(Minghui.org) I noticed I was having a difficult time controlling my thinking. Whenever problems arose, my first thought was usually a human notion. I made several mistakes because I was looking at things from a non-practitioner's perspective. Fortunately, with hints from Master, I was able to adjust my mindset in accordance with the Fa principals. I'd like to share the following stories.
Shifting Responsibility
I had an appointment with a fellow practitioner and told her I would be there on time. However, after I had driven for ten minutes, my driver said he had forgotten to do something and turned around. When I finally arrived, the practitioner said it was too late.
She began complaining loudly. I immediately defended myself and said, “It was all the driver’s fault. We were on the way, but he needed to turn back, so I could not make it on time for our appointment.” She continued to complain loudly. I suddenly remembered Master’s teaching.
Master said:
“That’s just how people are these days—whenever they run into a problem the first thing they try to do is duck the blame, even if they’re at fault.” (“The Fourth Talk” from Zhuan Falun )
I calmed down and apologized. I said that it was my fault, and I should not shift the responsibility onto someone else. She immediately became quiet and was no longer angry with me.
Attachment to Showing Off
My 84-year-old mother-in-law also practices Falun Gong. During the last Chinese New Year celebration, she fell from a one-meter-high platform while reaching for a spoon and hit the floor head first. My husband was working in the kitchen and ran to help. He picked his mother up and put her on the living room couch. He immediately phoned me to come home.
I rushed home on my bicycle, and after I took care of her, I sat down to send righteous thoughts to eliminate any evil elements and interference. My mother-in-law became alert.
She suddenly sat up and joined me while I was sending righteous thoughts. She then got up from the bed and walked around as if nothing happened. Her daughter then came home and insisted on taking her to the hospital. But her mother refused!
My husband’s older brother visited his mother two days later. He said that she fell from such a high place and did not get hurt, which proves that Falun Gong is great! I told him that I sent righteous thoughts twice for her. My sister-in-law repeated what I said.
However, after I said this, I felt uncomfortable, but I did not know why. Even though I thought about it later I still didn't understand why.
The next morning, while I was practicing the sitting mediation, I remembered Master’s Fa:
“If you make Dafa secondary and your divine powers primary, or now that you’re Enlightened you think that some understanding or other of yours is correct, or if you even think you’re so great you’ve gone beyond Dafa, I’d say you’ve started to fall, and you’re at risk, and you’re getting worse and worse.” (Zhuan Falun)
I suddenly realized that I had a show-off mentality! I immediately apologized to Master and thanked him for his protection.
Practicing Only One Cultivation Way
I liked to read an online newspaper. I knew it was wasting my time, but I still read stories I found interesting. One article discussed decorating a kitchen, and it included a fortune-teller’s suggestion.
When my daughter bought a new house she chose a light color for the area around the oven. What she did was in line with what that article recommended. When I noticed this comparison, I felt uncomfortable.
A few days later, Master's teaching of “no second discipline” popped into my mind.
I wondered, “Why did I suddenly remember this? I do not practice anything else.” I kept searching within and finally remembered about the kitchen. I used that fortune-teller’s opinion to judge my daughter’s choice for her kitchen—that was the problem!
I told myself, “Dafa is righteous and I want nothing else. My life was granted by Master and Dafa. I am Master Li Hongzhi’s disciple, and no one can interfere with me. I will only listen to Master.”
In thinking about what I learned from these experiences, I realized that as long as we treat ourselves as part of Fa, whenever something happens, we can use it to find the root of our problem. We should immediately adjust our thinking to prevent bad things from happening and disintegrate the old force’s arrangements. Only by doing this can we walk well our cultivation path arranged by Master. As long as we cultivate solidly, Master will be taking care of us.
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Category: Improving Oneself
