(Minghui.org) After finding out that a fellow practitioner had been arrested, I immediately started sending forth righteous thoughts for her. However, my mind was filled with scenes in which she ignored my opinions and criticized me. My supposedly righteous thoughts were, “You should get rid of your attachments quickly and don't let the old forces take advantage of your loopholes.” I kept sending forth righteous thoughts with these grudges and critical thoughts in mind. Everyday, I checked the Minghui website to see if this practitioner had been released.
Master must have seen my poor enlightenment quality, so He hinted to me that I should study the lectures, “What is a Dafa Disciple” and “Lecture at the First Conference in North America.” I remember that Master said:
“When you are not cooperating well together, and your righteous thoughts aren’t strong enough, this will cause your mind to, while sending righteous thoughts, dwell on attachments that lead you to look outward, rather than inward, in cultivation. It can even lead you to feel indignant, and get mad whenever you think about someone. Then tell me, what’s the point of your sending righteous thoughts? They are not going to achieve a positive effect, and you will be revealing all of your thoughts, opinions, and attachments to the gods of the entire cosmos.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”, Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 New York Fa Conference)
Master also said:
“Remember these words of mine: No matter what trouble you encounter, no matter what makes you feel unpleasant inside, and no matter whether on the surface you’re right or wrong, if you are to truly regard yourself as a cultivator you should always examine yourself for causes. Ask yourself whether you have a wrong, hard-to-detect motive that’s related to the problem. If you, as a cultivator, only part with things superficially while deep down inside you still stick to something or cling to your own vital interests that you don’t allow to be undermined, I’d say to you that your cultivation is fake!” (“Lecture at the First Conference in North America”)
Master's words were a wake-up call for me. When this practitioner criticized me, I did not argue with her. Afterward however, I felt indignant and thought to myself, “Your actions were not based on the Fa. You forget the Fa right after putting the book down. You are too stubborn and always must have it your way without ever looking inward. You do not even regret it when you get into trouble.”
Although I did look inward, I was doing it with the pre-established notion of “I am right and she is wrong.” I believed that I should not avoid arguments for the sake of avoiding arguments, and I must voice my opinion in order to be responsible for fellow practitioners. With such sentiments, I even submitted an article to the Minghui website. I feel embarrassed now recalling what happened then. Fortunately, the Minghui editors did not publish my article.
I now realize that my words, which criticized this practitioner, were just as appropriate for myself. I am partly responsible for this practitioner's arrest, because not only did I not help with her Dafa project, but also kept throwing negative thoughts into her dimensional field. My negative thoughts accepted the arrangements of the old forces, which led to her being persecuted.
After rectifying myself, my righteous thoughts became pure. Master strengthened me, and with the righteous thoughts of other practitioners, the Minghui website published news that the practitioner had been released two days later.
This unforgettable lesson allowed me to understand and remember that only when I study the Fa well and truly cultivate with guidance from the Fa, can I truly look inward. I should look inward under the precondition of, “He's right, And I'm wrong,” (Hong Yin III : Who's right, Who's wrong).
Category: Improving Oneself
