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The Cunningness of Jealousy

Sept. 21, 2014 |   by Li Yan, a practitioner in China

(Minghui.org) A jealous person cannot bear the sight of someone who is doing better than himself. Upon hearing of someone's good news, instead of feeling happy for the person, he feels uneasy and even angry. But he may hide his true feelings below the surface.

Upon seeing a fellow practitioner who does better than him in some areas, if he feels that it may affect his own status and reputation, he might focus on a shortcoming or a weakness of this practitioner and blow its negative effects out of proportion. This may lead other practitioners to believe that the weakness is so severe that it is almost hopeless.

The purpose of this maneuver is to belittle that practitioner, and to preserve his own reputation, prestige and status among others. He feels that he is better than others and he is inviolable. I believe this is a manifestation of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) indoctrination.

A further hidden characteristic of a jealous person is that he may be very compassionate and perhaps tolerant toward others whom he deems not as good as he.

Other practitioners may perceive him as selfless and one who has reached a very high cultivation level. However, as soon as he sees someone who is better than him in some areas or who he thinks may upset his status, his behavior completely changes to that described above. He may even become hysterical and irrational.

Others may mistakenly think it was the fault of the practitioner with a “severe” weakness and say, “How can such a good practitioner be pushed to such a point?” They may become even more convinced that the other practitioner's “weakness” is hopeless.

As a result, a practitioner who could have a much larger impact in Dafa work is isolated from the rest of the body of practitioners. The one-body effort is thus partitioned and undermined, and this jealous person continues to validate himself.

But how could he reach consummation with the attachment to jealousy and self-validation? And what will happen to those practitioners who follow him?

Jealousy Is Harmful to Everyone

Jealousy is harmful to everyone. It keeps one from achieving the Right Fruit in cultivation. The behavior of a jealous person also impedes the process of Fa-rectification, in a similar fashion as the old forces'.

Master said that this person is “doing things that demons could never even remotely aspire to doing.” (“Teaching the Fa at Western U.S. Fa Conference”)

The practitioner who is the subject of jealousy should also look within to see if he harbors some hidden attachments to fame, showing off, or self-validation. Treat it as a warning sign.

I'd like to recommend studying Master's articles, “What Does it Mean to 'Help Master Rectify the Fa'?”, “Watch Out for Breeding Demons in One’s Own Mind” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress, Vol. III, and the Minghui article “If the Attachment to Showing Off Isn’t Eliminated, the Danger is Great (With a Comment from Master).”

In fact, it is not hard to see that the root of jealousy is a strong attachment to fame and to validate oneself. When we all get rid of the pursuit of fame, and everyone works together to validate the Fa, what is there to show off or be jealous about?

Let's all walk the final stage of our paths rationally and steadily, with fewer human notions, and strong righteous thoughts.

This is my understanding at my current level, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.