(Minghui.org) A few things that happened recently in our local area prompted me to reflect on myself and ponder whether I had been considerate of other practitioners, and whether I had attained the righteous enlightenment of selflessness.
A Problem—Being Selfish and Depending on One Practitioner for Many Things
There is an elderly practitioner close to 80 years old who shoulders the brunt of the truth-clarification responsibilities in our area. With a truth-clarification materials production site right at his home, he is constantly making and providing materials for local practitioners who have non-stop requests.
Despite his advanced age, he has to shop around for raw materials himself, and even purchase personal items for practitioners who frequently ask him for such favors. He also offers to safely store any items that practitioners feel are too dangerous to store in their own homes for fear of being confiscated by police as evidence to persecute them.
When we walk into his home, it looks like a chaotic storage room. Machines, DVDs and their cases, papers, and other items are scattered everywhere. Since he is always busy helping people, this elderly practitioner has trouble concentrating on Fa-study.
As a result, he is in a very poor cultivation state and he doesn’t look good, either physically or mentally. Many practitioners nonetheless see nothing wrong and keep asking him for truth-clarification materials, and ask him to do more work. There are even a few who suspect he misused money donated by fellow practitioners.
As I write this, I feel ashamed of myself and not worthy of the title of “Dafa disciple.”
Master taught us in “Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,”
“From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” from Essentials for Further Advancement) Verified
When we use the excuse of saving people to bother and trouble this elderly practitioner, I wonder if anyone has realized that they are showing two sides of themselves. On the one hand, we seem to be playing the role of enlightened beings in the human world as proud disciples of the Lord Buddha. On the other hand, our cold and selfish hearts, for the sake of our own convenience, are on display. Is the latter a reflection of our true selves? Of course not.
We Should Be Considerate of Others and Share the Practitioner's Load
As I see it, the cold and selfish side of each of us is a fake “self” developed postnatally, and it is a decayed substance that we should eliminate. We know from Master’s teachings that we need to consider others first. Isn’t the elderly practitioner another being that deserves our consideration? Have we ever thought about sharing his heavy workload? Why are we just turning a blind eye to his unbearable burden?
Some practitioners have thought about sharing some of the elderly practitioner’s burden, but somehow they always backed off due to so-called formidable obstacles, such as an unsupportive family, lack of technical knowledge, and difficulty in finding places to buy certain items. Anyway, they just couldn’t figure out how to solve their problems and decided it was best to have the elderly practitioner chug along as usual.
Overcoming Difficulties by Improving in Cultivation
Cultivation is not smooth sailing, and all the difficulties we encounter are exactly where we need to improve ourselves. Only by improving our xinxing can we overcome the tribulation and elevate our cultivation levels, and only then will our truth-clarification efforts be truly effective. If we still harbor selfish hearts, I don’t see how we can improve ourselves and save people.
Master has told us that “a Great Way has no form” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”) and also,
“...each must come out and clarify the truth, bringing it to every field and valley, mountain and hill, not omitting a single area where there are people.” (“Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People”)Verified
Setting up Informational Materials Production Sites Wherever Possible
In accordance with Master’s teachings, we should set up truth-clarification materials production sites wherever possible. When a large number of local practitioners fail to establish materials sites due to deficiencies in their own cultivation, and instead turn to the elderly practitioner, are we meeting Master’s standards?
Do we still remember how this elderly practitioner got arrested last time? How many items had the police looted from his home? Why can’t we wake up and learn a lesson?
I urge everyone to look within to identify our problems. Only when we improve ourselves in cultivation are our truth-clarification efforts most sacred.
Cherishing Precious Fellow Practitioners
I would like to ask those who are still asking the elderly practitioner to supply their truth-clarification materials to consider how we can be more considerate of him and help him resume his best cultivation state. I hope that we can help each other and strive forward together. I don't want to see any precious fellow practitioners lag behind or suffer losses.
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