Overcoming My Attachment to Self-Interest

(Minghui.org) Twelve years ago my brother and I transferred the land title for some property we owned to our nephew. Part of the agreement was that at the end of each year, our nephew would provide us with a total of three, 20-pound containers of vegetable oil, as a way of showing his appreciation.

I went to my brother's home on November 8, 2018, to pick up my share of vegetable oil that our nephew dropped off for us.

On the way there, I thought, “Last year, I only collected one container from my brother, so in reality, he still owes me half of a container. Keeping two containers for himself is obviously wrong. This year I will collect the remaining half of what's owed to me.”

I then thought, “As a Falun Gong practitioner, I shouldn't fight over personal gain. I'll only take my share and that will be good enough.”

When I got to my brother's home, no one was home. So I used the house key that he had given me and let myself in.

I then began to pour out a half container of oil into the large bottle that I had brought with me. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and accidentally poured more than half of a container into my bottle.

“It's okay to take this little extra oil,” I thought, “because last year he took my share. This year it's my turn to take his share. So I grabbed the half container and put it in the front basket of my bicycle and put the full container in my back basket.

As I was pushing my bicycle past the elevator door in my building, a slight bump in the floor caused the container in my back basket to shift enough so that it crashed to the brick floor, cracking in two places.

When I saw the oil pouring out of the bottle, I quickly put the bottle back on my bike and took the elevator up to my apartment. Looking back, I realized that I had made a very bad decision! There was now a trail of vegetable oil all the way up to my apartment door and even on my brand new dress coat.

I quickly grabbed a broom and mop and proceeded to clean up the slippery brick floor. I thought to myself, “What if someone slips and falls? I will surely be held responsible!” I was completely stressed out by the prospect of someone injuring themselves due to my carelessness.

So I used a broom to first sweep up the oil, then a mop to soak it up. But the more I cleaned, the more the oil spread, covering virtually the whole entrance area to the elevator. I was working as fast as I could and was sweating profusely.

Suddenly, my mind became clear. “This didn't happen without a reason. It must have something to do with my xinxing.” I looked inward and realized that the incident occurred because of my attachment to self-interest.

As a result, I ended up wasting all the oil that I took from my brother. Plus, I worked non-stop for two hours, frantically trying to clean up my mess.

I felt so ashamed of myself and regretted that I had not eliminated my attachment to self-interest. I then smiled, and a feeling of happiness washed over me. I knew that Master [Li Hongzhi] was still watching over me and had provided me with this wake-up call. I then asked myself, “Wasn't this tribulation a good thing?”

I went up to my apartment to send righteous thoughts shortly afterward. When I came back down, I noticed that the floor was now spotless, without a trace of oil. It looked as if nothing had ever happened.

I was touched that somebody had taken it upon themselves to clean up my mess—and in such a short time, too! “I must thank them,” I thought. When I asked around, nobody seemed to know who had done it.

I then realized, “Because I found my attachment and had the desire to rectify myself, my xinxing improved, and Master helped eliminate some of this tribulation for me.”

Master said:

“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond” Hong Yin Vol. II)

I wrote this article to help fellow practitioners understand that we must meet the requirements of Dafa and rectify our every thought and action. If we do this, our cultivation path will become much smoother. If we don't, a small tribulation could easily turn into a big one!

Thank you, Master!