(Minghui.org) Media projects are my way of clarifying the truth to sentient beings and an important environment for me to examine and get rid of human notions and attachments. I had many unexpected gains in cooperation with fellow practitioners over the past three years.
Attachment to Showing Off
When I was memorizing the Fa and came upon the sentence “I’m very capable and a winner...,” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun) it resonated so strongly in my heart, as if it were an explosion and many deeply hidden notions and bad substances were uncovered.
Although I had read this sentence many times in the past, I came to a new understanding. I understood that the thought “I am very capable and a winner” does not conform to the characteristic of the universe. How can a small human being regard him or herself as a winner, as one didn’t create the universe, time and space, or the multitude of lives and species?
I used to believe that I didn’t have the heart of showing off. But this time I found this well-hidden attachment in myself.
I don’t have many skills. My grades were mediocre, and I am not good at communicating with people either. Deep in my subconscious, I wanted to be capable and a winner through cultivation practice, and many of my actions were rooted in this desire.
For example, I studied the Fa diligently by memorizing the Fa. I understood that I should look inward when I ran into conflicts with others. I subconsciously believed that I was a diligent and qualified practitioner, so I would definitely reach consummation. I desired to be “very capable,” just like a God or a Buddha through cultivation. In other words, I was using Dafa to achieve my selfish desire, but on the surface I was diligent and dignified.
This new understanding also solved one puzzle that I had thought about for years. I avoided a practitioner as soon as I saw his name. I didn’t know him and had never talked to him, but I always felt uneasy when I heard of him. I used to think this was due to jealousy and had worked hard to suppress this mentality, but with little effect.
After I recognized and wanted to eliminate my desire for showing off, the negative emotions toward this practitioner were gone when I read this practitioner’s articles again. I was happy that a practitioner was able to write such a good article. Every life is created by the Creator, and every life manifests the brilliance of life in a unique way. The compassion and capabilities in practitioners are bestowed by the Creator, and I am one of them. To be a life assimilated into the Fa is joyful and glorious.
A New Understanding of Our Form of Cultivation Practice
The day after I completed a series of articles and submitted them to my editor, I was told that the articles would be reviewed by an editor of another department. I was not happy as it would be more work for me. My first thought was to ignore the upset, but I caught it and examined myself for why I was upset.
We studied Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco during group Fa-study last night. Master said,
“Some students forget that they are cultivators and become unhappy as soon as they run into anything troublesome. Some students become unhappy whenever they encounter conflicts or emotional turmoil. In that case, are you still cultivating? Cultivators look at things in just the opposite way. They see tribulations and suffering as good opportunities for improvement. [To cultivators] these are all good things, and the more there are and the faster they come, the faster the improvement.” (Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco)
Examining my negative thoughts, I realized that it was not that the editor looked down on me or that fellow practitioners didn’t trust me. Rather, this is one form of cultivation practice.
In Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco, Master explained to us that the conflicts practitioners face are the same as those between ordinary people. They are good for practitioners to improve, achieve great attainment, and validate the Fa.
Reassigning the articles to another editor was a small thing. I was upset because I tried to avoid any trouble and oppose any suffering or tribulation. It was due to my lack of understanding of our form of cultivation practice. In reality, Master was helping me strengthen my righteous thoughts through a fellow practitioner.
Master said,
“...Seeing the world with compassionOnly then, waking from delusion ”(“Reaching Consummation, Achieving Gong,” Hong Yin)
The Heart of Competitiveness
I always turned off the video when I encountered video programs produced by a certain practitioner host. I did not know her, nor had I met her. One time when I turned the video off, however, I caught the negative thought.
I found a deviated thought in me. It didn’t want to see Dafa practitioners in a positive and outstanding light. It wanted to see practitioners experience tribulations. I recognized it was a thought from the old forces because they looked down on Dafa practitioners and only felt it was fair if practitioners had to go through tribulations. Searching further, I found that the notion of being unfairly treated was rooted in competitiveness.
I wrote many articles about traditional culture and had encountered many stories related to the notion of competitiveness. Competitiveness can cause many evil behaviors, such as killing, jealousy, fighting against the divine, betraying family and relatives, profiteering, viciousness, resentment and more.
There was a monster with nine heads in Journey to the West, and the leading head was the notion of competitiveness. I was shocked to realize that there are so many bad thoughts behind competitiveness. I sent forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate this bad thought that originated from the old forces. Soon my mind was clear and my heart was at peace.
I opened the video again. I realized that she was a very good host. I smiled and watched on.
After this incident, I dreamed that a celebrity fellow practitioner gave me a work of calligraphy with two Chinese characters “Kung Fu” written in the font of Lishu (official script) that Master used to write inscriptions. The fellow practitioner said that the two characters were written by Master. I suddenly remembered that I also had one in my house. I told him that I now had double “Kung Fu.”
I believed the dream was an encouragement from Master because I had been truly lookinward, cleaning my own dimensional field, and examining these human notions.
It may appear as a small thing on the surface. However, if you dig deeper, you can often find a big attachment hidden underneath.
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Category: Improving Oneself
