outstanding to the eye, and has deficiencies, it's putting forth its full effort! Wasn't this mentality a manifestation of my realm of compassion being inadequate?
Thinking back on all the trouble and conflict I have encountered over the past years of cultivating, I realize they've actually all been caused by my realm of compassion not being adequate. It was because of this shortcoming that I felt that this practitioner has this problem, that practitioner has that problem, this evil person can't be saved, just let that one go down to hell sooner and be done with it, this ordinary person has degenerated in this way, that ordinary person won't listen to reason, and so on.
Master said:
"You have no way to cultivate if you don't know the Law at high levels, and if you don't cultivate inward, if you don't cultivate your character, your gong won't increase. Those are the two reasons." (Zhuan Falun)
I deeply thank Master for allowing me to understand my shortcomings through this matter. In cultivation we must search within. If we don't search within, we won't be able to see the higher requirements of the Fa.
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Category: Improving Oneself
