(Minghui.org)
Letting Go of Fame, Self Interest and Sentimentality
We practitioners must cooperate well when we validate the Fa. There will surely be xinxing conflicts among practitioners. Only when we follow the requirements of the Fa can we prevent the old forces from taking advantage of our shortcomings or from creating divisions among practitioners.
A practitioner once told me that a practitioner named Amy had spread negative rumors about me. I was calm and thought that I must have hurt her in some way. However, when I thought about it more, I realized that what Amy had said was a complete fabrication. I started to complain bitterly with hatred and jealousy in my heart.
I asked myself why I was so upset? Was it because I was afraid that other practitioners would believe her and my reputation would be hurt? Wasn't I attached to fame?
Master said:
“Those who are attached to their reputations practice an evil way, full of intention. Once they gain renown in this world, they are bound to say good but mean evil, thereby misleading the public and undermining the Fa.” (“Cultivators’ Avoidances” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
I silently said to Master that I did not want to practice an evil way and I would follow Falun Dafa’s principles. Because I had a good intention and wanted to assimilate to the Fa, I became calm and peaceful as soon as I had that thought.
Master also said:
“If you are validating the Fa, no matter what another person says about you, you won't be affected inside.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York”)
“......you are--even if you are defending and explaining yourself with the best of intentions--still just validating yourself. (Applause) That is because you didn't put Dafa first, and at that time the thing that you couldn't let go of most was self.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York”)
I experienced interference when I sent forth righteous thoughts at 6:00 p.m. I was looking outward, which at the moment was walking on a demonic path. I realized how harmful the attachment to reputation was. I thank all the practitioners who have helped me improve in cultivation.
Letting Go of Our Apartment
When my stepson got married, my husband and I moved out of our apartment and into my parents' apartment. My husband recently suggested that we give our apartment to his son so that he could mortgage it and buy a bigger apartment for his family.
I was calm while listening to him. After practicing Dafa for over 10 years, I know that cultivating my heart is paramount, and I have to be strict with myself and follow the Fa principles. This is safeguarding the Fa.
Master said:
“Only true cultivators and Dafa disciples are able to remain unmoved when self-interest and feelings are involved.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”)
I was not moved by this incident. I was very thankful to Master for helping me enlighten.
Helping My Daughter
My daughter used to be a young practitioner. Because I was persecuted several times, her living environment was not stable. This disturbed her Fa study, cultivation and other aspects of her life. She stopped practicing.
I felt apologetic toward her and blamed myself for her difficulties. I did not know how to help her keep up with Fa-rectification.
I said to Master: “I am very sorry that because I did not cultivate well, I did not provide a stable environment for your little Dafa disciple. I truly hope that my daughter will come back to cultivation because the sentient beings in her realm are waiting for salvation. Master, please help me guide my daughter. Thank you, Master.”
Then these words of Master appeared in my mind:
“Actually, it is the Fa that saves people, and only Master can do this thing.” (“Don’t Make Wild Statements” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
On behalf of my daughter, I decided to file a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who launched and directed the persecution of Falun Gong. After I finished writing the complaint, I contemplated how to tell my daughter about it. She then called me and said she would come to see me the next day.
We went to the market the next morning and saw a practitioner distributing calendars with Falun Dafa information on them. The calendars were beautifully designed. We were touched by the scene. My daughter was especially moved because she had not seen a practitioner distributing materials for a long time. I thanked Master in my heart for his compassionate salvation.
When we got home, I told her about the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, and she immediately signed her name.
Master said:
“Also, a lot of our students are concerned about many things, all kinds of stuff. In fact, once you think about those things your realm has dropped. Don't think about anything, and don't worry about anything. Master is compassionate, and he'll definitely arrange for you what's the best.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in 2003”)
On many occasions, we have prevented people and the beings they represent from being awakened because we hold onto human attachments. Actually, Master arranges the best for us. Fame, personal interests, and sentimentality can control people, make them irrational and even make them lose their lives, but practitioners should take the Fa as their Master.
Master said:
“Fame, gain, emotion—cultivate each away,And ascend to the Firmament at Consummation,See the human world with eyes of compassion,Then are you freed from the spell of delusion.” (“Success at Consummation” from Hong Yin)
Let Master take care of everything and arrange everything for us!
Everything That Happens Is a Good Thing
My father, who is in his 70s, was hospitalized because of a serious heart problem. I remembered that Master said,
“...with one person practicing, the whole family benefits...” (Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia)
“...when humans go through hardship and suffer it is so that they may pay off karma and thereby have happiness in the future.” (“The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be” from Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol III)
I knew his condition was a good thing. Master was dissolving karma for my father and blessing him. I had been detained several times, and my father had sacrificed a lot. Because I viewed my father's problem from the perspective of the Fa, the old forces could not cause any problems. He recovered quickly and was soon discharged from the hospital. If I was selfish and feared that I would lose time in doing the three things because I had to take care of my father, the outcome could have been very different.
I was on my way home after I had finished giving out Falun Dafa materials, and a small whirlwind started up and came directly at me. I sent forth righteous thoughts immediately, and it changed direction.
The train was always late for years whenever I sent my daughter to school. I took it for granted. One day I realized that it was interference from the old forces because my time and resources were being wasted. I sent forth righteous thoughts and asked Master to help me. I should not allow the old forces to consume our time and effort. During Fa-rectification, all beings should play their own role and do what is best. When I had that thought, the train came immediately.
Changing My Human Mentality
Human beings are selfish and will resort to any means to get what they want. Divine beings are selfless and can give up anything for a sentient being's salvation. Falun Dafa practitioners should make every effort to think like divine beings.
The local police harassed a practitioner who had filed a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. He clarified the truth to the police and refused to sign any statements. He said that he was not afraid of the police and continued doing what he should do in spite of the harassment. But the police kept harassing him, which caused tension in his family.
Validating the Fa and validating oneself depends on just one thought. Validating oneself is a selfish thought of protecting one’s self interest, while validating the Fa is selfless.
Every time the police harassed the practitioner, the police committed a sin. How could they pay back such huge sins?
I remembered Master's Fa:
“As the Righteous Fa spreads,Untold fiends try to impede,Yet sentient beingsdo still gain salvation,And human notions change,The degenerate things purged,Brightness now shines forth..” (“Born Anew” from Hong Yin)
We sent forth righteous thoughts together and asked for Master's strengthening. Then the family tensions dissolved and more beings were saved.
Gaining Dominion Over My Body with Righteous Thoughts
I used to have hemorrhoids and thought it was caused by my attachments. I tried to improve my xinxing and intensified sending forth righteous thoughts, but the symptoms remained.
One day I thought to myself: “I am a Dafa practitioner and shall dictate my body myself. I have the attachment of showing off and validating myself. But I am sure I can rectify them in the Fa. You beings causing the problems must return to where you belong. Otherwise, I will clear you out with righteous thoughts.”
Master said:
“Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts are Powerful” (“Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts are Powerful” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
The symptom disappeared.
I enlightened that when we have physical problems, we should treat them as good things and as hints from Master to improve ourselves. If we take these opportunities to improve our xinxing, then the physical problems will not lead to sickness karma.
Master said:
“Once you upgrade your xinxing, your body will undergo a great change. Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Why do we not think like that? If when we experience physical problems we have a thought that it is interference from the old forces, they will indeed take advantage of our loopholes and interfere with us. All of us have had first-hand experiences of a thought determining a different result. Why then do we not remember what Master said and rectify ourselves with the Fa? If we could do that, who would be able to interfere with us?
Master said:
“We negate even the very emergence of the old forces and everything that they've arranged; we don't even acknowledge their existence.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference”)
Our physical changes, tribulations and hardships are accumulated because we did not keep our every thought and every action on the Fa. Dafa disciples can only walk out of tribulations by rectifying themselves in the Fa. We are not cultivating amidst the ordeals arranged by the old forces.
Master said:
“If you don't cultivate yourself based on the Fa, you can't cultivate higher by just enduring persecution, much less reach the standards for a Dafa disciple.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”)
Sometimes I had some minor changes in my body. I would tell the beings in other dimensions: “Please assimilate to the Fa with us. Please remember 'Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and you will have a good future.” My symptom then disappeared. So we should not look at cultivation from the perspective of ordinary people. We are cultivators on the path to godhood. We should not be restrained by ordinary people's factors or low level principles.
We treasure our physical bodies because we know that they were given to us by Master. Only with this physical body can we help Master rectify the Fa and save sentient beings during the Fa rectification. We treasure our physical bodies because we know our bodies are small universes. Only when we follow the Fa can the beings in our small universes be saved.
The above is just my understanding. Please point out anything inappropriate.
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