(Minghui.org) A few days ago, a friend referred a customer to me. This woman asked me to install heated platform beds for her mother and herself. I explained that there were low-cost and expensive ones of differing quality. She said she wanted a good one and also asked me to make their beds longer and broader. The wood to widen the beds was at her friend’s place.

I brought the wood over in the rain. Her mother lived on the third floor, and I had to climb the stairs several times to bring the load up. It took me from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m to do all this. Everything worked, and I showed them how to operate the bed. In the process, I also helped her mom with a small job for free.

The woman called the next day and said her mother's bed did not get as hot as her friend’s bed. I explained that the heated bed at her friend’s home was most likely of lesser quality, using resistance wire, which gets hot fast. Her mother’s bed had carbon fiber heating with a negative ion function, which was more therapeutic. I told her she could adjust the temperature to make it hotter if she liked. Then she asked me when I planned to go to return to install her bed. I said I would come in the afternoon after I finished the other work.

I went again in the rain to pick up the materials. I carried everything to the fourth floor and knocked on her door. She opened it without saying anything. I tried to discuss how she wanted to alter the bed. She didn't reply and gave me the cold shoulder as she fiddled with her phone. I felt embarrassed. So I widened her bed based on her previous instructions. I stopped talking and worked in silence.

I felt it was unfair, thinking: “I am not making much money from you. Yet I still help you transport the materials, carrying them upstairs several times. I also widen and raise your bed. A carpenter usually wouldn’t take a small job like this. The job is not difficult, but it requires many steps. No one will do it without additional pay. I do it out of respect for my friend. Now, you treat me this way! Do you think I will do anything you want as long as you pay me? A normal installation job takes only half an hour. I worked all afternoon to help you. You ordered me around, and I did not complain. Now, you still treat me like this!” The more I thought about it, the more aggravated and dissatisfied I felt. I wanted to quit the job.

I remembered Master Li Hongzhi's (Dafa’s founder) poem:

“Realms”

A wicked person is born of jealousy.Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself. A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.An enlightened person has no attachments at all.He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions.”(Essentials For Further Advancement)

Wasn’t my state the same as the wicked person? As a practitioner, could the things I encounter be accidental? Could I behave like everyday people? Why was I moved? Why was I so dissatisfied?

I looked within myself and found that I cared a lot about other people’s attitudes towards me. I was happy to hear good things, and I had a desire for fame. When I was angry, I had an aggressive and jealous mind. I thought: “I helped her, yet she treated me this way!” So I felt hurt and resentful: I helped her, so she had to be nice to me. I had a desire for validation.

Master said,

“In spiritual practice you have to go through ordeals, and they serve to test whether you can become free of your emotions and desires and the sway they hold over you. Being attached to those things will impede your progress.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

“Those who do, will be free of human sentiments and unflappable. In its place will arise compassion, something far more noble.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

I continued to look within and found that this selfish notion manifested automatically; it determined whether I was happy or angry. This was protecting the self, and it was acquired human logic. If I was selfless, I would have thought about how I had affected her and caused her harm.

Master said,

“If you do not want to change your human state and rationally rise to a true understanding of Dafa, you will miss the opportunity. If you do not change the human logic that you, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in your bones over thousands of years, you will be unable to break away from this superficial human shell and reach Consummation.” (“Cautionary Advice,” Essentials For Further Advancement)

After looking within, I figured everything out and did what I was supposed to do, as if nothing had happened. She soon became normal, talking to me with a smile on her face. She asked me if many people had me change the size of the bed. I said she was the first one; that I usually asked others to find a carpenter to do it. But since she was referred by a friend, I did this as a favor. After I finished the work, she repeatedly expressed her gratitude.

I often encountered things to improve my xinxing at work. I wouldn’t have been able to guard my character if I considered personal gain first and looked outward.

Master said,

“I can share with you that when people don’t see the results they hope for, it’s because they are overemphasizing the physical aspect of practice, to the neglect of its spiritual component.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)

I understand that cultivation not only includes exercises, but also many other aspects. For example, I study the Fa every day, but I do not focus on cultivating my mind. If bad thinking is not removed, I cannot improve my realm, and my level won’t be elevated. Then I cannot enlighten to the deeper connotations of Dafa, and I am not moving forward. 

I need to focus on improving my realm and develop the habit of thinking of others first. In that way, I can quickly let go of my attachments and advance faster.

Master spoke about the state of an arhat:

“Remember that a holy being would never let anything affect him or her emotionally; worldly things simply don’t occupy a holy person’s mind. They will always be pleasant and upbeat, however badly they might be treated. If you can genuinely be like that, then you have already achieved a basic level of divinity, known as arhat.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

I'm so far away from what Master Li requires!

Please correct me if there is anything that is not in line with the Fa.

Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.

Category: Improving Oneself