(Clearwisdom.net) On my cultivation journey, thoughts of making distinctions between beings or objects based on some perceived value have often emerged, but I had not realized it until recently. Once, when I was making truth-clarification materials, I realized that I was having such thoughts. After carefully looking inward, I found that these thoughts had manifested themselves in various aspects. I continued looking within and realized that this attachment had formed an obstacle to resisting the persecution, improving, and forming our cultivation environment as one body. Therefore, I am writing about this experience to share with my fellow practitioners.
I have four printer cartridges, and the fourth cartridge always leaked powder while printing. In addition, the printing quality was always bad and it made a great deal of noise. Therefore, I put that one aside and seldom used it, preferring instead to use the other three.
Once, I had printed a lot of materials. The powder in the first three cartridges had run out, and if I stopped printing to refill them, it would affect the progress of the printing. I remembered the fourth cartridge, which I was reluctant to use. I said to it, "You are also a being and have come to assimilate to Dafa. In the past, I put you aside and you weren't given opportunities to save sentient beings. Now you are getting that opportunity. I hope you will cherish it and perform well."
At first, I printed ten sheets, but the quality was just as bad as before. After I continued printing, however, the quality became better and the printer made less noise. Later, the quality of the pages printed by the fourth cartridge was even better than that produced by the first three cartridges. Why did this same problematic cartridge suddenly undergo such a great change? I looked within and found that in the past I had divided these cartridges into several different levels, based on my own like or dislike of them. The results produced by these four cartridges were a direct result of my thoughts of differentiating between them. This helped me become clear-headed. I recognized my own thoughts of making distinctions between different beings, and it manifested itself in other forms.
Each day when I read articles reporting the persecution on the Minghui website, I knew that I should read all of them so that I could keep informed of the persecution in various regions and send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil and rescue persecuted practitioners, because we are one body. However, I always put greater emphasis on the local persecution situation and gave little thought to the situation in other regions. Sometimes I only read those articles that were related to the local situation. I also only sent forth righteous thoughts for the local practitioners and ignored practitioners in other regions.
After I finished compiling the local truth-clarification booklet and printed several copies for editing, I once again had incorrect thoughts while considering to whom I should present the booklets first. I would even choose who I would give a copy to and who I would not. It actually would have been better to have more practitioners review it, so as to get a variety of suggestions.
While distributing truth-clarification materials to fellow practitioners, I had thoughts of making distinctions once again. I preferred to give more materials to those practitioners with whom I had good relationships and fewer to the practitioners that I felt had a bad impression of me. In reality, this was probably all in my mind, and even if that were true, I shouldn't let that affect how I passed out the materials.
When working on a project, I always cooperated with the practitioners that I felt had good xinxing and avoided practitioners who had low xinxing from my perspective. Unconsciously, gaps between myself and other practitioners emerged.
In clarifying the truth, each person we encounter has a predestined relationship with us and came to us to be saved. However, I often categorize them using my own personal standards, and pick out certain people to clarify the truth to and save. Sentient beings are all coming for the Fa. I should not miss this opportunity to save sentient beings because of my attachment to being judgmental.
Previously I had not realized that I made such distinctions while validating Dafa. If our fellow practitioners all have such thoughts, the evil will take advantage of this loophole to enlarge the gaps between us, and then how can we form one body? How can we effectively stop the persecution? A good cultivation environment comes from each practitioner's efforts. Master said,
"Cultivation practice is magnificent and solemn. Whether you can abandon your particular human notions is a major test that you will have difficulty passing, yet you must pass." ("Give Up Human Attachments and Continue Genuine Cultivation" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
I came to understand from the Fa's principles that making distinctions among sentient beings and treating them unequally is a human mindset and affected by qing. That is an attachment to self that comes from the old cosmos. In the process of doing the three things well, validating Dafa and saving sentient beings, no matter what bad human thoughts are exposed or what tribulations we meet with--it is not insurmountable. The most important thing is that we are cultivators. We should keep in mind that we are Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. Therefore, we should eliminate our attachments, become diligent together, do the three things well with the purest mind and not let Master down.
