(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa disciples all know that “If in the course of cultivation practice jealousy is not given up, one will not attain Right Fruit—absolutely not.” (Zhuan Falun) I never thought that I possessed jealousy. I have a wealthy family and I am well educated. There is nothing that I could feel jealous about from others. However, when my jealousy appeared, I was astonished to discover that I was jealous of a fellow practitioner who had little schooling and a poor family.
Practitioner Ms. Yu and I both chose to validate the Fa with our professional skills. Therefore, we kept in touch with each other. Although we used the same professional methods, I had obtained these skills from a good education, while Ms. Yu had learned them on her own. Using these skills to validate the Fa was not an easy thing. It required a lot of time and effort. After a while, I gave up, thinking, “Instead of spending so much time without seeing results, why not do something else? I have a truth-clarifying materials production site at home and I know how to maintain machines. There are many things I can do.” However, Ms. Yu didn’t give up, she persevered. As a result, her hard work brought positive results that began to play an important role in the project of validating the Fa. At this time, my jealousy started to develop.
Ms. Yu had joined the project and fully devoted herself to it. I participated in the project only once a month with the excuse that I needed to work during the weekdays. Because Ms. Yu didn’t had no professional training, she made some mistakes in her work and she often asked me to point them out. Every time, I unceremoniously pointed out all her mistakes. Sometimes I spoke very harshly or angrily, with the mentality that I was responsible to the Fa. However, when Ms. Yu pointed out my mistakes, I always felt uncomfortable. I estimated that she spent more than ten hours on the project every day. Finally, I discovered that Ms. Yu experienced big improvements because Dafa gave her wisdom. The outcome of her work was outstanding. I understood this was the result of how much heart she put into her work, and the technical improvements derived from the elevation of her cultivation level.
I thought, “Isn’t it because she spends so much time on it? I can also do it because based on my ability, I might not need to spend as much time as her.” Therefore, I volunteered for another project and everyone had high hopes in the beginning. One month later, however, I didn’t get any results and the project was stuck. I told myself, “Wisdom comes from the Fa and I should study the Fa more at this time.” But when I studied the Fa, I felt sleepy and even fell asleep while sitting in meditation. I didn’t look within and still didn’t realize what attachments caused me to fail.
One day, every practitioner working on the project was praising Ms. Yu. My jealousy, which was hidden, finally surfaced. I said in my heart, “Her achievements aren't that great. She still makes many mistakes...” At this moment, Master’s Fa came into my mind,
"Our students, including our staff, are jealous of each other even in their work for Dafa. Can you become a Buddha this way? I want to have a loose administration simply because you cannot let go of ordinary human things and so will feel uneasy in your work. Dafa belongs to the entire universe, and not to any one, insignificant individual. Whoever does the work is spreading Dafa. It is not important whether it should be done by you or by others. Are you going to bring to a paradise this attachment that you cannot let go of, and contend with Buddhas? Nobody should treat Dafa as his own exclusive thing. Get rid of that thought that you’ve been treated unfairly!" (“Further Give Up Attachment,” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Master had explained it so clearly. It was my jealousy. With such a bad attachment, how could I validate Dafa? Only with a pure heart can our deeds be righteous and sacred. Otherwise, what is the difference between practitioners and everyday people? I had read a report on the Minghui website saying, “A theater manager stated that Shen Yun performers are different because they are not jealous of each other. When someone else performs better, he or she feels even happier.” This is how a cultivator should be.
Be sure to eliminate jealousy. I looked within and found that my thoughts and words reflected my jealousy. I seemed to pay no attention to them when I mentioned someone’s house, car or profession. But if I truly didn’t have jealousy, how did those ordinary things come into my mind? Sometimes when we look within, we can't distinguish it, but that is because we weren't truly looking within. Master has pointed out everything to us. It is to see whether we can get rid of these attachments. We can't start to look within only after stumbling or our loopholes being taken advantage of. Master said,
“I don’t emphasize any specific approach; I use various means to expose your deeply-concealed attachments and get rid of them. ” (“Digging Out the Roots,” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
