(Clearwisdom.net) My son recently began cultivating. Sometimes I like to "test" him, by asking him cultivation questions, and his answers often surprise me. I thought he would not comprehend certain aspects of the Fa, but he replies clearly and correctly in a few words. This inspired me quite a lot. Later I asked his opinion on the questions I did not understand, and problems I had not dealt with properly. His reply was usually straightforward and short, and helped me to understand the nature of my problem.
This afternoon we viewed the video "We Tell the People of the Future." I saw him with a bent head, eating, and urged him, "Hurry up and take a look. This is a person with a doctorate talking." He looked at me and said, "Hurry up and take a look. This is a person talking." I was perplexed, and explained, "I wanted to say that the words spoken by a person with a doctorate are more convincing." His reply, "Is there a difference between a person holding a Ph.D. title and one who does not?" I did not speak but was pensive for quite a while. I had found a deeply buried attachment - a desire for personal recognition and personal advantage. As I was attached to recognition and gain, I placed much importance on social status.
I had the impression that highly educated Falun Gong practitioners, with prestigious titles, would have greater abilities to validate Falun Gong, making their validation efforts more effective. During my truth clarification efforts, I also differentiated among people according to their social status. I treated differently those who had a higher social position, had more influence, or those who were wealthier, viewing them in another light. My idea was that it would be difficult to save them. The eloquent ones would more easily refute me. This resulted in my placing obstacles in my truth clarification path. This attachment was revealed so clearly to me today. The words spoken by a practitioner holding Ph.D qualifications are used in our truth clarification materials because we believe that ordinary people will have higher regard for the words spoken by people with higher social status. This an attachment of an ordinary person. Practitioners should be clear and not view this issue the same way.
I understood from this that young practitioners may be young age-wise and may have begun cultivation later than us, but this does not mean that their enlightenment quality is low or that their understanding is low. Everyone has different ways of assimilating to the Fa, and our cultivation paths are different. Besides, young children's minds are much less exposed to the pollution of notions. They are pure and can immediately assimilate to the qualities of the cosmos. We should not belittle the young practitioners beside us. We should treat them like any other practitioners, thus helping us be truly diligent together and improve more quickly!
March 9, 2008
