(Clearwisdom.net)
1. It is Very Harmful to Regard Oneself as Infallible
As a Falun Dafa practitioner, it is arrogance and complacency, the attitude of regarding oneself as infallible, and the unwillingness to correct one's mistakes, rather than clumsiness, that is the most serious problem.
The attachment to regarding oneself as infallible manifests in many ways. Some people center everything around themselves and take everything that does not conform to their notions as interference; some don't listen to any advice or acknowledge their mistakes at all, let alone strive hard to correct themselves; still others carry strong jealousy and do not allow any one to surpass them. This is an extremely dangerous mentality. Those who have the problem to a slight degree appear to be cultivating and practicing, but in fact are not truly cultivating. In more serious cases, they grow giddy with success and easily go down demonic paths as a result of "transformation according to one's thoughts." The root cause for this is selfishness. However, selfishness, arrogance and complacency are the very attachments that we have to eradicate as Falun Dafa practitioners.
How do we get rid of these attachments? The first thing to do, in my opinion, is to be honest and modest, and to correct any mistake as soon as we recognize it. In life, it is not hard to learn and acquire one type of skill, but it's extremely precious to be consistently modest. The process of cultivation is to assimilate to the Fa (1) in every aspect of our lives and to get rid of our attachments. The fact that we have attachments or loopholes is not the worst problem. It is very bad, though, to regard oneself as infallible and to defend one's attachments with various excuses.
2. Let Go of the Attachment for Quick Success
There is a saying among everyday people, "more haste, less speed." Some fellow practitioners always try to achieve quick results. They end up with little achievement instead. When a good practitioner or an enlightened being are faced with a difficult situation, I believe that they calmly and peacefully analyze their situations and handle them well with the wisdom they have learned from the Dafa principles. They will calmly and unhurriedly work out what they are supposed to do and accomplish their missions.
One day I took two children to play a shooting game. The younger sister was hasty. She quickly used up all of her bullets without hitting the target. In contrast, the older brother was solidly seated, slowly picking up the gun, patiently aiming at the target, and resolutely pulling the trigger. With every step so concentrated and serious, he achieved a very good score. The business owner walked over to me and said, "This boy is really exceptional. At such a young age, he is so calm. With such a style, he will certainly do everything well." The boy received not only the prize, but also a gift from the owner. He then shared his gifts with his younger sister. On the way home, I was thinking: to calm themselves, ancient people would do breathing exercises even before writing. As practitioners, we must walk with even firmer steps to elevate ourselves. Otherwise, we will end up shooting for quick results but achieving nothing, just like the little sister.
When we are anxious to get quick results, we are demonstrating our attachment. It is disrespectful to the teachings of Falun Dafa and irresponsible to ourselves to take cultivation as something with which to increase personal gain and reputation through quick efforts and quick results without any suffering or sacrifice. Cultivation is a serious and rigorous process. Only when we are consistent in our hearts and our actions, and are striving hard, can we really elevate ourselves. It cannot be achieved easily or quickly without a great deal of effort.
3. Truly Understanding Benevolence
I used to easily lose my temper before I started to practice Falun Gong. To help me get rid of this twisted notion, Master alerted me many times in my dreams, gave me hints when I was lost in day-to-day living, and guided me when I was studying the Fa.
One morning, I dreamt that I tripped and fell down a flight of stairs. After I woke up, I didn't even think about this dream and went straight to work. That day my colleague was trying to shirk a certain work responsibility, so I explained to him patiently that this was his job and that he needed to complete it quickly. To make sure I made my point clear, I repeated this a few more times until he finally responded angrily, "Shut up and get out of here." Unconvinced, I tried to argue with him. In the end, he kicked me out. I felt wronged. I started to think of his problems and believed that I had tried to help him without any return. As soon as I returned to my desk and started to read the Fa, the words "Truly Cultivate" first appeared, followed by "Minding Your Speech." It's obvious that Master was telling me that I hadn't done well in these two areas.
Later I learned from Master's teachings that everything has a cause and effect. The reason my colleague was rude to me was because I hurt him using negative comments. Although we were good friends, karma has to be returned. Whatever I owed him I have to return to him, because cultivation involves no human sentimentality. It's my karma that caused him to yell at me. He was actually helping me to dissolve the karma and to elevate myself. In fact, Master hinted to me in advance that I would fall down if I didn't cultivate well. But I didn't pay any attention. Despite my terrible mistakes, Master was still helping me out without giving up on me. Every conflict is an opportunity for me to elevate to a higher level. Without giving up or suffering, how would I elevate my level? We must take every conflict as an opportunity to quickly improve ourselves in cultivation practice.
Lately my cultivation practice dipped to a low level again. I was sleepy all day long; I was unable to concentrate when reading the Fa; and I could not calm down and my attachments kept surfacing when sending forth righteous thoughts. I was frustrated and even desperate. While my fellow practitioners were advancing in cultivation, I couldn't take responsibility as a practitioner or live up to Master's expectations. I shared my confusion with my fellow practitioners. They told me to keep going without thinking too much. They said I was cultivating pretty well. I was really encouraged. That very night, I dreamed that Master asked me to carefully study the new articles he gave me. I was puzzled when I woke up: where are the new articles? A few days later, a fellow practitioner brought to me many articles. I eagerly read all of them and began my journey anew.
Still, I didn't do well in terms of clarifying the facts. I asked Master to instruct me clearly. One night in a dream, without saying a single word, Master gave me a pen. I was suddenly enlightened to the understanding that despite the different paths in cultivation, everyone can walk his own path well by recognizing his abilities and making good use of his strengths. With good writing skills, why can't I use my pen to save sentient being by helping them establish their righteous thoughts? Since then, when I have written down my thoughts, they have flown out like a spring and my articles have been spoken of highly. I have to attribute all of these achievements to Master's teachings.
I am often enlightened to the fact that it is selflessness that makes heaven and earth perpetual, and it is the fact that they are completely unselfish that makes enlightened beings eternal. What Master teaches us is the magnificent Buddha Law. Master gives us his trust, his protection, and suffers for us. Master's giving is boundless and is focused on saving us without seeking any return. Having studied the Fa so much and cultivated for so long, how much have we done for sentient beings? While we are complaining about the lack of results from our efforts, or sighing over the treacherous human world, we must think twice: how well do we understand the grand benevolence Master has taught us? Have we followed Master's requirements in terms of righteous thoughts and righteous actions? Have we utilized the wisdom Master granted us? Are we willing to "take hardship as joy" as Master taught us? Have we gotten rid of the attachments that Master taught us to let go of?
We must cultivate ourselves solidly, rather than superficially. Perhaps our achievements are not magnificent but we must still look inside ourselves without any hesitation and try hard to do well what we are supposed to do. Forgiving the mistakes of sentient beings, taking the hardships of all sentient beings as our own, and helping them out without seeking any return, let us warm up every heart with the sunshine of the Fa.
- Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.
