My Thoughts about Having a Strong Personality

(Minghui.org) Mei said that practitioner Li has a strong personality. I do not know Li well, so I just listened. For the next several days, I kept thinking about what Mei said and wondered if I'd heard this because I was also like that.

To put it bluntly, someone with a strong personality is being self-righteous and selfish. At home, I often thought my way of doing things was better than my husband’s. I would refuse to listen and accept suggestions when other practitioners pointed out that my face was not clean or that my pants were wrinkled. One time when I was working with another practitioner, she showed me a faster way to do something and I just said, “Then you can do it.” I did not even consider her suggestion and just refused to continue without giving it a try. These behaviors were all signs of having a strong personality. 

Unwilling to listen to others’ opinions, believing I am always correct and that my ways are the best—these are all examples of everyday people’s mentalities and modern-day behavior. For Dafa cultivators, such a mindset should be eliminated.

What is cultivation? In the past, I thought cultivation was doing the Dafa exercises and studying the Fa. In fact, I was wrong. Cultivation is to eliminate all those thoughts that are not aligned with the Fa, be it the negative thoughts that emerge when we have conflicts with others or when something happens at home. Our human intent makes us say the the wrong things.

For instance, I need to do all the chores at home. My husband has mobility issues and my father-in-law is 93. They are not even able to take the trash out. Recently, I washed the curtains, cleaned the lights, changed the sofa cover, and washed the window screens. These chores would be easier if two people did them together. But I did them by myself and found that the result was good. I would often think, “I’m a cultivator, and there’s nothing I cannot do.” Relatives would tell me, “You’re so capable, so hardworking.” I was happy when I completed a task. I would feel happy even after I ate the leftover food. I was not like that in the past: I would often get angry and curse at my husband if he did not help out at home as I felt it was unfair. But now I am not like that: It’s because I have cultivated away my laziness, impatience, and selfishness.

In the past when I read practitioners’ sharing articles that described their cultivation as something happy and joyful, I would think, “How is that possible? I have a hard time getting up early in the morning to do the exercises.” Now I know what they said is true. Comparing myself to other practitioners, there is much I need to improve.

Having a strong personality is a manifestation of our demonic nature, which presents itself as not letting others speak their minds and liking to hear only what is pleasing and turning away from what is different from our ideas. These are what I need to get rid of in my cultivation. When I encounter these things, I should search within and cultivate myself. If I accuse and complain to others, my demonic nature would be encouraged and nourished. I might have gained the upper hand at the moment, but when thinking of it rationally, and measuring it with the Fa, it is the manifestation of not studying the Fa well and not cultivating myself. Working on myself will improve my cultivation. On the contrary, I would be on a demonic path if I kept saying bad things about others.