What Printers Taught Me About Cultivation

(Minghui.org) After reading the article “Technical Problems and Cultivation Factors” on the Minghui website, I was deeply moved and wanted to share my own experience with using printers for truth-clarification work.

Printer Malfunction Resolved

My first printer was given to me by another practitioner. I had to ask someone to teach me how to use it. The practitioner told me that the print head was clogged. I took the printer to a repair shop and was told the print head needed to be replaced. I told the technician the printer was new. The technician said he could try to clean the print head. A few days later, the shop called me and said that the printer was fixed.

When I picked up the printer I asked the technician to test the printer. The printed pages worsened with every new page. The technician said the print head had to be replaced. I took the printer home. I thought the printer may not work even if the print head was replaced. I asked a practitioner who knew how to use printers to look at the printer.

Before the practitioner picked up the printer I printed a few pages every one or two days. My purpose was to not allow the printer to be idle because I believed that the printer was here to help Dafa disciples assist Master to rectify the Fa. Then, I also talked to the printer.

“It was a predestined relationship to meet you,” I said. “Let's extend this relationship. I really need your help to assist Master to rectify the Fa.” I did this for two weeks. Nothing changed. Then a month later, a miracle occurred. I pressed the print button, and a perfect page was printed.

The printer had malfunctions later on. Most of them disappeared by themselves. Sometimes I pressed buttons here and there, and it made the printer work again. At that time I had strong righteous thoughts.

Cultivation State: Improved When Looking Within

Every time there was a printing problem, my first thought was that as long as I believed in Master, the printer would have no problem. Then, I looked within.

In the past, when I looked within, it was only superficial. I used to look within only when I encountered conflicts, but now I could look within when anything happened. I could find my attachment through a sentence said by a practitioner, or another practitioner's cultivation state, or even when good things happened to me.

For example, I once looked within after seeing another practitioner’s behavior when studying the Fa. My problem of falling asleep during Fa study and when sending forth righteous thoughts disappeared and I became energetic.

I changed the way I view things. When I see that practitioners are not in a good cultivation state, I won't say, “How can she be like this or that?” Instead, I look within.

Sentimentality

I think that the first printer was out of service due to problems with my xinxing. I had a strong sentimentality for that printer. When I first saw it, I had the feeling that we were old buddies. I especially liked the sound it made when printing. I viewed it as a life and often talked to it.

The printer I am using now is in good shape and barely has any problems. I also talk to it, but I don't have much sentimentality towards it. It is a Fa weapon. I didn't know why I had completely different feelings towards the two printers until a problem occurred.

One day, instead of one sheet of paper being fed through at a time, the paper feeder would pass multiple sheets of paper at a time. I could not find the cause. I thought it was to cultivate my xinxing. So I manually fed the paper one piece at a time. Several days passed, and the problem still occurred.

I thought of taking the printer to a repair shop, but changed my mind on the way to the shop. I decided to fix it by following the directions for this type of problem. It was not easy and took an entire day, but the printer functioned well afterwards.

Overvaluing Technical Skills

However, I felt that something was wrong. Any problem with my first printer was resolved after I looked within. Why did it take so much effort to fix the problem this time?

I found the answer. First of all, since this printer worked well, I did not pay much attention to looking within. The printer had reminded me twice, and I just ignored it.

Besides, I did not know anything about printers when I used the first printer. So, whenever there was a printing problem, I always thought it was not the printer's problem and looked within. Now my first thought was that something is wrong with the printer, since I now know something about printers.

Also, I realized that the current printing problem was due to my seeking something. Since I wanted to learn how to maintain the printer, I often spent a lot of time on searching and downloading information about maintaining printers. I over-valued the so-called technical skills, which caused the interference.

The Importance of Aligning with Dafa Principles

I enlightened to the understanding that righteous thoughts are extremely important when making truth-clarification materials. When dealing with problems, I must treat myself as a practitioner and align myself with Dafa principles.

When I treated problems with human thoughts, I felt depressed and tried to repair the printer with ordinary methods. On the other hand, if I could think of Master, consider the problem as a good thing, look within myself, and see the printer as a Fa weapon, then Dafa would show its power.

When writing this article, I was editing the article while the printer was printing. Suddenly, the printer had a problem. There was a winkled page after every two or three pages. I took out the paper, tidied it up, and put the stack back in. That did not help. I knew the printer was upset.

“Don't get upset,” I said to the printer. “It is my fault. I haven't done maintenance for a long time, and yet you have been running smoothly. This already is a miracle. I'll perform maintenance after I learn how. You work so hard.” Then I restarted the printing and the problem was resolved.