Eliminating Selfishness During Fa-Rectification Cultivation
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, it has been hard to focus my attention while reading Dafa books,
sometimes even for just one minute. I have felt extremely troubled by this. While reading articles by practitioners on the website, I paid special attention to experience
sharing articles related to this. One practitioner resolved his problem by, before reading, asking
himself what it was that he was about to read, why he should read it and what kind of state of mind
he should have when reading such a book, to truly respect Master and the Fa. As for the constant
instances of evil interference, he would clear them away with his cultivated side. I found it to be
a very good sharing, so I started to do the same. It seemed to work at the beginning, but not long
after, I reverted back to my previous state. I knew that there were things at much deeper levels hindering me from progressing forward. So I
started to look within myself, but I could not find anything. When I wrote down a title for this
article, a thought came up, "It is not for the sake of publication that I'm writing this
article, but for digging out that deeply concealed selfish mentality." Then, another voice
said, "Forget it, it is so time-consuming. It would be better that I spent the time doing a bit
more reading." I realized then that the reason I could not find anything when looking within myself was because
that the old forces used the selfishness formed in the marrow of my bones for thousands of years to
obstruct and interfere with me. Where is this "selfishness?" It is at the microscopic
level. Because of this selfishness, we dropped level by level until we arrived into this human
realm, and we have developed many attachments to fame, fortune and sentimentality. If we want to
return to where we originally came from, we must get rid of this selfishness. But how can we best
get rid of it, and get rid of it most quickly? The way is to study the Fa more, and to study with a
calm mind. Only by truly studying the Fa, can we get rid of selfishness. The old forces take
advantage of the selfishness that we have not yet eliminated, interfering with our Fa-study in an
attempt to preserve what they want. Therefore, to be truly responsible, we must root out our
selfishness. Then we can better carry out our sacred mission. We must take notice of selfishness in
everything aspect of our daily life. Once it is detected, we should absolutely eradicate it. I also found that selfishness could prevent us from correctly understanding the Fa. On the
surface, we think we are cultivating according to the Fa. Take forbearance, for instance. Some of us
demonstrate hearts of immense tolerance, while others grin and bear it, thinking about the De
that others must be giving them. When clarifying the truth, some truly place others first and do it
with the heart of saving sentient beings, while others do it to gain mighty virtue. Dafa disciples'
stepping forward to clarify the truth are fulfilling the mission bestowed upon us to save sentient
beings. However, those who have not come forth find such excuses that they have already reached
consummation and that they may suffer persecution if they step forward. They feel that all that they
have achieved might be spoiled if they cannot maintain righteous belief. Aren't these the same kinds
of excuses the old forces damaging the Fa use? What will these selfish mentalities bring to a
cultivator, and to sentient beings? Having a pure outlook and intent will definitely bring about different results than having impure
ones. Master pointed out in the article "Digging out the Roots," "From what
standpoint you view Dafa is fundamental--this is also what I want to point out to you. During your
cultivation practice, I will use every means to expose all of your attachments and dig them out at
their roots." When I discovered the cause of my problem, my head became a lot clearer. "Selfishness,"
when considered with human notions, is protecting oneself from loss. However, if we look at it from
a higher perspective, we can see that it is in fact a demon that can ruin a person. The above is my personal understanding. Kindly point out anything improper. Posting date: 7/19/2002 |