(Clearwisdom.net) No matter what we encounter on our cultivation paths, even matters that seem tedious or irrelevant can reflect our attachments. I learned from my own experience not to overlook trifles, but to cultivate my heart continuously.
I would like to share an experience which illustrates how a trivial thing taught me to look within and helped me rid myself of attachments.
My son's new school year started recently. It was the first time my son has attended a school in a different town. He needed to ride his bicycle to school, and since he had to go through a series of difficult road conditions, including busy highways, we arranged for a schoolmate to ride with him. We had agreed that my son's schoolmate would come to our home at 7:00 a.m., however he had not shown up even by 7:30 a.m. It was getting late and my son had to leave alone, otherwise he would be late for school. I told him not to worry about the difficult road conditions, as Master would be beside him and take care of him.
After my son left, a family member started blaming my son's schoolmate, “What kind of education and discipline has he had? We can't believe him any more. I must tell his parents about this.”
At first I joined in the complaining, but immediately I realized that this was not a cultivator's behavior. A cultivator should consider others before him or herself, and look within for what he or she has done wrong. It was possible that the schoolmate was occupied by an unexpected urgent matter, or suddenly became ill, or forgot, or encountered some other situation that we had not thought about. How can we draw a negative conclusion about that person before knowing the truth?
Right at that moment, two words, look within, flashed in my head. I must have done something similar recently, not keeping my promise. Master was using an everyday person's behavior to remind me of my own shortcomings. Interestingly, I did find something that I had not done well.
I usually went to a fellow practitioner's place, dozens of miles away, to pick up materials on a certain day every week. But I didn't make it this week due to handling a time-sensitive issue not related to Dafa work, and I deciding to go to the practitioner's place later. I realized that this delay not only caused the practitioner extra work and worry for keeping Dafa materials longer than usual, but it was also a fall on my cultivation path. I had not treated Dafa work as priority and placed my everyday work before Dafa. How far was I away from Dafa's standards? I was embarrassed by my behavior. The power then went out, which I took as a signal to immediately go and get the materials.
Upon seeing me, the practitioner said happily, “You are finally here! I have collected many articles for the upcoming experience sharing conference for you to edit and send to the Clearwisdom website. All the elderly ladies in our Fa study group have asked me every day when you would be coming...” She was talking while smiling, without any blame. I was looking at the practitioner who I had known for over a decade, her tolerance and compassion deepened my feelings of guilt because I had let down my fellow practitioners. Tears came into my eyes. How many attachments and human hearts had I shown in this “minor” delay and broken promise.
After returning from the practitioner's home, I started editing the articles immediately. However, the power in my house went off again, and this time it didn't return until two days later, during which time I could neither work on the articles nor access the Internet.
When I finally was able to access the Clearwisdom website, I saw Master's new lecture, "What is a Dafa Disciple." I was so excited to read it that I postponed all my work. I read it again and again.
Applying the Fa's principles to examine myself, I found that I had not done well and had made many mistakes. My heart of selfishness, fear, and suspicion had not been eliminated even though I had been cultivating for a long time. This is harmful to a cultivator. Were it not for Master's protection, I must have been interfered by the old forces many times. Thinking of Master's merciful salvation, I could not sleep all night. I made up my mind that I should look for and eliminate my attachments, fill up my righteous thoughts by cultivating diligently, and fully become a genuine Dafa practitioner.
Master told us in his new lecture,
“… I have shared with you before that a person can cultivate in any job or profession. Indeed, the conflicts and tensions that you encounter or whatever it may be are all meant to test your mind, and to see: Can you handle it in a manner befitting a cultivator? Is how you handle it worthy of a Dafa disciple? That’s what cultivation is, isn’t it? Could ordinary people handle things this way, or see things this way? When you meet with a conflict, it doesn’t matter whether you are in the right. You should be asking yourself, “What on my part isn’t right in this situation? Might it really be that there is something wrong on my part?” You should all be thinking this way, with your first thought being to scrutinize yourself to try to find the problem. Whoever is not like this is not in fact a true cultivator of Dafa. It is a magical tool in our cultivation. This is a distinguishing feature of our Dafa disciples’ cultivation. Whatever it is that you encounter, the first thought should be to scrutinize yourself, and it’s called “looking within.” ("What is a Dafa Disciple")
Through studying Master's lectures, I found more attachments, including the desire for comfort (e.g., sleeping in, delicious food), the worries about my own losses, the fear of danger and criticism, and the heart of showing-off. I easily got excited about my successes, although I did not tell others. I actually forgot that it was Dafa and Master who supplied me with wisdom and capacity to succeed.
A trivial thing can reflect multiple issues in cultivation. It also manifests the value and meaning of the principle of looking within. The first thought in our minds triggered by a trivial thing implies our cultivation state: selfish or selfless. From the trifle that happened to me, I experienced the boundlessness of Dafa principles. Master's mercy is infinite, our cultivation is endless, and our efforts of saving sentient beings should be without limits. We should not pause, take a break, or lose our righteous thinking on our paths in the Fa-rectification period. It is our choice to do the three things well in order to become genuine Dafa disciples acknowledged by Master.