Being Humble

(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1995. Although I've practiced for 26 years, I haven't been very diligent. James (a pseudonym) is a new practitioner. Although he's only practiced for 3 years he's very diligent. By observing him, I changed my long-standing notion that I’m a “veteran practitioner.” I realized that it does not matter when we began to practice—whether we are diligent or not depends on whether we have the heart to truly cultivate away our attachments and save people.

James has a mentally handicapped son who attends a special school. One day, James’ father went to the school to see his grandson. While he was in the courtyard, his grandson ran out through the gate. When the grandfather went after him, his grandson was nowhere to be found. The school principal drove his grandfather and searched for hours but they couldn't find him. They finally called the police. Then they called James, who was out of town in Beijing, and told him what had happened. The first thought James had when he heard the news was, “I'm a Dafa disciple. My son will be fine.”

James’s father wondered if maybe his grandson had gone home. The principal drove to his house and found the boy sitting out front. They called James and told him his son was fine. James was puzzled, because his son is mentally handicapped and doesn't know where he lives. Not only that, he lives several miles from the school and doesn’t know how to take the bus. He realized, “Master must be looking after him and guided him home!” James thanked Master in his heart.

James told me, “I was overjoyed and almost arrogant in front of two veteran practitioners (referring to me and another senior practitioner). I must remain humble in the future!” I was struck by his words. He had only practiced for a few years, but he already knew how to be humble. In contrast, I was pretentious and behaved inappropriately many times.

James told me that he had begun memorizing the Fa. He recently told me that he had almost finished memorizing the entire book. However, I had only memorized 120 pages. (The book is over 300 pages.) Every time we met, he shared about upgrading his character while I had nothing to talk about. I couldn't help but feel ashamed.

I had no sense of humility when we talked about when we started to practice Falun Dafa. I always felt very proud when I said that I’d started to practice when Master taught the Fa in China and that I had practiced for so many years. After James talked about humility, I no longer mentioned my past. Even ordinary people say, “A hero is silent about his past glories.” What's more, I know how well I've cultivated myself. Why would I show off in front of other practitioners?

Humility is a kind of mindset among ordinary people, and a realm cultivators should achieve. Just like the sea is always in the lowest position; it can contain thousands of rivers. This is especially true for cultivators. Only by maintaining a humble attitude can they cultivate to higher levels. The ancients said, “If three of us are walking together, at least one of the other two is good enough to be my teacher.” I recall these words as a warning to myself: “Don't think of yourself as a veteran practitioner. Instead, always maintain a humble attitude.”