My Understandings About Arrogance

(Minghui.org) I have recently come to some understandings about arrogance in my own cultivation that I would like to share.

Looking back at my own cultivation path, I remember at the beginning, each time I finished reading Zhuan Falun,I felt that I had gained some new insights, and I was keen to share my understanding with others. Back then, my understanding was pretty shallow and I held on to a lot of human sentiments. However, I was still keen to share my understanding. When others corrected me and pointed out my attachments, even though I felt a bit frustrated, I accepted their views with an open mind. After all, I was only a new practitioner. 

I enjoyed listening to sharing about miracles, what others saw through their celestial eye, who rose in the air while doing sitting meditation, who had seen things in their past lives through their ability of precognition and retro-cognition, and so on. I found these things fascinating and inspiring, and hoped that I could also experience similar things.

As time went on, and with more Fa study, I gradually understood the true meaning of cultivation from the perspective of the Fa and realized that my earlier sharings were full of errors and omissions, as well as human attachments. In the beginning, I was interested in petty skills, which were totally different from cultivation. I felt really ashamed and rectified my attitude toward cultivation. I began to spend more time studying the Fa, instead of looking for someone to share my understanding with. 

As my understanding of the Fa principles improved, I became more aware of attachments in other people’s sharing. I thought: “I was the same in the past! I must be more careful not to be moved by human sentiments and I must focus on xinxing cultivation and share on the basis of the Fa.” 

In particular, after reading Master’s articles published during the Fa-rectification period, in which Master revealed the truth about the Three Realms layer by layer, I suddenly realized just how profound Dafa is! I became more immersed in studying the Fa and began to form more insights of my own, based on the Fa principles. My sharing also became more acceptable and appreciated by others. 

However, as time went on, I developed other attachments, thinking that since I’m now a “veteran” practitioner, I could point out other practitioners’ mistakes and debate about my understanding of the Fa. As a result, conflicts began to arise, and I was bothered to the point that sometimes I couldn’t sleep for a few days. I would think: “Although I have personal views and attachments, what I said is very reasonable! I am not wrong about the issues we argued about. Why is this practitioner’s enlightenment quality so low? He just criticizes others instead of listening to the key points. He is looking outward!”

Gradually, I began to realize that I still had many attachments to be cleaned out. For example, I would subconsciously protect myself and hide my attachments when sharing with others. I was no longer as innocent as I was when I was a new practitioner. To put it bluntly, I was seeking recognition, trying to convince others, and expecting praise. There were so many human attachments in all this and they were definitely not what a Dafa practitioner should pursue.

With all these hidden attachments, I learned how to criticize others. I would often start by saying, “I’m a pretty direct person, and I’m not targeting you. Let’s just have a sharing based on the Fa.” It sounded great on the surface, but it was really just a way for me to hide my own attachments. Then, I would start to point out the other practitioner’s attachments. While I said things calmly, the words I used were mean, with no consideration of the other practitioner’s feelings. I had little kindness but a lot of arrogance.

Because I hid my own attachments so cunningly while talking about my understanding “based on the Fa”, others hardly noticed them and I got a lot of praise as a result. Although I always said “Please don’t praise me anymore,” I actually felt quite happy, thinking, “Another good day!” Even though I was clear-headed from time to time, I still enjoyed the recognition and respect. 

I felt quite confident calling myself a “disciple” and seeing myself as one of the “veteran practitioners,” and someone who understood the principles of the Fa well. I thought: Those who have their celestial eye open or have supernormal abilities don’t necessarily have great inborn qualities, and what they talk about are only Fa principles at lower levels. 

When hearing other practitioners’ sharing, I would think: We are all Dafa disciples, whether we began to practice cultivation earlier or later. Your little bit of understanding is nothing special, so don’t try to convince me!

With such a mindset, I became the person I am now, who appears mature and polite on the surface, but in reality, is a “veteran practitioner” who is unduly proud and arrogant.

Let Go of Arrogance and Become a Genuine Dafa Disciple

Opportunities for cultivation are becoming more and more precious and I realize that if I keep behaving this way, I will never be able to eliminate my attachments and loopholes. I really need to be clear-headed and dig out the root cause of my hidden attachments. 

After studying Master’s article “Clearheadedness” in Essentials for Further Advancement, I realized that I have been in a daze for too long and I cannot even live up to the standards of everyday people, such as being temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous, let alone the compassion expected of a Dafa practitioner! If I go on like this, I may easily succumb to demonic interference from my own mind and deviate from the Fa. There have been so many such lessons in the past, and it is a critical time for me to be vigilant!

We all know that the world’s morals are declining day by day, and it can be easy to unwittingly drift along with it. I find that I can do very well in the bigger Dafa environment thanks to Master’s protection. However, I tend to let up as soon as I go back into the everyday human environment and feel complacent because I think that my standards are somewhat higher than those of others. 

Now I understand why Master arranged for us to cultivate among everyday people. Our interactions with every relative, every neighbor, and every stranger we come across are all opportunities for us to cultivate. That’s why our cultivation exceeds all other cultivation ways in the universe. We are being tempered in the furnace all the time, and our every thought and action is tested by gods at various levels. If we can keep our mind on the Fa every minute and every second, then of course our cultivation pace is “naturally” super fast and amazing. 

I realized I must check myself constantly to uncover any deeply hidden attachments. I can no longer indulge in arrogance and I am determined to rectify myself. 

In conclusion, I hope we can all humbly accept other practitioners’ suggestions in projects and maintain proper relationships with others in daily life. When dealing with everyday people, let’s apply the righteous principles that conform to their environment, always be good people, treat fellow practitioners with the same humble mentality as when we first started practicing cultivation, and always look inwards instead of outwards to cultivate our xinxing. 

Every word and deed of each Dafa disciple represents the external image of Dafa, so cultivating ourselves well is also to safeguard the image of Dafa. Only by harmonizing ourselves as one body can we maintain a healthy cultivation environment.

I hope that I can make progress together with all fellow practitioners and truly dissolve into the Fa until we achieve consummation.

Thank you Master for your compassionate salvation!