(Clearwisdom.net) Only recently have I realized that the reason I walked into Dafa was simply to be a good person among everyday people. When people reject me as I talk to them about the truth or give them truth clarification materials, I can still maintain a pleasant mood, rather than feeling down because they have rejected salvation. I only wanted to verify the meaning of my existence by doing good deeds and trying to be a good person.
My thinking had a basis: I had been bothered for a long time before I started cultivation and I was aware that all suffering comes from selfishness. I doubted the meaning of my life, thinking that I was a bad person. This feeling urged me to change myself; however, I could not, due to many factors.
When I first obtained the Fa, I often talked to Master's portrait: "I want to be a good being," What is a good being? I thought being a good being was merely to do good deeds, forgetting that "Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) is the sole criterion to discern good and bad people," as stated in Zhuan Falun.
I have been doing good deeds and participating in many Dafa activities for years, feeling happy even when tribulations occurred. I thought that I had cultivated well and had a good xinxing level, but I later realized that was not the case.
If I cannot let go of everyday people's ideas when doing good deeds, I am only a good person among everyday people and not a true Dafa cultivator. I often argued with everyday people or fellow practitioners about everyday people's ideas. I remember once I was staying in New York to help sell tickets for the Spectacular. I lived with a few other practitioners in one room. I wanted the door of the room to be closed tight because my bedding was on the floor beside the door and I felt cold from the wind coming in, but another practitioner wanted the door open due to the heat coming from the radiator right beside his bed. In the end we left the door open less than he wanted and more than I did. However, sometimes we would adjust the door according to our own wants unconsciously and complain to each other a bit. One day I suddenly realized that I was struggling for the comfort that ordinary people want. Master tells us to think about others in everything. Had I done so? Why couldn't I let go of my comfort and make him more comfortable? I could just put on one more layer of clothes, move to a warmer place, or put on a hat, and I would be able to sleep well. Once I let go of the attachment, problems of this kind eventually disappeared.
This made me enlighten to the fact that many conflicts come from arguing about everyday people's ideas. Once I have the idea of determining who's wrong and who's right, I am already deep in the argument of ordinary people's ideas. Can I still call myself a cultivator in such cases? As cultivators, we should know that all conflicts come for a reason and they are meant to make us improve.
"If we look for a moment at just the situations where these conflicts and things arise, they are still different from those that occur in ordinary human society. The conflicts and tensions that Dafa disciples encounter are solely for the sake of cultivation and the sake of validating the Fa." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")
Cultivation is the process of eliminating selfishness. Conversely, arguing about everyday people's ideas is a process of emphasizing self and validating self.
Recently I reminded myself that I want to be a cultivator, rather than a good person among everyday people.
"Someone said to me: 'Teacher, it's enough to be a good person among everyday people. Who can succeed in cultivation?' After hearing that, I felt really disappointed! I did not say a word to him. There are all kinds of xinxing. One enlightens to however high one can; whoever enlightens obtains. " (Zhuan Falun)