(Minghui.org) As I faced some difficulties in a project I was coordinating, I had a dream which I remembered vividly upon waking up:
I was head of a class. We were about to take a test. However, they ran out of test question sheets, so I volunteered to make copies, a simple job. There were two sheets to the test, and just a few copies were needed of each.
When I entered the copy room, I found a stack of papers on the lid of the copier. The papers – pictures and documents – looked like they were from the instructor, and it seemed that he was in the middle of copying a set of materials for a special plan. I hesitated to remove them, but I thought I had to.
When I started to copy the test papers, nothing went right: paper jams, black ink all over the paper, etc. I tried all kinds of tricks and time just flew by. About an hour later, I still did not have good copies.
After I woke up, I wondered why I couldn't finish the simple job of making a few copies. I wondered if perhaps my priorities were not correct. In the morning, when I reflected further on this, I realized that maybe the "teacher" had his own priority (copy plan). Either way, when I moved Teacher's project over, and things were not in harmony with Teacher's plan, even a simple task became very hard to accomplish.
I reached a different understanding after sharing my dream and understanding with fellow practitioners:
As I pushed aside what was on the copy machine in the dream, I emphasized doing “my thing” first, rather than trying to accommodate Teacher's plan.
I think Master's plan is to give practitioners cultivation opportunities, but my plan was just focused on getting something done, rather than emphasizing cultivation and creating a good cultivation environment. In other words, my current plan is an everyday person's plan, rather than a practitioner's plan. I realize that it's not so much the details of the plan, but rather the thought or mindset that we have when creating the plan which stipulates whether it's an everyday person's plan or a cultivator's plan.
I think the dream says that I pushed aside Master's plan and I saw the consequences of such reckless action.
It also tells me that simple problem solving will not work if the “first thought” is not correct. I tend to focus too much on techniques and skills, rather than focus on my starting point. This should be a constant reminder for me.
Above is just my understanding at my current realm. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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Category: Journeys of Cultivation
