Letting Go Of Likes and Dislikes and Cultivating Rationally

(Minghui.org) I learned how to install operating systems a few years back, and have since acquired additional knowledge and skills required for using and fixing computers. It is important to mention that I never had any formal training. Actually, I mainly taught myself by watching a tech forum and visiting some ordinary people’s websites. Being computer literate not only provided great convenience for the project I am involved in, but it also was important to help fellow practitioners. 

Over the years, I’ve installed VPN [which is a cyber security tool] for many local practitioners so they could bypass the Chinese Firewall and visit the Minghui website. I also helped practitioners buy and upgrade computers and hardware. I’ve encouraged many to get their own computer and learn how to log onto the Minghui website, instead of depending on others for the Minghui periodicals. 

Some practitioners rarely interacted with other practitioners and didn’t get the Minghui periodicals or booklets regularly. I helped them buy computers, installed operating systems and taught them how to visit the Minghui website so they could keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification. In the process, Master arranged opportunities for me which were instrumental to eliminate my karma and improve myself.

Paying Off a Karmic Debt Using My Computer Skills

I disliked an acquaintance very much. To me, she is selfish, arrogant, and cunning. She also harbored resentment and jealousy toward me, always had her guard up, and was condescending toward me. I couldn’t help but see right through her little mind games. At one point, I decided enough is enough—I’m not going to talk to her again.

But she came over one day and asked for my help to install a computer operating system. I had anticipated her asking for this favor and decided to politely say no. In fact, I didn’t even want to open the door for her that day but somehow did—I don’t even know why. 

She couldn’t figure out how to install the operating system and came back again and brought her computer. After briefly telling me about the issues, she dropped off the computer and left. I couldn’t bring myself to say no again. Reluctantly, I fixed the problem and installed the operating system for her.

The next time, she brought an old personal computer of hers and asked me to help fix it. I ignored her, remembering the many times when she was completely selfish and wouldn’t help others. She never cares to lend a helping hand and make other people’s lives easier, yet, she has no problem asking for help. I don’t think a person like her deserves anyone’s help—she needs to learn the hard way that a selfish person doesn’t get help from others. But I didn’t want to lose virtue—I tamed my temper and fixed the computer for her.

The third time, she brought her relative’s computer and asked me to fix it. I was fed up with her never-ending demands. I felt like I was being taken advantage of and wanted to throw her out. Why do I have to fix your computer, your old computer, and now your relative’s computer? Who do you think you are? I punched the table and decided I wasn’t going to help her this time.

In fact, Master had given me three hints so far, hoping I would get rid of my resentment toward her. When I got very upset with her one time, Master showed me in my dreams that if I could have more tolerance for her, I would have the respect of all divine beings in the heavens. Still, I couldn’t get over it and felt disdain for her.

She sabotages anything she’s involved in and is very combative. Filled with resentment, jealousy, and anger toward each other, we just couldn’t get along. I believe it’s all because of our unfavorable predestined relationship from previous lives. We owed each other a karmic debt—that’s why as much as we disliked each other, we can’t seem to avoid each other. I finally accepted the fact that I wouldn’t be free of her until I paid off the debt. I just couldn’t let Master down again. I fixed her computer and dropped it off at another practitioner’s place for her to pick up.

Master helped me pay off this karmic debt using my computer skills. Truth is, I had to do very little to settle the debt. Master had shown me one time that I accumulated some karma in one of my previous lives by sending someone to cut off another person’s eyelids, putting that person in a horrible situation. One of my eyelids twitched for a few days and the debt was paid off—that’s how little was required. I know it’s all because I cultivated in Falun Dafa that Master can settle and take care of a lot of things for me. I am so grateful to Master.

Now, with a calm heart and clear mind, I can see that it was precisely because she was so outrageous that many of my negative notions and attachments were brought to light. I would not have been able to find my shortcomings so quickly if it were someone else. Everything she did targeted my attachments, and it was a test to see if I could stay unmoved and unaffected. All of our gratitude, sentimentality, hatred, and resentment in this human world are illusions. I need to maintain my xinxing and cultivate myself if I am to really cultivate. Always focusing on other people’s shortcomings is not going to help me at all.

If I am weighed down by sentimentality and trapped by emotions, I won’t be able to let go of self and follow Master’s arrangements. This wouldn’t be harmonizing with and helping Master rectify the Fa. Regardless, the Fa and Master’s plans come first and foremost. By prioritizing them, I am also accumulating virtue for myself.

Letting Go My Attachments to My Skills and Self

A practitioner did not update her system for a few months and a window popped up frequently to remind her. She didn’t know what the problem was and asked me for help. I visited her one morning and showed her the steps of downloading and installing the updates but left it for her to finish the task. 

After I left her place, I remembered a piece of software on her computer had expired and needed to be reinstalled. Her operating system was also outdated, leaving major holes in the system's security. This practitioner and her family were going through a big tribulation at the time. I wanted to get these things fixed for her as soon as possible so she wouldn’t run into a problem bypassing the Chinese Firewall and accessing the Minghui website. I knew that sharing articles on Minghui would help that family tremendously at a trying time like this. 

Although I already visited her that morning, I stopped by again in the evening. After I explained I was there to work on her computer, she invited me in right away. But when I asked her to write down her computer password, she suddenly became reluctant to do it. She said she didn’t need my help anymore. I told her the software was expired and her system was vulnerable to attacks, but she said she’d ask someone else to take a look. She said that she did trust me, but it was obvious that she didn’t. Fine, if she didn’t need my help then she didn’t need my help. So I left.

On my way home, I couldn’t stay calm and all kinds of thoughts popped up. I regretted being so arrogant and impatient. I felt pretty good about myself and had no clue that other practitioners didn’t trust me. There was even resentment mixed in—I went out of my way to go back to her place and try to help her. She was unreasonable and suspicious. It’s only the username and password to her computer, not her bank account—why is it such a big deal? What could I have stolen from her? I already have all the software she had installed on her computer. What could I possibly do? I just couldn’t understand why she changed her mind all of a sudden. 

But then it hit me. This practitioner’s computer knowledge is very limited and she might not fully understand what I was trying to do. Also, she hadn’t known me for very long. It’s natural that she has doubts about me since she doesn’t know me that well. On top of that, her family is not financially well off. Even though her computer is old and not worth much, to her it might be a valuable asset. I slowly calmed down as I started seeing things from her perspective.

I looked inward and further examined myself. True, I’ve become more skilled and experienced in using and fixing computers in the past few years. However, I’ve also grown complacent and even arrogant because of it. I thought of myself as knowledgeable and capable. When I helped other practitioners with their computers, I subconsciously tried to show off and validate myself. 

It is, in fact, Master’s arrangements and strengthening, along with other practitioners’ help that enabled me to acquire these skills. Yes, I spent time reading up on the internet and learned through trial and error, but what I’ve gained is far more than my sacrifices. I was “standing on the shoulders of giants,” like people always say. I benefited from others and therefore had nothing to be complacent about. I should be grateful instead. I’ve helped other practitioners with my skills but also developed an attachment in the process. My motivation for helping was not always pure and I have done it with strong attachments sometimes. 

I like working with computers and solving problems. I enjoy the process and the sense of achievement it brings. On the other hand, I have also validated myself and showed off doing it. It made me feel that I was better than others. I enjoyed it when people showed me respect and complimented me for my computer skills. 

I had the attachment to getting things done. I hid behind my role as a “computer technician” among practitioners and avoided clarifying the truth about Dafa in person. The purpose of learning about computers and computer maintenance is to help others, and not to validate myself and boost my ego. I’ve had it completely backward. This is a selfish notion at its core. With such impure thoughts and motives, I was fueling my attachments and giving them the room and opportunity to grow.

If my knowledge of computers is useful to others, I should do what I can to help. If it’s not useful then I shouldn’t use it—I shouldn’t use it for the sake of using it. Fixing computers is for the purpose of rectifying the Fa and cultivating myself. I should let go of my attachments to technology itself. 

With this realization, my heart opened up and felt light instantly. The substance of gloom was completely gone. I felt calm as if nothing had happened. The concept of “me” was gone and I experienced the wonderful state of being “free of intention.” Dafa cultivation is just so incredible.

Giving Up My Likes and Dislikes and Cultivating Rationally

The older generations in my family believe in Buddhism, so we always enshrined Buddha’s statues and pictures at our home growing up. I have heard and experienced firsthand things such as fortune telling, exorcism, and people being possessed by spirits or animals. In elementary school, I read books about Ji Gong, a Buddhist monk who had supernatural powers, and mythological stories such as The Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods. I tried qigong practice in middle school and read about popular qigong masters and general trends in the cultivation community. 

I’ve always been intrigued by paranormal phenomena and wished I could acquire some sort of supernatural powers. After taking up Dafa cultivation, I experienced some incredible things. Now, I practice Falun Dafa because I want to cultivate and ascend to high levels, but a small part of it has always been driven by curiosity. 

Master said,

“Some practitioners follow human thinking as they go about validating the Fa, and in the process satisfy a wish to do what they enjoy.” (“Be Vigilant,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III)

Master mentioned “a wish to do what they enjoy” in this article. I thought of myself and realized I’ve always had this wish to do what I enjoyed, even when it comes to cultivation and Dafa work. 

Driven by my likes and dislikes, I easily lost my motivation to do cultivation when my passion faded away. I slacked off and lost my sense of urgency. This translated into not being consistent in Fa study, doing the exercises, and lacking righteous thoughts. I didn’t clarify the truth often because I didn’t feel like it. When I ran into difficulties, I avoided them and tried to go around them. I only took on Dafa projects that interested me and that I enjoyed doing. The same thing goes for how I interacted with other practitioners. “If the conversation is not pleasant, half of a sentence is too much.” If I didn’t get along with someone, I kept my distance and avoided that person as much as possible. 

As I slacked off and didn’t take Dafa cultivation seriously, I proved that I am, at the most, just “an average person” in cultivation. Master hoped I could be an A student, but I’m afraid I don’t even deserve a D. My interest in supernatural things made it easy for me to take up Dafa cultivation, but that is also what’s keeping me from being pious and respectful and cultivating rationally and diligently.

But is it just my interest that’s motivated and kept me going in cultivation for all these years? Not really. As practitioners, our predestined relationships with Master and the Fa run deep. It was arranged at the beginning of time and maintained throughout human history. I have twice dreamed of how I descended into this human world from higher realms in the remote past. Each time, I came for the Fa. 

Master has shown me how I reincarnated in my previous lives, and how my predestined relationship with Master was created and reinforced multiple times throughout history. These precious and strong connections stayed with me until I obtained the Fa. Because Master has always watched over and guided me, I was able to come this far in cultivation. On the surface, my interest was what prompted and led me to Dafa, but it is not the ultimate reason. Personal interest is only a factor at the human level. When I truly wish to move up and ascend to higher realms, my interest becomes an obstacle, therefore it must be eliminated.

Similarly, I came to understand that only when I rise above and beyond my likes and dislikes, relinquish my sentimentality and emotions, prioritize Fa-rectification over all else, and harmonize what Master wants me to do to the best of my ability, can I truly help Master. And that is what a Dafa practitioner should do. If we do well within Master’s arrangements, we will achieve many, many things. Xinxing cultivation is something concrete that we go through, yet many greater benefits may not manifest in this world and we can’t see at our current level or at the current time.

One morning, a clear thought popped into my head, “What is following the course of nature?” Everything has already been arranged by the higher beings and we just need to go along with the plan. If we add in our own wills and wishes, we may very well disturb the plan and not reach the goals and levels that the higher beings intended to help us achieve. 

I hope to cultivate diligently and solidly and become more rational and clear-headed, so as to better help Master rectify the Fa and save sentient beings.