(Minghui.org) I used to point out problems whenever I saw them in fellow practitioners. The wordings I used were appropriate however, but I believed they were based on the Fa. A fellow practitioner told me that my advice was worded properly, but that I should put my words into practice, but I didn't put much thought into what he said.

I recently had the feeling that I was not making much progress in my cultivation, even though I was doing the three things. At that point I heard a story. A fellow practitioner had said to her sister, also a practitioner, “I know the cultivation status of every practitioner here.” She saw the problems of other practitioners but didn't use them as opportunities to look inward to improve herself. Instead, she told her sister about it. As a result, she couldn't become diligent in her cultivation. Not long ago her husband, who was also a practitioner, passed away. Her sister admired her, and could also not be diligent in her own cultivation.”

I realized that what I heard was not by accident. Teacher said,

“Whatever it is that you encounter, the first thought should be to scrutinize yourself, and it’s called 'looking within.'” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)

What I heard was something directly applicable to myself. Whenever I had seen a problem in the past, I didn't look within to improve myself. Instead, I told others about the problem. I didn't know that what I saw was actually reflecting problems about myself. I now realize that whenever I see a problem in a fellow practitioner, it means that I may have a related attachment that I should work on.

We usually feel good when we comment about others and don't look within ourselves to see if we have similar, but well hidden, problems. I believe that the only way to coordinate well with fellow practitioners is to look within.

My objective in writing this article is to remind myself, and others like me, to put “looking within” into practice. This is the only way to improve ourselves and save sentient beings.

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Category: Improving Oneself