(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners can encounter all kinds of people whether at work or in our daily lives. Conflicts and negative thoughts may seem inevitable. We may have fear toward the police because they arrest and torture practitioners. We may also be frustrated or even resentful when people don’t listen while we try to clarify the facts about Dafa or when we see them throw away the materials we give them.
When I’m bothered by such negative thoughts, I always remind myself that Master Li Hongzhi (founder of Falun Dafa) has suffered a lot for sentient beings, so that people have the chance to be saved. When we are consumed by negative thoughts, it might hinder people from learning the facts and being saved.
We experience various difficulties or tribulations on our cultivation path. Nonetheless, we should have faith in Dafa and confidence in our capabilities given by Dafa. When we can't overcome resentment and fear, we can think about Master’s sacrifice, which will remind us of the importance of the things we are doing and our righteous thoughts will be strengthened. When our righteous thoughts grow stronger, negative thoughts will be weakened or diminished completely.
We also have to remember that everything we encounter is related to our cultivation. Tribulations might be arranged by Master to eliminate our karma from previous lives. When coming across conflicts, we should face them instead of trying to avoid them. Only by actively working on ourselves to resolve the tribulations, can our righteous thoughts become stronger, with help and strengthening from Master.
Master said,
“If we look for a moment at just the situations where these conflicts and things arise, they are still different from those that occur in ordinary human society. The conflicts and tensions that Dafa disciples encounter are solely for the sake of cultivation and the sake of validating the Fa. Even though human attachments, the attachment of showing off, the attachments of the individual, and the elements of human beings that want to validate themselves are involved, [Dafa disciples] know about these and once they are discovered, they will fix them. That is completely different from ordinary people. So there will be problems between Dafa disciples, and, moreover, such things play an additional role. Namely, once the conflict or tension surfaces, it will affect other people. Once others take notice of it, the conflict or tension will intensify, which will then make the cultivators involved take notice of it. If [a cultivator] can look within when going through that, he will be able to find his shortcomings. If the conflict or tension were not brought to the surface or didn’t appear, you wouldn’t be able to discover your attachments and identify them. When all is calm and smooth, can you cultivate yourself?” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume VII)
When I encounter conflicts, I often look within and check if my thoughts are in line with the Fa. From the Fa, we know that negative thoughts such as resentment aren’t our true selves; rather, it is something we should negate and disintegrate. It’s the same when it comes to the arrangements by the old forces; if we acknowledge it, we allow the vicious elements to affect us and our saving people.
In the past, my cultivation was for my own consummation. Now I realize that it’s not for myself, but for all sentient beings. Master has done so much for us and the sentient beings. We must strive to live up to Master’s sacrifice and expectation.
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Category: Cultivation Insights
