(Minghui.org) I used to have a strong attachment to reputation, which I didn’t realize until recently. I enjoyed others’ compliments and praise. As I was offered higher positions, advanced in my career, and improved my social status, my attachment to reputation became more obvious.

When I was with my boss or a coworker, if a third person showed more respect to my boss or colleague, I would be angry and even resent the third person. This problem had existed for years, but I failed to eliminate my attachment. I sometimes reminded myself that I was a cultivator, but I didn’t treat these occasions as opportunities to improve. Following the thinking of an ordinary person most of the time, I couldn’t bear it. My negative thoughts were so strong sometimes that I would be unhappy for several days. In sum, I didn’t pass this test that a cultivator must pass.

As I memorized the Fa over the past few years, I gradually gained more awareness of my attachment.

Yang, a coworker in a position inferior to mine, one day told me to do something and said that it was Zhang, another colleague, who had asked her to relay the message. I was immediately irritated, thinking, “Who are you to give me an order? You are not showing me any respect. Zhang must have put you up to it. You two are ganging up against me. You respect Zhang more than me.” A lot of negative thoughts crossed my mind.

After I came to my senses, I thought I should cultivate myself well this time, treat myself as a cultivator, and be clear minded. My righteous thoughts slowly overcame my anger. Recounting the incident, I realized that Yang hadn’t meant what she said to sound like an order, nor had they ganged up against me. It was my negative thoughts that had led me to take it personally. I decided to write down this process of cultivating my xinxing.

When we cultivators fail to gain higher-level understanding on a certain issue, we are no different from ordinary people. We will only improve on this issue after gaining a better understanding and behaving as cultivators in the face of excruciating conflicts. One time, two times, several times—and Master will eliminate the degenerated materials after we do well several times. As a result, we will reach a higher level than ordinary people on this issue. Based on my current understanding, it takes endurance, a clear understanding of the Fa, treating oneself as a cultivator, and acting with righteous thoughts when we face conflicts at critical moments.

Take me, for example. I realized my problem a long time ago. When I studied the Fa with a good mindset, I knew very clearly I harbored jealousy and resentment, as well as a fighting mentality. So why did I always follow ordinary people’s ways of thinking and behaving? It was because I didn’t take a clear-cut position as a cultivator. Instead, I simply resorted to ordinary people’s means to restrain my sentiments. However, ordinary people are the weakest. How can ordinary people overcome beings in other dimension? That’s why I couldn’t eliminate my attachment and eventually surrendered myself to ordinary people’s ways of thinking.

I did better this time because I defined myself as a cultivator and was determined to get rid of my attachments. I finally understood what cultivation meant. How do I define myself? Do I have a full awareness of cultivation? A cultivator can quickly break through issues, but an ordinary person can’t. It becomes much easier to eliminate attachments when we have a clear goal and starting point.

Master has told us,

“Then think about how remarkably easy it is for such an immense Fa, when taught in human society, to assimilate one person. Let me draw a simple analogy: If a piece of sawdust drops into a furnace of molten steel, it will vanish in a twinkling. It would be effortless for a Fa as immense as ours to assimilate a person such as you, to eliminate your karma, to remove your improper thoughts, and so on. Given that the Fa’s power is so great, why don’t we do it that way? We can’t do that in ordinary human society, because cultivating that way wouldn’t be considered cultivation. Rather, it would be regarded as re-creation. It would mean discarding you completely and re-creating another person. So you have to genuinely cultivate in order for the result to be you.” (Teachings at the First Conference in North America)

To trace back one more step, studying the Fa well is the prerequisite to making the extraordinary choice to behave as a cultivator at the critical moment when a conflict arises.

We have to be clear about treasuring our identity as a Falun Dafa practitioner, treasure the time we have been given to cultivate, and make quick progress. In addition, we need a clear goal that shows us how to eliminate our attachments. I can find a bunch of attachments every time I reflect upon my cultivation. Let’s cultivate proactively, look within ourselves, and eliminate any attachment as it emerges. Don’t let our minds be filled with ordinary people’s thoughts.

Thank you, great compassionate Master!