(Minghui.org) Ming (alias) shared with me how he and another practitioner helped an elderly practitioner who lived alone and was going through sickness karma. They spent a lot of time, energy, and money to help the practitioner without asking for anything in return.
Yet, Ming was concerned about how a few practitioners were still not able to overcome their tribulations after studying the Fa, sharing experiences and sending forth righteous thoughts for a long time. The practitioners in long-term turmoil became a distraction to those helping them, had a negative effect on people, and caused difficulties to the truth clarification effort in their local area.
While listening to Ming, I realized my own attachments regarding this issue. I usually felt impatient with those practitioners who were not able to improve in cultivation for a long time while, concurrently, admiring those who could firmly deny the persecution. I sometimes even blindly followed them as “good examples.”
I realized that this kind of thinking was part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture: The CCP would often make an example of certain groups of people in their movements by labeling them as “good or bad” examples. A practitioner cannot follow any “good examples” in cultivation. Master Li has clearly said, “With regard to these things, we target the problem, not the person.” (“Comments Regarding the Fa-Rectification Made at the Falun Dafa Assistants Meeting in Beijing” from Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa)
Sometimes, while we want to help those practitioners overcome their tribulations, we also blame them by complaining, “Why can't you pass such a small test?” In reality, we have forgotten to look inward and cultivate ourselves.
I came to understand from studying the Fa that the tests that we see other practitioners go through are also tests we need to overcome. And the attachments that we see in others are our own attachments. I am not talking specifically about illness karma, but when we see practitioners in tribulation, we are duty-bound to help. However, that is not enough as we also need to think of what attachments we may still have that Master wants us to eliminate by using “their problems.”If we are not able to find our attachments, it may be because we are still thinking or asking from a wrong standpoint.
For a period of time, I wanted to find answers to, “What were the righteous thoughts that Master talked about? And what type of behaviors were recognized by Master as a manifestation of righteous thoughts?” I studied the Fa for over six months trying to find answers to those questions, but to no avail.
I later realized the reason why I was trying so hard to find the answers was that I was afraid of being persecuted. At the time, the police were harassing Dafa practitioners on a large scale in my area. Then I read Master's teaching,
“...just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil's persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil's interfering with you disappear without a trace.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference VII)
I became excited and immediately began to look for righteous thoughts with the selfishness intent of wanting to possess the ability to dissolve the evil quickly. It went against what Master said,
“From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non- Omission in Buddha-Nature” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Only when we look inward from the standpoint of selflessness, can we really find our problems. Then, the illusion of the “problems” will eventually disappear.
Fellow practitioners, let us quickly find our own attachments when confronted with others' problems. Master is looking forward to hearing our good news. Please point out anything inappropriate in my sharing.
Category: Improving Oneself
