(Minghui.org)
Bragging about One's Enlightenment
A fellow practitioner invited me to join an experience sharing meeting in April. Practitioner B, whom I didn't know, was bragging about high level Fa principles that he had enlightened to.
The energy field there was suffocating me and I really didn't feel good. After a while I thought that this was "evil enlightenment," but I didn't know how to correct it. I left.
I was glad that I wasn't misled or moved, but I was worried about the influence of his words on other practitioners and I wanted to do something about it.
Attachments to Complacency and Showing Off
That afternoon a practitioner asked me to talk to another practitioner who had heard Practitioner B speak and had really been misled. No one could persuade her [not to follow him]. But things always seemed to come up, and I never had the time.
I couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to go. I then wondered if I had a problem and looked within. I thought that, since someone had invited me to that meeting, it couldn't have been just a coincidence, even though I hadn't been misled. I wondered, “Can it be that I have the same problem?”
I dug deeply within and was surprised at what I found. I realized that I had the same attachments! It was quite serious. They just hadn't manifested yet or to that degree.
I realized that I was very pleased and happy with myself when practitioners praised me when we shared our cultivation experiences. Wasn't that an attachment to complacency and showing off? Wasn't that a prelude to having an overinflated opinion of myself?
In the past, I was aware of this after we shared, and I restrained myself, but I never took these attachments seriously and removed them. I felt it was difficult to let go of these ingrained attachments.
Master said,
“It is easier to invite an immortal than to see one off.” (Zhuan Falun)
“I Will Fall if I Think So Highly of Myself”
I thought, “I will fall in my cultivation and eventually destroy myself if I think so highly of myself.” I then understood why I had been asked to give advice to practitioners who had been influenced by what Practitioner B had said and why I wasn't able to. Master was helping me look within and cultivate myself. I thought, “If I can't solve my own problem, how can I be of any use to others?”
Considering Oneself to Be at a "High Level" Is Dangerous
Afterwards, Practitioner A and I shared our understandings regarding what we perceived to be a dangerous cultivation state that Practitioner B, who often spoke of high level Fa principles, was in. He used his “high level Fa principles” to persuade and guide others. We felt that if we talked with him directly, it would be very difficult for him to accept. When a practitioner is like this, he considers himself to be at a very high level and won't easily accept others' advice.
Practitioner A and I decided that it was best not to share with Practitioner B--we didn't want to add energy to his incorrect state. I looked within, cultivated myself, and purified my dimensional field.
I felt that the energy field among our local practitioners wasn't pure because I wasn't pure. This had created a gap that caused the interference. This approach yielded good results over time. I found that we improved and elevated together. It seemed as if Practitioner B realized this as well. Things gradually changed, and we rarely heard Practitioner B speak of high level principles again.
The Fa Can Solve All Problems
Through this experience, I enlightened that we can assimilate to Dafa by letting go of self, truly looking within and finding where we fall short, and then purifying and cultivating ourselves whenever we encounter problems. Issues can then be readily resolved. We truly don't need to do anything.
As Master has said,
“The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive Out Interference” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Magical Tool
Master said,
“For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference")
Master has given us this magical weapon and we should take it seriously. We can do the three things well and truly assimilate to Dafa only when we cultivate well, get rid of all attachments, and eliminate all interference.
